In the last post in this series,
SP F-50-7 (Part 1) - a stand-in for a WWI emergency flatcar, from Sept 2020, I cover building the basic kitbash for SPMW 810 and some of the early development for T&NO 23454.
Those modelers following my postings in order are going to start wondering about me and modeling flatcars... The last eight posts have all been on kitbashing flatcars. Oh well, strike while the iron is hot I suppose.
T&NO 23454, a Revenue F-50-7 "Stand-in" Model
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| Time for an old "sag-backed" T&NO F-50-7 flatcar kitbash! |
While the SP (Pacific Lines) retired and scrapped most of their F-50-6/7s by 1950, a handful of the F-50-7s remained in revenue service into 1950 on the Texas and New Orleans and show up in my 1950 ORER. This is why I decided for my F-50-7 'revenue' service car should be a T&NO car. I decided on T&NO 23454 as one of the eight odd cars which was still in service with upgraded 50-ton trucks.
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| Starting point of re-purposed Walthers-TM 42ft flat as SP F-50-7, WWI era flatcar. |
This second model, I already fitted with strip wood overhanging deck. It also has 0.020" bolster strap over the top of the bolster tubes. I cropped down the bolster straps to make them taper down to narrow at the outer edges of the bolster. Then I had to file down the bolsters to the same 0.300" that was done on the SPMW 810.
Vulcan Trucks
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| Kadee 573 Vulcan truck. |
These cars will use Kadee 573 Vulcan Trucks. I have modified the truck bolsters glued to be rigid and use more standard bolster system than the KD mounting system.
Underframe Construction
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| Bolsters, center frame beams and MDC queen posts. |
The old Walthers undeframe is removed and new plastic scratchbuilt parts fabricated and installed. Kadee coupler covers are glued in place and boxes will be mounted with 2-56 screws.
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| Underframe painted, without K-brake installed yet. |
I fabricated K-brake laterial supports from styrene strips.
Deck Changes
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| Decals applied, draftgear stake pockets at the ends installed. |
I modified my old wood deck on this car to include inboard draftgear stake pockets.
Truss Rods
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| Truss rods & bolster-draftgear structures installed. |
Stirrups from A-Line are installed in drilled holes in the bottom of the carsides. The truss rods are made from 0.012" PB wire, bent to shape to fit across the queenposts. Sections of 1/8" x 1/16" styrene strips are cut to fit between the bolsters and the inboard ends of the coupler draftgear boxes.
Got Sagged?
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| Left side of T&NO 23454 with K brake and truss rods installed. |
I want the T&NO 23454 to appear as several F-50-7s do in the last years of their life. Often the truss-rod flats appear to be sag-backed. The model actually was sagged a bit because the weight was bent a bit. I decided to tweak it to have about 3" of sag deflection at the center of the car. The bolster pads were filed to make the trucks sit level. This will also require some slight shimming to the couplers for them to be at the right height.
Weathering
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| Right side of T&NO 23454 with dusty weathering applied. |
I decided to weather this car with"wet-drybrush" Apple Barrel technique. I went ahead and gave the car a tare date in 1948 at Los Angeles, as some T&NO cars were used on the Pacific Lines to supplement the Pacific Lines fleet of 40ft flatcars.
In Closing
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| Nearly complete T&NO 23454, photographed this time on the east end of my Owenyo station. |
Still need to install the hand brake gear and brake rigging. I may get around to installing turnbuckles and anti-turn boards between the truss rods. So a few things to finish up at some point.
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