At the July Greenberg train show in Monroeville, PA, I purchased a 2-rail U.S. Navy Helium car that needed some work. It had one panel missing on the top by one ladder, but was otherwise intact. It was missing some handrail and door lock details which were never installed by the original builder, and the original decals had been incorrectly applied. It appeared to have been made some time in the 1930s or 1940s due to the now yellowed lacquer that was used to seal the car.
I started working on it to repair it, add the missing details, and convert it to 3-rail for regular operation. I made the missing panel out of bass wood and installed Lionel LionScale trucks to the metal Westbrook frame. The end sills had to be ground down a bit to allow clearance for the couplers. Also, I am not sure if it is a Westbrook kit, as it appears that the original builder updated a few details like the end sills, side steps, ladders, and frame. I added the missing brake details to the bottom of the car as well. I started painting the car silver with a black undercarriage. I used Tichy Train Group decals for the U.S. Navy Helium car. The decals are for the 3rd generation Helium cars and the model is of the 2nd generation cars, so I had to take a little liberty with them. I had to create the eagle decal from a picture of the original on the car. I took a clear photo of it and edited the photo with Microsoft Paint to create an outline of the eagle that I could print on decal paper. I finished applying the decals last week and put the final clear coat on Friday morning. Please see the attached photos.
Here is the car the day I got it.
Here is the car after I made the missing roof panel and converted it to LionScale trucks.
Here is the final product after working on it over the last four months.
