The Load's the Thing

In September of 1952 Model Railroader magazine published an article by George Allen titled "Spindletop No. 4".  This article describes in great detail how to build an oil well pumping rig, delicate-looking tower and pump house with notes on how to make it operate.  George drew the plans and built his rig based on actual plans loaned to him - for one night! - from a friend in the engineering department of an oil company.  Naturally he took some liberties for the sake of simplicity without sacrificing all of the detail.  He was also limited by the materials available to the average modeler of the time; card, metal and wood.

Printed on page 24 is this diagram:

Now look at this load:

I know next to nothing about the origins of this flat car.  However, I can say with confidence that the dimensions of the load are identical to the George Allen drawing.  The large counterweights and the axle between them are free to move, sliding laterally in the motor mount, and would no doubt revolve as intended if not for the chain holding them down.  The load is made from wood, paper and metal, just as the article instructs.

Figuring that out was the easy part.  The rest of the car...there's the challenge.  It is obviously scratchbuilt with painted lettering.  The large metal center sill matches the one used on the Suydam reefer I just wrote about in the previous post, but that's the only similarity as Suydam offered no similar kit.  The other commercial detail on the car are the end sills.  Everything else is built up from wood and metal, including the bolsters, stake pockets and underframe cross members.

Being primarily wood with only the center sill and trucks to provide any weight, the car was very light.  Also, the trucks weren't mounted exactly on the car center line.  I was able to fix the alignment issue when I replaced the wood bolsters with metal castings.  For the weight I beat a hunk of old lead into less than 1/16" thin sheets to add some weight to the car.  The final bit of weight came from a metal K brake cylinder I used to replace the original plastic one.  In total the car now weights just shy of 3 ounces, about an ounce and half away from the NMRA Recommended Practice, but enough to keep it on the track without any trouble, so far.

As for a prototype, I found that the T&NO did roster flat cars in the 23xxx range...but the only examples I could find were older truss rod cars.  A similar T&NO design with fishbelly center sill was rostered in the 22xxx range, so somewhere in between may lay the truth.  And what about the pumps?  The first producing onshore oil well in Florida came online in 1943, a bit later than my era.  However, a load such as this moving down through the state on its way to a port for shipment is plausible.  I'm just pleased to be able to include a scratchbuilt car with such a beautifully constructed load in my fleet.

 

Eggs a la Ed Lee

Oh, this car has been on the bench way too long.  That delay has nothing to do with the car itself, rather the good things happening in the rest of my life that keep getting in the way of model railroading.  Still, I'm glad to see it finished and rolling down the track.  Here's the story.

This freezer, NADX 6002, in service of the Pacific Egg Producers of Seattle, is built from 'An "Ed Lee" Kit', from E. Suydam & Co of Duarte, California.  What brings this kit to my bench is its presence on John Allen's Gorre & Daphetid.  Yep, another "Heritage Fleet"car.

NADX 6002 seen on the G&D in May, 1963

I began this car in July - almost exactly four months ago.  I did not deviate far from the kit instructions, only adding weight, backdating the air brakes, and changing a few minor details.  I've got a great prototype image of this car in Hendrickson & Kaminski's Billboard Reefer book.  Suydam got most of the details correct but I took the opportunity to add missing corner straps and reduce the number of grab irons on the sides and ends.

What's funny is that while Suydam did well in this regard, they missed one "colorful" detail, that is, the PEP Eggs banner should be royal blue.  An eBay search turned up some original blueprints for the car with painting instructions and the blue color is noted.  I very carefully added some blue paint to mine and it looks good from 3 feet away.  Red Ball got the color right but has too many hinges and grabs on their NADX 6001.  Likewise Train Miniature's plastic version, NADX 6003 (though in their defense, all of their reefers used the same body).  I mention the hinges because that was a key ingredient to identifying the maker of John's car.  

Sometimes I wonder where the manufacturers get their information and why they make some design choices that don't match the car itself.  It may be clear they're working from an image of the car or even drawings as some claim, and yet, they choose to include the wrong number of hinges on the door.  Go figure.  I can come up with some plausible reasons, but they'd only be guesses.  One is that Suydam was using a black and white photo as reference.  Who knows.

Finally I decided to change the brake detail in order to run this car on my late 20s era railroad.  I took my weathering cues from John's car but toned it down slightly.  The Ed Lee/Suydam kit was fun to build and follows the classic construction methods of kits from this era involving drilling, cutting, shaping, painting, etc.  There's a sublime satisfaction I get from taking a box of parts and turning it into a rolling freight car.  I'm happy with how it turned out and can now run another car "from the G&D" on my railroad.

Let There Be ... Garage Lighting!

This post is a follow-up to my latest garage update.  Since then I've installed new lights inside and out, and have rearranged the room to better accommodate its multiple functions.

To say I'm chuffed about how this lighting solution turned out is an understatement.  A special thanks goes to my retired electrician friend for guiding me through the work step by step.  The pendants I selected were the closest thing I could find to what would have been used in the 30s, without taking out a loan for replicas.  The gooseneck fixture used above the door is likely original to the structure or from the same era.  The clue there was the cloth-coated wire found in the fixture, now replaced with safe, modern wire, properly installed.  Oh, and yes, the switch in the house does indeed operate the gooseneck light on the garage; it has already proved useful at night in the driveway.

These pictures give an idea of the light output, including one florescent fixture I kept plugged in for now; they really aren't necessary anymore but hanging there is a good place to store them until I find a new home for them.  There's still much decluttering to do though some of the stuff near the garage door has already left the building, having been donated to local thrift stores.  I anticipate spending the next two years reducing and relocating excess stuff.  At that time, perhaps before, I may be able to put some sort of test track or loop for running the trains that require a larger radius than my 4x6 layout can provide.  Still, that's a ways away and who knows what will happen in the mean time.