I model the rainbow years of Conrail - specifically the summer of 1976. If you know any of the history of this year, you'll know that Conrail locomotives and rolling stock were a collage of equipment from bankrupt railroads. The red of the Lehigh Valley, the gray, brown and gold of the Erie Lackawanna, the yellow and green of the Reading, the black of the Penn Central. And more, and more and more. When picking a color scheme for the new railroad, Conrail wanted something fresh and different - they settled on a vibrant blue. But it would be a while before new equipment would sport the new color. Meanwhile, the paint shops started buying blue paint and when they had a chance, they would slap some on a locomotive or a caboose.
I needed a caboose for my local cement train and started shopping around and thinking about what I could model. I kept going back to some of the Conrail blue caboose units - these were all leftovers from the previous railroads. Bowser had a pretty good representation of different models and I picked up an unbuilt kit a few weeks ago on ebay for a song. Really - $3.25 plus shipping. Problem was, it was a PRR unit (an N5). I don't figure any of the "cabin cars (as the PRR used to call them)" were still in keystone logs in 1976. I have a similar PC unit in green and another in D&H colors. Checked out my Floquil paints and found I had the foresight a few years ago to buy a bottle before my local supplier closed up his shop. Looked into decals and bought a nice sheet of K4 Conrail caboose decals.
Pulled out my airbrush - I'd bought a new one on ebay about a year ago and still hadn't used it. Mixed up about a 50/50 paint with rubbing alcohol mix and sprayed the cabin, upper cabin and the sprues with the blue parts.
Did a little detail hunting via old photos and specs (the Conrail Cyclopedia has a link to a guy who has done a lot of work documenting the Conrail cabooses). Based on that research I knew that I shouldn't have roofwalks or ladders to the roof (I don't know exactly when they were banned, but...) I also learned I'd have to paint the roof for the cupola black, everything underneath the caboose and the floors would also receive black paint. Hit those areas with a brush....
I also found some detail parts available from Walters. I have a couple of Atlas cabooses, and I love the curved grab rails on those. For this Bowser unit, the grab rail was just part of the plastic body and I didn't think that did it justice. Spent more on the detail parts than the caboose itself, but it should be here next week. Until then, I thought I'd start putting decals on the exterior.
Decals were emplaced using Microscale Micro Sol and Micro Set. As per their instructions, you hit the area where you want to put the decal with Micro Set and after emplacing the decal, you hit the decal with Micro Sol. The Sol tends to make the shiny areas of the decal degrade and it almost looks like the decal is painted on. As you can see in the pictures below, I've included most of the decals in similar locations as the prototype. I also added the Kartrak decal (that's the color bar code looking thing in the middle of the car - also got those from K4). The numbers are tricky because you have to cut out each one individually (unless you can find a group on the decal sheet that works. I guessed on the decals for the ends since I didn't have a good photo of that.
Another issue to address were the roofwalks. On the Pennsylvania cabin car, those would have been allowed and present. However, prior to the formation of Conrail (have to check on the date), roofwalks and climbing on top of cars or cabooses was outlawed (I think nationwide). I could have just not installed the roofwalks supplied in the kit, but what about the holes in the roof to accept the walks (you can see them in the picture of the roof above)? A little dab of spackle in each one, smeared flat and painted black did the trick. Detail kit still isn't here a week later. As I think I said, the shipping through Walthers was more than the kit itself, it's through FedEx, and I'm a little displeased at the wait time. I found out from a guy on Big Blue Trains that Tichy also sells grabs and detail parts, but too late this time.
And that's where we are right now. I'm going to delay assembly until I get that detail kit since I'll be drilling some holes and doing some fitting - which will be easier with the cab in this state. More photos and details coming!
This project stalled for quite a few reasons. First, the detail kit (Walthers 910-201, which was the only kit currently available) I ordered got shipped to the "wrong" address (that was according to Walthers) who received the bounced shipment and gave only my money back for the purchase price (the shipping was more than the item). Meanwhile, knowing I wasn't going to receive the order I ordered one with a much more reasonable shipping cost and it arrived without a hitch. The kit was nothing more than some bent stainless steel pieces for the curved corner grab irons, the door to corner grab irons and the end grab irons. So, I didn't get a complete set of the grab irons I would have liked (there should be a set on each corner post which would have been tricky to drill and set.
Speaking of drilling, using a pin vise and a #80 bit is not an exercise for the impatient. I had a set of bits from 61 through 80, on per size. I drilled four (of the 24 required) holes and broke my only #80 bit. Did quite a bit of searching, and there were only a few places that had multiple #80 bits for sale. Shipping these things was atrocious, too. Eventually I settled on a nice set from England that had 10 bits in 8 different sizes. I also pinged my contacts on Big Blue Trains and someone suggested a "Clearance" item on Widget Supply - 10 bits for $2.49! Bought those too and had a race - Widget Supply bits were used to finish the drilling. Found out (and this was suggested by some guys on Big Blue, that you don't want to try to clamp the bit on the area with the flutes, it won't be held in place by the pin vise. However, you don't want to extend the bit so far from the vise that it bends and breaks. Bent one and broke one, but managed to finish with 8 of the 10 bits I started with. The key to using a pin vise is definitely patience and removing the bit occasionally to clear out the plastic shavings. Eventually you get all the way through and you can carefully rotate counterclockwise to clear the bit. Finding the correct locations for the holes is also a bit of trial and error. Had to do a few touchups after drilling all of the holes with blue paint.
The kit grab irons (as I stated before) are very small stainless steel items. They needed to be white on my model. Started applying white paint with a brush, but it didn't stick too well. Same deal with a can of spray paint. Next time I try this it will definitely be part of the airbrush time.
Eventually I got the grabs on and touched up and then went ahead and added the remaining details. In the process I realized I've misplaced the smokestack. Have to find that. Added some rust to some places and roughed up the look of the caboose a bit - I have a feeling that these weren't going to be the paint shops priorities during that time. Also added the underbody details and distressed the trucks and wheels and assembled everything (except the smokestack!).
Since in 1976 roofwalks were prohibited, so too would the ladder to the roof be removed. Had to carefully hack the top two rungs off each end's ladder and retouch the paint. Did the final careful assembly of the end walls and roof, added the trucks.
Even though this was a recently painted caboose, these N5's had been in service for the Pennsylvania, the Penn Central and now Conrail. They were steel, probably had a good bit of rust, and paint doesn't cover all ills. Went to work with some rust, black and gray to give this unit some character and then hit it with some Testor's Dullcote.
...and I just can't help myself. Ordered a window kit and a smokestack for this caboose direct from Bowser. Good company who have always helped me when I needed it. Windows and stack are shown in the picture below.
I also bought a set of marker lights for this caboose while I was ordering the other stuff. Got a tip from my pal on Big Blue Trains, Charlie Boyer on where those get mounted. Here's another shot with the mounted lights.
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