ONR Polar Bear Express (was just the canoe car - now the whole train)

[DKS]

Now, this is modeling. Two big thumbs up.

[craigolio1]

Now, this is modeling. Two big thumbs up.

Haha. Thanks. But have you seen this guy who’s modelling the very last white river and northern?
Craig.

[craigolio1]

APU:

Alright so here comes the next instalment of the train. This train uses one of  several F#B units the ONR converted to head end power generation units.

I opted to build APU #205 for a couple of reasons. One I’ve seen it pictured in several modern consists. And two I found a great deal on an Intermountain F7B which most closely resembles #205.

Here is one side of the prototype:



And the other side:



On this model I’m going for about an 80 percent  level of accuracy. These days I’m trying to actually finish things and I find that with models I started years ago where I had planned to model every detail, I’m getting bogged down in that last ten percent. Notable modifications include removal of roof details and addition of new exhaust stacks lift rings and grab irons. On the ends, HEP connections, back up and marker lights, grab irons. On the sides removal of two portholes and a door/step, addition of vents, removal of skirts above the fuel tank, and swapping one step out to a thinner design (I love how one lone  step on the corner is yellow).

Here are the steps I took modifying the shell. The hardest part was the vents. I made them by lining up thin styrene and using spacers, all glued to a backing sheet. Then once dry I cut to size abs added sides. It turned out pretty good but I should have been more patient as I didn’t let it cure fully which caused a slight bit of distortion as I cut some pieces. When I try this again on another project I’ll let them cure for a couple of days.
















With most of the modifications done (I forgot to detail the roof) the shell was stripped and prepped for paint.



I used Krylon flat white primer. Followed by Vallejo white, and then after masking, Trueline Trains CPR Grey.





For the grabs I tried the Rapido ONR yellow but I had a hard time getting it thin enough to go on thin/smooth but not be runny, and it was clogging my airbrush. Frustrated I used Polyscale Reading yellow instead.... and yes I remembered the lone yellow step!




I also managed to remember to detail the roof finally.

Tonight decals went on.





Next will be clear coat and some final touch ups prior to weathering along with the canoe car.

Craig.

[craigolio1]

I’m really doing this out of order, but I should have introduced everyone to the whole train. I’ve edited it in on the first page to make it flow better.

Craig

[Angus Shops]

Hi Craig,

Well OK, now we have a sense of the scope of this project. It’s quite a project, but it looks like you’ve got a good handle on it. The Centralia dome is a bit of of godsend, eh?


It’s not clear if you’ve solved the  FP? issue yet, but if if it’s an FP7 you could modify a Kato Milwaukee Road unit. I’m finishing up a CPR unit: you’ll need to fill in the lower headlight, replace the winter hatch, add a dynamic brake fan and replace the passenger pilot with freight pilot. The pilot is the most difficult part of the project. If you have a spare shell with a freight pilot you could do a swap, but I cut the passenger pilot off and moved it back .030 (and tightened the radius a bit) and filled the resulting gap with carefully bent piece of Evergreen .030 1/4 round strip styrene. I had difficulty getting solid joint for the relocated pilot and had to add a bit of reinforcing inside the nose. As a result the stock front coupler assembly on the chassis wouldn’t fit inside the shell so I removed it and body mounted a Z scale coupler in the nose of the shell. I also replace the cast on handrails with .080 wire ones and add etches stainless grills.

I was meaning to ask about your success with Rapido Proto paint after an earlier post, but your comments to the yellow handrails brings this to the fore. I’ve had decidedly mixed success. When it “works”, it’s great, but sometimes... While painting my FP7 and F7B I had issues with the grey being too thick from the bottle and needing a bit of thinning to avoid ‘orange peel’. On the other hand the CPR Tuscan out of the bottle was about the right viscosity, but was sort of translucent and I had trouble getting an opaque coating without it going on too thick. In the end I managed with both but it was right on the knife edge of success/failure. Both colours were thoroughly mixed. Even on a brush (for touch ups) the Tuscan is translucent. On the other hand I have some Proto yellow that I use for the handrails (brush painted) that has great opacity and viscosity and looks like it would be a dream to spray. Perhaps there is some inconsistency in the product?
Geoff

[CNR5529]

I've had good enough luck with the Rapido paints, though if you can find it TLT paints seem to be a bit more consistent. When I did up those IM CPR f units, they required lots of thin coats of the Rapido tuscan to get even coverage (also, a 50-50 mix of cpr and th&b tuscan is a dead on match for the tuscan IM used). The CN mineral brown on the other hand always goes on nice...

[craigolio1]

Hi Craig,

Well OK, now we have a sense of the scope of this project. It’s quite a project, but it looks like you’ve got a good handle on it. The Centralia dome is a bit of of godsend, eh?


It’s not clear if you’ve solved the  FP? issue yet, but if if it’s an FP7 you could modify a Kato Milwaukee Road unit. I’m finishing up a CPR unit: you’ll need to fill in the lower headlight, replace the winter hatch, add a dynamic brake fan and replace the passenger pilot with freight pilot. The pilot is the most difficult part of the project. If you have a spare shell with a freight pilot you could do a swap, but I cut the passenger pilot off and moved it back .030 (and tightened the radius a bit) and filled the resulting gap with carefully bent piece of Evergreen .030 1/4 round strip styrene. I had difficulty getting solid joint for the relocated pilot and had to add a bit of reinforcing inside the nose. As a result the stock front coupler assembly on the chassis wouldn’t fit inside the shell so I removed it and body mounted a Z scale coupler in the nose of the shell. I also replace the cast on handrails with .080 wire ones and add etches stainless grills.

I was meaning to ask about your success with Rapido Proto paint after an earlier post, but your comments to the yellow handrails brings this to the fore. I’ve had decidedly mixed success. When it “works”, it’s great, but sometimes... While painting my FP7 and F7B I had issues with the grey being too thick from the bottle and needing a bit of thinning to avoid ‘orange peel’. On the other hand the CPR Tuscan out of the bottle was about the right viscosity, but was sort of translucent and I had trouble getting an opaque coating without it going on too thick. In the end I managed with both but it was right on the knife edge of success/failure. Both colours were thoroughly mixed. Even on a brush (for touch ups) the Tuscan is translucent. On the other hand I have some Proto yellow that I use for the handrails (brush painted) that has great opacity and viscosity and looks like it would be a dream to spray. Perhaps there is some inconsistency in the product?
Geoff

I was really happy when the dome was announced. It has its issues but not enough for me to change it. This train is meant to be “close enough”. I built the same dome car for the BCR dinner train and it was a major undertaking.

I haven’t decided what to do for power for this train. It will be solely a train show runner and a couple of guys in our club have the Atlas ONR GP38-2s, so in actuality I doubt I’ll invest in those locomotives. Now the FP is a different story. Intermountain released a model in this livery I believe, but it’s not accurately detailed and I love  F units. My VIA Rail Canadian is pulled by an FP built from a Kaslo Shops/Central Hobbies kit on an Atlas GP38 chassis. It was not an easy build but it turned out beautifully. They come with all the fixins, all of the options you mention, so if I pull the trigger on the F unit I’ll likely grab one of those kits again. Some research is required as they offer them for various versions/generations of CP and CN locos. I’m not sure Which one to start with.

I’m not sold on the Rapido Paints but I need to try them again to be sure. I am by no means a pro and still have difficulty locking down the right mixtures. I need to paint a baggage car, a cafe/bar/lounge car, and several flat cars. So I’ll likely try them again. Although I have found close matches in my Polyscale collection so I don’t know. I redid the stirrups on the canoe car since I posted pics as the paint went on really heavy and the surface mounted parts kept getting knocked off. If since used replacements that mount in drilled holes and they are painted with Polyscale Reading Yellow. It’s a much cleaner looking build now.

Craig.

[cv_acr]

Boxcar context:

The 2556 and 91023 are both 10'0" IH cars built by National Steel Car. Those unique waffle pattern ends are NSC's own proprietary ends known by railfans/modelers as the "NSC-2" style. Sylvan Scale Models once made a resin part in HO scale for this end, I believe Yarmouth Model Works has these parts now. True Line Trains made this car* in HO scale, and quite recently Intermountain has added this end as on option for their "1937" 10'0" box car in HO. I don't know that anyone has ever made this in N scale though...

*Both cars would have originally been from the 90000-90999 series with 6' sliding doors.

2556 had been previously rebuilt to a 91000 series car with 8' sliding doors, and obviously the door on one side was plated over when it was converted to service on the passenger train.

91023 is a total oddball with a double door rebuild instead of the typical single 8' sliding door of the rest of the 91000 series. It gets around though and I shot it in a work train in Englehart in 2015.

That model 2808 is actually an accurate model of a group of ex-SP FMC and PCF 50' boxcars acquired for express service between Cochrane and Moosonee. I believe these mostly run between the freight sheds on the semi-weekly freight.

[craigolio1]

Boxcar context:

The 2556 and 91023 are both 10'0" IH cars built by National Steel Car. Those unique waffle pattern ends are NSC's own proprietary ends known by railfans/modelers as the "NSC-2" style. Sylvan Scale Models once made a resin part in HO scale for this end, I believe Yarmouth Model Works has these parts now. True Line Trains made this car* in HO scale, and quite recently Intermountain has added this end as on option for their "1937" 10'0" box car in HO. I don't know that anyone has ever made this in N scale though...

*Both cars would have originally been from the 90000-90999 series with 6' sliding doors.

2556 had been previously rebuilt to a 91000 series car with 8' sliding doors, and obviously the door on one side was plated over when it was converted to service on the passenger train.

91023 is a total oddball with a double door rebuild instead of the typical single 8' sliding door of the rest of the 91000 series. It gets around though and I shot it in a work train in Englehart in 2015.

That model 2808 is actually an accurate model of a group of ex-SP FMC and PCF 50' boxcars acquired for express service between Cochrane and Moosonee. I believe these mostly run between the freight sheds on the semi-weekly freight.

Chris, thanks very much for that info!  Any idea where I could start for a model of 2556, incorrect ends aside? i was thinking maybe an Intermountain 40ft with an Atlas it MT door if available, but I honestly haven't spent too much time investigating.

Craig.

[cv_acr]

Well actually...

Under 1937 AAR boxcar:

https://www.intermountain-railway.com/n/nboxcars.htm
https://www.intermountain-railway.com/n/html/65799.htm

(That's a photo of the HO model as representation, but it looks like they have it listed as upcoming for N scale too - with correct NSC-2 ends...)

I'm less familiar with N scale offerings than HO, so I took a peek at their site to make sure they had the same 10' "1937 AAR" car in that scale before agreeing "yes that's exactly what I'd do", and what do you know...

Take that, do the same door replacement and other modifications that the prototype did.

2556 and 91023 both are rebuilt from this original series, and this gets you the correct ends. They're not delivered yet (the HO ones only just hit stores recently) but probably worth waiting to get the right parts.

Note the beefed up side sill under the doors to reinforce the larger openings.

[craigolio1]

Well actually...

Under 1937 AAR boxcar:

https://www.intermountain-railway.com/n/nboxcars.htm
https://www.intermountain-railway.com/n/html/65799.htm

(That's a photo of the HO model as representation, but it looks like they have it listed as upcoming for N scale too - with correct NSC-2 ends...)

I'm less familiar with N scale offerings than HO, so I took a peek at their site to make sure they had the same 10' "1937 AAR" car in that scale before agreeing "yes that's exactly what I'd do", and what do you know...

Take that, do the same door replacement and other modifications that the prototype did.

2556 and 91023 both are rebuilt from this original series, and this gets you the correct ends. They're not delivered yet (the HO ones only just hit stores recently) but probably worth waiting to get the right parts.

Note the beefed up side sill under the doors to reinforce the larger openings.

Well, how about that? I will wait for that for sure.

Now to find an 8ft door.

Craig.

[Angus Shops]

I happened (just by chance) to be in my LHS and noted they have 2 Kaslo Shops FP7 “late CPR/ONR” on theirs shelves...
Geoff

[craigolio1]

I happened (just by chance) to be in my LHS and noted they have 2 Kaslo Shops FP7 “late CPR/ONR” on theirs shelves...
Geoff

Indeed... the one I’m after is the early ONR FP7. The reason your LHS doesn’t have anymore is because the last one is in transit to me!

Craig.

[Angus Shops]

Ha! Good news...

[craigolio1]

Ha! Good news...

Now if only I had a GP40 to put under it.  Hmmmmmm. Haha.