Best Of Scratchbuild Project - Van Iron Woodchip Cars

[BCR 570]

Assembly (Part 3)
With the four Series 1 cars now assembled, my attention turns to the two Series 2 cars.  These cars have a different 'A' end door borrowed from the CS Models styrene kit, which requires some modifications to the assembly procedure.

I discovered that I had made an error when cutting the underframe and false floor for these two cars.  The Series 1 cars have two inset ends each .050" thick so I made all the underframes and floors .100" shorter than the sides.  However, with only one inset end, the Series 2 car underframes and false floors should be only .050" shorter than the sides.  I had to add back .050" to their length.  This was accomplished by grafting a strip of .040" and a strip of .010" to the 'A' end.  These strips were made square at one end and glued to the underframe with the square end aligned with one side of the underframe and floor, and then trimmed to the correct length:




The first modification in assembly for these two cars now comes into play.  With no end piece supporting the 'A' end of the underframe during assembly, I assembled a large support block to hold the underframe level while being attached to the first side:




The false floor support blocks and the steel weight are then glued in place as was done for the previous cars:




The false floor is then added on top of the support blocks and steel weight:




The remaining side is placed upside down in the assembly jig with a steel weight holding it in place:




After applying glue and mating the car with the remaining side, another lower support block is placed underneath the 'A' end to support the false floor and keep the car level at that end:




The end sills are installed at the 'B' end only for these two cars, as the 'A' end door will extend below the floor:




The CS Models kit is a 35 year old affair and the molds are no doubt tired by now.  Every 'A' end door I have seen for this kit is missing all of the far left hinge and most of the 2nd one in on the right.  My technique for repairing these is to cut strips of .010" x .020" styrene to a length of 33 scale inches, cut the profile of the hinges into the strip, and then glue them in place on edge.  This is easier done while the door is still flat on the workbench, although doing so does run the risk of breaking them off while handling the part during assembly.

This photograph illustrates strips cut to length, strips being tapered, and the 'A' end door:




Here are the doors for P.G.E. 9696 and P.G.E. 9702 after installation of the missing hinges.  Note that in addition to the hinge repairs, I have also notched the lower end sill for the coupler and drilled the holes for the six grab irons:




And that brings us to the final step in assembly of these cars - installation of the 'A' end door on the two Series 2 cars.  With the ends of the cars still nice and square and even, I was able to stand the cars on end, position the doors by hand, and make any minute adjustments required for a perfect fit.  I was amazed at how well these parts went on:




I will be back with some final overall assembly shots, and then it will be time to start adding all the details!

Tim

[BCR 570]

Assembly (Part 4)
And here we are with some photographs of the cars now fully assembled.  What was a box of parts a few days ago is now looking more like freight cars.  It is very satisfying to reach this stage and see the results.

P.G.E. 9507 and P.G.E. 9522 showing the 'A' end and left side:




BCOL 9590 and P.G.E. 9683 showing the 'B' end and right side:




P.G.E. 9507 and P.G.E> 9522 showing the underside, 'A' end and right side:




P.G.E. 9696 and P.G.E. 9702 showing the 'A' end and left side:




And all six cars, now ready for installation of detail parts.  It is now time to go back to the reference photographs and make a list of everything to be added to the cars.


All for now,

Tim

[craigolio1]

Wow!

[jpf94]

Would these cars still be in service in 2020?   Possibly renumbered into 912xx series?

[BCR 570]

Hi

No, the cars I am building were retired between 2005 and 2007 following the CN takeover in 2004.

The cars you are referring to are 91000-91149 and 91150-91249 which were built by NSC in 1994 and 1997.  They were the last chip cars to be purchased by BC Rail.

You can be forgiven for the confusion as those cars had non-terminating ends which look similar to the ends on the Vancouver Iron cars.


Tim

[jpf94]

Thank you.  Was a video posted of CN in Wisconsin had 5 cars in that series and they did look an awful lot like the ones you are building.   Thank you for the information!

[BCR 570]

Assembly (Part 5)
This instalment will cover the addition of some further parts fabricated from styrene.  First up are the door hinges for the four Series 1 cars.  (The two Series 2 cars already have them as they are molded onto the part  for the door from the CS Models kit.)  The Series 1 cars came with three thick hinges which had cast steel hinge plates; unfortunately these were prone to cracking and failure.  The solution for the railway was to replace the hinges with welded ones.  The centre hinge was replaced in situ, but the outer hinges were moved to the extreme outer edges of the dump door. 

This later photograph illustrates the three replacement hinges:




I fabricated my replacement hinges from .010" x .020" styrene cut to lengths of 18 scale inches.  They were tapered to match those seen in the photograph:




They were then glued in place.  With tiny parts like this, it can be challenging to apply glue without covering the entire part, or gluing them to the tweezers.  It is sometimes easier with parts like this to apply the glue to the point on the model where the part is to be applied, which is what I did with these:




Next up are the vibrator plates.  These were a design feature of later chip cars to prevent damage to the sides of the cars when secured inside an end or rotary dumper.  From the mid 1970s this feature was retrofitted to earlier cars such as the ones I am building. 

This Ross Pugsley photograph of PGE 9522 (one of the cars I am building) shows the vibrator plates added and painted in Primer Red:




BCOL 9590 also received vibrator plates during its complete repaint and stencil, so I need to add these to two of my cars.  They measure approximately 40" wide x 27" high, so I cut them from strips of .250" styrene.  The first piece was cut from .020" thick strip to go beteen the exterior posts, and the second piece was cut from .010" thick strip to extend across the pair of posts:




Here are my models of PGE 9522 and BCOL 9590 with the vibrator plates installed.  They go either side on the sixth panel in from the 'A' end:




BCOL 9590 received a complete paint and stencil for the British Columbia Railway, and was fitted with large letterboards for the railway's new dogwood logogram.  These letterboards were made from plate steel and were welded to the side posts.  They measured 15'-3" long x 48" high to accommodate the 160" x 40" version of the dogwood logogram.  They appear to have been located 18" down from the top of the car toward the right hand side of the car as you are looking at it.

The letterboards are cut from .010" sheet styrene.  As I will also have to install these on the nine Railwest chip cars I am also currently building, I fabricated a spacer jig for easy and consistent installation.  It is a strip of .100" styrene glued to a strip of .010" thick styrene and it was placed on top of the side of the car while both were against a steel block.  After applying glue to the side posts, the letterboard is placed in position against the spacer jig.  After removing the spacer jig, the letterboard is inspected to ensure that it is indeed level along the side of the car. 

This photograph shows BCOL 9590 after installation of the first letterboard.  The spacer jig is perched on top of the steel block:




Detail parts are next.

Tim

[BCR 570]

Detailing (Part 1)
A new phase in the construction of these cars now begins with the addition of detail parts for the safety fittings and brake equipment.  Some of the detail parts on hand for these cars include Gold Medal Models grab irons and ladders, BLMA air hoses, cut levers and end platforms, Micro-Trains sill steps (stirrups), and Precision Scale Co. brake appliances:




The sill steps are an issue.  The correct style is included in the BLMA set #402, but I only have one package on hand and none are to be found anywhere.  The correct style can be found at one end of the Micro-Trains boxcar stirrups, but I don't have enough of those either.  I would prefer to use etched parts if I can find some of the correct style.


We will start the detailing process with the 'B' end of the cars, which has the hand brake.  This builder's photograph of a Series 1 car shows the 'B' end:




The general arrangement of the 'B' end was similar for the Series 1 and Series 2 cars.  To the left was an eight rung ladder mounted at the extreme edge of the end to allow sufficient room for the hand brake and platform.  To the right was a pair of grab irons, with an 18" one above and a 15" one below.  The Series 1 cars came with high-mounted brake wheels and platforms; the Series 2 cars came with low-mounted brake wheels and platforms.

I obtained the grab irons from the Gold Medal Models #160-56 Assorted Grab Irons.  Style #1 yields the 15" version while style #2 provides the 18" version:




I avoid cutting these off the sprue as I find that the grab irons are easily distorted.  I prefer to grab them with the tweezers and gently move them back and forth until they separate from the sprue:




The grab irons will fit better if the locating pins are shortened somewhat.  I hold them in a pair of smooth jaw pliers and cut away the excess with etched metal cutters:




The holes for the grab irons were drilled when the parts were still flat on the workbench, but they may have filled with glue during the assembly process.  I drill them out again to clear the holes and test-fit the grab iron.  If all is well, I then apply CA glue to each locating pin and insert the grab iron into the holes:




The ladders are sourced from Gold Medal Models #160-25 Freight Car Ladders.  There are two styles, and we want the wider later ones on the left side of the fret:




Each ladder is cut off with the Xuron photo etch shears, immediately below the eighth rung:




Each ladder strip yields four eight rung ladders.  Again, the ladder is held carefully with smooth jaw pliers and the ends are filed smooth:




The ladders are easily distorted or bent during handling.  Placing them on a flat surface and gently teasing out the kinks improves their appearance:




The car is held standing on end between steel blocks, glue is applied to the rear of the ladder, and it is placed on the model:




With the grab irons and ladders in place, we can now move on to the hand brakes and platforms.


Tim

[jpf94]

Tedious work there, doing the same for my shapeways Woodchip hoppers.  Well done!

[BCR 570]

Detailing (Part 2)
I was going to install the brake equipment at the 'B' end next, but while working on the parts I realized that the cars will have to be stood on their 'B' end to install the 'A' end grab irons and ladders, so I decided to do those next instead.  This builders view of a Series 1 car shows the general arrangement of the 'A' end as built:




We can see a fair amount of hardware for the door locking mechanism, which fortunately for me was removed early in the history of these cars so I don't have to model it!  Like the 'B' end, there is an eight rung ladder to the left and there are two grab irons to the right; however, there are some differences from the 'B' end.  The ladder is sectioned with the top rung mounted on the door header and the remaining seven rungs mounted on the dump door.  The ladder is also mounted slightly inboard from the outer edge of the car.  The position of the grab irons is reversed with the shorter one on top and the longer one below.

The Gold Medal grab irons are installed on the right side of the 'A' end:




The portion of the ladder on the dump door did not fare well and many photographs from the 1970s show the ladders mangled or missing, sometimes with just the top rung on the door header left in place.  This led to the railway removing the 'A' end ladders and replacing them with a pair of grab irons similar to those on the right side.  This modification would have been made to BCOL 9590 at the time of repainting, and I will model PGE 9683 with just the top rung remaining.  Here are those two cars with the left side grab irons installed:




The Series 2 cars had a completely different 'A' end with a revised door arrangement and five larger hinges.  There was no ladder, but there were six long grab irons above and on either side of the draft gear.    This photograph of a later 90441-90840 series car built by Railwest with the same door illustrates the general arrangement:




Fortunately these 30 inch grab irons are also available from the Gold Medal Models set (style #5):




Sometimes it is necessary to adjust the grab irons for a better fit by gently bending the legs inward or outward.  This is how I do that:




I had pre-drilled all of the holes for these six grab irons before adding the doors to the models, so installation was fairly straight forward:




Turning to the ladders, I elected to equip two cars with the original sectioned ladder arrangement, one car (BCOL 9590) with the ladder removed entirely, and one car (PGE 9683) with just the top rung remaining.  The ladders for the first two cars were sectioned, and a single rung portion was cut for PGE 9683:




Here are the 'A' ends of PGE 9507 and PGE 9522 with the original sectioned ladder arrangement and grab irons installed:




BCOL 9590 has the ladder completely removed and grab irons on both sides:




PGE 9683 retains the top ladder rung and has grab irons in place of the lower seven rungs:




PGE 9696 and PGE 9702 have the Series 2 ends with the six 30-inch grab irons installed:




Now back to the 'B' end for the brake equipment.

Tim

[BCR 570]

Detailing (Part 3)
This instalment will cover preparation and fabrication of the various components for the handbrake assembly at the 'B' end of the car.  There are numerous sources for N Scale brake wheels; I obtained mine from the Gold Medal Models set #160-47 Modern Boxcar details, as I was also dipping into it for the platforms.  I remove the brake wheels by grabbing them with tweezers and gently rotating them back and forth until they come loose:




I then grip the brake wheels in smooth jaw pliers and file away the burrs with a needle file:




I made the handbrake housings from strips of .020" x .060" styrene.  I chopped off the corners at one end and rounded off that end, then drilled a #80 hole and inserted a short length of .012" brass wire to provide a mechanical connection for the brake wheel.  I left the styrene strips long for ease of handling during this process:




After rounding the top end and inserting the brass wire, the handbrake housings were cut to a length of 18 scale inches:




The end handbrake platforms were taken from the same Gold Medal Models set.  These were removed using photo etch shears:




The platforms were cut to the desired length with the photo etch shears, and the cut was then filed clean with a needle file:




The resulting platforms retain one of the locating pins, which will be important in providing a mechanical connection as the platforms will be installed edge on to the models:




There are two vertical supports spanning the panels on the ends of the cars where the handbrake housings are mounted.  These were cut to a length of 24 inches from .010" x .020" styrene.  There are also two diagonal support brackets below the handbrake platforms.  These were cut to a length of 21 inches from the same .010" x .020" strip styrene:




The vertical brake rods were fashioned from Detail Associates .010" brass wire.  This is the largest size of wire which will go through the grating in the platforms.  The 90 degree bend at the bottom will go into the hole drilled into the end sills.  I made three long ones for the cars with high-mounted bake wheels and three short ones for the cars with the low-mounted brake wheels:




This completes the preparation and fabrication of parts for the handbrake assemblies.  Pictured below is a set of parts for a high-mount handbrake assembly, and parts for a low-mount one.  These parts include brake rod, platform supports, platform, handbrake housing supports, handbrake housing, and brake wheel:




These parts are now ready for installation.

Tim

[jpf94]

Tim, how do you attach your grabs and ladders without any excess adhesive showing through?   

Thanks

Joe

[BCR 570]

Tim, how do you attach your grabs and ladders without any excess adhesive showing through?   

Thanks

Joe

I am sorry but I do not quite understand what you mean by adhesive "showing through".  Hopefully the following will answer your question:
1.  The grab irons do not penetrate into the interior of the carobdy.  I shortened the pins.
2.  The ladders do not have mounting pins; they are surface-mounted.
3.  I apply the CA glue sparingly with a pin.  I used thick CA so it basically congeals at the joint.

Tim

[BCR 570]

Detailing (Part 4)
The first step in installing the handbrake assembly at the 'B' end is to drill the locating holes for the end platforms.  These must be drilled through the end ribs which are only .020" thick, so precision is required.  I locate my pre-drills with a sharp pin, and then drill the hole with a #80 drill bit.  The holes for the high mount platforms go into the third rib down from the top:




Another hole is drilled into the end sills to the left of the draft gear; this will be for the bottom end of the brake rod to plug into and go underneath the car:




The locating holes for the low mount platforms go into the sixth rib down from the top:




Here are the end platforms, with the locating pin at one end and a larger slot in the middle which the brake rod will need to pass through:




The platforms are glued edge on to the rib, so the mounting pin is valuable in providing a mechanical connection to the model:




The two diagonal supports are installed underneath the platform.  I jammed the bottom end into the top of the rib below but didn't glue it, and then used AC to glue the top end to the platform.  With the bottom end loose but held in place, I was able to tweak the final adjustment for both supports until they looked right, and then applied liquid cement to lock them in place at the bottom:




The two vertical supports for the handbrake housing were then installed above the platform, and adjusted for a satisfactory orientation:




The handbrake housing was then glued onto the supports:




The brake rod is inserted through the slot in the platform, and into the hole in the end sill.  I marked where they needed to be cut to length so that the top end butted up against the bottom of the handbrake housing.  I then removed them and trimmed them to length, re-inserted them, and glued them at the bottom.  After adjusting as necessary to ensure that they were vertical, I applied CA underneath the platform to lock the brake rods in place:




Here are the 'B' ends of two cars illustrating the high mount and low mount handbrake assemblies as installed.  The brake wheels were positioned in place for this photograph; they will be installed at a later date as I have to work on the cars upside down shortly and the high mount brake wheels protrude slightly above the top of the car:




In the above photograph you will see a horizontal hand hold extending across the end of the right hand car.  This was a feature on the low mount handbrake arrangement which I spotted in prototype photographs as I was working on the handbrake installations.  These hand holds were formed from .010" brass wire and extend from the handbrake housing to the right hand edge of the car.

This completes the installation of the end details except for the cut levers and air hoses which will be added later.  Side details are next.

Tim

[jpf94]

I am sorry but I do not quite understand what you mean by adhesive "showing through".  Hopefully the following will answer your question:
1.  The grab irons do not penetrate into the interior of the carobdy.  I shortened the pins.
2.  The ladders do not have mounting pins; they are surface-mounted.
3.  I apply the CA glue sparingly with a pin.  I used thick CA so it basically congeals at the joint.

Tim

The tip for applying the adhesive with a pin is what I was looking for.  I have always applied it using the bottle it comes in and always have excess adhesive that ends up spreading out and becoming visible when the model is painted.   I will try the pin method and see if that improves my efforts.

Thank you for the reply.

Joe