NP Radial Roof Boxcar Build (was request for ideas)

[Missaberoad]

That was my thought... It looks like a usra car.

[thbguy]

One project at a time! 

[jimmo]

Are you wanting to make one car or a whole fleet of them?

[mmagliaro]

FOCUS!   HA HA HA

I want the all-wood car with the wooden ends.  That means the 39000 series not the 14000
I don't want a "fleet", but I would probably build 3 or 4.

Making a mold is always a possibility, but it's really not my style.  I will probably make them all.
I think the MT wood reefer has a lot of promise

[OldEastRR]

What happened? Did you run out of locos to build?

[loyalton]

IIRC all our "usable" N 40' wood-end reefers have ladders, not grabs. Nothing is easy, eh? You do get the fishbelly underframe with the Atlas and M/T ones.

Here's the proto photo in a larger size: http://www.steamerafreightcars.com/gallery/boxauto/np39731main.html It shows more detail than is healthy for an N scaler. Any desire to do that end door?

[bbussey]

One project at a time! 

Don't forget about the NP wood reefer!    Although I have to say I was extremely pleased to see the CN reefer be the first one released from limbo, as that was my most-desired target out of the three.

[mmagliaro]

Didn't the Intermountain wood reefers have ladders that are applied as separate parts, so they could be plucked off
and replace by grabs?

In fact... didn't Intermountain make some wood reefers that came with separately applied grabs?

They probably don't have the fishbelly underframe.

---------
Folks, I think we are circling around the reason this NP car is so interesting.   Fishbelly/not flat, grabs/not ladders, wooden ends/not steel,
40' not 36', radial roof.  It has components from a lot of different car styles all pieced together in a way that no other car had.

[loyalton]

That was my thought, removeable ladders but it has no all-important fishbelly underframe. Find something with which to swap underframes, then. I don't have an I/M one, so will the end boards reach all the way up to the new roofline without a splice?

Not trying to give you the runaround but just overthinking (as usual). It is quite the interesting mix of components as you say. That's to the point of me wanting to do a different series, with steel ends. Found this: http://www.steamerafreightcars.com/gallery/boxauto/np14160main.html with 3/5 ends due to lower height. It's also got a brake lever (hey! you lost a brake wheel on this car here!).

I was also thinking of using fine wire for the roof battens. It'll need to be flattened.

[bbussey]

The InterMountain wood reefer also is an FGE prototype, which is noticeably different than the NP prototype.  I believe it also has a higher IH.

[Palouse51]

Folks, I think we are circling around the reason this NP car is so interesting.   Fishbelly/not flat, grabs/not ladders, wooden ends/not steel,
40' not 36', radial roof.  It has components from a lot of different car styles all pieced together in a way that no other car had.

Yeah, I hinted at that in my earlier post as well. Anywho, I'm creating a zip folder with everything I have on these cars. It's not a lot but it's still too big for email. I'l mail you a link for downloading the zip as soon as I have it uploaded to Dropbox.

Mark C.

[Missaberoad]

I forgot about the Intermountain reefer, it would be a much better start then the MTL reefer. The big standout is it has the proper detail along the bottom of the end, where as the MTL car has a notch to clear the coupler box.

Replace the separate ladders with wire grabs, add a door/door track and replace the roof and you're on your way.

As for the fishbelly underframe, Atlas' USRA cars have frames that aren't too difficult to get the fish-bellies off. Or the Tichy Trains repair car kits can supply the parts.

Have we settled on a 39xxx series boxcar?  Besides the shot on Ted's website I have no other photos...

[mmagliaro]

I have settled on a 39xxx car. 

Given the relative difficulty of the various procedurs involved, and what the outcome could be,
I am heavily leaning toward the idea of taking the MT wooden 40' double-sheathed car, and putting
new ends into it from an MT reefer, then building the rounded roof.

I think that slicing the ends out of a reefer and splicing them in will not be so bad, and seams at the corners
should be easier to hide than most splices (like a splice right down the middle of a side, for instance).

That will get me the right undercarriage, the right sides, doors and ends, and the right roof.
Then I just have to work on details.

[mmagliaro]

Wait...

How about the Tichy Train Group 2702 "work car" (not the crew car, the work car).

It looks like it is all wood, fishbelly, separate sides, ends and roof, which would make it a lot easier for
adding my own radial roof.

If you have one of these, can you show some pics of the ends?  Does it have wood ends?   Is it even a 40' car?

One side has windows, but I *think* the other side does not.  And I think Don Tichy is pretty easy to work with as far
as ordering extra replacement parts for these kits.  So maybe I could get some extra plain sides.

[loyalton]

The Tichy work car aka repair car has the same end as the crew car, which has a house-type framed door in the middle on both ends. Yes, it's a wood end. The top of the end has a sill. Both car sides are symmetrical, i.e. windows on both. And it's only a 30' car.

The 2 ends come on the same sprue. It would save sacrificing a car for just the ends plus sawing, but then you have splices to do. FWIW the end is 8' 6" on the side edge not including a steel plate/girder below; end is right about 9' to the peak including the top sill.