350+ should suffice

I'm almost done assembling these 2 Mullet River Models boxcar kits.

And frankly I'll be happy to get paint on them soon.
These guys turned out to be more work than I'd anticipated, but the end results are well worth the effort.
Theses O scale boxcar kits come with a lot of details to add.
It's taken me days to add the over 350 individual nut/bolt/washer castings. 2 for every grab iron, 80 on the lower belt of the Great Northern car, etc.
But I can honestly say, I've had my fill of NBW castings for awhile.

A small change of pace

Just shipped out this model to a client;

Such an interesting car to build.
And my how things changed in the early half of the 20th century with car appliances.
Look closely.
No side ladders.
End ladder inset from the edge quite a bit.
And the statements, compared to mid-century, these guys are over the place.
But for me the biggest deal was the colour.
Fortunately I was directed to this blog;
http://designbuildop.hansmanns.org/2012/07/05/harolds-pennsylvania-railroad-box-cars/

Which describes this orange colour rather well, and I find the colour rather appealing.
I know, I'm a little odd with these things.

I really should start looking more closely at early freight cars, they are plain cool.

Next stop, Delhi!

After too many interruptions, distractions and other delays, I've finally been able to get the benchwork and roadbed built for the sections that will connect into the space that will become the Town of Delhi.

Nothing fancy. just simple benchwork framing around the walls of the furnace room.
I'll be able to use up the left over flextrack from the old layout in here. Not much point in handlaying track in here.
With this done, I'm now seriously motivated to figure out how to tackle Delhi.

If you bought a CPR autobox kit from me in Enfield

Please check the body casting.

If it looks like this photo;

With no shelf at the end for the floor and the notches for the crossties  and bolster close to the edge of the side sill,

You have a bad body casting!
There are only 4-5 of them out there like this, but I need you to contact me so I can send you a correct body casting.
Email me at pierre.oliver@elgincarshops.com and we can discuss getting you the right body casting .
Thanks

Operators are standing by!

The newest kit from Yarmouth Model Works is now for sale on the webste;
http://www.yarmouthmodelworks.com/index.php/ResinModelKits/Index

I will start shipping orders as soon as I return from the RPM in Enfield, CT

Nerves of Brass!

While I know how to work the material and I have the tools, there is still a touch of trepidation everytime I look at soldering brass parts together. That's mostly because, there's really no turning back once you start.
Yes you can unsolder, however the brass usually gets mangled in the process, and then the frustration level rises, and then temptation to toss things across the room, etc.
I'm currently building some O scale kits from Mullet River Models. A nice mix of laser cut wood parts and etched brass underframes.
It is the underframe of the one boxcar that I'm going to show you.

Here we have the wooden stringers and the etched bits cut from the fret and folded into the C channel shapes. The centre flanges had to be shortened to accommodate coupler boxes

The various pieces are slotted together and lined up on the wooden floor . This was easier than trying to pin all these parts to a board. I could keep the assembly square by aligning with the scribed floor planks.

I lightly tacked the joints with my conventional soldering iron, holding the parts with my fingers and tweezers. And once that was done I tinned the top flanges of the bolsters for the bolster caps, along with the back side of the bolster caps.

Now I could move the assembly onto my resistance soldering base plate and firm up all the joints and sweat the bolster caps in place.

Finally the queen posts were soldered in place.
I figure I spent all most as much time thinking about what and how I was going to tackle this task, as I did actually executing it.
I really don't care for going back if I can at all avoid it.

It's just a Sweetie!

Just finished this lovely little tank car for a client.
The kit is made by Precision Scale Company, and is offered in the catalogue as a HOn3 UTLX frameless tank car, but is easily upgraded to a standard gauge car.
Some adjustment with the couplers and a larger K brake cylinder and reservoir and your set.
Add in decals from Speedwitch Media and what more could you ask for?
It's funny from an historical point of view, the frameless concept was resisted by the railroads for some time in the early 20th century and today that's all you see.