Weekend Update 12/18/11

[BCR 570]

Tell me; how did you get the round corners so perfect on the windows in that outfit car; even with the window ledge/molding, it looks perfect........inquiring minds want to know !

Sure - no secrets here.  In this case the windows are 24" square so I cut a strip of .005" sheet styrene 24" wide, and then chop it into 24" squares.  I then nicked off the corners at a 45 degree angle and finished the round corners with a file.  With parts like this I usually make a whole bunch and use the best ones.  Here are a few rejects which will hopefully illustrate the process:




Hope this helps.

Tim

[PGE_Modeller]

Not done this past week but, since there have been a couple of other posts related to Canadian trailers, here is another early one:
 


Shortly after completion of the line to Prince George, BC in 1952, the Pacific Great Eastern Railway began hauling Northern Freightways trailers south to Squamish and then barging them down Howe Sound to Vancouver.  Before modifying some 52'-6" flat cars with ACF hitches in the late 1950s/early 1960s, they used regular 40' flat cars with a pipe and steel plate support (yet to be modelled) for the trailer.  Prior to the availability of the CMW 32' trailer, this one was spliced together from two Ultimate N Scale 22' trailers with, IIRC, a modified Con-Cor chassis.  It and the flat car are lettered with home made decals.  It is not particularly noticeable in the photograph but, true to the prototype, the flat car still rides on arch-bar trucks.  The flat car itself is a Red Caboose 42' car with the fish-belly side sill cut off to make a straight sill with a Micro-Trains fish-belly under frame from the USRA box car.

Cheers,
Greg Kennelly
Burnaby, BC

[Puddington]

Ah Greg............I just finished that very art work..............

Nice trailer; I hope mine comes out half as well.........................

[Rowan]

Ah Greg............I just finished that very art work..............

Nice trailer; I hope mine comes out half as well.........................

Very nice.

 

[PGE_Modeller]

Ah Greg............I just finished that very art work..............

Nice trailer; I hope mine comes out half as well.........................

Thanks, Mike.

If I had known you were interested in Northern Freightways, I could have done up a set of decals for you - still could, for that matter, if you are interested  I believe Alan Ferguson (Black Cat Decals) did them as well - I sent Alan a copy of my artwork after the 2007 CARM convention in Victoria. There is some uncertainty about colours, however.  Former Northern Freightways employees I talked to did not agree regarding the colour of the lettering on the trailers.  Some said the lettering was all black, as shown in the photo, others said that the "Northern Freightways" was in green and still others said that the lines representing routes in the map were green.  SO!  I chose to go with all black, the same as the late Bill Hewlett, MMR, did when he modelled the same car and trailer combination back in the late 1950s.  It was Bill's photograph of the car and trailer combination that was the clincher regarding the arch-bar trucks on PGE 1064 in trailer service.  An Ernie Plant photograph of PGE 1202 at Prince George in 1954 with Northern Freightways #138 shows a car with regular 50-ton AAR trucks - an ex-NP car acquired in 1949.

Cheers,
Greg

[Sokramiketes]

Mike,

From the comment, it sounds as if you need to get a white logo on the front of the trailer.  If that is the case, you might look into a product I came across this afternoon while perusing the Railroad Model Craftsman site.  There is an article in their "Extra Board" section that describes the use of an ink-jet decal product which has a decal film that dries white anywhere it is not printed.  The article, http://www.rrmodelcraftsman.com/extraboard/cm_extra_whitedecalpaper.php describes its use for obtaining white lettering on a tender by printing a black rectangle around the lettering and then trimming as closely as possible to the lettering before applying the decal.  Presumably any other colour could be printed as a background for the white.  The decal film is clear when wet but dries white - takes about half an hour according to the article.  The downside is that "Dullcote" fades the white.

Anyway, it sounds like another tool to add to the arsenal!

Cheers,
Greg Kennelly
Burnaby, BC

What does the magic decal paper get you that standard white decal paper doesn't do better?

[wcfn100]

What does the magic decal paper get you that standard white decal paper doesn't do better?

I guess you don't need to seal the ink.


Jason

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Scenic-wise, been moving into the right 1'x3' section of the 1'x6' "Alameda-in-a-box" portable shelf switching layout.
Built a receiving shed for the brewery, as well as the removeable small oil tank pair and brick brewery building across the tracks that hide the hinges





[recently figured out why photos so bleached / moonshined: camera got shifted to ISO 100, so will shift & get warmer soon!]

Also threw on some basic ground cover (real dirt, WS weed & green blend, real gravel, cinders & some static grass dropped in) so there's no more plywood prarie / MDF mudflats on the right side.

Also got a couple Tomcat oilcar loading platforms stuck together & awaiting pipes and a pump house:



The oil tanks are waiting industrial ladders, railings and walkways.
All in all a good day. (didn't have to use my AK)

[delamaize]

Nothing this weekend for me, spent all thursday though today (sunday) and probably longer, trying to get a space A flight back to the states.....

[BCR 570]

Piggyback "First" -- Predating the commencement of piggyback operations of CP Transport, between Winnipeg and Regina, Northern Freightways, the PGE, and Crown Cartage Ltd., of Vancouver, started a Trailer-On-Flatcar service between Dawson Creek and Vancouver on June 18, 1954. As a consequence the company can claim the title of "first in piggyback" in Western Canada.

Northern Freightways was headquartered in Dawson Creek and following the amalgamation with Canadian Freightways their yard has served as the CF yard in Dawson Creek to this day.

Tim

[flight2000]

Well, I had to attend a conference this past week so little got done. 

I did manage to finish my first weathering project.  I've been reading as much as I can on how to do it right and this is the result.  I'm happy with the first attempt and hopefully will get better in time.

Brian

[chuck geiger]

MC good stuff, are those spray can caps for tanks?

[M.C. Fujiwara]

MC good stuff, are those spray can caps for tanks?

ABS 4" and 2" caps.
The hinges are 1 1/2", so the 2" covers them fine.
ABS caps are black and have a slight dome to them.
PVC caps are white & have flat tops.
The flat tops would be more prototypical for the plant, but I like the dome on the 4" so there.
(Not quite sold on the 2" caps yet, but after installing rails, ladders and walkways and then weathering them, I think it won't look so cartoonish).

[Bendtracker1]

Well, I had to attend a conference this past week so little got done. 

I did manage to finish my first weathering project.  I've been reading as much as I can on how to do it right and this is the result.  I'm happy with the first attempt and hopefully will get better in time.

Brian

Nothing wrong with that Brain!
The look of the BN logo has a nice faded and worn appearance.  Did you sand it?

[flight2000]

Nothing wrong with that Brain!
The look of the BN logo has a nice faded and worn appearance.  Did you sand it?

Thanks Allen.  I did use a fine grit sandpaper and 70% alcohol.  The combination of the two did a nice job simulating the fade job on top of the white wash base coat.  It took me about 4-5 days in between everything else that's going on to finish this car.  I was really pleased with how well the trucks and wheels came out.  I owe that to Tom Mann and his awesome book on weathering. 

Think I'll tackle a pair of 60' boxcars next.

Brian