Posted by: "Anthony Thompson" thompson@... sigpress
Thu Dec 9, 2010 11:56 am (PST)


Richard Hendrickson knows more about SFRD than I do, but I'd
guess that these two carloads represent confiscation of empty SFRD
cars by the local railroad to serve Green Giant. In January, SFRD may
not have minded.

Green Giant had many canning plants in southern Minnesota.
Shipping in a reefer in January makes sense.
This type of shipper specified routing was use of something that might be brokered (resold) enroute. The MNS even published a pamphlet on the time to travel various routes for lumber from the northwest.
When sold a diversion would be issued and the car routed direct to the end customer.

Howard Garner

Tim's solution is an excellent one that certainly gets my attention. The Athearn coupler boxes are so inherently unstable that replacing them alone is a giant leap forward. Like all the small couplers with smaller gathering faces, the Accumate Protos demand stabilty for good operation, if not good looks.

Although for a different car, Jim Singer tells me that the Accurail 40' boxcar underframe can be an excellent -and superior- replacement for that on the Athearn 40 footers. Now, don't interpret this as my saying that you should purchase an Accurail boxcar kit merely as an organ donor....

Denny

Denny S. Anspach MD
Sacramento

--- In STMFC@..., Tim O'Connor <timboconnor@...> wrote:

Here's my easy solution with Athearn freight cars -- build the
car with the weight INSIDE the car, and the wood floor turned
upside down so the floorboards are underneath. This is so easy,
obvious and improves the appearance so much that I am amazed
that Athearn hasn't done it for the last 40 years.

Thanks Tim,

I probably wasn't too clear with my question...

I've read your solution in the archives and for a regular Athearn "blue box" kit I agree that the Accumate install is really easy when you turn the floor upside down. However, this 50' SFRD reefer is trying to simulate "an improved version of the Duryea underframe" (per Richard Hendrickson in Sep 2006 RMJ) and it's not clear to me:

a) whether the Accumate long narrow box, designed for minimal overhang and close coupling, is consistent with the desired appearance, and

b) how much of the underframe one would want to whack away to make room for the Accumate box.

Maybe a better phrasing of the question is can the Accumate ProtoHO be installed to simulated the extended draft gear box seen with a Duryea underframe.

Regards,

Charles Hostetler
Goshen IN

I wrote:
[The AHM 40 ft DS automobile boxcar will] ably fill a niche in a
proto-freelance roster for a road that needs furniture or lumber
cars.
http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/ahmhoscalefreightcars/id70.html
http://www.sunshinekits.com/sunimages/sun37b.pdf
http://www.sunshinekits.com/sunimages/sun55.pdf

Tim O'Connor replied:
"Urf! That's like saying Phyllis Diller can fill in for Angelina Jolie
in a typical girlfriends roster..."

Sounds like a modeling challenge ala Iron Chef - care to put your money
where your pie-hole is?


Ben Hom

Tim O'Connor wrote, in part:
"Here's my easy solution with Athearn freight cars -- build the
car with the weight INSIDE the car, and the wood floor turned
upside down so the floorboards are underneath. This is so easy,
obvious and improves the appearance so much that I am amazed
that Athearn hasn't done it for the last 40 years."

Tim, all great advice, but totally irrelevant in the context of the original
question, which concerns not legacy Athearn tooling, but the new tooling 50
ft steel ice reefers released in 2006.

I haven't retrofitted my model yet, but from first inspection, I would use
the method detailed in the coupler instructions of cutting down the length
of the scale Accumate draft gear, fitting it in the existing draft gear box
to make final length adjustments and to locate mounting holes, then cutting
away the sides of the existing draft gear box before making the final
mounting. I'd advise verifying coupler height before doing this surgery.


Ben Hom

Urf! That's like saying Phyllis Diller can fill in for Angelina Jolie
in a typical girlfriends roster...

Tim O'Connor

Phil, I use both. I believe Micro Sol is weaker so I use it for 1st and 2nd application. For the 3rd and sometimes 4th final application I use Solvaset which I believe is a stronger solution. I use this method with various decal films wether commerical/purchased or decals I make.

Lester Breuer

Here's my easy solution with Athearn freight cars -- build the
car with the weight INSIDE the car, and the wood floor turned
upside down so the floorboards are underneath. This is so easy,
obvious and improves the appearance so much that I am amazed
that Athearn hasn't done it for the last 40 years.

1st:

Cut off the Athearn coupler boxes. Now you can drill holes into
the PLASTIC floor and attach the Accumate draft gear, etc. (This
is done BEFORE you glue the weight to the plastic floor and put
into the car body.) Measure everything first to make sure that
the draft gear stick out the right amount -- I made a little jig
to locate the holes.

2nd:

Nip off any excess coupler box screw that went all the way through
the floor. Now glue the weight to the floor. (If you're using a
Kadee box that uses a 2-56, you can use their long plastic screws
and nip them off easily.)

3rd:

Fit the floor into the carbody. Typically you have to file down the
coupler opening cast into the end of the car body just a bit, and I
usually use styrene strip to glued into the car body to bring the
floor to the proper height.

4th:

Glue the floor into the carbody and add the underframe. All of this
only takes me about 20-30 minutes, working carefully.

There are many variations possible. One is to use an Accurail floor.
Another is to paint the Athearn floor first so the floorboards are a
wood color, as they would be on a new car. Another is only to toss
the Athearn steel underframe and use another, like an Intermountain
or other brand. Oh yeah, I always plug the stupid "tab holes" in the
side of Athearn box cars, and file the tabs off the floor castings.

Tim O'Connor

I love Champ's solvent -- the BIG HAMMER I calls it. :-) Not
for the faint of heart.

Tim O'Connor

I prefer Solvaset to Micro Sol, but both work about the same.
What does make a big difference is the decal film. Over their
lifetime Champ and Walthers used different decal films. Today
there are many different products on the market. You have to
experiment to see what works best with the decal you are using.
It is a lot of fun when you are mixing decal suppliers on the
same car. I have also found that wood sheathed cars require different
techniques than steel cars.

Phil Marcus
Modeling 1953 in "O" gage

Ben Hom wrote:

This is an odd model for which we haven't been able to find a prototype. It appears to be a 40 ft version of the 50 ft Silver
Streak DS Furniture/Automobile boxcar model.
http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/ahmhoscalefreightcars/id70.html

You mean the bright green Santa Fe and the giant keystone PRR versions are NOT correct??? <g>

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@...
Publishers of books on railroad history

I'd like to apply Accumate Proto:HO couplers to several Athearn SFRD reefers. Examining the underframe and reviewing the photos in Richard Hendrickson's RMJ article suggested to me that this may be a difficult installation, particularly to preserve the appearance and at the same time the mechanical stability of the coupler box. I thought it would be best to check whether anyone has had any experience with this coupler installation before I started experimenting...

Thanks,

Charles Hostetler
Goshen IN

Ed Mines asked:
"Did the AHM door box car have the Murphy solid steel roof that most of
these USRA steel box had?"

It sort of does.  There are 11 carlines instead of 13, and the relief
of the carlines is shallow compared to that of the prototype.


"How close were these models to Southern's double door, ds box cars?"

Both the AHM model and the Southern prototypes are 40 ft DS double
door boxcars.  The similarity ends there.  The AHM model is taller than
the majority of the Southern prototypes and has different ends and
roof.

This is an odd model for which we haven't been able to find a
prototype.  It appears to be a 40 ft version of the 50 ft Silver
Streak DS Furniture/Automobile boxcar model.  While the combination
of taller height, wood doors, and early dreadnaught ends is a bit
unusual if you think about it, it's not terribly outlandish either,
and if you cut away the "reinforcement" under the doors, replace the
running board, sill steps, and brakewheel, and give the model a more
appropriate paint job, it'll ably fill a niche in a proto-freelance
roster for a road that needs furniture or lumber cars.
http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/ahmhoscalefreightcars/id70.html
http://www.sunshinekits.com/sunimages/sun37b.pdf
http://www.sunshinekits.com/sunimages/sun55.pdf


Ben Hom

Gerry Glow shares"

"I seldom wait very long. I apply it with a dedicated soft brush and soak up
the excess off the model with the brush. I was a custom painter for 10 years
and could not afford to wait 10-12 hours as some have recommended."


I usually let the first application dry completely then follow up with
multiple frequent applications over the next several days.


Steve Haas
Snoqualmie, WA

My usual companion will not be able to attend this year for health reasons leaving me needing to share a room with someone. At this time, I have no reservation so if you do, even better.

Jerry Glow
The Villages FL

--- In STMFC@..., Jim Betz <jimbetz@...> wrote:

<snip>
Another method I've used - often - is to wait about 10-15
minutes and then wick up the excess decal setting solution
with small bits of paper towel.
<snip>
- Jim

Me, too.
Gene Green

That '64 scheme sure looks vivid compared to the prototype photo. One almost could say "pinkish". Is it really that vivid on the model?

Brian Ehni

To be quick,

The Amarillo Railroad Museum and Missouri Pacific Historical Society have
just received five runs of our ART steel ice reefers:

1943 paint scheme - kits only
1960 paint scheme - assembled and kits
1964 paint scheme - assembled and kits

Check out e-Bay right now, our website probably by noon tomorrow, or e-mail
me off list for more details.

Thanks,

Jerry Michels
Amarillo Railroad Museum

Stan Rydarowicz makes riveted flat ends.
You can buy them here. http://www.sunshinekits.com/sunimages/stanparts.pdf
And here's a picture.
http://www.sunshinekits.com/sunimages/stan34nrc19414.jpg

Jim Hayes
Portland Oregon
www.sunshinekits.com


On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 11:53 AM, Rich C <rhcdmc@...> wrote:

Another missing detail part needed in HO. I am planning on making a Reading
XMu and BXMu and would like to know if anyone makes them. Those Reading
boxes fit in with the current discussion.

Rich Christie

--- On Thu, 12/9/10, EDWIN HAWKINS <hawk0621@...<hawk0621%40sbcglobal.net>>
wrote:

From: EDWIN HAWKINS <hawk0621@... <hawk0621%40sbcglobal.net>>
Subject: Re: [STMFC] RDG/ Southern box car questions
To: STMFC@... <STMFC%40yahoogroups.com>
Date: Thursday, December 9, 2010, 11:04 AM



Dave,
Thanks for your reply. Pat heard about the error earlier.
Take care, Ed

--- On Thu, 12/9/10, Dave Pfeiffer <dave.pfeiffer@...<dave.pfeiffer%40verizon.net>>
wrote:

From: Dave Pfeiffer <dave.pfeiffer@...<dave.pfeiffer%40verizon.net>

Subject: Re: [STMFC] RDG/ Southern box car questions
To: STMFC@... <STMFC%40yahoogroups.com>
Date: Thursday, December 9, 2010, 7:26 AM



Ed,

Reading XMt box cars 100000 - 100499 had 7/8 corrugated ends. XMt's
100500 - 100999 had riveted plate ends.

Dave Pfeiffer

----- Original Message -----
From: "EdwardM" <ed_mines@... <ed_mines%40yahoo.com>>
To: <STMFC@... <STMFC%40yahoogroups.com>>
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 10:22 AM
Subject: [STMFC] RDG/ Southern box car questions

The new RPC is terrific with many photos I've never seen before.

Did RDG box cars series 100500 have riveted plate ends or 7/8 Murphy

ends?

The new RPC says Murphy (p.92). Ted's spiral bound box car reference
manual says riveted ("X29") ends (p.129).

(I have the utmost respect for the gentlemen connected with both
publications).

Were the ends of the taller RDG USRA steel box cars (101000-102999)
identical to the ends of the flat ended Seaboard & NC&StL box cars? The
sides must have had significantly different river patterns, right? Was
there ever a Red Ball kit for these cars? I think there was a cast end.

Did the AHM door box car have the Murphy solid steel roof that most of
these USRA steel box had? How close were these models to Southern's

double

door, ds box cars?

Ed



------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Richard Hendrickson knows more about SFRD than I do, but I'd guess that these two carloads represent confiscation of empty SFRD cars by the local railroad to serve Green Giant. In January, SFRD may not have minded.

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@...
Publishers of books on railroad history