Wood box cars Scratch building and trick shots

[bparrish]

Alright now.........

We are getting close here..........  On to the doors.

In the era I am modeling there were not too many door options.  There were however, a number of ways of making them slide and anchor.   The tops were all about the same.  A pair of roller wheels hanging from a track rod and hidden by a board that came down from the fascia board.  So here is a photo of what the tops of all six of these cars will have.

I used some 1/16" angle stock from Northeastern Wood Products.



Now on to the bottom rail.  There were basically three types or methods of conducting the lower rail. Shown here is a closed system so I simply used a second piece of angle stock and it's done and easy.  The pencil marks all over the place are for marking centers, both of door and the car.



The second type was nothing more than cleats that acted as stops and guides. Shown here at the top of the photo.



Now for the tough one.  There was a method where the bottom was a long strip of plate steel that was anchored to the lower car side with a bunch of four or five inch stand-off bolts or castings.  So I decided that I could do this.   Here is a shot of the stand-offs.  On two foot centers and  cover the entire travel of the door.

[bparrish]

To make the lower rails, I cut .050" sheet brass into narrow strips with an x-acto blade.  it's tough on the blade but it really works well.  A scissors just bends everything.
Shown below is are two strips.  One is shown from what will be the outside and includes bolt heads which are nothing more than small impressions from the back side.  Any small point will do and pushing is adequate. No need for a hammer.
The other strip is the back side and you can see that it is flooded with solder.  This is what makes this simple.  When ready to be soldered, touch some liquid flux on each stand-off.  The place the strip where you want it on the stand-offs and apply a bit of heat.  This goes so fast that you won't even get your fingers hot.  Use a small screwdriver to hold things in place until cool.



These are amazingly durable.  I cut the ends off after soldering with a small nipper.





And a third shot showing the distance off of the wall.



These are the little things that will get a model to a merit award. None of them are tough.  Just take the time and experiment with it.

Next will be final details of the end of car brake parts.

[deemery]

That last approach, with the steel/iron rail, was a key part of the Wagner plug door, that was widely used around the turn of the century.  Craig Bisgeier did one for his PRR XC/XD kit.  The door itself was an early plug door, with a refrigerator door style latch.  Westerfield has a kit for a PRR XG, same kind of door.  https://id18538.securedata.net/westerfieldmodels.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?cPath=99_449&products_id=656

dave

[bparrish]

Dave.....
I had not heard a particular name assigned to those.  John White does not identify them as I can recall in his giant book of freight cars.

Thanx
Bob

[Oldguy]

That last approach, with the steel/iron rail, was a key part of the Wagner plug door, that was widely used around the turn of the century.  Craig Bisgeier did one for his PRR XC/XD kit.  The door itself was an early plug door, with a refrigerator door style latch.  Westerfield has a kit for a PRR XG, same kind of door.  https://id18538.securedata.net/westerfieldmodels.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?cPath=99_449&products_id=656

dave

Interesting how those doors slide open to the left. 

[bparrish]

We're getting close now.

Here is a photo of the underside of the B end were the brake rod comes down to the stirrup.





The brake rod goes through the tension stirrup and is secured with a small wire Kemtron spike.  Any sort of brass or steel wire would work. I NEVER use piano wire as it is tough on the nippers and it throws little shards around the room when being cut and won't take solder well.  After that, piano wire is just plain terrible to work with.

What do you really think, Bob?

Here are some photos showing the B end detail.  I use brass brake wheels from anywhere I can find them as they take a beating when switching during operating sessions.  These are Precision Scale which I think is not part of PF&S Hobbies out of Pasco Washington. I gave up on plastic long ago.  I also place them a bit low above the roof for the same reason.

The grey plastic castings are Tichy.

It is amazing how easily the grab irons get pushed around while working on these cars.  Much of what I have done here is to choose an construction order that is lest damaging as you go along.  Some things simply must come before others, like the truss rods strings before you close up the sides.   


Each grab iron will be examined and adjusted before going to the paint shop.











Now on to the paint shop.

[deemery]

Bob, I just remembered I have some photos of a Wagner door boxcar hardware on-line:  http://davebert.photos/Strasburg-Mar14/index2.html  (Pennsylvania RR Museum, Strasburg.)


dave

[tct855]

Bob,
       Excellent pictorial sir!  Lots of great tips for all to follow.  What nice clean simple to follow step by step instructions.  Very interesting fleet build.  I'm glued here till the end.  Thanx Thom...

[bparrish]

Dave..... Thom

Thank you sirs, for looking in.  Dave, those are great photos of the metal stand off tracking.   What is shown above is the first time I have tried to model that system.   All of the cars will need some dusting up before being painted.

It's amazing what a beating they take just getting them build.   The cars I did for my MMR cars certificate were mostly done in HOn3 so these are giant by comparison.

Thanx again.
Bob

[deemery]

If you notice on the prototype (and on Craig's model), the trackway has a bend in it.  If you think about how the door would work, that makes sense.  That bend helps push the one side of the door into the wall, "filling the plug".


dave

[Jerry]

Beautiful work Bob.


Jerry

[bparrish]

Dave,,,,

I can do that,,,,, just press the last pins in father.   It does make sense.

Last thing before paing.

Thanx
Bob