Early Conrail Fun!

[Dave V]

Although I'm still on "convalescent leave," I'm feeling fine.  Since I'm in the service, I'm in good health, so something like an appendectomy is more a minor nuisance than anything else.  I'm chompin' at the bit to go back to work, but in the meantime, I've been modeling like crazy!  It's been a great opportunity to "recuperate" at the workbench...!

Up first is an Atlas N scale Penn Central SD35 I've converted to a Conrail paint-out:

Before:



The desired result (from Fallen Flags):



After some paint, a Sunrise Enterprises cab signal box (thanks, Ed K!), weathering with acrylics and chalk powders, lotsa Dullcote, decals, and more Dullcote, the result:



Ooops!  Left a patch of blue masking tape over the rear headlight!!!



One thing I tried to replicate was, as evidenced by hundreds of photos of similar ex-Penn Central Conrail locos, that they often slapped what must have been cheap black paint over the Penn Central Scotchlite logos and lettering.  In short order, that lettering showed through on almost every engine as that cheap paint peeled away.  The "CR" stencils were another early Conrail cost-saver; they're the "C" and "R" from the "CENTRAL" portion of the Penn Central roadname stencils.

Then comes a little boxcar love.  In Conrail's first months, there was little to no standardization with respect to paint jobs.  One oddity that many don't realize is that many 50 foot boxcars that were transfered to Conrail on Merger Day in April 1976 were painted by Conrail in Penn Central Green.

I had messed up a weathering job on an N scale 50 foot Micro Trains Penn Central boxcar and subsequently purchased a new one.  That one ended up coming out well enough:



The prototype (from Penn Central Online):



But I still had the messed-up 50-footer.  What to do with it?  Chuck it?  Naw...  Never throw a car away!  Checking out the Fallen Flags website, I found these among several photos of Conrail green boxcars from the very early CR years (1976-80):





So I stripped and re-painted the 50-footer with PolyScale Penn Central green.  I added Microscale decals and ACI labels.  The dimensional data isn't correct (these letters are about 0.5 mm high; I once tried to cut them out one-by-one to do a PRR X31A properly, and while it looked okay by the time I did one side of the car I was burned out) and the font's not quite there, but overall it both captures the feel of an early and lesser known Conrail prototype and keeps a $15 boxcar out of the trashcan!





Oh, yeah, and for you large scale people (HO and up!), here's an idea of why I use an Optivisor when I do this:

[Mark5]

Good stuff! 

[wm3798]

Nicely done, Dave...  I love all the oddballs that floated around in those early days.
It's also wise to use a car number that doesn't show up in the proto photos... Who knows, maybe you got the fonts just right!
Lee

[Dave V]

Nicely done, Dave...  I love all the oddballs that floated around in those early days.
It's also wise to use a car number that doesn't show up in the proto photos... Who knows, maybe you got the fonts just right!
Lee

Yeah, that was the idea! ;D  Unless proven otherwise, this boxcar may, in fact, be correct!  Even so, it meets my "good enough" threshold, and it's not likely to be found on too many other layouts.

Thanks for the kind words!

[AlkemScaleModels]

Dave,

Nice job on the cars. What kind of ballast are you using? It looks great.

BCK

[asciibaron]

Yeah, that was the idea! ;D  Unless proven otherwise, this boxcar may, in fact, be correct!  Even so, it meets my "good enough" threshold, and it's not likely to be found on too many other layouts.

i have 6 just like it.

good stuff, dude.  when do you have time to do this stuff?

-Steve

[Dave V]

Dave,

Nice job on the cars. What kind of ballast are you using? It looks great.

BCK

Just plain old Woodland Scenics fine ballast.  Thanks!

good stuff, dude.  when do you have time to do this stuff?

-Steve

I had my appendix removed last week, so I'm on sick leave all this week.  In reality, I feel fine, so I've been at the workbench.

[wm3798]

Wow, he even has time to post the same thing twice!
Talk about your over achievers!
Lee

[FloridaBoy]

Dave,

Get well soon.  Your work is showing how much you are enjoying your sick leave.  I do not blame you for wanting to get back to work, but take respite in the fact that our hobby is allowing you to take your mind off the pain, and allowing the time to pass quickly, and soon enough, you'll be back on the job, daydreaming that you are at your workbench. 

When I broke my hip a couple of years ago, I was stuck in a wheel chair and alone could not get into my layout room/garage to work.  So, my wife worked me up a food service cart, and some tools, and Intermontain Reefer kits, and I was in heaven. 

Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman

[Dave V]

Ken,

Food service cart, eh?  That gives me an idea...!

Was down today with a migrane, unfortunately.  Perhaps I've been pushing the recovery too fast.  I did get my Bowser order of a CR cylindrical hopper and a CR N5C cabin.  They're beggin for knuckle couplers and weathering.

[Walkercolt]

Dave, your cars look fine to me. Even looking back and forth from the proto-photo and your cars, it would take the greatest picker-of-nits to find anything wrong, and those types never do anything themselves, anyway. Take it easy this long weekend, and don't push yourself... let yourself get well. Hey if anyone but a doctor had shoved a knife into your belly in a couple of places and pulled a piece of your insides out, they'd arrest them!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Dave, when you're working on that N5C, you'll probably want to move the smoke jack to the other side of the cupola, where it belongs...