Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company Modeling: box car

Showing posts with label box car. Show all posts

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Spokane, Portland & Seattle Box Car 11422

Spokane, Portland & Seattle steel-sheathed box car numbered 11422 was built using Branchline Trains, Blueprint Series, kit #1431, a steel-sheathed box car kit. An excellent kit with correct Murphy rectangular panel roof, 4/4 improved dreadnaught ends, corrugated door for number series and original lettering scheme. Since I model later spring 1955 I thought that I might have to change the original lettering to replace the “Spokane, Portland And Seattle” on the right side of the door with the “football” herald; however, after input from others, I learned that was not necessary.

The prototype Spokane, Portland & Seattle (SP&S) box cars built by Pullman-Standard in 1946 were assigned to series 11000-11499. These steel cars had an inside height of 10’ 6”, five panels on each side of the 6 foot Superior seven- panel door on series 11000-11249 or Youngstown center-lift corrugated doors on series 11250-11499, 4/4 improved dreadnaught ends, eight (8) rung ladders and Murphy rectangular panel roof with metal running boards. The metal running boards depending on car number series were different. Running board types used were Apex on series 11000-11124, Blaw-Knox on series 11125-11249, Morton on series 11250-11374 and U.S. Gypsum on series 11375-11499. Trucks for these cars were ASF Ride Control A-3.

Black and white photos of SP&S 11038 and 11375 can be viewed in Railway Prototype Cyclopedia RP CYC 36, (Silverlake Images, LLC, 2023). Color photos of SP&S 11263 and 11091 can be viewed in to Spokane, Portland & Seattle Color Guide Freight and Passenger Equipment (Morning Sun Books, Inc., 1998).

Spokane, Portland & Seattle 11274
Tim O'Conner Collection
(Click on this or any image to enlarge)

I began the build of SP&S box car 11422 with the basic underbody work. On the underbody, bolster center plate and coupler pads were drilled and tapped for 2-56 screws. Kadee #262 narrow coupler gear boxes (not in kit) with Kadee #148 couplers inserted (not in kit) were installed with Fastenal 1/4” screws. The car was placed on a scale along with the roof parts to weight the car to 3.8 ounces with kit bolt nuts and electric metal box punch outs for weights. I continued installing other detail parts as follows:

Air reservoir and brake cylinder, kit
Control valve, resin cast in M&N Shops
Brake levers and hangers, kit
Slack adjuster, kit
Piping from air reservoir to control valve, Tichy #1101 .010” PBW
Piping from brake cylinder to control valve, Tichy #1106, .0125” diameter PBW
Brake rods, Tichy #1106 .0125” PBW
Brake rod clevises, MEK Goop (plastic melted in MEK)
Chain, A-Line, #29219, black 40 links per inch
Train line, Tichy #1114, .020” diameter PBW
Dirt collector, InterMountain, reworked

Once detail part install was finished, Accurail trucks (replaced later) with 33” InterMountain wheel sets were installed with Fastenal 1/4” screws.

Underbody brake components installed.

Underbody with train line and dirt collector
installed. And, painted.

With the underbody done, on the roof I installed a U.S. Gypsum running board, Kadee #2016.

Kadee U.S. Gypsum running boards installed.

Next the ladders on the sides and ends were installed. I used the kit ladders; however, I removed the top and bottom ladder rungs and replaced them with wire ones bent using Tichy Train Group #1101, .010 diameter phosphor bronze wire (PBW). The reason for using the bent PBW rungs top and bottom was to have a secure ladder mount. A secure ladder mount was created by having the wire ladder rungs pass through the number 80 drilled ladder stiles holes into holes in the car body.

Ladders installed.

Upper and lowest ladders rungs used to
obtain a secure ladder mount.

With ladders installed, the work on the B end was done installing parts as follows:

Brake step, kit
Brake step brackets, kit
Brake housing, kit (hole enlarged with #56 drill for Kadee brake wheel)
Bell crank, Tichy Train Group (Tichy), AB brake set #3013
Chain, brake housing to brake rod, kit
Brake rod, Tichy #1102, .015 diameter phosphor bronze wire (PBW)
Brake rod clevis, to attach brake rod to bell crank, Tichy turnbuckle #8021
Retainer valve, Tichy AB brake set #3013
Retainer line and brackets, Tichy #1100, .008 diameter PBW
Placard boards, kit
Grab irons (handhold, end)bent from Tichy #1101, .010 diameter PBW

B end detail parts installed.

Once the above B end parts had been installed I hand painted the black ends and airbrushed the black roof and underbody as painted by Branchline Trains a matching red to the sides, in this case Vallejo Model Color Burnt Red 70.814. I based the painting of the roof, ends and underbody the same color as the sides as the photos I looked at all appeared to be the same color. On the ends, I did tape over the end numbers leaving them with a black background.

Roof, ends, and underbody painted.

And, before the B end was painted additional parts added were the bracket grab iron provided in the kit, a Kadee Ajax brake wheel, and uncoupling levers, bent from Tichy #1106, .0125 diameter PBW. The uncoupling lever mounting brackets were molded on end corner; however, without an eye bolt which was bent from Tichy, #1101 .010 diameter PBW and installed.

Note uncoupling lever bracket without eye bolt.

Uncoupling lever installed.

Now I went back to the sides to install the following parts:

Doors, kit
Placard boards on doors, kit
Replace molded door handle with wire one, Tichy #1101, .010 diameter PBW
Bracket grab irons (handhold, side), Kadee #2250
Sill steps, A-LIne #29000

Side details installed.

One more step before putting SP&S 11422 in service was to add chalk marks and weather the car with Pan Pastels. Chalk marks were made with Prismacolor Pencil Premier White PC938. Pan Pastels Paynes Grey Extra Dark 840.1 was applied with a makeup brush on the roof and lightly over safety appliances on car body.

Chalk marks and weathering applied.

Spokane, Portland & Seattle Box Car 11422 was ready for service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company, The Lakeland Route, “Serving today, Shaping tomorrow.” A car card was made for SP&S 11422, the final step to put the a car in service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company Railroad. The photos of SP&S 11422 at the Commander Elevator were taken before the reweigh date was changed.

SP&S 11422 spotted at Commander Elevator
in Randolph, Minnesota

Chalk marks and weathering applied.

I want to say, “Thank You”, to Tim O’Conner for providing photo of SP&S Box Car 11274. A “Thank You”, to Paul Hobbs for directing me to the SP&S Historical Society to become a member and to review their archives. And, a “Thank You”, to Ed Hawkins for data regarding features of steel cars in various number series.

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 sign your comment with your name if you choose to leave one. All comments are reviewed and approved before they appear. Please share the blog link with other model railroaders.

Lester Breuer

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Milwaukee Road USRA Box Car 703818

The Milwaukee Road (MILW) USRA Box Car 703818 was built using Westerfield Models resin flat kit #3391, a USRA single-sheathed box car kit. The kit with parts removed for other projects was gifted to me by a friend in 2020. I decided to build the kit as a MILW Box Car, one of my favorite roads, as I had decals available to letter it. The car I decided to build was one of 25,000 50 Ton single sheathed cars built between 1918 and 1920 to a United States Railway Administration (USRA) standard freight car developed design, built by various builders and assigned to 26 roads of which the Milwaukee Road was one.

MILW Box Car 703818 was one of 950 cars built by American Car and Foundry (ACF) in 1919 and upon delivery to the MILW assigned to series 702897-703846. The USRA design features included single sheathed Howe truss pattern sides, six foot side door opening with wood doors, 5/5/5 steel stamped ends, a Murphy-XLA-Flexible roof and Cramer uncoupling levers. The cars rode on an Andrews truck. A drawing of a USRA box car and roster of railroad receiving cars and builder appeared in the July/August 1980 issue of Mainline Modeler.

MILW 703425
Altoona Association of Model Railroaders Collection
(Click or tap on any image to enlarge.)

A car diagram from The Milwaukee Road Freight Cars Official Employees’ Shop Diagrams for In-Service Freight Cars & Cabooses in 1937 (Normandie House) is shown below.

MILW Car Diagram

Onto the kit build that began as any resin box car flat kit with the “basic box.” First, the sides were checked to make sure they were the same length and they were. A side was glued using CA (super glue used for all joints or parts install unless another adhesive specified) to an end to make an “L”. The two “L”s were glued together to form the basic box. The roof was next. Being this was an old kit the roof was also cast flat. Therefore, the roof had to be cut in half and each section fitted and glued to roof contour to complete the basic car body.

Roof cut in middle to allow install.

Car body or "basic box" with roof.

With the roof installed the car body was prepared for install of the underbody. Two Evergreen strip styrene, #146, .040 x .125, were cut to the inside length of the car body and installed at a depth of the kit floor giving the kit underbody supports to sit on ensuring the underbody is glued in straight.

Underbody supports.

Now the underbody was checked for fit into the car body. The underbody casting was narrower in width than I liked for a proper fit. Therefore, two pieces of Evergreen strip styrene # 8204, 2” x 4” were cut to the length of the floor and glued to each side. The coupler box pads and bolster center plates were drilled and tapped for 2-56 screws. Kadee #262 coupler boxes with Kadee #148 couplers inserted were installed with Fastenal 3/16” screws. Accurail Andrews trucks, #166, with InterMountain 33” metal wheels were installed with Fastenal 1/4” screws.

Underbody increased in width ready for install.

On the floor side of the underbody electrical outlet box punchouts were used to weight the car to 3.8 ounces. The punchouts were glued together with Walthers Goo to form stacks and the stacks attached to the floor side with Permatex clear adhesive silicone RTV sealant. When the silicone adhesive was set the floor was glued into the car body with CA.

Car weighted to 3.8 ounces with
electrical outlet box punchouts.

Next the longitudinal running board was installed on the car body roof. I glued the longitudinal running board with ZAP Formula 560 Canopy glue to the roof saddles. I place a ruler and weight on the running board and let the car sit for the glue to setup.

The end brackets were made with Evergreen #8103, 1” x 3” for the flat section attached to running board and #8102, 1” x 2” for the angle braces. Work on the “B” end followed. The detail parts installed on the B end were as follows:

Brake step (platform) & brackets, Tichy #3005 brake gear pkg. in kit
Brake shaft sill bracket, reworked Tichy one , #3005, in kit
Brake rod, cut from .015” brass wire, kit
Retainer valve, kit
Retainer line and brackets, Tichy #1100, .008 diameter PBW
Brake wheel, Tichy #3005 brake pkg. in kit

"B" end parts installed.

Back to the roof to install the latitudinal (laterals, corner walks) running boards. I found a couple USRA types in my parts box that I sanded thinner and installed on recently released Yarmouth Model Works, #406, etched brackets.

USRA running board laterals installed.

And, appropriate wood doors, resin cast in the M&N Shops, were installed.

Wood doors installed.

Now to install the grab irons and ladder drop grab irons. All grab irons, straight and drop type, were bent from Tichy Train Group (Tichy) #1101, .010” diameter phosphor bronze wire (PBW). The bent grab irons were installed in holes drilled with a #80 drill. Roof grab irons have Yarmouth Model Works etched eye bolts without shoulder for corner posts. And, on the resin cast doors a wire handle was bent and installed.

Grab irons & door handle installed.

Grab irons installed.

Once grab iron install was complete the sill steps, A-Line, #29000, were installed to complete car body work except for placard boards and uncoupling levers. Next the work on the underbody was done. By my Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company time period of late spring 1955 this car would have received AB brakes which I chose to install. First the basic AB brake components, the brake cylinder, brake cylinder piston, control valve and mounting brackets from Tichy AB set #3013 (not in kit) were installed. An air reservoir from my parts box was installed. Brake Levers cut from Evergreen strip styrene, #8108, 1” x 8” and #8106, 1” x 6” were installed. And, brake lever hangers bent from Tichy #1101, .010 diameter PBW were installed.

Basic AB brake components installed.

At the next modeling session, other under body details installed were as follows:

Piping from air reservoir to control valve, Tichy #1101 .010” PBW
Piping from brake cylinder to control valve, Tichy #1106, .0125” diameter PBW
Brake rods, Tichy #1106 .0125” PBW
Brake rod clevises, MEK Goop (plastic melted in MEK)
Chain, A-Line, #29219, black 40 links per inch
Train line, Tichy #1114, .020” diameter PBW
Dirt collector, Tichy, AB set #3013
Train line couplings and dirt collector tee, MEK Goop
Frame extensions between bolsters and coupler boxes, bits box styrene

Train line, piping, brake rods, dirt collector installed.

With the underbody parts installed the car was moved to the paint shop. Any installed part that had not been already hand painted with Vallejo/MicroMark Undercoat Light Grey, #29013X2 was painted now. In viewing build photos you may have noticed I do like to hand paint parts installed parts during the build.

When dry, the car body and underbody were wiped with a makeup cotton swab dipped in 91% alcohol. Airbrushing of the car body and underbody with Vallejo Model Air/MicroMark Box Car Red, 29015X2, followed. When dry the car body was airbrushed Vallejo Gloss Medium 70.470 to provide a gloss base for decal application.

Car body painted.

Car underbody painted.

Once the gloss base was dry decals were applied. Unknown used decal sets provided the herald, car numbers, reporting marks and reweigh date. Dimensional data came from Champ Decals set, HD-1, Box Car Data 40 Ton 36 foot and 40 foot cars.

I used photo of MILW USRA box car 703425 as a guide to apply decals. Decals were soaked off in distilled water and applied to the car body where MicroScale Micro Set had been applied with a brush. After the decal was applied in the Micro Set and positioned the edges had MicroScale Micro Sol applied. Any excess solution was sucked away with the torn edge of a paper towel.

After setting overnight to dry (air dried), car body was airbrushed with Vallejo Gloss Varnish, 70.510, to better hide edges of decals and protect decals during handling.

MILW 703818 decals applied.

Normally at this point in a car build the car is airbrushed with a flat coat, weathered and put into service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company; however, not on this build. Why? Placard boards from the parts drawer were now installed. Install of Carmer uncoupling levers, Yarmouth Model Works, YMW #400, followed. Mounting brackets for the Carmer uncoupling levers were cut from scrap styrene from the bits box and a drilled to accept a mounting pin cut from Tichy #1106, .0125 diameter PBW. Once uncoupling lever parts were placed over the pin and glued MEK was used to make a pin cap.

Placard Boards and
Uncoupling Levers installed.

After placard boards and uncoupling levers were installed they were hand painted with Vallejo Model Air/MicroMark Box Car Red, 29015X2 and Vallejo Gloss Varnish 70.510 as the car. Now after air drying, the car body was airbrushed with Model Master Acryl Flat Clear, #4636, to protect decals and provide a flat finish for weathering when applied.

MILW 703818 ready for weathering.

Now to weather Milwaukee Road 703818 before being put in service on my Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company. Car weathering was done with Prismacolor Premier Pencils and Pan Pastels. First Prismacolor Premier Pencils were used to color various boards with the following colors: Cool Grey PC1061, Dark Umber PC947 and Burnt Ochre PC943. Next Pan Pastels Neutral Grey 820.5 was applied over rivets and various areas on car body. Pan Pastels Paynes Grey Extra Dark 840.1 was used on the roof and lightly over entire car body and underbody.

MILW 703818 right side weathered.

MILW 703818 B end weathered.

MILW 703818 left side weathered.

Milwaukee Road USRA single sheathed boxcar 703818 was ready for service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company, The Lakeland Route, “Serving today, Shaping tomorrow.” A car card was made for MILW 703818 the final step to put the a car in service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company Railroad.

MILW 703818 on MILW Interchange
in Eureka Center, Minnesota

Lester Breuer