After publishing the build of Sunshine Models Soo Line W. C. “Sawtooth” Box Car 135316 on my blog, I received an email from Dennis Storzek telling me I could make the Sunshine Models, kit 78.1, car to a closer match to the prototype. How? The sill casting for the brake shaft could be changed to a geared casting rather than the casting in the kit I used.
Dennis described the prototype as follows :
“This is an early "high power" hand brake with a vertical brake staff
which ends in a cast housing on the end sill. Inside the housing
there is a small gear on the staff, which engages a larger gear on
the shaft that the chain wraps around. The partially open mixing bowl
shaped casting supports the lower bearing on this winding shaft and
keeps the chain from dropping off. Because of this gear reduction I
don't believe the "brake increaser" is used in the brake rod.”
Photos of a prototype sill casting were taken by Dennis Storzek at the Ironhorse Railroad Park, a collection of equipment in Chisago City, Minnesota.
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| Sill casting with gears. Dennis Storzek Collection (Click or tap on this or any image to enlarge) |
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| Sill casting with gears. Dennis Storzek Collection. |
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| Sill casting with gears. Dennis Storzek Colletion. |
In addition to the sill casting photos, a photo of Wisconsin Central 134998 “sawtooth” Box Car from the Soo Line Historical and Technical Society or “SLHTS” was enclosed showing the cast housing.
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| Soo Line Historical and Technical Society Achieves Courtesy of Dennis Storzek |
With my knowledge base of the Wisconsin Central number series, 134400-145398, even numbers only, expanded (another great day as I learned something new) I felt the need to rework the sill casting on my built Wisconsin Central 135316. After studying the photos provided I began by using MEK Goop, plastic melted in Methyl Ethyl Ketone, (M.E.K.) to reshape the existing sill casting. To apply the MEK Goop I use applicators made with radio coil wire wrapped around a toothpick with CA added.
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| MEK and applicators |
I applied the MEK until it filled the existing cast surrounding the brake shaft. I continued to add MEK and shape it with a dental tool until I had formed a round shape as the prototype. Once shaped, I added CA to the MEK Goop to set it quickly.
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| MEK Goop added to existing brake shaft sill casting. |
To create the bowl shape that contained the second shaft which the brake chain wrapped around, I glued a resin cast sill step to the back of existing sill casting. I drilled the casting with a #79 drill and installed a chain collecting shaft, Tichy Train Group #1102, .015 phosphor bronze wire.
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| Resin sill step with chain collecting shaft installed. |
To finish the bowl portion I cut of triangle piece of strip styrene, bent it around the end of a tweezer and installed it. The finished sill casting was now painted with stored paint mix kept after spray painting car body to enable a color match for touch up or changes as this. The paint is storage in a water bottle cap placed into an old film canister which closed with cap will keep the paint in a usable state for days.
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| Paint stored in a water bottle cap held up by foam in an old film canister. |
Once the paint was dry, Pan Pastel weathering used on the car body was applied to the reworked sill casting.
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| New sill casting painted and weathered. |
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| New sill casting painted and weathered. |
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| New sill casting painted and weathered. |
Wisconsin Central Box Car 135316 could now go back into service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company (M&N), The Lakeland Route, “Serving today, Shaping tomorrow.”
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| Wisconsin Central Box Car 135316 on Minneapolis M&N Freight House track. |
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| Wisconsin Central Box Car 135316 on Minneapolis M&N Freight House track. |
A big “Thank You” to Dennis Storzek for data and photos to help with the sill casting rework of Wisconsin Central 135316 and for permission to use photos from his collection and Soo Line Historical and Technical Society in this blog post.
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Lester Breuer
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