Caboose Solution - Finally!

I've been stewing over this for a while.  The last progress I made on this pair of cabeese was back in March when I worked on the cupola windows.  I say "stewing" specifically, because I really wasn't applying any critical faculties to the problem.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The problem is was, how to take the dadgum thing apart once the end ladders were attached.  You see, on the donor model the end ladders were crudely "attached" to the roof by friction, being inserted into two slots on the roof.  Likewise they were press fit along with the handrails into the end beam.  But I had to go an get these gorgeous brass ladder kits from SS Ltd with graceful arching extensions that reach up and over the roof, and must be securely attached to both roof and platform, somehow.

In order to remove the body (roof and walls) from the underframe (floor and end platforms) I'd need to either attach the ladder permanently to the roof and not-permanently to the platform, or permanently to the platform and bend it out of the way if I take the body off the floor.  Ugh.  

To solve the problem I sat and thought about it.  No distractions, no devices, just cold logic.  And, here's what I came up with:

I simply sawed the end platforms off of the underframe/floor.  In the image above you can see one platform attached* to the body on the end wall, the remainder of the floor and the other platform laying on the miter box.

Next up is to attach some styrene blocks into the corners of the shell, then drill and tap for screws to hold the underframe in place.  I may never add interiors to these cars but I may add lighting.  But in the interest of getting finished cars that run vs. unfinished cars laying in a box that will someday have lights, I am choosing this option to allow for future upgrades.

*Bonus tip - I spent too much time here messing with the Testors plastic cement, bits of reinforcing styrene, etc., to get a solid bond that never solidified.  Not the cement's fault, but the cheap plastic used on the donor model.  Use super glue (cyanoacrylate) instead.  A few dots of CA, 60 seconds holding the parts together, and it is rock solid.