GM&G Ventilated Boxcar

The Gorre & Daphetid "Heritage Fleet" keeps on growing.  I suspect I have nine or ten cars, total, that are identical in make and model to John's cars, and another half dozen cars from private roads that ran on the G&D but don't match the car type.  This latest car fits the first category, being a Central Valley ventilated boxcar lettered for the Georgia, Midland and Gulf, number 1254, as seen on the G&D.  However, I didn't set out to build a replica of John's car.  

A while back I built one of these cars lettered for the Mobile & Ohio and had such an enjoyable time that I decided to look for more.  More were found and procured with the intent of making a fleet for the Ocali Creek Railway.  Of the cars I found in various states of disrepair, this one - GM&G 1254 - just happened to have the nicest 'bones' and was close to complete.  Donor parts from the other cars made up the lost parts.  I even decided to use the Central Valley dress-snap truck attachment, not knowing for sure what John did but guessing he might have used the original kit parts.

One bonus specific to this car; it fits my 1920s era perfectly and can see regular operation hauling perishables on the Ocali Creek Railway.  Enjoy the images below from the reconstruction process and a picture of the car with its Heritage Fleet brethren. 

Ocali Creek Mogul 145 does the honors, pulling the current G&D Heritage Fleet cars tailed by an Ocali Creek caboose.

 

Gathering Purina Parts

Lately I've been painting little people to populate a scene I decided to build for the Railroad-Line forum Spring 2020 challenge.  It won't fit on the current Pine Branch Park railroad, but is still set in 1920s Florida, so it could be used down the road for an expansion.  For now it will be the basis of a larger diorama.  But that's the subject of another post...

As a break from painting I decided to make sure I had all the parts gathered together for a rolling stock rebuild.  As the title suggests, this is for the Purina Ventilated boxcars (former reefers).  Once I learned there were three road numbers produced, I had to collect all three.  While I was waiting for a good deal on the last car I began researching.  Turns out that actual prototype pictures of these cars is elusive.  However, I think at this point I have learned enough to proceed with the project.

Here are the three cars in the state in which I found them:

Note the subtle differences.  While 3 and 5 (the numbers are 4553, 4554 and 4555, so I'm just calling them by their final number) have fishbelly underframes, 4 has truss rods.   5 is the most complete, but has no grabs on the sides.  4 has grabs, but has hatches on top instead of the curved ventilators supplied in the kit.  (I'm being generous here...crude blocks of wood roughly carved to approximate a Posson-patent hatch ventilator and likewise little squares of wood for hatches...)

4 has weathering which isn't that bad so I'll likely keep that as is.  All of them, however, have little dings and nicks exposing the raw metal of the stamped-aluminum-over-card sides.  Matching the paint color will be tricky.

Here are some of the parts I'll need to rebuild these cars into much nicer models:

The metal underframes will add much needed weight (along with metal Kadee arch bar trucks, not pictured) while the Tichy split K brake gear will accurately replicate what I suspect was used beneath these cars.  Again, more research is needed, but I can only go so far before the time comes to quit searching and just build the dang things.  If anyone comes along with evidence to the contrary, great!  The last baggie of bits are 3-d printed parts from Shapeways for the aforementioned hatch covers that served to ventilate these cars.  I have since learned that Westerfield makes them...grrr...after researching them and working with a custom designer to draft and print them.  sigh.

I could, and will, say much more about these cars as the project progresses, but don't look for updates anytime soon.  I have gathered the parts in a nice short file box so that I can keep them all together for that day I decide to begin the rebuild.  I have already begun removing the old parts from the cars.  But for now it is back to painting figures.  Or maybe the Pine Branch station.  Or perhaps finally getting the trim installed on the benchwork.  Who knows.  It is a hobby - my hobby - and I'll work on what sounds good whenever I feel like it.  It feels good to get these cars and parts gathered together.

Central Valley Kits and Bits

March is a busy time, what with Lent, but I still made time for modeling.  A few minutes every day adds up, and when the kit comes with good step-by-step instructions it is easy to do just that and take small steps.  Small, enjoyable steps.

With a Central Valley Old Timer, that's exactly what I get - enjoyable steps adding up to a beautiful little model.  Even before construction begins, the kit itself is a thing of beauty.  Every thing in place, ready to go.

Each little package of parts carefully slipped into a slot in the cardboard spacing, the inner wood bits neatly bundled in their slot on the side, the printed sides and ends wrapped in a protective plastic sleeve, all ready to begin.  So that's what I did.

The printing on the car sides and ends may not be as crisp and clean as some of today's models, but the quality of the fine-grained, scribed plywood is excellent even after many years in storage.  Click on the picture of the interior for a close-up view.  There are lines for oats, corn and wheat; appropriate for a box car, but especially one with 'grain' printed on the solid sliding door.

As of this post I'm nearing completion of this kit.  I'll discuss a few more of the minor modifications I've made along the way to upgrade the car in the next post.  I'm waiting for a special delivery from Micro-Mark in order to do the next step at my workbench instead of the garage.  Until then, I have a second CV kit that's in need of some care and attention.

This is a bargain I found on eBay; an 'Arctic Oil Works' CV Old Timer box car.  No trucks or couplers, and in pretty rough shape, so I was able to make an offer and purchase it at a reduced price.  That's fine since it's going to need a lot of work.  The trucks you see in the picture were a find at a recent train show.  Always check the bargain boxes under the table.  These trucks were on a beat-up, poorly constructed Mainline Models GN boxcar.  I paid a dollar.  That's right, wahn dahlah.

I can salvage the roof, end blocks, details and grab irons for a future project.  The other trucks pictured above are CV T-57 Hi-speed roller bearing trucks and Kadee 501 Arch Bar trucks, each obtained under similar bargain bin cars for $2.50 each.  Not sure if I can use the T-57s in my era, so they'll be saved or sold if not, but the car they were attached to can most likely be used.  The Kadee trucks were under an ARA SP car which will not be used on the current layout, but the trucks will be.

Long post this time since I had planned to post monthly and I just missed March by a couple days.  But like I said, March is a busy month for ministry and this one has been especially so for many reasons.  I'm glad I have a hobby to help me relax.