A narrow gauge homage...San Juan Central cars

[Dave V]

Love him or hate him...few can argue that Malcolm Furlow hasn't had a huge impact on the perception of Southwestern narrow gauge railroading among modelers.  Even though I've chosen not to emulate his style, I really enjoy looking at his earlier work (San Juan Central, Denver & Rio Chama Western, Soda Creek & South Park).  He started doing some extremely esoteric stuff later on that was more diorama than railroad, based on pure fantasy.  Not that that's a bad thing...it just doesn't "speak to me."

All of that having been said, I still have a soft spot in my heart (or head maybe) for the San Juan Central.  Malcolm used Alamosa Car Shops wood kits for D&RGW 3000-series boxcars as the basis for his SJC boxcars.  It's clear from photos and videos (there's a great one about the SJC on Model Railroader Video Plus) that Malcolm lettered both sides of each car differently.  That was a gimmick that seemed to get some mileage for a few decades, but not one I would consider.  He had a simple side (initials and car number) and a side with the road name spelled out.  Since I don't roll that way I lettered one of my cars completely with the simple scheme and one with the more complex scheme.  Car numbers 45 and 46 are straight from the book...46 appears below in this video still:



I modeled 45 and 46 using old Rail Line boxcar kits I built back in high school some 28-29 years ago or so.  Neither car was well built.  Apparently back then I used an entire bottle of CA glue per car!  They were also poorly painted and weathered...I was trying to emulate Malcolm's techniques and fell way short.  However, with some replacement stirrup steps, new brake wheels, and new paint, they'd work as filler cars.



46 looks like it does in photos, while I took some liberties with 45.  I decided to use all the reporting marks you'd likely see in a car used in interchange service.  The SJC markings are just Microscale alphabets of various styles and the dimensional data are from Microscale's D&RGW narrow gauge freight car set.  The lack of dimensional data 46 has bugged me.  Now in the 1940s, many D&RGW cars used on the RGS had only the road number (not even road name!) and light weight, but the RGS was operated under the auspices of the D&RGW.  If the SJC is a separate railroad (connecting at Montrose with the D&RGW), it ought to have full reporting marks on any cars not in captive service.  So...46 may be repainted again as one of those D&RGW cars with road number only.

Anyway, this is a fun little way to pay homage to Malcolm Furlow and his San Juan Central without destroying significant amounts of realism I've tried so hard to achieve on my own prototype-based Rio Grande Southern.

[Chris333]

Btw I just bought 2 Railline boxcar kits to convert to HOn30, but it would too much work. Got a use for 2 more boxcar kits? There are plastic one piece body.

[Dave V]

Btw I just bought 2 Railline boxcar kits to convert to HOn30, but it would too much work. Got a use for 2 more boxcar kits? There are plastic one piece body.

LOL, I just minutes ago got one in the mail from eBay!  Yeah, sure, I could always use more.  What are you asking for 'em?

[Chris333]

I thought 4 walls and a roof could easily be shortened and narrowed, but they were 1 piece.

Bought them from a hobby shop, but they are shelf decorations now. Name what you want to pay and I'll send them out.

[Dave V]

OK, it's total fanboy time.  I just finished her this evening:

[CRL]

Very nice!

Now go bury it in the backyard until spring to get a head start on developing that narrow gauge patina.

[Dave V]

Very nice!

Now go bury it in the backyard until spring to get a head start on developing that narrow gauge patina.

LOL...  I know, it looks like actual functional equipment right now, and that ain't right!

[CRL]

I see rotten stone in your future! 

[Centercab]

I like it!  The SJC has always been a favorite of mine.   I've thought about doing a slightly smaller version, but in Sn3.  Where did you find the tender decals?

[Philip H]

Where did you get the tender decals?

[davefoxx]

Y'all aren't going to get a response from Dr. Vollmer here.  Check out his HOn3 build thread, and you'll see that he is taking a break from TRW for a while.  In that same post, however, is contact information where he can be reached, e.g., Facebook. 

DFF

[Dave V]

@Philip H ,

The decals came from a Facebook cooperative effort.  A gentleman named Brian Kutheis is building a faithful reproduction of the original San Juan Central layout.  So far he's doing a fantastic job right down to the mine waste-laden river below Crazy Horse Bridge.  Anyway, he operates a Facebook page for it but he leaves it open as a community, so a bunch of us fans of the SJC pooled resources, cleaned up the graphics, and had custom decals shot.

Along those lines I purchased a Model Railroad General Store (formerly E&B Valley) caboose kit that was the same kit Malcolm used for his caboose 0400.  With extra bits from a Microscale RGS freight set I was able to reproduce the lettering on 0400 exactly.  In the comparison photo, the top is Malcolm's original, and the bottom is my tribute.  The upper picture is taken at such an angle as to make the window frames appear to have been painted white, but other photos in Malcolm's articles confirm that it's really just heavy drybrushing.  My caboose represents 0400 at some earlier, less decrepit time period!



I've always wanted to reach out to Malcolm, especially as I really began to realize what he was doing.  He wasn't seeking to build a scale replica of the Colorado narrow gauge, but rather to build a three-dimensional "mood."  When you view the SJC as moving art and not as a scale replica, it really shines.  And while that's not what I set out to build, my notion of the visual appeal of Colorado narrow gauge will be forever influenced by his work.

So, in a fan-boi moment, I found the e-mail address associated with his art gallery and sent him the photo below with a brief note thanking him for his inspirational work.



Malcolm, now a busy, famous, and high-demand Southwestern artist, took the time to write me a very nice reply.  Turns out his grandfather worked for the real Rio Grande Southern.  But more importantly, it's always nice to learn that your "heroes" are down-to-earth people willing to take the time to reply to an unsolicited fan letter.

[John]

Thats awesome .. I really liked his work -- especially the earlier stuff ..

[tom mann]

I always liked that guy, too.

[Dave V]

Back when I was in high school--when Nirvana and Pearl Jam were releasing their first albums--I built my first-ever LaBelle Woodworking Co craftsman kit, a D&RGW-based HOn3 combine.  My skillz--such as they were--weren't all that good back then and so the result was a bit "rougher" than I'd like, meaning it would look out of place in a consist with the more finely-detailed and finished Blackstone and MRGS passenger cars.  But...I didn't want to throw it away either.

The solution?  A quick repair of a damaged end platform and some paint and decals, and boom.  While not a model of a model Malcolm did, it works as a "could have been," had the San Juan Central purchased D&RGW combine 202 and named it the "Tincup."



It sure isn't gonna win a model contest at the Narrow Gauge Convention, but it rolls well and fits in with the rest of my SJC stuff.

Speaking of which, I decided that the "simple" lettering on SJC boxcar 46 was a bit too simple for my taste, so I applied some modeling license and added the correct dim data.  Current configuration top, previous configuration bottom: