Somewhere I'd heard the term "foobie" to describe a stand-in on a model railroad that doesn't match the prototype but fills a role until a prototypical piece can be built. That word stuck with me and I use it to describe many of my "almost-correct" cars that may never actually be replaced by anything better. A foobie can be a loco, a car, a structure, etc.
I recently picked up a 3-pack of ConCor N scale Conrail 50' grain-door boxcars. What attracted me to them were the large "canopener" logo common in early Conrail operations. While I couldn't find protoype photos or information about these cars, they look typical of the hodgepodge of cars Conrail used from its 1976 inception until the early 1980s. So I figured they'd be fun anyway.
One the left is an unmodified car. Note the oversized wheelsets, flimsy trucks, and Rapido couplers. First order of business was to replace the trucks and couplers with MicroTrains roller-bearing trucks and knuckle couplers. The replacement wheelsets have low-profile flanges. Then I hit them with a good shot of Dullcote and weathered them with acrylic washes. A completed car is on the right.
The third car in the set has the spectacular super canopener logo. This was in use very early, early enough to justify an ACI plackard (I used Microscale decals for that). Here it is in consist:
My only complaint now is that the cars sit too high; I'm considering filing down the bolsters to lower them.
