This weeks freight car is another ACF 3 bay hopper. It is from Accurate Finishings Inc. Actually I thought the car itself was from again, Front Range Products, as it was the same as last weeks cars and it had their stampings on the car. I figured Accurate Finishings was like Bev Bel from the late 70’s, early 80’s. Bev Bel would buy undecorated Athearn cars and do limited runs with them.

Started doing a little research so as to give you a little background. Wow, what a rabbit hole that was. Tried googling Acccurate Finishings and all I got back were old kits for sale. Either online stores or Ebay. Tried it again with the mailing address and that where it got confusing and interesting.

With the mailing address I got two things. First was some patent application numbers/dates. The second thing that popped up was Accurail. Thought that it was kind of weird and then I noticed that the mailing addresses were the same. Further research turned up that after Front Range Products went under, Accurail bought a bunch of their molds.

Without contacting Accurail I not sure of the actual connection between Accurate Finishings and Accurail. But, I’m going to go with Accurate Finishings being a division of Accurail doing limited runs of cars and it didn’t work out.

The car itself is just like the cars I talked about last week except that the weight for the car was now a one piece stamped steel plate instead of two smaller ones. With the new one piece weight the car came in at exactly 4 1/2 oz as recommended by the NMRA RP-20.1 weight standard.

The only problem with the kit was the trucks were warped. Not sure if they originally came like this or they warped over time. Fortunately I had a pair of 100 ton trucks on hand to replace them with. Additionally, the supplied scale couplers had to go.

The models info.

And the finished car.

If interested, there are a lot of Accurate Finishing cars available. On Ebay there were quite a few different hoppers for smaller roads, private industries and grain Co-ops. Also there are some box cars for again, smaller roads and industries.

Thanks for following along. I’ll see you next week.

Happy Railroading…

This week we have not one but twelve cars. They are Front Range Products ACF 3 bay Grain Cars. Front Range Products were around in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Their demise is something of scandal, but their products had some of the nicest detail at the time.

A side note. Most of the Front Range cars that I have are “inherited”. I was working with a guy back in the early 90’s who was “in search of a hobby”. After talking to me and another coworker about model railroading he thought it might be for him. Doing some research he decided on the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range. He bought a bunch of engines and cars. I helped him finish off some space in his basement for a small layout and work bench.

One day he walks up to me and tells me he’s getting out of the hobby. It’s just not for him. He was able to return some of the stuff to the LHS. Sold some of it off. And he gave me a bunch for helping him out. Thus, “inherited”.

Anyways, I pulled one of the boxes out from the “to be built” shelf. It was a Southern grain car. No Instructions in the box. Although the only thing I really needed to know was the correct placement of the triple valve and the brake actuator. Remembering that I had seen some more FRP cars down in the “completed” section (I keep the cars grouped pretty much by manufacturer) I went and looked. Turns out there were a dozen cars there. Going through the boxes I found that they were in various stages of disarray. A couple were not assembled, some were OK and others had various things broken off.

And so the construction and repair began. FRP used pins to hold the trucks on. My friend used super glue to hold the friction pins in place. Most were either too tight or not tight enough. He also used super glue to secure the draft gear boxes. Some of the couplers were glued in place.  I assembled the cars that weren’t put together, the one Southern car, a Chicago & Northwestern car and a CanCarb car. On these I tapped out the truck mounting hole and used 2-56 screws to hold them in place. The draft gear boxes I went with the friction fit covers and if they were a bit loose I used canopy glue on them. Canopy glue is great, it’s tacky and sets fast, dries clear and you can remove the part without damage if you need to.

The rest were handled on a case by case basis. All had the truck pins removed (ie. broken off) and then I drilled and tapped the hole and mounted the trucks with screws. The couplers that were free moving I left alone at this time. The ones that were frozen (glued) in place or didn’t move freely were handled like the trucks. I broke the cover off and then drilled and tapped for a screw.

As it turned out, the Southern car was one of a six car set. Each had it’s own separate reporting number. There was one car I tossed. The weights inside had come loose and he had glued the car together. So no fixing it. It was also missing a bunch of parts. So rather than having it sit around, away it went.

And I present to you the cars…

And that’s not all…

Rather than a separate post, I’ll just include them here. I came across another bunch of center beams. It’s a three car set from Walthers. Same as the others, I added a load and secured it using thread to simulate cabling holding the load in place. Because the cars were a lighter paint color, I painted the spool of the ratchet black so that it looks like more cabling is wrapped around it. The single thread stood out as just that, a single thread stuck to the side of the spool. It looks pretty good painted.

Have a great weekend, I’ll see you next week. Till then…

This weeks freight car Friday is a bit late, sorry, small family emergency.

This week I have a Con-Cor PS-2 covered hopper from 1989. Grabbed it off of the shelf thinking it would be one of those quick builds. Turns out back in the 1980’s the cars had pin mounted trucks with the coupler as part of the truck. It’s my understanding that these cars were originally from AHM and that Con-Cor had bought the molds.

Didn’t want truck mounted couplers and the trucks themselves were horribly out of scale.

The first step was to drill out the pin hole and put in a new styrene post. Once the glue had hardened I made a spacer out of .060 sheet styrene. This gave me the correct height for the thickness of the new trucks to be mounted.

It was then just a matter of cutting off the excess post.

I then drilled out the post and tapped it for the 2-56 screw. In the photo you can see the shim for the coupler mount. The styrene for the shim was included in the kit. Con-Cor had not yet started to change over the kits to body mounted couplers. They did offer very basic instructions for mounting Kadee #5 couplers and boxes. In the instructions they wanted you to cut off the coupler mounting portion of the truck. That would have made an ugly truck just that much more ugly. That’s why I replaced them.

Adding the coupler mounting draft gear (the box the coupler goes into) was very easy. The shim was the proper height so it was just a matter of drilling a hole and then tapping it for the mounting screw. Once mounted I gave it a quick coat of Green Zinc Chromate paint as it was the closest to BN green that I had.

After that it was ading the trucks along with 1 1/4 ounces of weight to get it to NMRA standards.

Con-Cor is still selling HO scale cars, however the PS-2 hopper are not currently something they offer. And the couplers are now body mounted. It really is a rather nice basic car and will be a nice addition to the road.

Thanks for stopping by and we’ll see you next week. Stay safe and Happy Railroading…

In a couple week, something of a marathon session I have gotten all painted intemodal cars decaled. The process got off to a slow start as I tried to figure out how to keep track and apply so many different, small decals to each car. With the first unit it was locating and identifying each small decal on the sheet. Then cutting out and applying the decal. Time consuming and tedious. Plus I had to use a magnifying lens to read most of the decals.

After doing only one side of one car I figured there had to be a better way. My solution was to grid off a sheet of paper. Then each square was labeled with each decals text, large enough to read.

Once this was done I then selected the needed decals for the car side I was working on and laid them out as they would go on the car. This sped up the process greatly. I would do a side, hit them with Solvaset and while they dried lay out the decals for the other side. With this method I was able to get a couple cars done in an evening.

Side note, the decals are from Proto Power West / A-line and I bought them at the same time as the cars. For their age I had very few problems. I had considered buying new except that PPW/Aline was only selling off what they had left and I figured what they had left might be as old as what I was using.

After each car was decaled it then moved to the paint booth for a coat of Dullcoat.

The first problem…

One thing that did slow me down for a night was that I found one of the SeaLand mid unit cars was missing the brake piping along the side. I had to add the brake piping, piping protectors and then paint that side of the car. After letting it dry for a day it was then ready for decals.

After the cars were all Dullcoated it was time to add the wheel sets. The wheel sets on the ends of the 5 unit set are 33″. The wheel sets on the shared bolsters are 36″. I had use a  spacer washer on the 33″ trucks to get the cars to set level.

And then the second problem…

As part of the construction process I ran a drill through all the holes in the metal parts that act as bolsters or car connectors. I then tapped any hole that would be receiving a screw. And that was working perfectly till I was screwing on the last (why is it always the last) truck. The screw got stuck. I could not screw it in and when I tried to back it out it broke off. I removed the bolster from the car with the thought that I would try and grab the screw with a pliers and turn it out. There wasn’t enough to grab onto. My thought then was to drill it out. The problem there is that the screw is harder metal then the bolster.

The bolster was toast. So I built a new one out of styrene. And I believe that it turned out rather well. For your consideration.

Anyways, the Sealand cars:

And the BN Gunderson set:

And finally the Thrall well cars:

I still have the set to be painted, but I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment getting these done after all these years.

Maybe next time I’ll have the last set done. Till then, take care…

About a week ago, I was contacted by a gentleman who was building a Quality Craft Model of the GATX #96500 whale belly tank car. He was having trouble deciphering the drawings/instructions for mounting the bolsters to the tank. He asked for some pictures of the bolsters. I have tried emailing these to him but have had the emails returned.

So, Danny, if you stop by again here are the photos that you requested. I will try again to email them to you also.

And to everyone else. If you have questions, need clarification, additional photos or my opinion on something, I”l be happy to help you out.

Till later…

This edition of freight car Friday was two weeks in the making, so I apologize about missing last week. Things kind of piled up on me and I ran short of time. That, and this weeks car was not a casual 1 night project.

This week I present to you – a Custom Rail 89′  C&NW Bi-Level Auto Rack, part #4382. There was no notation of which year this was made and a quick check of the “Google” did not reveal anything. In fact I came up with very little info other than it represents a early 80’s auto rack. And they did not seem to be very well received. In fact the quote I came across in a review was as follows: “The Custom Rail cars were based on the old Custom Rail 89′ flat car which the whole kit was not all that user friendly to build and in all my travels I’ve seen few assembled examples so they didn’t seem to go over well.”

Wow.

Had I read that before starting the kit it may still be sitting on the shelf waiting to be built. And, that description was rather accurate in retrospect.

The kit could be built as just an 89′ TOFC flat. It has all the pieces for that. Or you can build it as the intended enclosed auto rack. Additionally as the individual metal panels are applied to the side frames, I believe you could probably build it as an open auto rack as well. Also, since the panels are applied separately the etched metal panels from Plano Model Works might work and give the car a far more “open” feel. In which case you could then place scale cars on the rack and be able to see them inside.

Anyways on to the model. As I said the side panels are separate from the side frames and need to be glued on.

Having done this I ran into the first”fussy” part of the build. You are to glue the second deck on to the inside of the side frame. There are very slight indentations marking where they go. In fact they are so slight that I tried to take a picture of them but they really didn’t show up. My fix, though a bit heavy handed, was to glue a strip of .100 x .100 styrene to the inside just above the indentations. And then glue the deck to the side and the styrene strip.

This was not at all noticeable from the outside.

Next was the base deck of the flat car. The basic assembly is pretty straight forward. There is a stamped flat sheet weight that is glued on to the bottom (it was painted TTX yellow to match the underside) with the center sill glued on over it. The brake equipment is glued into place, although the is no marked location, you just work from the diagram as to where they should be.

The swing couplers are the big hang up. Things are kept pretty tight for prototypical appearances. Meaning that there is a very narrow cutout at the end of the car for coupler movement. Having doubts, I did a basic assembly to make sure there was enough swing for my 30″ radius  curves. That is how little swing there is. They worked though I’m not sure how much smaller a radius curve they would work on without modifying the underside of the car. Also, I did quite a bit of sanding/filing to get things to move freely, so that they could get around the curves.

The finished basic flat.

Then it was time to mount the enclosure to the flat. There are only the base of the upright supports that make contact with the deck. Additionally these are close to scale thickness, so the contact surface is very small. It took time and patience as you worked you way down one side then the other.

One side note, I did not install the outside break levers to the side. The diagrams did not match anything on the parts sprues and nothing looked like what was on the Walthers model that I had on hand. So better then throwing something on that looked funny, I left it off.

Then it was time for decals. The decals were made by Microscale. However, the instructions are so poor and blurry that placement was totally unreadable. Luckily I had a Walthers C&NW car that I used for reference.

I needed to add 1 1 /4 ounces to weight to the car and it received Kadee couplers. Metal wheels will have to wait till I can round up 28″ wheels.

It was a bugger to build but the finished car is nice. If you find one around I would recommend it, but know what you’re getting into.

That’s it for this week, till later…

Today for Freight Car Friday I assembled a Walther’s Single Bay Airslide Hopper #932-4611. The kit is from 1990.

I like these cars as the little Airslides were some of the first covered hoppers used by the railroads. The 2600 cu ft hoppers were introduced in 1953 by General American Transportation Corp. (GATX). They were used to transport dry, granular or powdered commodities.

Compared to it’s bigger brother which was last weeks freight car, this one was a far more involved build. Whereas the PD hopper from last week has basically the same look/equipment, this one has a higher piece count. Case in point would be the top loading hatches. Most of the previous kits that I have built with top loading hatches, they have everything molded together.

On this kit the top hatch consists of four pieces, the round hatch and three retaining bolts. The bolts are molded more as long pins that push between fingers on the hatch and then into a hole on top on the car. Nothing wrong with this and not a problem while assembling the kit. It just made for a more involved build. Fortunately for these aging eyes, they included extra small parts in the kit.

It also got the Kadee’s and metal wheel sets. The weight was almost spot on to the NMRA recommended practices. I only added a 1/4 ounce to bring it to weight.

Again, much like last weeks build, this one was a nice, relaxing build. Though not available from Walthers anymore, you can find them readily available on secondary markets.

Till next week, take care and stay safe..

As I left it in the Intermodal Cars post I was trying to figure out paint. To update you as to where I’m at with that, I’ve got something that will work.

I probably had not mentioned that the decals that I gotten for the cars were: SeaLand and TTX for the Gunderson Twin Stacks. And APL (American President Lines) for the Thralls. One set of the Thrall well cars are TTX yellow. And the other set is the powered set done in a red.

PPW/A-Line’s recommendation for the red for both the SeaLand and the APL powered set is a  50/50 mixture of Floquil Daylight Red and SP Scarlet. I could find neither one. Now I have paint in the shop in two places. One is in the racks on the workbench. These are colors that I use all the time. The other spot is a drawer that has paints that I bought but never had a use for. I’m sure I thought I did at one time.

Turns out in that drawer was a bottle of Pollyscale TTX yellow. It also had a bottle of Pollyscale Lehigh Valley Cornell Red. The red is awfully close to the photo colors of the Sealand well cars that I could find. It could be why I own it.

I should mention real quick. I got the grab irons that I needed for the other Thrall well car set. Went to mount them and broke the only #80 bit that I had left. Ordered more bits, so this set will wait.

As I had said before one set of the Thralls had been painted. So the Gundersons headed off for the spray booth. Gave them a coat of primer, waited 24 hours and then gave them their final color.

When they were dry they came out onto the workbench with the other well cars to await decaling.

Up next, adventures in mass decaling. Till then…

For this weeks freight car Friday I have a couple of hopper cars from Walthers.

They are models of Trinity Industries’ Power-Flo pressure differential covered hoppers. The cars are from 1994 and are models of the Trinity demo car, Walthers #932-5807 and a Grace Industries chemical car, Walthers #932-5803.

The cars are pretty straight forward. A long rectangular box makes up the core of the car and the rounded sides are added to complete the hopper portion of the car. When adding the rounded sides one does have to be careful with the glue. To much and it will show and ruin the looks of the car. The brake hardware is added to the “B” end. And then the pressure piping for loading / unloading is added to the bottom. And of course the roof walkways.

The only fussy part was adding the piping to the bottom. One set simply goes into holes on the bottom of each of the five hopper bins and there is a second pressure pipe the fits into slots in the cars side frame. Then the individual pipes are glued to the bottom of each bin (no holes or location marks) and the end is bent to match up to the other pipe. That was the one that was fussy.

Once together Kadee couplers were added as well as Intemountain metal wheel sets.

Like I said, nothing splashy or time consuming. In fact the two of them made for a nice relaxing evening.

That it for now, will see you again next week. Stay safe…