realworkingsailor

It could also be possibly due to an upgrade. From what I have read, the 1500 series coaches were built around 1907-1909, prior to the introduction of the UC braking system, but they would have had some kind of air brake system. The cars were subsequently rebuilt in 1912. That seems, to me, to be an unusually low number of years in service to require a rebuild (considering there seems to be no further record of major rebuilding until retirement around 1960), unless regulations required it for safety reasons (ie an upgrade in braking equipment). I wonder, though, if the retainer valve was required as an emergency back up. If you read the NMRA file, the UC system was designed to allow for a gradual release of air (and hence the brakes), as opposed to the AB and KC systems. If the UC system failed either due to mechanical fault or freezing, or if the locomotive was not equipped for passenger train service, or even if the coach was used in mixed train service, a retainer valve would be a fail safe backup. Andy

Some further digging, and it would appear that you are right. Contrary to what I had initially interpreted what I had read, passenger cars were equipped with retainer valves: Air brakes for model railroaders Andy

As always, I can't thank everyone enough for the kind comments, helpful suggestions and likes! Work is now complete on the window mullions (WHEW!). It was a slow and tedious process (I think I may have mentioned that before, sorry for the repetition), but it was well worth the effort. Definitely a detail that, had I omitted them, would have nagged at me, and it saves me from having to make repeated (embarrassing?) explanations as to why I left these features out, if I ever take this car to a prototype modellers meet. Painting has now resumed with a second coat of primer, and this morning the car got it's first coat of tuscan red (photos to follow soon). During the mullion interlude, I was also struggling with another detail that I had missed: If you notice in the photo above of another prototype car (I'm fairly certain this is an official car), above the window just below the roof overhang of the adjacent car, there is a small valve and some pipework. This feature seems to be present on most (if not all) CPR wooden cars, but I couldn't find photos indicating on which end it was supposed to be located on my car. Until recently, so it was added in the appropriate place: The valve itself is a brass casting meant for the drain valve of an air tank, but repurposed here, with some brass wire for the piping. I'm not entirely sure what the function of this valve is. If it was a freight car, I might assume it was a retainer valve. In a KC or AB freight car braking system, a retainer valve slowed the release of air from the car's brakes when descending a hill. These valves allowed the brakes to release gradually while the trainline could be replenished from the locomotive(s), and helped to keep the train in control when descending steep hills. Brakemen working from both ends of the train would have to manually adjust each retainer valve prior to the train beginning it's descent. In a UC passenger car braking system, this function was integrated into the UC control valve, and could be controlled automatically. This allowed passenger trains to operate without brakemen. Anyway, regardless of function, the valve is in it's proper position. Andy

I have a pair of spike insertion pliers that work brilliantly. Andy

The tedious work of installing the mullions is progressing. There's decidedly a limit to how much I can do at one sitting (without going totally cross-eyed). I've just now completed one side of the car, and have started on the other side: With any luck I should be back to painting soon (after a brief stopover in "filler land" to fix the roof). Andy

What a difference a small thing, like changing glue, can have on an outcome.... (Thanks, Druxey, for indirectly giving me the idea) Some progress on the mullions, as of this morning. Switching to CA glue has helped restore some of my sanity, or, at the very least, cleared the air of the loud blue fog that shrouded my previous attempts.... 10 mullions done... 76(?) more to go... I think.... Andy

Hmm.... It’s a thought.... I may, however, first attempt a corollary of your theory and try using CA glue instead... I have some gel CA so that at least I may be able to better control where the glue ends up.... Thanks for the ideas! Andy

It's been a few days, but time for a small update. The plastic and paint I ordered has arrived... or, more accurately, I went to pick it up, as the paint (rattle cans) could not be shipped via the mail. (An hour and ten minute drive to the hobby shop, 30 seconds to pick up my order then another hour and ten minute drive home.... Isn't curbside wonderful!). I'm still waiting on the seating, but who knows when that will ever arrive. I've added the wind deflectors to the clerestory this morning, so that largely completes the car roof. Hooray! As for the window mullions.... where to even begin.... I think I scared the dog... she's not used to hearing anyone curse in full sentences. Suffice it to say that it was an exceedingly frustrating endeavour. 0.010" x 0.030" styrene was needed to make the mullions (any thicker and they would have looked clunky). Unfortunately any time I applied glue (styrene cement), the little fleck of plastic decided it preferred to stick to the metal tweezers and not the adjacent plastic (or, conversely, go flying into the great beyond)... grrr.... After a few attempts I tried a slightly different approach by taking some 0.020" x 0.030" strip to use as a base and glueing the mullions to that first. The plan being to then cut out the division between the main and transom windows and inserting the entire construction into place... That strategy was binned quickly, when the styrene decided to glue itself to the cutting mat... and the metal tweezers.. and whatever it is in the great beyond that was far more attractive (What. The. Ahem!). So I've decided that for the sake of my sanity, I will forego the mullions. Not my preferred outcome, but... The first coat of primer has been applied now, so no more pictures of blinding white plastic, although some of the details still struggle to be seen.... And the opposite side of the car... looks like I need a bit of filler on the eave of the roof over the lavatory windows. No big deal, at least things have resumed their forward movement! Andy

Hi Kevin, nice job! Regarding your lights, the following was copied from the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea: Rule 26 Fishing Vessels (a) A vessel engaged in fishing, whether underway or at anchor, shall exhibit only the lights and shapes prescribed in this Rule. (b) A vessel when engaged in trawling, by which is meant the dragging through the water of a dredge net or other apparatus used as a fishing appliance, shall exhibit: (i) two all-round lights in a vertical line, the upper being green and the lower white, or a shape consisting of two cones with their apexes together in a vertical line one above the other, (ii) a masthead light abaft of and higher than the all-round green light; a vessel of less than 50 metres in length shall not be obliged to exhibit such a light but may do so, (iii) when making way through the water, in addition to the lights prescribed in this paragraph, sidelights and a sternlight. Hope that helps! Andy

The DAR was a bit more of a secondary/regional/branch line all wrapped in to one. One of the last lines in North America to run trains with open observation cars (even wooden obs cars as late as ‘56). The big freight was gypsum, complete with double headed ten-wheelers and strings of oversized composite, drop-bottom gons (the “famous” Big Otis cars). There’s a great online resource here, lots of photos and other documents. Personally, one of my favourite aspects of the DAR was how they painted (and named!) their steam engines: http://dardpi.ca/wiki/images/DAR2552_Halifax_1939.jpeg Andy

A little bit more into the late ‘40s, early ‘50s. I’m in the planning stages of a layout representing portions of the Dominion Atlantic Railway, a CPR subsidiary, in Nova Scotia. Andy

Hi Ernie, thanks for the compliments! I agree the Branchline kits were reasonably close (albeit a tad short) for a CPR heavyweight. Would it rot your socks to know that Branchline also made a top-equalized truck too? 😏 I’ve had these kicking around for a few years, but apparently Bethlehem Car Works has them listed for sale: https://bethlehemcarworks.com/branchline-passanger-car-parts/ Andy

Just got notification that my order from Walthers has shipped (the seats)... coming from Milwaukee.... I wonder how many exotic locations it will pass through before getting to me.... and will it arrive before.... say.... September (year not specified)... Fingers crossed!🤞 Andy

Well, the orders have been made... The seats from Walthers, and the styrene (and some paint) from a local(ish) hobby store. Paint and plastic should be here early next week.... still waiting on news of the seating.... Andy

Although I’ve made my own grabs in the past, these were all pre-made. (I cheated, sorry😔). There’s not many parts suppliers left anymore, and most that remain viable seem to stick to locomotive parts or building parts.... Andy Edit mwahaha: https://www.walthers.com/coach-seats-for-standard-gauge-cars-drgw-style-w-two-wood-ends-pkg-12

Thanks everyone for the comments and the likes! I have been slowly working away on my coach build. I've now made up the interior bulkheads and partitions. Most of these areas will really not be seen after the model is complete so I've kept the details rather basic. I still intend to add seating and the requisite features in the lavatories. The smoking room end of the car. Getting the 0.030" styrene to curve that tight and stay without springing back was fun. I simply used the handle of one of my files as a mandrel and gently and repeatedly worked the styrene until it held its shape. After glueing the panels to the floor, I then added some gussets to help hold everything in one place, and give it some structural strength. The interior is still removable at this point (and I'll probably keep it that way). The opposite end of the car was much simpler to construct, with only the women's lavatory and the heater room to contend with. After the interior, it was time to get after the grabs and gutter details. I find grab irons to be one of the more tedious parts of any railway rolling stock model build. Very easy to mess up, very hard to undo is there is an error, but absolutely essential for any finished car. Each end of the car has two drop grabs, plus the entry handles on each side. Up on the roof there are eight more, four located on top of the clerestory and the wavy looking grab, just above the eave, is the ladder rest. Also on each end is a peaked gutter above the end door, and a sloped gutter above the entry door. This were formed using brass wire. The grab irons where salvaged from my parts bin (leftovers from old Walthers passenger cars) and are made of stainless steel wire. I've also almost completed the other end details. You can see the coupler cut-lever attached to the entry step as well as the hose ends for the steam, air and signal lines (the one is slightly obscured by the coupler head). Finally, I've added the fill cap to the Baker heater header tank. I made this from a Precision Scale Co. (PSC) 0.030" pipe union brass casting. At this point I'm getting closer to finishing the model, all that really remains now are seats and a few final details such as the window mullions and the air deflectors for the clerestory. I'm going to have to put in an order this week for the styrene strip that I need. I also need to order seats, but the problem lies in getting the right kind. The few suppliers there are make seats for later streamlined cars. I have yet to find anyone who makes the old fashioned "walk-over" seats (seats that could be made to face either end of the car by "walking over" the seat back from one side of the seat bench to the other) appropriate for cars of this era. Andy

I would say it’s very likely a wind scoop of some kind, but definitely much simpler than the Garland type. From what I can see it’s a piece of metal, simply flanged to the clerestory. Andy

Thanks, again, everyone for the kind comments and likes! Work has been progressing smoothly over the last few days. The major joints in the roof have been filled and sanded smooth, as and where required. I use Squadron putty, as it bonds well with styrene. It's not quite as good with wood, but if you're careful it will do the job there too. A few extra strips of 0.020" square stock were required to widen out the edges of the roof ends to match the wooden centre section. I've successfully managed to make the two clerestory inserts. The include all the vent openings, however I was unable to locate the aluminium mesh (that I know I have somewhere, hidden), so they will remain as just openings. This is probably for the good, as the material thickness wouldn't allow for another layer anyway. The lavatory vents were also added (again, spare parts from a Branchline kit) The I've also completed the visible components of the Baker car heater; the smoke jack and the covered header tank. The smoke jack was simply made using various thicknesses of styrene tubing. The header tank was made from a strip of scale 12" x 24" basswood. The ends were treated with Squadron putty to fill in the end grain of the wood. All that needs to be added is the fill cap. Finally the roof top conduit cover was added using a strip of 0.020" x 0.080" styrene. You can clearly see the conduit running down the centre of the car roof in the photo above. Originally these cars would have been lit with Pintsch gas, and would have had a series of round vents running the length of the car (you can actually see them on the rood of the baggage car in the extreme left of the photo. When the cars were converted to electric light, the wiring followed the same path as the gas lines (I would imagine, mainly, to avoid having to tear out sections of the interior to install the wiring and to avoid having unsightly wires dangling around). You can also notice some odd pieces sticking out from the clerestory (towards the bottom left of the photo). I'm not entirely sure of their function, or construction, so for the time being, I will omit them (I may circle around to them later if I manage to find more information). Diverting my attention to the interior, I've added a steel weight to the bottom of the floor. And I've mapped out the interior partitions for the smoking room and the lavatories, lockers etc. The outline is just the basic floor plan, when built, all the corners will be rounded off or coved. I will likely keep this section removable to allow ease of painting. Next up in the construction sequence will be to finish the interior construction, and then my "favourite" task(s); grab irons and end details. I haven't forgotten the transom window mullions either, but I've determined that I need some thinner stock styrene than I have on hand, so I'll have to put in an order with the hobby shop. I just need to work out a list of other items that I may "need" (one package of styrene seems a tad frivolous!). Andy

That largely depends on a couple of factors. I know I have some fine mesh screening I purchased a few years ago, if I can find wherever it was I put it (a very safe place I can only assume). Otherwise it will come down to material thicknesses. The scribed siding is only available in 0.030” thickness (at this scale), so if, in conjunction with the mesh, the thickness of the insert is too much for the clerestory, the mesh might have to be omitted. Bethlehem Car Works does supply PE screens for clerestory vents, but ordering from them is a bit iffy (not unreliable, as far as I know, but they don’t have an actual online storefront). Andy

As always, thanks everyone for the comments and likes! Work on the main underbody details has largely been finished. I have decided to omit some of the "plumbing", mostly because it would serve only to add clutter to an already tight space, which is also the other reason as it has become increasingly difficult to do things neatly, without mucking up some of the already completed items (I've had to dust off a spiderweb of fine strands of CA glue). The main queenposts are a white metal casting from Bethlehem Car Works I had laying about. The truss rods are made from monofilament fishing line. I prefer using fishing line as it is fairly easy to get tight and somewhat resilient to incidental contact. Wire is much harder to get to the proper tension (without destroying the car in the process), and would tend to show every impact. For those who are interested, here's an annotated version showing the various major components: The vast majority of the detail parts came from leftover Branchline kits and other bits and pieces in my parts bins. It should be mentioned that although the locations of the major components is somewhat reflective of prototype practice (and supported by partial photographic evidence), it is still only my general interpretation, and is not necessarily a 100% accurate. The corner steps have also been added. I've left off some of the final details such as the coupler cut levers and the connections for the steam, air and signal lines. These will be added later when I'm adding the grabirons and other final details. The time has now come to return my attention to finishing the roof. Some sanding and filling is necessary to smooth our the joints, and an insert will have to be made for the clerestory. Andy

Thanks Canute! Based on photographs I've seen (looking closely at the hose connections at the ends), it's possible some cars would have been equipped with both steam heat and a Baker heater (given our colder climate up here). Either way, there could have been a pass-through steam line to allow heating other cars in a consist. If I had known 11 years ago that I would be neck deep in this project, I'm sure I would have taken many more photos of the preserved car at the museum in Delson! Andy

Thanks, everyone, for the comments and likes! A busy weekend in the car shops. Both car ends were installed and the side entry doors have been made and fitted. Prior to fitting the doors, the doorways were trimmed with 0.030" styrene 1/4 round to match the prototype... almost. If you take a quick look back at my first post, you can see the 1/4 round moulding and the nicely coved corners. If this was at a larger scale I might have attempted it, however at this scale, a simple mitre joint will suffice. It was now time to turn to trucks and couplers. For some reason most "craftsman" style kits leave this step off until the end but I prefer to get this step out of the way now as this can sometimes involve some "heavy" work that may risk damaging any detail work that has been installed. You can see clearly my king post and bolster arrangement for the trucks. The end sill is a scale 12" x 24" piece of basswood strip glued to the underside of the floor. Once the car height was set by adjusting the height of the bolster and comparing my car with other models in my collection, the couplers were installed and adjusted with a Kadee height gauge. The couplers are Kadee #58 semi-scale knuckle couplers, which give a nicer appearance than the standard (oversized) #5. This model will ultimately be an operating model, some some compromises (like the large 2-56 screw) are necessary to ensure reliability (it really won't bee seen after the steps and end details are added). Following this bit of rough work, it was time to tackle the roof (or at least the basic construction). Shown here upside down, the roof is made up of a couple of pre-made clerestory sections with end pieces cut from a leftover Branchline kit coach roof. The roof ends needed to be widened to better match the width of the milled clerestory sections. Some basswood strip provides for a nice friction fit in the carbody. Some final tweaking, sanding, filling etc will be required, but otherwise the heavy work is now completed. I can now move on to the fun detail work. Which has already begun on the underside of the car. The centre sills were made using 1/8" styrene "C" channel. The black steam pipe was also salvaged from a Branchline kit. I'm not sure if the prototype cars were also equipped with steam heating (as it is, the cars had a Baker car heater), but it adds a nice detail. Next up comes the rest of the underbody detail, including the queen posts and truss rods, air tanks, brake and electrical equipment. Andy

There are many bottomless rabbit holes in model railroading just waiting to suck in another unwitting victim! Andy

And thank you too, EG! I apologize for the quality of the photos, but the scribed siding (bead board) forms the outer layer, so it’s on already. It’s a bit hard to see (white on white). I’m not a professional photographer, but I know I can (and should) do better... time to lose the little point-and-shoot and haul out my SLR. Andy

I am definitely planning on a basic interior (bulkheads/partitions and seats). I hadn’t given much thought on how far I really might take this.... now you’ve gone and given me something to think about! Andy