For rolling stock, my present fleet consists of about 30 Micro Trains boxcars, 1 Nelson Gray Nn3 convention boxcar, 3 MT flats, 2 scratchbuilt flats, 4 MT gondolas, 2 Marcus Myer gondolas, 2 RLW stockcars, this one is the etched brass version, 1 RLW caboose/combine, 4 Roundhouse Overton passenger cars, 1 scratchbuilt MOW car, 1 scratchbuilt ditcher, 1 Overland Models brass ditcher, 1 C&S bobber caboose, 2 MT long cabeese, 1 scratchbuilt short caboose and about three dozen unassembled kits that might see completion in my lifetime.
The C&S bobber caboose has been a fun project, especially since I am going to "Rio Grande-ize" it. I didn't like the cast metal underframe that came with the kit, so I decided to make my own. I scratchbuilt a pattern for it and made a two piece mold for the frame, steps and decking. I cast the leaf spring truck pieces seperately using a one piece mold. I left four sections out of the outer two frame members when I built the masters. These "missing" sections were glued to the back of the truck casting and ,when you assemble them, act as 'keys' to make sure everything is properly located so the caboose will track straight and not derail. Since the original underframe was made of white metal and mine is resin, I needed some extra weight. I used two 1/4-20 nuts and acc'd them into place. The whole caboose now weighs the same as a standard Micro Trains Nn3 boxcar. I wanted the caboose to have the right look, you know, all of the brake hardware hanging beneath its belly, but I didn't want it to be too fragile. I ended up making a brake setup that looks correct, but is fairly durable, from styrene bits and pieces. From the side view, it has the right look to it and the brake hardware is quite visible. I airbrushed the whole caboose and frame with Floquil boxcar red and added some Micro-Gloss from Microscale to the areas that will get the decals. I used the decals for caboose 0527, which was a four wheel caboose later converted to an eight wheel. The side decals don't quite have that 'thick' look to the lettering, but this caboose is shorter than the actual D&RG 0527 and this decal is the only one that I had that'd fit. I also stuck the 0527 decal under the roof end, above the door. Once the details are added, a coat or two of Dullcoat will kill that gloss under the decals. You can see all of the #80 holes in the body, these are for the black iron grabs that will be formed from .009 music wire. Using this wire keeps the grabs from deforming when the car is handled.
Here's a tip for you guys that wouldn't dare set a Micro Trains car on the track without first adding all of the detail of the real deal. (I'm not one of those guys!) You can add a fair amount of realism (and add to the 'narrow gauge look') to the car by adding decent queen posts and truss rods. I used Grandt Line HOn3 short queen posts and just filed the base down a bit to get them to line up correctly. I used Berkshire Junction's small black E Z Line for the truss rods. This stuff is great because you can't end up with truss rods that bow up, like the wire ones do after some of your O scale friends handle the car. This stuff just springs back! This is a Micro Trains caboose with the queenposts and truss rods added, and the belly shot......this shows what happens when you push down on the rods.....and let up on them. Nothing bent, nothing broken, and the O scaler never knew they were even there!!! This tip works equally well on the boxcars and is a real step up in the looks department since they don't come equipped with truss rods of any sort.
The MicroTrains boxcars are my main "runners" as far as freight being hauled right now. Most of these are for roads other than the D&RGW, but my fictional version interchanges with many narrow gauge roads including a non-continental U.S. road.(That boxcar was left in San Jose, anyone endup with about 6 extra boxcars?) Some of the MT boxcars are slated to be repainted and have new decals added to bring them up to D&RGW standards. If you don't like all of your boxcar doors closed, you can open them up using some Evergreen 2020 N scale car siding and a No. 11 Exacto blade to open a few up like this one.
This is SJX boxcar 205. This boxcar was issued at the 2000 Nn3 National Convention in San Jose, California. Tom Knapp built these cars from Nelson Gray shells, RLW underframes, and decals from Rick Blanchard. I painted the underframe, added trucks, couplers and a brake wheel, and some light weathering.
M.O.W. rolling stock strikes a real chord with me. I like to see this old dilapidated equipment on haul out to an area of track in worse shape than the equipment used to repair it. This is what's left of the D&RGW's first ditcher. Years of neglect in the yard has taken quite a toll on it. The fact that the main wrench in the shop keeps robbing parts from it to repair everything else hasn't helped out any. I built this one back in 1985, knowing that it'd be a while before the D&RGW could afford a new one. Alot of watch gears fell off of it and alot of years past, and along came ditcher OX. It's so new, it hasn't even had time to rust. One of these days, I'll add some dirt and rust to that shiny paint. When the train rolls out to fix a problem, you can bet this car will be in the mix. It holds one of just about everything. Everything that hasn't fallen through the floorboards, anyway. Following up the work car is usually caboose 0013. This unlucky caboose was built in the shops in 1983 using scale lumber. It's a board by board caboose patterned after the D&RGW short caboose series. By 1987 it had some etched end rails added, and around 1990 it finally got some trucks. It still lacks the needle beams, queenposts, truss rods, and some window panes in the cupola. Here's a shot with the roof removed. Here's how she normally looks, and here's a shot of the interior.
Home Locomotives Rolling Stock Trackwork Structures Scenery New Layout Prototype Photos Interchange Track
