Tangent B-50-28 & -31 Custom Decalled to Match Owenyo Prototypes

I always like modeling off prototype photos, both in the way it actually frees me from inventing weathering and finishing, and it also gives me a specific target to measure the modeling against.  Now that Tangent has produced these huge (over 8000 cars since 1946) and typical classes of SP's post-war cars, I could now easily add these models to my fleet for the Jawbone Branch.

My first Tangent B-50-28 that I picked up to review after renumber and the second unlettered car with decals.

One minor problem for my personal preference of modeling prototype cars that has been nagging me since the arrival of SP 102176 from Tangent is that I would prefer it to be a car that actually was seen on the Jawbone Branch.

The Inspiration - Prototype Photo

This car's a fun project to try to match a specific prototype.  Having the great end-view of the car is nice as well.  In this photo in Joe Dale Morris' book Slim Princess in the Sunset: 1940-1960 the caption says that the car's full of bagged Talc products.  The stacked load appears to be pushing four feet tall, which would suggest that the car's loaded to its 50-ton capacity.

SP 102856 post-war B-50-28 boxcar SPNG Owenyo Transfer Dock 1954 - Southern Pacific photo - owensvalleyhistory,com s-l1600_ebay01_sml (Cropped)

Another set of photos show many of boxcars at the Owenyo transfer docks after 1950 show 7ft single door boxcars from both SP, T&NO, and foreign roads being loaded by a small industrial forklift with a front-loader bucket with soapstone.

I'd been wondering about why these quite new 7ft door boxcars were being sent to Owenyo for loading, but it seems that they wanted these cars for the ease of loading with the mechanical assistance.  So the two Tangent boxcars that I have will probably represent the soapstone service.  I don't have very many other models which have larger than 6ft doors.  I have a couple of Branchline Blue-Print series PRR boxcars which could be used to represent the foreign cars showing up.

The 1937 AAR 10ft high boxcar B-50-21 as modeled with Branchline Yardmaster series model.

Older 6ft door SP cars also showed up at Owenyo for transfer loading too, so I'll continue to plan to have the older cars spot for loading with the hand-trucks.

SP 102856, The Plan for Renumbering a Factory Tangent B-50-28

So I have a couple options, one is to renumber the review sample that I bought (SP 102176) to be the SP 102856 (built in 4th quarter 1950). 

SP 102176 being renumbered to SP 102856.

The basics of changing lettering can be done in several ways.  While any use of liquids are best to be able to test them before working on the majority of the visible model.  On this model, I want to replicate the car as it was only a couple of years old (built 1950, and I model before 1954), which means that I can't use weathering to hide any problems from the renumbering.  I settled for abrasive lettering removal.  

Close-up of renumbering of SP 102176 to SP 102856.

While I often use fibre-bristle brushes to lightly scratch away the pad-printing, I opted for the control of a single edge of a sharp No.11 X-acto blade for this model.

End lettering change on SP 102176 to SP 102856.

The end lettering was a bit more challenging, but also came off easily, some of the small flakes are still loose around on the end of the car in this photo.  These flecks were easily removed with a small brush.

New numbers from Daniel Kohlberg's decal set (which I cover on the second car SP 106272 below)

The easiest "85" that I could get to match the 'as-delivered' Pullman lettering on the B-50-28, to snip them out of the number jumble and then reverse them, cutting the "58" after it was wetted.  Then the two numbers were placed carefully on the car-side and Micro-Scale 'Micro Sol' with a small brush.

A quick view of the right side of SP 102856.

I also applied a routing and a grading cards from OwlMtModels 1220 decal set on the smaller lower tack-board.

A close-up of the routing & grading cards.

More Perspiration - Decalling an Unlettered Tangent B-50-28 as B-50-31

Tangent B-50-28 Unlettered version (23107-01)

In October 2023, I picked up a second B-50-28 in the painted, unlettered form at the Bridgetown RPM show.  I decided that the second car will be modeled from another photo at Owenyo (Joe Dale's book, pg 179), SP 106272, which also has Youngstown doors being in the first series of the B-50-31 class, built during the first 9 months of 1952 by SPE company (SP Sacramento Shops).  In the photo of 106272 also there is also a T&NO B-50-32 (1953 built, with 5-panel Superior doors) in the background that I can't see the number on!  So these cars were quite common around Owenyo in the 1950s.

The Decal Set

Contents of SE-28 SP Post-War 40' 7' Door Boxcars 1950+ by Daniel Kohlberg.

Along with the unlettered Tangent boxcar I bought a SE-28 SP Post-War (B-50-28,29,31,32,33) 40' 7' Door Boxcars 1950+ set of decals by Daniel Kohlberg (website: www.icgdecals.com).  This set has enough decals to do three cars, including multiple sets of class data and reporting marks.  There are also two sheets of instructions and placement diagrams to supplement prototype photos that I am using to model the specific cars.

Lettering SP 106272 Model

Right side of unlettered car with basic left-side lettering applied.

The top of the road name is aligned with the top of the end-panel joint and the middle-rib on the door centered on the large tack-board.  The road number top is aligned with the upper left grab-iron.  The lower grab is aligned between the LD LMT and LT WT lines.  These alignments I could see from the photo, where as the right data and herald sections weren't really visible in the photo, so I had to go off the supplied lettering plan drawings from the decal sheet.

Here's the car with the new-build tare date, data panel, class, and build date applied.

One interesting point to bring up on just the set of weight data for B-50-31 #106988:
CAPY        100000
LD LMT    124800

LT WT         44200

.. is slightly too wide to fit between the panel rivet lines, the others in the decal sets are slightly narrower and will fit well.  I ended up cutting out about 1/32" between the left and right columns and making the parts of the decal work.  The "LD LMT" & "124800" have to be nearly touch.

The decal set provides black disk for the herald background, also repack data is applied.

The two stacked layers for the heralds each need to snugged down over the rivets with Micro-Sol.

Finally the white portion of the herald is applied.

I also wrote a small chalk mark "bulk" with the GellyRoll 05 white pen that I described using a couple months ago.  

The end reporting marks were cut out and removed the last three digits to be replaced with "27 2"

The special numbering for this model requires me to cut out the "988" from the end reporting marks section and trim out "27" and "2" from number jumbles and other numbers from the decal sheets.

In Closing

I want to point out that these two cars show the changing of the lettering applied to the new boxcars ordered from Pullman and SP Equipment Company from 1950 to 1952.  The Pullman cars of B-50-28 were delivered with the white bars above the road name and below the road numbers, while the SPE cars from 1952 had already dropped the bars, although I believe the SP changed the repainting of the in-service cars in 1953 to this standard.

Time to compare the lettering details of "as-delivered" B-50-28 and -31 classes.

I'm planning to give both models a light over-coat to seal the decal changes in.  Chalk marks and routing cards will be adjusted and some 1-3 year old light weathering to bring the -31 up to my standard for having basic running weathering to run on the Jawbone Branch.  Someday I'll be looking forward to recreating the prototype photos of these two cars at the Owenyo transfer platforms.

SP 102856 after some light weathering to match prototype photo.

I'll be doing a follow-up quick post after the weathering is done on these two cars, detailing the techniques.  This sneak-peak at SP 102856 has some general dusting, but specific paint failures around the herald and darker dirt or corrosion already starting to catch on the panel seams.

Jason Hill

Related Articles:

Modeling SP B-50-series Boxcars (Part 2) - Post-War All-Steel

New Tangent SP B-50-28 and T&NO B-50-32s - Review

Anthony Thompson's Articles: B-50-28 series blogs search results.

New Series of Structures from OwlMtModels Under Development

Just a quick cross-post from OwlMtModelsNews Blog Page

Owl Mountain Models is working on several fun projects which have been behind closed curtains until now.  The Owenyo structures which we need for the demo/photography layout will be made available in very limited production to meet reservations, which are open as of 2023-11-17.  No down-payment will be required, as we're still early in development of the CAD models.  Both HO and S-scale versions are planned to be offered.  Price is currently TBD until designs are finalized and we get quote from 3d printer.

Researching this structure has required many hours studying photos, aerial photos, and modern archaeological measurements.  We want to produce the best kits, balancing details and final finish looks.  This results in currently planning that the upper boards will be stain-able strip-wood, while the bents and lower structural members will be 3d printed with NBW details already in place.  Basic wood-effects should be pretty easily added to the 3d printed resin parts, like the finishing on our plastic lumber loads.

The full length of the trestle with NG approach from level grade over the SG Tell-Tales is over 7 feet long!  That's why we'll be offering the trestle as modular pieces, so that it can be fit onto smaller layouts.  The OwlMtModels photo-demo layout trestle will be shortened to only 4-GS gondolas for the dump section and most of the Approach Trestle will be truncated into the backdrop wall.

High-angle view of the dumping section of the trestle.

Jason's been working hard looking at all the photos he can to check for the details.  The CAD allows all the pieces to be worked out in 3d, resolving and solving questions about the prototype photos, which he's not seen solved in previously published drawings. Hopefully, this will be the best researched model of the Transfer Trestle yet produced.  Research is still continuing in 2023.

Water Tank

Rough CAD rendering 2023-11-17, subject to redesign and detailing.

The water tank at Owenyo was moved from Diaz in 1952 according to the Employe Timetable station ans services list.  There's still much more to add to this CAD model, but it will make an amazing little tank for any small engine facility.  The footing should be about 2.5" diameter and estimating about 4" tall for HO scale.

Bulk Loader/Conveyor Shed

Partly drawn as of 2023-11-17 work-in-progress

Another structure which is researched from many photos and modern archaeological research of remains.  This structure will also make a great little loader for boxcars or covered hoppers on any small layout, for those not modeling Owenyo specifically.

Pump Houses

We have some research on the Water Pump House and photos, which should allow a model to be produced.  As of 2023-11-17, Jason hasn't started the drawings for this structure.  The Fuel Oil Pump House will also be made, but research is minimal at the current time, and the CAD model has not been started at this time.

Reservations Contact

Currently, two customers have expressed interest in kits for these parts.  Please show your support by contacting sales@OwlMtModels.com to submit reservation, specifications of what size and scale is desired.

- End Cross-posted Article - 

Jason Hill - OwlMtModels

SP Jawbone Branch (Part 39) - A Ferro-Equestrian Archaeology Field Trip

A friend of mine said a number of years ago that he was a ferro-equestrian archaeologist.  That is a study of iron horse historical places and remains.  This post is another of my small ventures to one of the places where the ferro-equestrians once roamed.

Looking east to the mountains which will be my backdrop for Owenyo

So on the return from the Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society 2023 Convention in Bakersfield, I decided to stop over in Lone Pine and then drive up the east side, stopping at Owenyo to do some in-person research of what remains of the buildings.  This would give me the chance to make drawings of the remains to build the models for my Jawbone Branch layout.

Edit 2023-11-02

Blueprint of Owenyo - rick olson 01_owenyo blueprint_sml owensvalleyhistory,com

A recent find on the owensvalleyhistory.com website, helps see the locations of everything.  I'm happy I found this Nov 2, 2023, as I'll be able to help scale out the size of the buildings and some of the placement.  The original date is from Dec 31, 1923 and the revision date for the leasing of three structures is July 19, 1940.  The 1923/1940 dates explain why I don't see the water tank or the transfer ramp between the two gauges in the lower right corner.  Also interesting is the "To San Francisco to the left and Hazen to the right, so it must be SG to SF left and NG to Hazen right - perhaps because they're thinking to extend the standard gauge?

Transfer Trestle

Owenyo Trestle - SG side - unknown calander photo - Ronald Grau collection

I spotted the abutment remains from the road and pulled off.  Walking over, I found that the NG and SG around the area were actually on a bit of a fill.  Even the trestle approach grade was rather in a pit as well, probably from the old days when they dug down to get some more solid ground to put the trestle bents on.

Sadly, not much left of the transfer trestle other than these footings, looking northward.

I took some time getting out and measuring the dimensions of the foundations.  This should be the last piece of information, which should allow me to build an accurate model of the trestle for my layout.

The footings looking south, into the sun.

The SG track's pit has collapsed somewhat, as the transition from the grade to the trestle over the SG track has sluffed into the pit.  Although there must be some level of washing out the lower parts of the pit, because on a couple of the concrete footings for the trestle, even the connecting concrete is visible.  I think this means that the floor is about a foot lower than it historically was.

Owenyo Transfer Trestle - owensvalleyhistory,com - sp_narrow_g37a_sml

Looking at the above photo, shows that at the time it was taken, the wood bases of the legs are even with the ground, which means that concrete footings are completely buried.  The concrete footing bases seems to then be flush with the ground in the pit.  I'll be analyzing this more and covering the results in future posts.

Tell-Tail 

Tell-Tail from 1954 - cropped - unknown calendar photo - Ronald Grau collection

With any vertical or horizontal obstruction the railroad had to put tell-tails to warn anyone riding on top of the cars that there was a problem if they stayed standing. - To my eye, I think this tell-tail isn't low enough to provide proper warning, but the ETT warns specifically about not shoving boxcars, etc onto this track.

The remains of the foundation for the tell-tails.

All that's left today is three and a half concrete blocks with rusting torched off pipes for the tell-tail.

Old Owenyo Road

60-10-Goods-Transfer-Platform-_sg-on-far-side__-Owenyo-V_2 - PacificNG

The old turn-off from the road into the area behind the Narrow Gauge still has remains of the old 'oiled dirt', which is still sticking together even after 65+ years in the desert.  

Owenyo transfer decks with road crossing looking north - owensvalleyhistory,com - ebay35_owenyo_sml - (Lightened)

As I pull up and park, the footings of the water tank are visible immediately off to my right, and a set of foundations to my left catch my eye.

Bulk-Transfer Conveyor

OWRN boxcar Owenyo Perlite Transfer from SPNG, SPMW water cars, Sept 19, 1950 - owensvalleyhistory,com - mark_van_klaveren04_sml

The transfer facilities at Owenyo include this bulk-conveyor at the south end of the main area.

Remains of the conveyor as it was dismantled in 1960. - Rich McCutchan owensvalleyhistory,com - daton01_t

Sadly, the end came for the conveyor in this 1960 view of the whole facility being destroyed.

Owenyo Conveyor Foundation - NW Side

Now, all of the foundations that remains of the bulk-transfer conveyor building.  Thankfully these cast concrete bits are still there!  I spent some time making drawings of this to base my model on.

Water Tank

Water Tank - Owenyo station with tank and 5501 RSD-5 - Andrew Brandon collection - Cropped

Turning towards the water tank and heading that way, to my surprise I find several other things in the area.  

Tank foundation remains at Owenyo

A couple of plugged concrete slabs, with what looks like remains of underground piping - perhaps part of the pump house-water tank or connection to the long gone SPMW water tank cars. 

Water Pump House

Owenyo SG water Tank - 1960 - Alden Armstrong - Cropped - 

The foundations of the pump house are there as well.  Thankfully, I think I can work out the base for my model now.  Looking in the foreground, left-front of the pump house tower shows the cistern that is still there today.

Water Pump House foundation remains

Also there is a large cistern which is half covered by a mound of dirt... almost in the road, where it crossed the yard.  I'm not sure if that was there 65 years ago, or if it was more recent.  There's an open cover about 12" in diameter, and the sounds of hollow space below.  I stayed clear of it, as I didn't want to find myself down a well or the like.

Company Houses?

1944 Fairchild Aerial photo - cropped

After the pump house, I decided to walk up past the company buildings and see if I could locate anything of their footings... however with very large bushes overgrowing the whole area, I decided not to look very hard.

Oil Pump House

Fuel Pump House & Tanks - Cropped Owenyo Hotel decom - Rich McCutchan - owensvalleyhistory - c_n_c40_owenyo_1960_859_sml

Next up, as I was walking to the north, I decided to continue and see if I could locate any of the old engine spot remains, and maybe get more information on the oil tanks and pump house located on the north curve of the wye.

Engine Spot remains.

I was able to find a very thick slab of oil-dirt or asphalt covering between the long-gone rails, but still covering the ties, which is where the steam engines sat 100 years ago, dripping steam oil and grease for nearly 40 years.

Engine Spot - end of track crossed-ties?

It seems that at some point the SP gave up on the wye, probably after the end of steam on the branch, I'm guessing around 1956-1960.

Remains of the Oil Pump House - Not much left of the tank structures.

There were a couple of small foundations and other patches of asphalt/oiled-dirt, but not anything that I could really recognize as anything of what the photos once showed there.

In Closing & The Long Trip Back

After about 2 hours looking around, I decided it was time to get going.  I quickly set up my tripod and shot a series of photos of the White Mountain range to the east for when I go to make the backdrop.  Then I hopped in the car to get going.  In hind-sight, I should have returned down to CA-136, and back to US 395 at Lone Pine, but feeling adventurous I continued north. 

Who says there's no water in the desert? Manzanar Road 2023-10-30 closed!

The Manzanar Road was closed due to flooding, so it forced me to continue on for another 5-6 miles of worse dirt road and old railroad right-of-way. Unfortunately, the heavy winter of 2022-2023 which kept snow on the ground for over 90 days at our house in Nevada, also did a number on these back country trails as well.

I would not recommend trying to drive the north-side access drive in anything other than a Jeep or 4-wheel pickup truck (which I happened to leave in NV!).  I did get through it, however with some new pin-striping and nearly getting stuck in soft sand about 5 times.  At approximately 4-5 places my vehicle found high rocks or badly worn tire tracks which could have high-centered lesser cars.  At one point the road was not passable to my vehicle, due to a fast rising trail of nearly 8", which would laterally high-center me.  This  requiring me to back out about 400 ft, turn around and then back track another 1/4-1/2 mile, then break trail across to the other road, about 50 yards away.  

Once I was able to get onto good road again at Citrus Rd, the rest of the drive back west to US 395 at Independence was without incident.

Jason Hill

Related Articles:

SP Jawbone Branch (Part 26) - Engine Spot & Water Track Detailing

Jawbone Branch Index Page - Main index for my Jawbone Branch (only) blog page.

SP F-70-10 New Deck Color? New Evidence!

There's been debate about the proper color of the new decking of the SP F-70-10s.  Without good color photos of their construction, it's been impossible to determine.... until now!

New Evidence!

I was watching SP Railway: Behind the Scenes 1950s Educational Documentary WDTVLIVE42 video and found the section starting at 5:08 with assembly of wheels and trucks, then moving to the construction of the bodies and ending at 7:22 with the decking of the new F-70-10 flatcars in Dec, 1953 and into 1954.

SP Railway: Behind the Scenes 1950s video, time index 7:03

In these photos the brown wood colors show a bit more.

SP Railway: Behind the Scenes 1950s video, time index 7:13

It appears that the boards are dark, but also have some brown color still in them.

SP Railway: Behind the Scenes 1950s video, time index 7:18

However, on this car the board look VERY dark, and even shining black spots, which does suggest creosote.  So let's see what I can do with the RedCaboose/SPHTS F-70-10 model decks.

The Model

I want to model my cars on my Owenyo Branch layout for 1954 at the latest, so these cars will be the newest of all the cars I plan to model.  Certainly if I was modeling 3-10 years later the other deck weathering techniques I've shown on my assortment of F-50-series OwlMtModels flats come into play.

RedCaboose/SPHTS F-70-10 with some light weathering on the 'straw' color molded deck.

I'm not going to go into a huge amount of detail on my deck prep and basic weathering.  This is going to be an interesting weathering, or I should say, non-weathering of the deck to make it look like a first year deck.

Kitbashed F-70-10 deck (top) and new tooled deck (bottom)

I did some light scuffing with some sanding stick to give a bit of 'tooth' to the deck to hold the washed paint.  The first color used is AppleBarrel acrylic paint (21490E) Pavement, and then a thinned wash of (21985E) Black.  A bit of (20511E) Brown Oxide was mixed into the last wash of Pavement and Black to shift the deck color towards the brown side.  At this point, I'm setting the deck aside to fully dry for several hours.

SP 142617's updated deck finish with more black and patches of gloss per film clip.

I came back and add a little bit more brown and black streaking on parts of the boards.

Next is a shot of clear-coat to seal the existing colors down before a final black wash for the boards.

In Closing

Hopefully this info is useful for those of us modeling F-70-10 class flatcars.

Jason Hill

Related Articles:

Kitbashing OwlMtModels (Part 4) F-50-Series Decks - Link to Deck Distressing and Weathering video.