doctorwayne Gary, I have some of the MDC cars with the deep sidesills, and while I'm not overly enamoured with their appearance, they are prototypical. Carbuilders of that time were concerned that the wide door openings would put too much stress on the underframe, as many were not convinced that the exterior steel bracing provided all that much strength. Here's one of them... I did replace the stirrup steps with metal ones from A-Line, but simply used the style I happened to have on-hand - they may or may not be prototypically correct for the cars, but look better and last better than the plastic ones. I also replaced the grabirons with metal ones - either from Tichy or custom bent ones. I sometimes replace the rungs on car ladders, too, but it's not usually a priority for me unless I've done a lot of other work to make a particular car better-match its prototype. There's a how-to on casting your own weights to be found HERE Wayne
Gary, I have some of the MDC cars with the deep sidesills, and while I'm not overly enamoured with their appearance, they are prototypical. Carbuilders of that time were concerned that the wide door openings would put too much stress on the underframe, as many were not convinced that the exterior steel bracing provided all that much strength. Here's one of them...
I did replace the stirrup steps with metal ones from A-Line, but simply used the style I happened to have on-hand - they may or may not be prototypically correct for the cars, but look better and last better than the plastic ones. I also replaced the grabirons with metal ones - either from Tichy or custom bent ones. I sometimes replace the rungs on car ladders, too, but it's not usually a priority for me unless I've done a lot of other work to make a particular car better-match its prototype.
There's a how-to on casting your own weights to be found HERE
Wayne
Ooops... I thought my prototype didn't have the sill...Oh well.
I have A-line stirrups; I think I'll change them as long as I'm at it.
I have used tire balancing weights, too. The garage at work lets me take them for free. I either cut them into small pieces, or else I heat them up in a old pot on a camp stove in the garage. I fish out the clip and clean off the impurities that float to the surface, then pour the lead into an old 3/4 box wrench on a piece of plywood. I give it a rap when it cools and the lead drops out. They are about 1.3 oz to 1.5 oz. I glued two to the underframe with bathtub caulk:
Gary
doctorwayneLemme know which instructions, MDC or Walthers, you need, as I'll scan them and send them in an e-mail.
The doors don't open, so I could use the MDC instructions. Thank you. The underframe is not quite right; though I think I figured it out, I'd like to look at the instructions anyway.
It appears there is more going on here, though. I take it you removed the heavy side sill on the MDC cars? Possibly the Walthers? Replaced the stirrups and grabs?
This is what my cars looked like:
Here's the prototype:
The brake parts looked like they were in the wrong place and I didn't like the sill. I used a little xylene to loosen the glue and popped off the brake cylinder and airtank, and reversed them, and I used a razor saw and a file to remove the sill:
I also had to cut down the cross bearers on the frame. There's no weight and the trucks are godawful, so I still have more work to do...
The MDC (now Athearn) cars, have the doors as integral parts of the main body shell, and radial roofs, while the Walthers cars had separate doors (which could be made operable) and an optional "A-end" which featured non-operable end doors.
Here's one of the MDC cars...
Here's one of the Walthers cars, with operable doors...
...and Walthers optional "A" end doors...
I re-lettered (or painted and lettered) some of the Walthers cars, as a nearby hobbyshop (now long gone) had a bunch of undecorated kits on sale for a very good price - I bought 'em all, as, in my opinion, they're one of Walthers best freight car offerings...
Here's another Walthers one with operable doors, and a somewhat shifted load of lumber...
Lemme know which instructions, MDC or Walthers, you need, as I'll scan them and send them in an e-mail.
Anyone have instructions for a Walthers 50' Double Door Ext Brace Auto Boxcar?
I got some on eBay, but I don't think they were put together correctly. I checked HO Seeker, but I didn't see the instructions there. Anyone have one, and can show me the underframe, or have a copy of the instructions?
EDIT: I looked at the cars, and I don't think they are Walthers--the doors are molded to the boxcar shell. I think they are MDC Roundhouse.