Duluth, South Shore And Altantic Box Car

I have added another freight car to my fleet, the build this time a Duluth, South Shore And Atlantic Box Car, DSS&A 17077, series 17000 to 17099, built in 1940  by Pullman-Standard.  The car is 10’ 6” in height with 5/5 square-corner ends.  Resin Car Works (RCW) offered this kit, 3.02, and one for the Soo Line which also owned cars with this design.  Photos for the build are in the “Prototype Data and Modeling Notes” provided in the kit.  I call this a composite kit rather than a resin kit as the kit contents include an InterMountain 1937 AAR plastic body with false ends, resin ends, and other plastic and resin parts.  If you think you may have previously read some of the details that follow for the build of DSS&A 17077, it may be the case, as I built the Soo Line Car kit and described the build with photos on the RCW blog.




Click or tap on photos to enlarge

I begin each build by assembling the car body box, made up of the sides and ends, if needed and fit the roof and under-frame.  This kit contains an InterMountain molded car body box with sides and false ends. Therefore, I began the build by installing the under-frame. I continued the build by fitting the InterMountain car body box with the supplied Red Caboose roof rather than the InterMountain roof, also in the kit.  To accomplish this task, you have to cut a notch out of each body false end  to fit the Red Caboose roof.  I cut the notch with a fine toothed saw blade mounted in a Dremel tool and fitted the roof; however, I did not glue it yet.  Next, I installed the resin square-corner ends over the false ends making sure to align the top with the roof eaves and the bottom with the couple pads on the under-frame.  I now went back to the under-frame to install Accurail trucks with InterMountain 33” metal wheels and Kadee #262 coupler boxes with Kadee #148 “whisker” couplers. Finally, I removed the roof, added weight to bring the car weight to 3.8 oz., reinstalled and glued the roof in place. The car body was now ready for adding detail.

I began the detail of the car body by installing the side ladders followed by the end ladders. I install the side ladders first as the end ladder rungs should line up with those on the sides or be within 2 inches as on the prototype.  Once I have the end ladders installed I proceed with the remaining "B" end details. In this kit build, I replaced many of the plastic parts in the kit. On the "B" these included, the brake step, a Plano Model Products,#11322, a Cal-Scale bell crank, set 190-283, Precision Scale retainer valve, #31796, retainer line made with Tichy Train Group (Tichy), #1100, .008" dia. phosphor bronze wire (PBW), chain from brake housing, A-Line, #29219, black 40 links per inch attached to the brake rod made from Tichy, #1102, .015" dia. PBW attached to the bell crank with a Tichy, #8021 turnbuckle, bracket grab iron is a Kadee, #2250 and the sill grab irons are fabricated from Tichy #1106, .0125" dia. PBW. Uncoupling levers are fabricated from Tichy, #1106, .0125" PBW.  The fine looking Klasing etched brake wheel and cast housing provided in the kit are produced by True Line Trains.

Following the "B" end I add the details on the sides and the "A" end.  Again I replaced kit parts as follows: bracket grab irons, Kadee, #2250, sill steps, A-Line, style C, #29002, and door handles are made from Detail Associate .010" dia. brass wire. Placard board fasteners were made with MEK Goop (plastic melted in MEK).

Next I proceeded with the roof details. The plastic longitudinal running board in the kit was installed with Testors plastic cement in a tube after the latitudinal running boards were cut-off. The brackets for the latitudinal running boards were fabricated from Detail Associates, #2254, .010x.030" brass flat bar and glued to the resin cast replacement latitudinal running boards provided in the kit and installed.  The roof grabs irons were bent from Tichy, #1100, .010" dia. PBW and use Yarmouth Model Works, YMW 355, eyebolts for corner brackets.  The longitudinal running board extension brackets (supports)  are made from Evergreen, #8102, 1x2" strip styrene.

With the car body finished, I proceeded to complete the underbody details.  Again as on the car body, I used parts not in the kit: air reservoir is a resin part in kit; however, mounting brackets made using plastic sill steps cut-off other plastic cars and ears cut-off Kadee coupler pockets, brake cylinder and piston, Tichy, #set 3013, brake cylinder bracket is from a Sunshine Models kit, brake levers are made using Evergreen, #8108, 1x8" and #8106, 1x6" strip styrene, brake lever hangers, Tichy,#1106, .0125" dia. PBW, brake piping, Ticy, ##1101, .010" dia. PBW from air reservoir to control valve and Tichy, #1106, .0125" dia. PBW from the brake cylinder to the control valve.  All brake rods are Tichy, #1106, .0125" dia. PBW with clevises made from half a Tichy, #8021, turnbuckle. The chain again is A-Line, #29219, black 40 links per inch.

Once underbody work was complete, I moved the car to the paint shop.  First, the car was washed with a cotton makeup swab dipped in isopropyl 91% alcohol to get rid of any grime picked up during the assembly work.  When dry, the underbody was sprayed Vallejo Model Air Dark Grey Blue, #71.054 (Tarnished Black).  Car body sides were taped with 3M blue painter's tape to avoid overspray from the ends, I sprayed Polly Scale, #F414290, Engine Black.  After ends dried, they were taped with Tamyia and 3M blue painter's tape to protect the black ends from the Vallejo Model Color mix: Black Red, #70.859, 2 parts and Flat yellow, #70.953, I used to spray the sides and roof. Again when dry, I sprayed the  car body with Model Master, #4638, Gloss Clear Acryl, for a decal base.  Decals provided in the kit were applied with Micoscale Set and Sol.  After decals were left to dry overnight, I sprayed the car body with Model Master, 4636, Flat Clear acryl to protect the decals.

The car went into service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company after leaving the paint shop.  The car joined DSS&A box car 10765, an Athearn box car, painted by Bev-Bel, issued by the Soo Line Historical and Technical Society in 1982. I have reworked the Athearn car adding some of the details added on the RCW 17077box car.

Thank You for taking time to read my blog.  You can share a comment in the section below if you choose to do so.  Please share the blog link with other model railroaders.
Lester Breuer

Illinois Central Box Car Upgrade

The Illinois Central Box Car, IC 16203, an Accurail-5th Avenue Car Shops kit, has been in service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company since 2003. My box car is a stand-in for an IC box car renumbered into series 16000 to 16975 in 1941. A photo of a car in this series is in Steam Era Freight Cars Reference Manual, Volume 1, p. 74. I used this photo as a guide to upgrade this car beyond the wire grab irons I installed in 2003.

 In 2003 I carved-off molded on grab irons and replaced them with Detail Associates, #2504, .012” diameter brass wire. Now I continued the current upgrade on the car sides. I carved off the ladder rungs leaving only the ladder stiles. New ladder rungs were fabricated from Tichy Train Group (Tichy), #1106, .0125” diameter phosphor bronze wire (PBW) and installed. Molded on plastic sill steps were cut-off and replaced with A-Line, #29000, style A, metal sill steps. A lower door guide was made using Evergreen, #8102, 1x2” strip styrene and scrap styrene for the door guide supports. On the doors, the door handles were carved off and replaced with ones bent from Detail Associates, #2503, .010” dia. brass wire. Door stops on the model were carved off as they did not exist on the prototype. The final details added were the tow loops on the sill bent from Detail Associates, #2503, .010” dia. brass wire, with Xuron wire bending pliers.

Click or tap on this and other photos to enlarge

With the sides upgraded, I continued with the roof. I removed the running boards; however, I did not replace them. Instead, I milled them to .020”, to bring them to prototype thickness, using the method Dennis Storzek described in the April 1982 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman and reinstalled them.

Next I upgraded the underbody, which had only the brake components installed in 2003. Brake levers made from Evergreen, #8108 and #8106 strip styrene, were installed. I added the piping from the control valve to the air reservoir using Detail Associates, #2503, .010” dia. brass wire. The pipe from the back of the brake cylinder and all brake rodding was made using Tichy, #1106, .0125” dia. PBW. Clevises on the brake rods are Tichy, #8201, turnbuckles or ones I made using MEK goop (plastic melted in MEK). Chain between the brake cylinder lever and the brake rod is A-Line, #29219, 40 links per inch. Maybe a train line and dirt collector in a future upgrade? Trucks on the car are Accurail ARA cast steel with spring plank with InterMountain 33” metals wheel added.

Since the car had nice lettering and factory paint, the upgraded parts need to be painted to match the existing paint. On the car body, I was able to do that with Vallejo Model Color using a mix of two parts Black Red, 70.859, and one part Flat Yellow, 70.953. On the underbody I used Vallejo Black Grey, 70.862. The trucks were brush painted in 2003 with a Floquil mix: four parts Grimy Black, one part Reefer White, and one part Rust. I did all the painting using a brush. The car was weathered with Pan Pastels and a few chalk marks were added with a white Prismacolor pencil, PC938.

Car is waiting pickup on Milwaukee Interchange

After the car upgrade, the car is back in service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company. Currently, it is an acceptable stand-in because the ends are 4 and 4 rather than the three and five corrugations as the prototype had. If I find ends with the correct corrugations I will finally complete this upgrade.


Thank You for taking time to read my blog. You can share a comment in the section below if you choose to do so. Please share the blog link with other model railroaders.
Lester Breuer

Fruit Growers Express Refrigerator 46244

I have built Westerfield Models Fruit Growers Express Company, F.G.E.X., R7-class ventilated refrigerator, kit 11661.  I wanted to add this car to my freight car fleet because of the Warren truss design and Hutchins Dry Lading Roof features. The kit instructions have a history of these cars built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, PRR, in their Altoona Shops or for the PRR by American Car & Foundry and later leased to F.G.E.X. and placed into the 43500-46350 car series.  Patrick C. Wider has a very complete article with excellent photos in Railway Prototype Cyclopedia, Vol. 15 on these cars.  After reading the Wider article and reviewing the article photos I decided to number the car 46244, in F.G.E.X. 45645 to 46270 series, built by AC&F in December 1913 to January 1914.  I used a nice photo of F.G.E.X. 46232, which appears on page 75 and a “B” end photo on page 71, in the Wider article, as a guide to build this car.

I began the build of this one piece body kit by installing the roof and fitting the floor.  To the roof, I attached the running board with barge cement.  I continued the build installing the kit coupler boxes with Kadee No. 146 long shank couplers installed.  Since I have my railroad set in spring 1955 and F.G.E.X. reefers had original trucks replaced in later years, I used Accurail ARA cast steel with spring plank trucks with a modified spring assembly and with InterMountain 33” metal wheels.  These trucks may be replaced later with Bowser trucks based on suggestions I received on STMFC website from Andrew Dahm, Ben Hom and Dave Parker.

Next I began work on the “B” end.   I installed the running board brackets fabricated from .005” strip brass stock.  I added the brackets to the “A” end as well.  I attached Tichy Train Group (Tichy) brake step from set #3013 after cutting a small notch for the retainer line.  Brake step supports are made from Evergreen, #8102, 1x2” strip styrene.  I added the retainer line made using Tichy, #1100, .008” dia. phosphor bronze wire with brackets made with MEK goop (scrap plastic melted in MEK).  A brake shaft step was made with A-Line, #29000, sill step.  Now I could add the brake shaft, Detail Associates, #2505, .015” dia. brass wire with a Kadee, No.440, 18” brake wheel installed.  Next, I installed all grab irons on this end and “A” end.  Finally, Yarmouth Model Works, YMW #400, Carmer etched brass uncoupling levers were installed.

Click or tap on photos to enlarge

I now turned to details on sides starting with the ladders.  I did not want to use or assemble the fragile resin cast ladders so I replaced them with Branchline Trains BluePrint parts, #100015 box car details set (no longer available).  These ladders matched the rung spacing  on the resin ladders perfectly.  I cut the seven rung ladders off to have six rung ladders for the sides and five rung ladders for the ends.  If I had not had these Branchline Trains ladders in my parts box, I would have used Yarmouth Model Works metal ladders which can be purchased with this rung spacing.  With ladders installed on sides and ends, I installed the A-Line, #29000, style A, sill steps.  The sill step hanging brackets portion were made with Evergreen .005” strip styrene with rivets added using a RB Productions rivet tool.  Next, I installed the grab irons.  A second grab iron was added on the left end of the side along with nut-bolt-washer castings.  Fascia letter boards and the jacking pads were installed to finish the sides.

I returned to the roof to add the remaining details.  I added the ice hatches followed by the roof grab irons.  The corner brackets for the grab irons are Yarmouth Model Works, YMW 355, eyebolts.  Now I fabricated the ice hatch rests using .005" brass for the base and Evergreen strip styrene for the vertical portion with the notch.  Bill Welch provided photo help as did his article in Prototype Railroad Modeling, Vol. 1, published by Speedwitch Media in 2005.  I only had the underbody work left to finish the car.

I did not begin the underbody by gluing the sill flanges in place first as the instructions state.  I saved the flanges for my last step as I felt it was easier to complete all the other underbody work before doing so.  I began the underbody detailing by installing the kit supplied brake components.  The mounting brackets for the air reservoir are plastic sill steps, from the scrap box, cut-off cars that had A-Line sill steps installed. Piping from air reservoir to control valve is Tichy, #1101, .010” dia. phosphor bronze wire (PBW) and the pipe from brake cylinder is Tichy, #1106, .0125” dia. PBW as is all the roddding.   The clevises on the rodding were made with MEK goop.  The chain is A-Line, #29219, black forty links per inch.  I also added a dirt collector from Tichy, set #3013. Next, kit provided drains were installed.  Finally, the sill flanges were glued in place.  I want to thank Bruce F. Smith for providing a drawing of the PRR AB brake system that replaced the original K system allowing a correct and easier brake system install.  In addition, I want to thank Rich Orr, Dennis Storzek and Ted Culotta for providing information helping me with the underbody details.

Now the completed car was moved to the paint shop. The four color paint job was more difficult and took more time due to the taping required. The underbody was sprayed Vallejo black grey (tarnished black), 70.862, the sides Vallejo golden yellow, 70.948, the ends brown RLM 26, 71105, and roof Vallejo aluminum, 71.062.  Once all paint was dry a Model Master Gloss Clear Acryl, 4638, was applied for decal base.  Decals supplied in the kit were applied with MicroScale Set and Sol using above mentioned photos.  Once decals were dry, car body was sprayed with Model Master Flat Clear Acryl, 4636, to protect decals and paint.

Thank You for taking time to read my blog.  You can share a comment in the section below if you choose to do so.  Please share the blog link with other model railroaders.

Lester Breuer