The grab irons, stirrups, k brake, and brake wheel staff pocket and brake levers are cast brass from Precision scale.
The angle cock and glad hands, along with the brake wheel are cast brass from Wiseman model services
The bolsters and end sills are cast white metal parts from scale city designs.
The corner braces, stake poles, turnbuckles, and little brake ratchet/pawl are from the LaBelle kit.
@adferraro posted:The grab irons, stirrups, k brake, and brake wheel staff pocket and brake levers are cast brass from Precision scale.
The angle cock and glad hands, along with the brake wheel are cast brass from Wiseman model services
The bolsters and end sills are cast white metal parts from scale city designs.
The corner braces, stake poles, turnbuckles, and little brake ratchet/pawl are from the LaBelle kit.
Thanks!
Caption did not come through. Above is an old Athern kit with Intermountain parts and ASM trucks costing 3 times the kit. Needs weathering, it can be a shaving mirror for now. jefferson
Pics from last post
Not to suggest this is as good as the rest of the beauties posted here, but rather that with some work even junkers can be brought back to life.
Here's ScaleCraft junker that almost got scrapped but I was persuaded to keep by an acquaintance, an SC buff, who indicated these older(in this case almost 80 years?) dbl door 40's are not that common.
Didn't want to completely strip and start over so , restored the grabs, door railings and added doors, new couplers, new bolster mounts and whole bunch of touch up and then dull-coat. Removing the grime was one of the hardest parts in this, I wound up using window cleaner on Q-tips. Not great but no-longer a write-off either. This shut-in at home business has me living in my basement.........this is the result.
Nice resurrection!
While I use a lot of Q-tips in my shop, I've not bothered with window cleaner - have to give that a try!
Atipete --
That is a totally awesum job of resurrecting the old scale craft box ! I love to see these old cars rebuilt and returned to respect. each one has a story and a lot of individuality.
I think a lot of people are intimidated about trying one of these , thinking :It won't be good enough" I say Fooey ! and would rather see a completely messed up build than a perfect 'shake the box' or RTR model.
Thanks JJ, agree these older cars can stand on their own merits, even today. This (great) string and the current one on HW passenger car builds are gratifying in showing that building or restoring old kits is not totally passe in our hobby. To whit, and of course only opinion, in the context of a well designed and scenicked layout the shortcomings in fidelity of these older cars is often secondary to the overall effect, and you're certainly spot-on with regard to the feel and individuality of kit-builds. It's a big hobby with plenty of room for all tastes. Salute!
Pete
Just found an interesting (I assume) prewar flat car kit I couldn't pass up. It's a Parmel & Sturges 200 ton four truck flat car. I have another that I had not identified yet and will be curious to see if this one is similar.
I can tell the deck is not pierced like the brass Max Grey and others, but this will still be a great car for the doorstop central hopefully.
Very interesting kit, do you have a specific prototype in mind? The instructions look like they're for a conventional flat or is there some verbiage I'm not seeing there that tells you what and how? ? That cast frame looks like a chore to modify the two additional bolsters onto, but I'm sure there's a way to do it.
They offered three types of flat cars, the four truck all steel 200 ton HD flat is one of the three box stock. The two span bolsters mount on those two points on the flat car body. Here is the other instruction portion from the auction. You can see the comments differentiating the three types. I'll do it as PRR probably.
@atlpete posted:Not to suggest this is as good as the rest of the beauties posted here, but rather that with some work even junkers can be brought back to life.
Here's ScaleCraft junker that almost got scrapped but I was persuaded to keep by an acquaintance, an SC buff, who indicated these older(in this case almost 80 years?) dbl door 40's are not that common.
Didn't want to completely strip and start over so , restored the grabs, door railings and added doors, new couplers, new bolster mounts and whole bunch of touch up and then dull-coat. Removing the grime was one of the hardest parts in this, I wound up using window cleaner on Q-tips. Not great but no-longer a write-off either. This shut-in at home business has me living in my basement.........this is the result.
That's a great save on that SC auto box car! It looks great to me. I have a few of those as well, they are a rather larger car!!! Must be 17/64ths versus 1/4 scale.
LWS Union Carbide LOX tank car kit.......1 page of instructions; a fuzzy photo of the prototype, and two sheets of peel & stick lettering. Fun! 
Interesting. I don't see parts for a conventional dome. What type does this car have? Seeing the instruction sheet would be enlightening.
Not if it's a LWS instruction sheet.
I see one part of a conventional dome. It is the PSC lid casting. Jan laid in a supply of PSC domes - they are very nice, and include a formed vertical part that has a riveted apron, and another part that is soldered in the top, with a hole for that lid casting. I suspect the missing parts are in the PSC freight car catalog.
Next time buy a Lobaugh tank. No cheap britannia metal castings.
"Modern-ish" compressed gas tank car with a real short "neck" for the dome?
Yeah, this is what LWS world looks like for the uninitiated, I think it's kind of cool but you know, not for everyone. One or two steps above a smallish block of white metal and a sheet of brass, with a skeletal plan on a mimeographed copy.
You do plan on building this up? assuming per Bob you can find the other half of the dome saddle?
(....just because you can?)
@atlpete posted:"Modern-ish" compressed gas tank car with a real short "neck" for the dome?
Prototype photo shows what was really just a flat hatch on top that did not extend much at all above the tank body; probably opened to connect to a filler line with a locking tight connection. Did not have a conventional dome. Pretty modern style car that is in fact way too modern for me,
Yeah, this is what LWS world looks like for the uninitiated, I think it's kind of cool but you know, not for everyone. One or two steps above a smallish block of white metal and a sheet of brass, with a skeletal plan on a mimeographed copy.
Yes, very typical of LWS and you are pretty much on your own - just looking it over also in the usual fashion things don't quite line up and there are parts pictured in the prototype photos that are not mentioned w/o parts supplied - make your own as per usual.
You do plan on building this up? assuming per Bob you can find the other half of the dome saddle?
Yup. It's in line right behind a Western Railcraft 3-dome Rohm & Haas tank car that I started off by first tossing the wood dowel into the box of dowel for use in turning a file handle....someday.
(....just because you can?)
Pretty basic kit, but I don't look at the deficiencies, e.g., lack of instructions or some parts as an impediment but rather as an opportunity to just have fun with building it and improvising / creating to suit me.
@AMCDave posted:Even though my trains run on 3 rails.....as a ex HO scaler I act kinda like a 2 railer. I just got two 1960's era wood craftsman kits. One is a Lyken Valley Models 86ft PRR Hy-cube box. The other a Lyken 'Big John' covered hopper kit. The two kits, mint condition, cost me a total of $13. I've scratch built a bunch of On30 (it's 2 rail!!) cars and a good number of O scale cars....built 2 rail 'style' but re-engineered tp run on O72 3 rail track.
These kits look pretty nice for the era but I have never heard of the company. Any opinions on them?? I have not gone through them thoroughly yet...but the metal parts are wrapped in vintage 1966 newspapers!!!
Thanks for any info.
I just read this thread again and saw your post. I have built those two cars.
First the "BIG JOHN":
The hexagonal center-sill piece is a brass rod for weight. The trucks are Weaver's Barber S-2 with K-Line two-rail 36" passenger car wheels from a conversion kit.
The 86" hi-cube:
The Weaver hopper is just to show the size of the boxcar. For some reason, I never wrote on the bottom of the SF car the completion date but it was around the same time as the Big John hopper. I had gotten both kits in a trade for two very thick (about ½") very rough sand-cast aluminum GG1 halves. I think that I got the better part of that deal! I still have the original box and instructions but the box ends have been taped to keep them together so the label is un-readable. 
Note that the two LARGE decals on the left side of the car are one-piece decals. The SF "target" was one bear of a job to get set right; and there were two of them! I also have the PRR version, but that was bought at a train show:
Hey, don't knock wood dowels. They can make very nice tank cars.
Dave, great job on those old kits ! I don't think a lot of them got finished.
Bob T--'Member the old MR cartoon that shows a guy unpacking a kit labeled """"Accurate scale model--the next best thing to scratch building !!!"" and he pulls out of the box a tree limb that still had a leaf attached ?
...JJ
This is not my best effort, but it shows what a couple of old broomsticks and some cotter pins can do:
Since I have the big computer cooking, here is another vintage kit - well, two. Top is Varney metal, bottom is either All Nation or Athearn, with decals by Jim Wilhite (RIP).
I picked this flat car up at the last Strasburg show. Not sure of the brand. The 'instructions' say All-Nation, but the drawings don't match the car.
Someone replaced the Masonite deck with brass sheet, which adds even more weight to an already heavy car. I'll add the wood deck to that. Not sure if I'll add brake rigging with all those screw tabs through the underside. Did place the body bolsters. Drilled all those stake pockets (thanks to a drill press!). Adding corner stirrups by drilling and CA them in.
It's 46' scale feet long. Pretty close for a PRR F30a flat.
On the PRR Merchandise Service cars shown above, one HO the other O scale, there is an instant way to identify whether an O scale 40' metal side box car is an All Nation or an Athearn.
Look carefully at the lower edge of the car body, on the right end. Notice how the cuts are made for the openings that are between underframe members.
An All Nation has a vertical cut for the left edge of the cut near the ladder and at the small cross member cover, left of the bolster's cover.
For an additional ID step, look inside the box car. An All Nation car shows the back of the metal car side.
Athearn cars have angled left side cuts on these same lower car side panels.
Inside the car body, there is a sheet wood or Masonite liner behind the metal car side.
A third way, if you have a small magnet handy, All Nation metal car sides were aluminum. Athearn's metal car sides were steel.
The All Nation 40' box car is slightly shorter than an Athearn box car of the same design, but that can only be determined using a scale ruler. That came about in the late 1930's when both kit lines were first made. It comes from a misunderstanding as to how long a forty foot boxcar really is. That 40' is simply a name. The interior of a 40' box car is actually 40' 6". The exterior length is even longer than that, adding in the thicknesses of interior sheathing and the end wall stampings.
A General Modes/All Nation box car side measures slightly less than 10" (40 scale feet) long. The Athearn car side measures about 10 3/32". It is closer to 40' 6" scale but still a tad short.
Here is an example of each:
ALL NATION
ATHEARN
S. Islander
@PRR Man posted:I picked this flat car up at the last Strasburg show. Not sure of the brand. The 'instructions' say All-Nation, but the drawings don't match the car.
Not AN. 2 piece sides and all those tabs underneath are what I associate with Walthers parts and/or even later Keil-line parts. Bolster may be AN. All good fun!
Marty, the bolsters are Keil-Line I added.
They are nearly identical to the plastic PSC bolsters.
Wonder which is the egg or chicken?
I would guess Scale Craft. Not sure - cast aluminum sides?
on the difference between All Nation and Athearn - did not know all AN sides were aluminum. Otherwise, I just see box cars - kinda like the way I feel about SD7s and SD9s - I just see good looking Diesels.
What the heck - these days I cannot tell the difference between a Chevy and a Lexus without reading the name plate.
Bob, dunno. Was fairly hard to drill into. Unless cast aluminum is harder than extruded. Maybe Zamac or similar?
Here's a couple of snaps of the Scale Craft flat I picked up earlier this year:
Appears to be slightly different from your car, Chris...
Mark in Oregon
Here's a few photos of a Boston & Albany 36 foot boxcar I just finished. It started life as a 50 foot Labelle Racine Wagon and Carriage Company kit, which I cut down to 36 feet, added a bunch of PSC detail parts, and then decaled using K4 decals. You can still see some decal film, but it's not as bad as the last boxcar I built.
Nice job on the conversion. I've also had trouble getting the K4 decals to settle in the grooves of wood siding. I've used the red and blue Microscale solutions as well as the Walthers - even using an Xacto knife in the grooves. Their decals go on great on smooth surfaces though.
What trucks did you use on the car?
Jim
Actually toward the end, I was using a small brush to burnish the decals into the grooves and it worked really well. It really pushed the film down. The problem arose after it dried and I sliced the grooves with an exact I and then hit it with solvaset.
I think I'll try dry transfers next.
The trucks are archbars from protocraft.
Despite rubbing, pressing, heating, microwaving and applying chemicals, I was unsuccessful in releasing the lettering from the kit supplied CDS dry transfers to the sides of this Juneco Canadian National 45' express reefer. Age had rendered them non-transferable. So, the car is improperly lettered Railway Express using Microscale decals I had on hand.
The Juneco kit itself was a bit of a let down. For some reason I thought it would be better than the All-Nation and old Westbrook kits. The detail drawings were vague, doors incorrectly sized, and the flat bottom metal hatches were shown as glued directly to the round roof. Though I spend some time on the internet searching for prototype photos, all I was able to find were similar cars with differences in roofs, ends, ladders and hatches. In the end I just built it taking bits from various versions.
It sits on Symington Gould express trucks. I am glad to be done with this one.
Jim
express trucks. I'm glad to be
Nice job !
@jjscott posted:The Juneco kit itself was a bit of a let down. For some reason I thought it would be better than the All-Nation and old Westbrook kits. The detail drawings were vague, doors incorrectly sized, and the flat bottom metal hatches were shown as glued directly to the round roof. Though I spend some time on the internet searching for prototype photos, all I was able to find were similar cars with differences in roofs, ends, ladders and hatches. In the end I just built it taking bits from various versions.
Making a mental note on this kit then for when it strolls along to the front of the line.
That all being stated, it's still a nice sharp looking car well worthy of bettering a layout.
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
