MDT Box Car kitbash

[jbvb]

Looks nice. I suppose the longitudinal board scribing helped bend the original kit roof, I don't see another reason for it.

[Michael Hohn]

James,

Thank you.

The kit roofing material is a very thin card, so the subroof provides important support and guarantees a smooth curve.  There are also carlins underneath the subroof that help define the shape of the roof and prevent sagging.  I substituted a somewhat thicker styrene for the roof, so I cut the subroof edges flush to the sides.  That added a helpful couple of scale inches to the height of the sides.  The fascia covers the edges.

Mike

[friscomike]

Howdy Mike, the bash is looking good.  The fusion of wood and plastic is resulting in an authentic car.  Have fun, mike

[Michael Hohn]

Thank you, Mike.

[Larry C]

Micheal very nice looking car and like the way you're able to blend materials in your construction. Enjoy.

[Michael Hohn]

Thanks, Larry. 

Melding dissimilar materials requires some thought, but allows a wider range of options.  In this case I used super glue.

Mike

[ACL1504]

Mike,

Great build and the boxcar is looking great. I'll be here 'til the end.

Tom 

[KentuckySouthern]

Interesting project, Michael.  Noticed in Bernd's photo looking along the cars they appear to all be slightly higher in the center than the ends by siting down the stripes. 

[Bernd]

Interesting project, Michael.  Noticed in Bernd's photo looking along the cars they appear to all be slightly higher in the center than the ends by siting down the stripes. 

Probably over tightened the truss rods. Probably will straighten out once loaded. After all they are new.

Bernd

[Michael Hohn]

Mike,

Great build and the boxcar is looking great. I'll be here 'til the end.

Tom

Thank you, Tom.

[Michael Hohn]

Interesting project, Michael.  Noticed in Bernd's photo looking along the cars they appear to all be slightly higher in the center than the ends by siting down the stripes. 

It's more extreme than I have seen in other builders photos, but it might be the angle.  Or, it could be because the cars are just about at the limit for the length of ones with truss rods and so the effect is more noticeable.

Mike

[deemery]

There was one 19th century reefer patent where the hump in the middle was part of the design.  Art Griffin produced those as kits, I have a pair put away.   Mike, do you know of a website that shows/compares all those patents?  One of the most famous is the Hanrahan patent, which had two doors on each side and an ice bunker in the middle. (There's a famous photo of a Colorado Midland Hanrahan reefer with a fancy Ute Indian painted on it.)


dave

[Michael Hohn]

Dave,

I wish there was such a source for information.  White describes several reefer patents but some remain elusive.

Mike

[IWannaRetire]

Mike, are you looking for info on the clerestory on the reefer?

I dug briefly into https://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstock/builders/index.htm

and found:



AT:  https://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstock/builders/tiffany.htm

The above also mentions patents, specifically a patent  No. 193,357 (24 July 1877) which led me to another article, but no drawings or pics of clerestory refers there. Maybe the biblio at the end of the article will help.

https://www.rosscrain.com/All-Images/dsp-pdf/DSP%20Tiffany%20D%20Poole%20OR%20May95.pdf

I needed to pull out of this WorldWideWabbit hole before I needed search and rescue to come get me, good luck if you decide to follow!

[Michael Hohn]

That's all good information.  Tiffany led an interesting and creative life, perhaps a little out of step with his contemporaries at times.

Mike