I just purchased a group of car kits from an individual which includes
a Kelso Shops Distributing resin kit HK-10 for a 1929 CN single sheath
box car, modernized version. I am not familiar with this company
which distributed the kit out of Coquitlam, BC, Canada. Can anyone
advise me on the accuracy of the model, level of detail and any
assembly problems you might have had? Thanks.
Frank Brua

Hi Frank,

Mine went together very easily. I've built a Sylvan version, Kaslo version and a Funaro and Camerlengo version. To be frank, now that they are built, I can't tell which is which any more!

If you develop any specific questions fire away. I was just finishing these around Christmas. The one trick is if you want K brakes instead of AB - in which case you will be where I am - still trying to figure it out!

Rob Kirkham

Rob Kirkham wrote:

Hi Frank,
Mine went together very easily. I've built a Sylvan version, Kaslo version and a Funaro and Camerlengo version. To be frank, now that they are built, I can't tell which is which any more!
If you develop any specific questions fire away. I was just finishing these around Christmas. The one trick is if you want K brakes instead of AB - in which case you will be where I am - still trying to figure it out!

Not that big a deal for a quick and dirty job. Start with a Tichy 3005 KC brake set.

Drop the Air Reservoir and triple valve. Do not install the unneeded piping. Replace the A/B brake cylinder with the Tichy KC. This will require a minor change to the piping.

Brake rigging can stay the same.

You will need to replace Brake wheel with a vertical Staff. The Tichy set has what you need.

There is probably more to it than that but it will do as a stand-in.

Bill Dixon

Hi Bill,

That approach is what I will eventually adopt if I haven't figured out a way to model the sheave etc system I see in photos. I'm a little busy with some other projects about to get started, so that will be on the backburner for a while!

Rob

I have built the Kaslo, Sylvan and Steam Shack (F&C) models of these
cars. CN had 10,000 of these cars built in the 503500-513499 series,
making it a car found everywhere on North American rails.

I rate the Kaslo the best because of the fit of its parts and what
you can do with the car. The etched stainless steel ladders are a
very nice piece of work! I am building a second car to represent a
1949 CC&F rebuild that replaced the Hutchins roof with a Standard
Railway Equipment diagonal-panel roof that used a four-board running
board as well. Stafford Swain's articles and Ted
Culotta's "Essential Freight Cars" article on these cars are very
useful.

The Steam Shack car was the first kit for these cars, but takes a
fair bit of work to assemble the body square, and the floor has some
height issues when mounted on trucks. Not sure why this is--does F&C
use generic floors for some car kits?

The Sylvan car has a nice one-piece body with nicely-executed board
detail and their own brake details, but as is sometimes the case with
one-piece bodies, the roof is not quite straight on the model that I
have built.

I have built these cars with both "K" and "AB" brakes. Rob Kirkham's
mention of the travelling sheave handbrake rigging (sort of a power
handbrake arrangment for stemwinders?) leads me to believe that it is
very similar to CN tank cars built around the same time that are
available in HO kit form from Pro Modelbuilders/NorWest Kits and
Castings of Vancouver, BC.

Steve Lucas.

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "parkvarieties"
<parkvarieties@...> wrote:

I just purchased a group of car kits from an individual which

includes

a Kelso Shops Distributing resin kit HK-10 for a 1929 CN single

sheath

box car, modernized version. I am not familiar with this company
which distributed the kit out of Coquitlam, BC, Canada. Can anyone
advise me on the accuracy of the model, level of detail and any
assembly problems you might have had? Thanks.
Frank Brua