I have not been around for ages but not been idle on the model front, a reefer and box car completed and now work in progress on this one. The original plan was to put together a center drop heavy braced car but while looking on the net for some ideas I came across the D&RGW drop bottom cars and thought then to build a car to my own design based on this car.
First job was to modify the Bachmann chassis as was too wide to allow for the doors to open so the razor saw took off the outer sections and the truss rods moved inwards,the floor was to be raised also which meant all the brake gear and so on was left in mid air so the space taken up with styrene rod,,drop door stops would have to go on later. Once the chassis work was done I felt the center flat section of the floor was still too wide so I came up with an apex floor section to aid unloading when the doors are dropped and a cross section across the center of the car as the doors would be at each end. The body is in two sections with the board joint in the center of the car as the styrene sheet was not long enough for the whole side and I didn`t want the join at one end.
The door mechanism using brass rod and chain and the ratchet handles made up from strip and rod,
Jobs still to do, steps, brake wheel assembly, finish off the end beams(D&RG cars had flat ends)cut bars, some more extra uprights to strengthen the frame, more nuts bolts and rivets to go on in a couple of places as some small details need bolting on, some more board gaps on the worn out body and of course paint and lettering !!!! A few pics of the car so far.
First job was to modify the Bachmann chassis as was too wide to allow for the doors to open so the razor saw took off the outer sections and the truss rods moved inwards,the floor was to be raised also which meant all the brake gear and so on was left in mid air so the space taken up with styrene rod,,drop door stops would have to go on later. Once the chassis work was done I felt the center flat section of the floor was still too wide so I came up with an apex floor section to aid unloading when the doors are dropped and a cross section across the center of the car as the doors would be at each end. The body is in two sections with the board joint in the center of the car as the styrene sheet was not long enough for the whole side and I didn`t want the join at one end.
The door mechanism using brass rod and chain and the ratchet handles made up from strip and rod,
Jobs still to do, steps, brake wheel assembly, finish off the end beams(D&RG cars had flat ends)cut bars, some more extra uprights to strengthen the frame, more nuts bolts and rivets to go on in a couple of places as some small details need bolting on, some more board gaps on the worn out body and of course paint and lettering !!!! A few pics of the car so far.
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