Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company Modeling

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Chicago, St.Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha 58864

To continue to reduce the plastic freight car inventory in my unbuilt kits cabinet, I pulled out 5th Ave Car Shops kit, CMO OB (outside braced or single sheathed) Boxcar 58864 for build and upgrade. The kit is an Accurail 4000 kit produced for 5th Ave Car Shops. I purchased the kit in 2003 from the CNW Historical Society at Trainfest in Milwaukee, WI. The kit includes a car body lettered for the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha (C ST P M & O) with reporting marks CMO, data and C&NW herald being a subsidiary; however, no number as that is applied using the decals provided in the kit. The decals have only the number 58864 for the sides and reporting marks and number for the ends.

After removing the car body from the box, I began the build and upgrade by immediately cutting off the molded on sill steps and in an attempt to rework the brake shaft step into a prototype shape I broke it.

CMO Car body in kit.
(Click on this or any image to enlarge)

CMO Car body with broken brake staff step.

Prior to starting the build and upgrade of Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha (the Omaha Road) , CMO 58664, research had been done regarding the car and photos found for the build. The prototype car 58664 was in CMO (a C&NW subsidiary) assigned series 58000-58998 (even numbers) built in 1927 by the Standard Steel Car Company. CMO 58664 has the single sheathed features of the initial built cars including eight-panel sides with U-section bracing, Youngstown corrugated steel doors, grab iron ladders on the sides and typical ladder design on ends, Murphy 7/8 corrugated ends, Hutchins Dry-Lading roof, vertical staff hand brakes, Carmer uncoupling levers of the 1923-25 design were replaced with top mounted uncoupling levers and underframe of United States Railroad Administration design. The cars rode on Andrews or Dalman two level trucks.

CNW 1923-1925 SS Box Car X251106
Same design used in 1927 for CMO 58864
Mainline modeler 2003 Courtesy of Lou Schmitz

Earlier 1920s built cars had wood doors, and KC brakes upgraded to AB brakes as CMO 58664 in the late 1940s and early 1950s. CMO 58864 was built to the same 1925 design as CNW 47422 when new with part changes as the corrugated steel doors and top mounted uncoupling levers.

CNW 47442
Mainline Modeler 2003 Courtesy of Bob's Photo

Additional photos and data regarding the CMO and C&NW cars can be found in Mainline Modeler, September and October, 2003. And, Steam Era Freight Cars Reference Manual, Volume One: Box & Automobile Cars, Speedwitch Media, 2006,2007).

Back to the build and upgrade of CMO 58664 using above photos. Work on the the underbody was next. The kit provided steel weight was attached to the inner side of the underbody with Permatex Clear Silicone Adhesive.

Steel weight in kit attached to underbody.

For the underframe of United States Railroad Administration with straight center sill design the kit fish belly was replaced with a new center sill made with Evergreen #136, .030 x .125 strip styrene. Much easier to do than trimming the kit fish belly center sill in kit to shape as shown in kit instruction sheet. Couplers, coupler covers with install pin cut off and trucks bolster center plate were drilled and tapped for 2-56 screws. Coupler pocket covers were installed on coupler pockets with Kadee #148 coupler inserted with Fastenal 2-56 x 3/16 inch screws. Basic kit brake components drilled and tapped for piping were installed. Mounts for the brake components: air reservoir the sill steps cut off the car, brake cylinder a resin cast Sunshine Models and AB valve an InterMountain inside door guide. Andrews trucks provided in kit with InterMountain 33 inch metal wheel sets inserted were installed with Fastenal with 2-56 x 1/4 inch screws.

New center sill and brake components installed.

After the trucks were installed the underframe was installed in the car body. The car body was ready for additional upgrade.

CMO 58846 ready for upgrade.

The running boards were milled and scraped to a thickness of .022 (see side bar for "Running Board Milling" for details) and installed. For the longitudinal running board install, Yarmouth Model Works (out of business) etched braces were used on the ends.

Running boards being milled.

Running boards being scraped to final thickness.

The carving off of the molded ladders and grab irons followed. In addition, a door slide plate was made from bits box styrene and installed over the side braces to the right of the door.

Milled running boards installed and molded
on side ladders carved off.

After carving off the side ladders, carving off the ladder rungs on the end ladders could wait for a time. Therefore, the B end upgrade was done with the following parts:

Brake step, molded on
Brake step brackets, Tichy Train Group (Tichy) AB set #3013
Brake shaft step, Tichy AB set #3013
Brake shaft, Tichy #1102, .015 diameter phosphor bronze wire (PBW)
Retainer valve, resin from parts box
Retainer line and brackets, Tichy #1100, .008 diameter PBW
Placard boards, molded on
Brake wheel, kit

B end upgrade parts installed.

B end upgrade parts installed.
Note the running board end braces.

Since I like to paint parts as I progress in the upgrade, the B end parts were brush painted Vallejo Model Air Brown RLM26, 71.105. An excellent match for the Accurail applied paint.

B end upgrade installed parts brush painted.

Once the B end was brush painted no sense putting the paint away, so the side areas where the ladders had been carved off were also brush painted

Areas where ladders carved off brush painted.

After the paint was dry, straight grab irons and straight ladder grab irons bent from Tichy .010 diameter PBW were installed on the sides. The bottom grab iron of the ladder was a drop type rather than straight type.

Wire grab irons installed on sides.

Now it was back to on the ends to carve off the ladder rungs and install straight type wire ones bent from Tichy .010 diameter PBW except for the grab iron at the bottom of the ladder which was a drop type.

Ladder rungs carved off and wire ladder rungs
as wire grab irons installed.

Wire grab iron ladder and wire grab irons installed.

To complete grab iron install work, the roof grab irons were as others bent from Tichy .010 diameter PBW and installed using a Yarmouth Model Works (out of business) etched eye bolt without shoulder for corner leg. In addition to finishing grab iron install, A- Line sill steps #29000 were installed. Prior to install the sill steps corners were heated with a Bic Lighter and squared with a Xuron 575 Micro-Bend pliers.

Roof grab irons and sill steps installed.

Once more it was back to the sides to add the the upper corner braces that Accurail had not molded on the car body. The corner braces were cut from .005 thick Evergreen sheet styrene and installed.

Corner braces installed on
upper portion of end panels.

Fasteners made with MEK Goop ( plastic melted in MEK) were added.

Fasteners applied to end braces.

While waiting for the corner brace fasteners to thoroughly dry the underbody work was done. Upgrade parts were added as follows:

Brake lever, made for Evergreen #8108, 1 x 8 strip styrene
Floating lever, made from Evergreen #8106, 1 x 6 strip styrene
Floating lever pin plate, parts box (part from a model car)
Brake lever hangers, Tichy #3021 straight grab irons
Piping from air reservoir to control valve, Tichy #1101, .010 diameter PBW
Piping from brake cylinder to control valve, Tichy #1106, .0125 diameter PBW
Train line, Tichy #1103, .020 diameter PBW
Brake rods, Tichy #1106, .0125 PBW
Brake rod clevises, shaped MEK Goop (plastic melted in MEK)
Chain, Tichy #8334, black 34 links per inch
Dirt collector, made with parts from bits box

Underbody upgrade parts installed.

Later, the underbody was brush painted with Vallejo Model Air Nato Black 71.251, a good match for the black Accurail underbody color.

Underbody brush painted.

After this CMO 58864 post was published, an underframe drawing showing prototype underframe with dimensions for this car was provided. The drawing shows using the Accurail underframe was not correct for this car. Crossbearers and crossties are not located correctly and a second crosstie is missing on each side of the crossbearers.

Snip from Standard Steel Car Company Drawing 52057
Pullman Library Collection of the Illinois Railway Museum
Courtesy of Steve Hile

When the corner side brace fasteners were dry, the corner braces were brush painted. And, the number areas receiving decal numbers provided in kit were brushed with Future Acrylic Floor Finish (manufacture renamed and repackaged since my purchase) to provide a gloss decal base.

Future Floor Finish used
for decal gloss base.

While the Future was drying, the kit provided decals, car numbers were cut out for application.

As for prototype lettering, Sunshine Models Prototype Data Sheet #47B states the subsidiary line, Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha (CMO) followed the CNW lettering schemes precisely with the exception of initials C M St.P & O. Therefore, CMO 58864 lettering when compared to photo of CNW 47442 (above) finds the lettering is correct.

After the Future was dry the decals were applied. 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.

Decals with car number applied.

All that remained to finish the car body was to install the uncoupling levers and brake shaft fascia bracket that had been forgotten when B end work was done. The uncoupling levers were bent from Tichy #1106, .0125 diameter PBW and installed with eye bolt brackets bent from Tichy #1101, .010 diameter PBW. The brake shaft fascia bracket was bent from Detail Associated brass flat bar stock #2524, .010 x .030.

Uncoupling levers and
brake shaft fascia bracket installed.

Uncoupling levers installed.

Upon finishing the uncoupling levers and fascia brake shaft bracket install, they were brush painted with Vallejo Model Air Brown RLM26, 71.105. Now dry, upper corner braces installed on the sides with fasteners were also brush painted.

Uncoupling levers and upper corner side braces
on end panels brush painted.

Upper corner side braces
on end panels brush painted.

Once these last upgrade parts were dry, the car body was airbrushed with Vallejo Gloss Varnish 70.510 to better hide edges of decals and protect decals during handling. Again when dry, the car body was airbrushed with Model Master Acryl, #4636, flat to protect decals and provide a flat finish for weathering to be applied.

Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha 58864 single sheathed box car was weathered with Pan Pastels. First, Paynes Grey Tint 840.7 was applied lightly with a small paint brush over entire car body to show aging. Next Paynes Grey Extra Dark 840.1 was applied with a large makeup brush on the entire car body and underbody also for aging. Red Iron Oxide Extra Dark 380.1 was applied lightly over the decals applied with a microbrush applicator to tone down their brightness. Car body applications were blended using a cotton swab and sponge. Burnt Sienna Shade 740.3 was applied to the springs with microbrush applicator tip.

CMO 58864 weathered.

CMO 58864 was ready for service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company, The Lakeland Route, “Serving today, Shaping tomorrow.” A car card was made for CMO box car 58864, the final step to put the a car in service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company Railroad.

CMO 58864 spotted at Brooks Lumber in
Sussex, Minnesota

I want to say, “Thank You”, to Steve Hile for providing and letting me use the snip from Standard Steel Car Company of Drawing 52507 on my blog to show correct underframe that CMO 58864 should have.

Thank You for taking time to re ad 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

Friday, June 19, 2026

Duluth South Shore & Atlantic USRA Box Car 16032

A Duluth South Shore & Atlantic (DSS&A) USRA double sheathed Box Car kit with car numbered 16032 was a kit produced for the Soo Line Historical & Technical Society by Accurail (4000 series). The kit as the kit just built, USRA double sheathed box car 16001, had been in my unbuilt kits cabinet since November 2000; however, it had a different paint scheme.

DSS&A 16032 in kit box.
(Click or tap on this or any image to enlarge)

Like double sheathed box car 16001, double sheathed box car 16032, series 16000 to 16049, had been in the unbuilt kits cabinet since purchase because my initial research on this car series could not find any data that the prototype existed. The Duluth South Shore & Atlantic was not listed on rosters of railroads receiving USRA double sheathed box cars distributed to various railroads with the known need for rolling stock after World I. Since the initial research new data has become available showing the prototype existed.

Today a photo and source of this DSS&A USRA Design double sheathed Box Car 16032, series 16000 to 16049, were available. DSS&A USRA Box Car 16032 was among the cars obtained in 1940 from the Pete Marquette (PM) car series 80000 - 81999.

DSS&A 16032 Ken Soroos Collection

The USRA design, USRA Specification Number 1003-B, 40 ton double sheathed composite box car features included double sheathed wood sides, six foot side door opening with wood doors, 5/5/5 steel stamped with corrugations ends (generally known as 5/5/5 Murphy ends), metal roof, and steel fish belly center sill underframe. The cars rode on Andrews trucks.

Now knowing the prototype existed, it was time to build USRA double sheathed box car DSS&A 16032.

The build of DSS&A box car 16032 began with the assembly of the box car kit. On the underbody, bolster center plates, coupler pockets and coupler pocket covers with pins cut off were drilled and tapped for 2-56 screws. Kadee #148 couplers (not in kit) were installed into the Accurail coupler pockets with Fastenal 2-56 x 3/16 inch screws. Accurail Andrews trucks, #166, were installed with Fastenal 2-56 X 1/4 inch screws. The kit provided weight was installed with Permatex Clear Silicone RTV adhesive sealant.

Kit weight be attached to underbody.

Basic brake components: brake cylinder, air reservoir and control (AB) valve, drilled to accept piping to be installed later, were installed. Now the underbody was installed in the car body. The assembled car was placed on a digital postal scale that showed the car weight to be 3.8 ounces. And, trucks and brake components were brush painted with Vallejo/MicroMark Model Air Tarnished Black X29022X2.

Upgrade of the assembled car body began by using a fine saw blade to pull across the running boards to have them show wood grain.

Fine blade saw used to make wood grain.

Wood grain look added to running boards.

Upgrade of the the assembled car body continued by carving off all molded on grab irons and grab iron ladders. And, holes for wire grab irons were drilled with a #80 drill.

All grab irons and grab iron ladders removed.

After the grab irons were carved off on the ends, the B end upgrade work came next.

All grab irons and grab iron ladders removed.

Upgrade parts installed on the B end were as follows:

- Running board braces, etched Yarmouth Model Works

- Brake step brackets, Tichy Train Group (Tichy) AB set #3013

- Brake shaft step, molded on reworked

- Brake shaft, Tichy #1102, .015 diameter phosphor bronze wire (PBW)

- Brake shaft fascia bracket, cut from sheet brass .010 x .030

- Retainer valve, Sunshine Models (out of business) resin

- Retainer line and brackets, Tichy #1101, .008 diameter PBW

- Brake wheel, kit

Upgrade parts on B end installed.

Next areas on ends, sides and running boards where parts were carved off , were brush painted with Vallejo paint mix: Model Air Rust 71.080, 50% and Model Color Cavalry Brown 70.982, 50%. A excellent match to the manufacture paint. When paint was dry, grab irons and grab iron ladders bent from Tichy #1101 PBW were installed.

Wire grab irons installed.

Roof wire grab irons installed.

Wire grab irons installed.

Once grab irons and grab iron ladders were installed, a nail file was run over them to enable better paint adhesion. The grab irons and grab iron ladders were brush painted with Vallejo paint mix: Model Air Rust 71.080, 50% and Model Color Cavalry Brown 70.982, 50%. Once dry, the molded on sill steps were cut off and replaced with sill steps made from Detail Associates brass flat bar stock #2254, .010 x .030. And, Carmer uncoupling levers, Yarmouth Model Works #400, were installed.

Sill Steps and Carmer uncoupling levers installed.

As with other installed detail parts the sill steps and Carmer uncoupling levers were brush painted with Vallejo paint mix: Model Air Rust 71.080, 50% and Model Color Cavalry Brown 70.982, 50%.

Sill steps and Carmer uncoupling levers painted.

The install of sill steps and Carmer uncoupling levers completed the car body.

On the underbody the install of detail parts was done as follows:

Brake cylinder lever, made from Evergreen 1 x 8 strip styrene
Floating lever, made from Evergreen 1 x 6 strip styrene
Air reservoir had side mounts added with MEK Goop
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 diameter PBW
Brake rod clevises, MEK Goop (plastic melted in MEK)
Chain, Tichy #8334, black 40 links per inch
Train line, Tichy #1103, .020 diameter PBW
Dirt collector, scrap plastic rod, reworked

Underbody upgrade parts installed.

To finish the underbody, the underbody and all added detail parts were brush painted with Vallejo/MicroMark Tarnished Black X29022X2.

Underbody painted.

Before putting DSS&A 16032 in service on the M&N, the car was weathered with Pan Pastels. First, Paynes Grey Tint 840.7 was applied lightly with a small paint brush over entire car body to show aging. Next Paynes Grey Extra Dark 840.1 was applied with a large makeup brush on the entire car body and underbody. Car body applications were blended using a cotton swab. Burnt Sienna Shade 740.3 was applied to the springs with sponge tip.

DSS&A 16032 weathered.

Duluth South Shore & Atlantic USRA double sheathed box car 16032 was ready for service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company, The Lakeland Route, “Serving today, Shaping tomorrow.” A car card was made for DSS&A box car 16032, the final step to put the a car in service on the Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company Railroad.

DSS&A double sheathed Box Car 16032 and
16001 being moved into Chestnut Street Yard
in Minneapolis, Minnesota

DSS&A double sheathed Box Car 16032 and
16001 moved into Chestnut Street Yard
in Minneapolis, Minnesota

DSS&A double sheathed Box Car 16032 in
Chestnut Street Yard in Minneapolis, Minnesota

I want to say, “Thank You”, to Ken Soroos for providing and letting me use photo of DSS&A double sheathed USRA Box Car 16032 for my build and use on this blog. And, a “Thank You” to Ray Breyer for providing the data that the subject car was obtained from the Pere Marquette in 1940.

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

Plymouth, MN