ATSF semi-lightweight smoothside baggage car builds

[arbomambo]

Hello all,
this is my second attempt/build of the ATSF's Pullman 'kit' smoothside baggage car...unique, in that they were furnished to the Santa Fe as shells by Pullman, and assembled in the Topeka shops.
These are 64', built in 1956, perfect for my era...they were seen on the Fast Mail (the original reason I acquired these from AMB), but made it onto secondary passenger trains.
Another batch of 64' cars were delivered and built in 1958, and a few batches of 74' kits were built from 1958-on...a few of these 74' versions made it into the Amtrak years.
These are acrylic sides from AMB-not my favorite medium, but after a first attempt at this car last year, I figured I could improve on succeeding builds. I intend to build 3 of these; two in the solid gray scheme with black roof and silver undersides, and one in aluminum. The trucks are from Microtrains (BX express trucks) and are accurate representations of this truck but seem a little undersize-perhaps the silver paint will make them 'pop' a bit.
The only other problem I see with the two gray cars, is the decal situation. Micro-scale makes a sheet specifically for these cars (I purchased three sheets in anticipation of these builds), but the font is woefully undersized...so I may have to scrounge the Herald lettering and the car numbers from other sheets. The Aluminum car won't have the same problem, as the lightweight baggage car sheet has the coreectly sized font, and more than enough herald and car numbering characters.

Here are pics of the car, ready for paint...they present an odd appearance in their unpainted form. I've added as much detail as I can account for in photos-at times like these, I wish I had some really good pics or plans of underframe equipment, I'd like to go 'whole hog' on these, now that I have a few car side bashes under my belt.
Thanks for looking,
~Bruce

[skytop35]

Looks like a good project for me to cast in resin.

[Puddington]

Looks like a good project for me to cast in resin.

I was just thinking that Bill; that looks to be something of a ubiquitous car style that many could use and even "foobie" into another road's livery.

[arbomambo]

Looks like a good project for me to cast in resin.

Bill...
This would be a GREAT one for you to cast!!!!...I'd be in for more than a few!
as an aside, I  LOVE your Burlington converted troop car!...but can't rationalize buying it...now...if you were to produce a NYC and REX troop car conversion (into express car service), I'd be in for many of those!
Respectfully,
~Bruce

[skytop35]

Bruce,

I do have a NYC express boxcar. They had both the inside and outside door type. I did the outside door car although I would like to do the inside version as well.

[arbomambo]

Bruce,

I do have a NYC express boxcar. They had both the inside and outside door type. I did the outside door car although I would like to do the inside version as well.

Bill,
I had no idea you had done these as well as the Burlington troop kitchen car!...beautiful!...I'd love to see an inside door version as well...these are going to really add to my Fast Mail consist (I just happen to have three MT troop sleepers available! what trucks do you recommend to replace the MT ones for express/interchange service?
~Bruce
~Bruce

[skytop35]

Bill,
I had no idea you had done these as well as the Burlington troop kitchen car!...beautiful!...I'd love to see an inside door version as well...these are going to really add to my Fast Mail consist (I just happen to have three MT troop sleepers available! what trucks do you recommend to replace the MT ones for express/interchange service?
~Bruce
~Bruce

I have used the BLMA 70 ton friction truck #9045

[arbomambo]

Hello all...
paint on, and decals applied and setting...
These are 'in progress' pics (note all the 'fuzz', dust, and particles!....)...after the decals have set overnight, I'll clean the decal glue residue, gently clean, then clearcoat....carefully pull the window masks, and voila! (perhaps a little touch up as needed....
The only decals used, from the Microscale sheet purpose-designed for this car, were The "baggage" and "Railway Express Agency" lettering; the "Santa Fe" herald lettering were from the Lightweight headend car sheet; the car numbers were taken from the Microscale ATSF Waycar sheet (I really don't care to apply numbers seperately this way, but had no choice this one.
Pollyscale SP Lark Dark Gray for the body color, Pollyscale Steam Power Black for the roof, and Floquil Bright Silver for the truck and underframe color.
Microtrains 1015's are the perfect height for the 36" FVM wheelsets.
Update soon.
Thanks for looking,
~Bruce

[arbomambo]

Hello all....
 calling this one done (apart from light weathering)...decaled and sprayed with Pollyscale clear semi-gloss.then pulled the masks. I'm much happier with this effort, although I can see more areas for improvement.
A side note, on this one, I attempted to represent roof panel weld seams with a method suggested by Bill Denton. Scribing, or running an Xacto knife blade to produce a fine raised line. I used a cable tie, per his suggestion. Unfortunately, I waited to do this after attaching the roof to the sides; this limited my control, somewhat. I do have a lot of experience with scribing panel lines and/or replacing raised line detail; it will be best to do this step after cutting the roof, but before attatching the sides. I'll be able to tighten the cable tie to the point where it won't be able to slide under heavier side pressure.
Thanks for looking,
~Bruce











http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u84/arbomambo/N%20Scale/HEAD%20END%20CARS/semi-lightweightbaggage011_zpsc0cc4b71.jpg

[Philip H]

Bruce, That's pretty stunning . . . though it's riding a tad high and light . . . 

[peteski]

The car itself looks excellent, but it does seem to ride a bit high. I'm not familiar with the prototype but the high ride, in addition to unusually inboard location of the trucks, makes the car look a bit odd.  Unfortunately, IMO, the trucks look even more undersized when painted silver. Probably because they are so bright, they are now a focal point of the car.  Unfortunately, looking at Spookshow's site, I think that this is the only truck available in N scale which looks anything like the prototype BX express truck.

EDIT:
While I really hate quoting Spikre from the A-board, he did sometimes offer some useful info.  In http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=61657 he states

GSC Commonwealth BX trucks.
well that title covers several styles of trucks,clasp brakes,single shoes,and different
wheelbases,5'6",6',6'6",7',maybe others ?
some had leaf springs,some didnt.

So, while MT truck is probably an accurate model, it is probably one of the shorter wheelbase versions.

[davefoxx]

I think the short wheelbase trucks are making the car ride height look too high.  That, to me, appears to only be an optical illusion, because the floor height of the car seems to match those of the adjacent cars.  If it were me, I would prefer to have the wrong truck (with correct wheelbase) than the shorty trucks.  That should be much less noticeable and address the look of the ride height at the same time.

DFF

[arbomambo]

Thanks...
after checking, the car underside was not fully seated 'up' into the body shell for the pics...but that only accounts for a little bit of the 'too high' appearance of the car-to-truck look...
The MT express trucks are 'spot on' for the high speed baggage express trucks used on these cars (7' wheelbase and only 10' overall length....consider the, roughly, 14' overall length of most 2 axle passenger trucks)...That being said, these MT trucks still measure too short...





A unique car, and a unique truck (almost purpose built for this car)...but let down a little by the MT version of it...
closer to the actual length would be the KATO commonwealth trucks used on the skirted CB&Q cars, but they have no detail above the axle centers, being hidden by the car skirting.
~Bruce

[peteski]

That sure is an ugly prototype (mainly becasause of the out of proportion trucks and their far-inboard location). Not that this diminishes the need to model that car.   

Looking at the line drawing, the trucks as depicted there don't look too far off the Kato GSI Horizon trucks.

[arbomambo]

That sure is an ugly prototype (mainly becasause of the out of proportion trucks and their far-inboard location). Not that this diminishes the need to model that car.   

Looking at the line drawing, the trucks as depicted there don't look too far off the Kato GSI Horizon trucks.

VERY interesting find, Peteski....
also interesting how those trucks were designed to replace these!...I may have to acquire a pair just to see if they can be modified.

Here is info on these unique trucks, taken from an article in a back issue of "The Warbonnet"




and info on these unique semi-lightweight cars....note that they came in two lengths-64' cars were in the first two batches; following batches were all 74'...a few of these made it into the Amtrak years, a few of them built with end doors, similar to Horse Express cars.




Here are some more pics, albeit of 74' cars, but they show the truck spacing from the ends, and the unique trucks....I have to agree, a unique appearance, but quite a few of them were built for/by the Santa Fe...many pic and video of The Fast Mail, The Grand Canyon, Texas Chief, The Chief, El Capitan, and even the Super Chief show these cars in consist, from 1956 on, in both dark gray and aluminum.
These would make great candidates for resin cast versions, both 64' AND 74' versions!




~Bruce