Building GN and CB&Q Truss Rod 40-Foot Boxcars
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Bill Welch
Years ago when Al Westerfield was beginning the process of selling his business he let his customers know it might be a good idea to place an order just in case. I ordered several kits just in case. Currently I am building two models from this order, both 40-foot truss boxcars, a GN with Murphy ends and CB&Q with early Dreadnaught ends. There are similarities like the XLA roofs and 5-foot wide door openings plus both utilized underframes with eight truss rods although the spacing between the truss rods was different. I thought I would share a few photos of each so modelers could see and compare the two. One variation from the CB&Q kit instructions is how I built the ends ladders. One of the right side ladder stiles was missing from the kit so I substituted strip styrene using the cast-on left side stile to sort out the grab iron spacing and before mounting them on the car ends I drilled #79 holes. Then once I attached these parts using the holes already drilled in the styrene, I drilled through the resin ends to create rigid and easy assembly for the wire parts. With the brake lines and rods in place I will proceed to assemble the truss rods beginning with the two pair of inside rods and working towards the sides. Building a model with so many truss rods is akin to building a sailing ship with all of its rigging. The AB brake parts need to fit between the Queen Posts so their height will not interfere with the truss rods meaning some dry fitting of various parts is important before anything is glued in place. Patience is important here.
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WILLIAM PARDIE
Nice and inspirational Bill. Thanks for sharing. Bill Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message -------- From: Bill Welch <fgexbill@...> Date: 12/9/19 2:59 AM (GMT-10:00) To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io Subject: [RealSTMFC] Building GN and CB&Q Truss Rod 40-Foot Boxcars Years ago when Al Westerfield was beginning the process of selling his business he let his customers know it might be a good idea to place an order just in case. I ordered several kits just in case. Currently I am building two models from this order, both 40-foot truss boxcars, a GN with Murphy ends and CB&Q with early Dreadnaught ends. There are similarities like the XLA roofs and 5-foot wide door openings plus both utilized underframes with eight truss rods although the spacing between the truss rods was different. I thought I would share a few photos of each so modelers could see and compare the two. One variation from the CB&Q kit instructions is how I built the ends ladders. One of the right side ladder stiles was missing from the kit so I substituted strip styrene using the cast-on left side stile to sort out the grab iron spacing and before mounting them on the car ends I drilled #79 holes. Then once I attached these parts using the holes already drilled in the styrene, I drilled through the resin ends to create rigid and easy assembly for the wire parts. With the brake lines and rods in place I will proceed to assemble the truss rods beginning with the two pair of inside rods and working towards the sides. Building a model with so many truss rods is akin to building a sailing ship with all of its rigging. The AB brake parts need to fit between the Queen Posts so their height will not interfere with the truss rods meaning some dry fitting of various parts is important before anything is glued in place. Patience is important here.
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Bill,
Great work - thanks for posting the photos. I have to admit I cringed when I saw the slotted screws - perhaps they are just place holders for what you will use for the final assembly. - Jim B.
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What is wrong with slotted screws, I have 400 of them?! Well truthfully I have probably used 100 from that 400 screw order. And then there are the 400+ models already built. Have I messed up using slotted screws? Will my models fall apart?
Bill Welch
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Nelson Moyer
Nothing ‘wrong’ with slotted screws, but RTR cars have mostly Philips. I started with slotted because I couldn’t source 2-56 Philips in the lengths I needed locally, but as I got serious about resin building, I ordered 500 each of four Philips
2-56 lengths. I swap out the slotted screws when cars need maintenance so I don’t have to hunt for the right screwdriver, a Philips #0 does it all. I find Philips easier to use than slotted. I standardized on Pan 2-56 Philips for both trucks and couplers as
a matter of convenience.
Nelson Moyer
On Dec 10, 2019, at 4:34 AM, Bill Welch <fgexbill@...> wrote:
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Ralph W. Brown
Hi Bill,
Nothing really, but I have a very strong preference for Philips head
screws, primarily because the screw driver can’t easily slide out of the slot as
with slotted screws. The down side of Philips screws is that both the
screw head and the screw driver are more easily damage than slotted screw heads
ad screw drivers, but that’s not a significant problem for me, especially with
the small screws we typically use in our modeling.
Pax,
Ralph
Brown
Portland, Maine PRRT&HS No. 3966 NMRA No. L2532 rbrown51[at]maine[dot]rr[dot]com
From: Bill Welch
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2019 6:37 AM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] Building GN and CB&Q Truss Rod 40-Foot
Boxcars What
is wrong with slotted screws, I have 400 of them?! Well truthfully I have
probably used 100 from that 400 screw order. Bill Welch
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Bill Welch
I knew there are "Prototype Police," had no idea there was a "Slotted Screw" police force. I better be careful about "screwing up."
Bill Welch
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Paul Doggett
Bill
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
You are not on your own using slotted screws I us BA screws as US screws are not readily available over here, BA ( British Association) are slotted. Paul Doggett. England 🏴
On 10 Dec 2019, at 21:43, Bill Welch <fgexbill@...> wrote:
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Paul Woods <paul@...>
I don't cringe at the sight of people using slotted screws; I get jealous! I have very little success with slotted screws and I don't do much better with Phillips or Pozidrive screws either, largely thanks to nerve damage from a car wreck of twenty years ago making my fingers slightly numb.. Fortunately it is now very easy to source a vast variety of styles of [metric] screws with hex or torx drives. I particularly like hex-drive, for being able to stick the screw onto the driver bit, making it a one-handed job to start the screw - a huge advantage for a fumblefingers like me.
Regards Paul Woods Whangarei, NZ.
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