Parts needed for a Proto 2000 tank car

[Remeyer53]

I have a P2K 8,000 gallon tank car kit that is missing some parts (got ripped off at a train show). Does anyone have the sprue that contain the train line and the bottom of the center sill? Also need the sprue that has the coupler covers, brake wheel, etc.?

[maxman]

There is a group called hoswap.io on the net.  Costs nothing to join.

You can do a WTB (want to buy) posting.  Always folks looking for oddball items like those.  Someone my give them to you for the cost of postage.

[doctorwayne]

Remeyer53

I have a P2K 8,000 gallon tank car kit that is missing some parts (got ripped off at a train show). Does anyone have the sprue that contain the train line and the bottom of the center sill? Also need the sprue that has the coupler covers, brake wheel, etc.?

 

When those cars first appeared, they were kits.  I was interested in them, but the price was beyond my budget at that time.
Later, when they became available as r-t-r (with a price increase), the "used" table at my go-to hobbyshop got covered with a lot of those partially assembled kits, most with some severely botched work and broken details, and many with a lot of excess glue.

 

Later, when the shop realised that no one was buying the kit versions of those cars, they went on the "used" table, too, and I picked-up several of them (not tank cars) at a reasonable price, mostly the drop-end gondolas

 

I later got a few more tank cars, in kit form, after Walthers picked-up the line.

 

You can re-work your tank car fairly easily using items that you may have on-hand. 
As I recall, the majority of the detail parts, such as the trainline and brake rigging, were done with engineering plastic - fairly durable, but not easily attached with ordinary modelling glues or even ca.
A better option, and one that I used on most of my rescued tank cars, is phosphor-bronze wire:  Tichy offers it in a variety of diameters, and its very easy to use as it doesn't fatigue as readily as does brass wire.  You can also use it for a better representation of the brake-gear rigging.

In my opinion, the Tichy tank car kits were better engineered, although they were available only as undecorated kits.

The bottom of the centre sill, and the coupler covers, can be done using sheet styrene: Evergreen offers it in a variety of thicknesses and in at least a couple of sheet sizes, and also in either white or black styrene.

If you're interested in updating the other details, Tichy also offers pre-formed phosphor-bronze grabirons, in either straight or drop-style versions, and you can get sill steps from A-line, in three different styles

 

Here are a couple photos of the re-worked ones rescued from the "used" table - I took most of these cars apart as much as was possible, and scrapped pretty-well all of the engineering plastic details (brake rigging, handrails, and grabirons) as most were all oversize for HO scale.  I replaced those details mostly with phosphor -bronze wire.

 

This car had pretty-much the same lettering as is shown, but because it was also smeared with what appeared to be tube-type plastic glue, I stripped it completely, then sanded-off the glue and repaired any other damage on it.  It was then repainted and relettered using C-D-S dry transfers.  It's one of two re-done

with this lettering scheme...

 

This one, if I recall correctly, was one of the unbuilt (and unbought) kits that ended-up on the "used" table when the r-t-r stuff showed up.  I got it for a very good price, but did scrap most of the Delrin details, replacing them with phosphor-bronze wire...

 

 

This one, bought by a friend at a train show, was given to me because it was too modern for his '20s-era layout.  He thought that it looked pretty good, but his eyesight was worse than he had realised, as when I got it, I found that anywhere a detail part had been added (grabirons, ladders, doors, running boards, and underbody details, it was accompanied by an excessive amount of tube-type plastic cement. 
The doors were warped severely, so much so that I filled the door openings using .060" thick sheet styrene, flush with the outer face of the car's sides, then, after cleaning up the the glue off the doors (both sides of all four), I used solvent type cement to affix them to the styrene sheet material, using clamps to remove the warp while the glue set-up.
The running board was beyond rescue, as was the cover for the centre sill, but I did manage to salvage the brake gear and some of the brake rigging.  All of the ladders were garbage, ruined by improper placement and handling, and heavy applications of plastic cement.

Some photos of the repairs...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did eventually did get it restored, and it now looks fairly decent...

 

 

Wayne

 

 

 

 

 

 

[maxman]

Lastspikemike

My big issue with all these kits: Proto, Intermountain, Accurail and now Branchline is all the tiny and frankly flimsy styrene bits. I just leave them off because the first derailment or, sometimes, the first time you pick them up these details break or fall off.

Styrene is just not strong enough for this purpose. It's pointless to go to the trouble of tooling up and moulding these bits.

Case in point we had a derailment involving Rapido's new tank cars. That's when I discovered the brake lines and related parts were made from wire which neither broke nor fell off.

 

Yes, all well and good, but it doesn't seem to address the original question, which was where can I find the parts missing from a kit purchased at a train show.

[doctorwayne]

maxman

Yes, all well and good, but it doesn't seem to address the original question, which was where can I find the parts missing from a kit purchased at a train show.

Some of those needed parts may be around somewhere, but those kits have been out of production for some time. 

It would be more efficient to simply buy some materials in order to make the necessary parts, as both the bottom of the underframe and the coupler covers are flat items, easy to cut from sheet styrene (available in various thicknesses from Evergreen).  The train line can be easily modelled with wire (I'd recommend phosphor-bronze from Tichy, also available in various sizes.
I'm not sure where you might find a single brake wheel, but most brake gear kits from Tichy have at least a couple.

If the O.P. were within reasonable driving distance. I could easily bring him a couple dozen brake wheels, although if I mailed them, they'd likely be crushed going through postal equipment.

Wayne

[tstage]

Lastspikemike

My big issue with all these kits: Proto, Intermountain, Accurail and now Branchline is all the tiny and frankly flimsy styrene bits. I just leave them off because the first derailment or, sometimes, the first time you pick them up these details break or fall off.

Styrene is just not strong enough for this purpose. It's pointless to go to the trouble of tooling up and moulding these bits.

Case in point we had a derailment involving Rapido's new tank cars. That's when I discovered the brake lines and related parts were made from wire which neither broke nor fell off.

The two parts that are the most delicate (and prone to breakage) on the Proto 2000, IM, and Branchline kits are the stirrups and the brakeline couplers that extend off each end.  The stirrups can be replaced with a variety of metal ones available from Tichy or A-Line, as shown by Wayne.  The brakeline couplers I generally just leave off because 1) they tend to interfere with coupling, and 2) aren't as a noticeable feature because of where they are located.  I've had very few issues with the remaining applied parts from the aforementioned manufacturer's kits.

Accurail kits, OTOH - and I've assembled at least 80-90 boxcars, hoppers, and gondolas so far - are heartier in that respect.  I've had only an occasional molded stirrup break off; not from handling but from the assembly process and not paying attention to where I was applying pressure.

Accurail's 41' gondolas and 36' Fowler cars are now using more scale-looking stirrups made from engineering plastic that snap into the corners - no glue required.  They remain flexible after assembly because they "float" slightly inside the slot.  It's a clever design and looks great.

For the most part, styrene is quite adequate for more delicate parts.  If parts are "falling off" your models after you assemble them then you are either 1) using the wrong type of adhesive, and/or 2) stressing those parts by picking up the models incorrectly.  I always pick up my rolling stock from the trucks.  If I have to pick them up from the top half of the model (e.g. removing them from a storage box), I always look for the areas on the model where there is no detail parts to stress.

Tom

[tstage]

I assemble my kits for operation (NOT for static display) and I don't experience the issues you seem to run into.  And my rolling stock looks & rolls great - scale heads and all.

Unless you are derailing your rolling stock at a high rate of speed, even one derailment shouldn't break off stirrups, brakelines, grab irons, etc.  You must be doing something different than the rest of us are doing.

Tom

[doctorwayne]

tstage

I assemble my kits for operation (NOT for static display) and I don't experience the issues you seem to run into. And my rolling stock looks & rolls great - scale heads and all.

Same here, and my rolling stock regularly cycles on- and off-layout.  Most of my rolling stock has been re-detailed, especially as far as stirrup steps and grabirons.  I seldom experience details falling off due to handling, nor from boxed storage.

I'll post some photos later, of methods to protect details on rolling stock, especially as far as storage is concerned.
Handling is another matter:  clean hands for handling...a greasy thumbprint won't enhance the details on your rolling stock, and it may take-up some effort to remove it, too.

Wayne

[trainnut1250]

To the OP:

You are missing enough parts that to supply you with the parts you need - another kit would be gutted. I would suggest that you either buy another kit to scavenge or canabalize what you have into other projects. The P2K trucks are excellent and can be used elsewhere - the tank could be used as a stationary fuel tank etc....Bummer that someone pulled the parts from the kit before you received it.

I have built lots of these kits - they build up into great looking and running cars - good trucks, perfect weight. I don't have problems with the plastic stirrups and grabs - you just have to be careful handling them. They generally don't break in derailments, but I do replace a few broken ones from time to time. Given the number of P2K kits I have built and currently run on the layout, the broken details are not a big issue.

Guy

[doctorwayne]

As promised, a couple of ways to avoid, or at least lessen, damage to your rolling stock.

After joining this particular thread, it occurred to me that many of my re-worked cars weren't all that well protected when stored.  I had done some of them but when I took a closer look, I found that a lot of my tank cars were loose in their respective boxes.  While they're usually on the shelves under the layout if they're not being used. there's little chance that they'll be damaged. 
However, if I decided to visit a friend and want to bring along some rolling stock, they needed to be better protected.  I'm not talking about "protected" in a car accident or even if they slid off the back seat when I hit the brakes, but simply keeping them from sliding around with their boxes.

Here are some tankcars that needed a little better in-box protection...

The foam additions are mostly from the foam used for packaged locomotives.  I never put a re-detailed locomotive back in its original box, but did save the foam inserts.  This evening, I cut-up a bunch of it and used some carpenter's glue to affix the foam to one side of each box...

 

...and a closer view of one...

The car cannot slide around in the box, as shown, but with the lid placed on the box, the foam will be compressed a little more.  If I then pick up the box and shake it, the car cannot slide around within the box.

If you have reefers with open hatches, acting as ventilators, the hatches can be damage, or even broken completely-off if the car can slide around inside the box.  Fortunately, a hunk of foam, glued into the box, will keep it from sliding around inside the box...

I think that I've shown the photo below earlier, but this illustrates one way to store items that are normally used together.  The homemade box keeps the paired cars together and upright, so most of the loose details stay where they were placed...

To make it easy to remove the cars, (or place them back in their box), I made each box with a side which can be folded down to allow easy access when picking up the paired items or when returning them to storage...

None of this is at all complicated, but I do find that it can help to keep things in decent condition.

Wayne

[dieselsmoke]

Check Walthers website for parts. Tichy has a spue of tank car parts that might help.

Jim