Rehabilitating Rolling Stock
D&RGW #3549
January 22, 2024
Lately I have been running across some low cost Sn3 rolling stock, at swap meets.. The D&RGW boxcar shown below was picked up for $5 at a local swap meet. Fixing it up, with the exception of finding a coupler and adding weight, amounted to replacing a brake wheel, two stirrup steps and touching up the paint. It came equipped with P-B-L trucks and metal wheel sets.
Finding one replacement coupler turned out to be a challenge. The brass coupler box was on the car and the coupler cover plate was in the box. There was a loose Kadee #5 in the box too but there was no way it was going to work. The coupler box was designed for a discontinued Kadee #4.
I finally found the #4 couplers at another swap meet leaving only the challenge of adding some weight; the car weighed about 2 ounces. Adding another ounce and a half weight involved removing one of the doors, cutting a hole in the side, adding the weight and replacing the door. The paint was then touched up with Floquil box car red, weathered with Bragdon powdered pigments and finished off with a light coat of Tamiya flat. The total cost for getting the car in service for the RGS 1st District was less than $10. The job took about 2 hours and #3549 turned out to be a pretty nice addition to the roster.
D&RGW #164
Long reefer #164 was a $4 find at a local swap meet. It was included with RGS stock car #7409 shown in the November 22, 2023 post. The total cost for both cars was $9.
The narrow gauge "long" reefers were added to the roster starting in 1924 when twelve cars were built. By 1930 there were 20. These Alamosa built cars were 40' long and built large enough to take a minimum standard gauge car load. Most of the perishables shipped in these cars had to be transferred to or from a standard gauge car to reach their destinations.
After I had finished up the #3549, I decided to take a second look at the #164. The roof was a mess. The roof walk was partially gone, one of the ice bunker hatches was missing and several of the roof battens were loose or missing. The brake detail was gone off the end and a couple of the stirrup steps were also broken. The trucks appeared to be Athearn HO-Scale Archbars with narrowed plastic wheel-sets. The car was built using a combination of wood, styrene and commercial cast metal and injection molded plastic detail parts. This apparently scratch built, or possibly kit built, car had definitely seen better days.
I started work on the car by removing most of the detail from the roof.
The original roof walk was styrene. After replacing a couple walkway supports, the old styrene roof walk was replaced with scale lumber. Several roof battens were repaired or replaced with styrene.
The paint was then touched up and new Grandt Line bunkers were glued to the roof along with the replacement stirrup steps. These Grandt Line parts came from a large "lot" of parts I purchased on ebay.
Unfortunately, with the exception of a brake wheel, I didn't have the parts on hand to replace the end brake detail. Since I didn't think the car was worth the $8 for the parts, plus shipping, I decided to try fabricating the relatively difficult to see parts. The roof was painted by hand with craft paints and weathered with Bragdon powdered pigments.
The replacement trucks came from my parts box. I think #164 turned out OK for what I would consider a "basket case". For some reason, while I don't like to build rolling stock kits, I find fixing up an "old school" car like this enjoyable. I don't think these cars saw much service on the RGS.
Flex Track - When it Rains, it Pours
January 24, 2023
The availability of Sn3 flex track has been a problem for some time. I was so desperate for some Code 70 flex back in December that I bought about 35 feet of used track on ebay. Since then, I purchased about 100 more feet of new flex, more than enough to finish the 1st District, from a local modeler who is changing scales. Then, a week or so ago, while at the Great American Train Show, I came across another 3 bundles (18 3' sections) for $4 a section. At half the going price, I couldn't walk away from that good of deal!
As a result, the yard tracks in Ridgway got finished.
A new Spur for Wilson
January 26, 2024
As mentioned in a previous post, Wilson was located six miles south of Placerville. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I have not found any pictures of Wilson. The lack of available photographs gave me the latitude to locate the section house and speed/coal shed next to the right of way east of the San Miguel River when the layout was originally planned. Recently, in order to add operational interest, I decided to add a spur on the west side of the river. I think the bridge crossing the river to FUDD's will double for both vehicles and trains.
Getting Organized
Lately I've been using a lot of craft paints. They are inexpensive, about $1.25 a 2oz bottle and I use them for just about everything with the exception of painting locomotives and rolling stock. I buy them online from Hobby Lobby. I purchased the paint rack on Amazon. It cost less than $20. The revolving scale lumber rack came from Fast Tracks. It cost $65. One rack will hold all of the most useful sizes. The larger sizes, used primarily for bridges and trestles I still keep bundled with a rubber band. I'm thinking about buying a second rack, cutting down the length of the clear plastic tubes, and using it to hold styrene.
Finally, I'm working on a video layout tour to post on YouTube. Once it is finished and posted, I will provide the link.
As always, your comments, suggestions & questions are welcome
