Post by CP_8530 on Mar 26, 2015 2:52:29 GMT -5
This boxcar started off as an idea to use up a few surplus Proto 2000 50' double door autmobile boxcars I had kicking around. I have/had about 6 of 'em, 3 in old as-delivered 1940's GTW paint that seemed a bit outdated for my 70's era focus. Those ones also had end doors.
CN had some similar ones build by CC&F in 1959, but they were 50' cars with no end doors. CN and CP on the other hand both had 40' double door boxcars with end doors. The double door boxcars were mostly used for automobile hauling and equipped with Evans auto-loaders, but over time they fell out of use as larger capacity 89' autoracks started hauling auto traffic. But all was not lost - many were used to haul lumber for the North American housing boom during the 60's, 70's and even later, before bulkhead and centre beam flats gained popularity. The double doors and wide openings (typically 12-16') made it easier to load lumber into those cars than the standard single 6-8ft door 40' boxes. The idea of chopping one of the 50' P2K cars down into a 40' CP box was in the back of my mind until I decided to get out the cutting tools and give it a shot. A few compromises were made along the way as the P2K tooling is a bit different than the CC&F boxes.
Prototype selection was needed. CP's 29xxxx series was where they slotted their early 40' and 50' double door boxes. I found a few other photos of similar cars in books and online in addition to this one:
freight.railfan.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=cp296102&o=cprail
Similar series: www.ebay.com/itm/Canadian-Pacific-Railways-CPR-Double-Door-Boxcar-No-295851-8x10-Photo-/291405478489?
The model was stripped of all its parts and the cuts were made along the roof and through the sills, to hide the roof joint where parts of the panels meet. The cuts were a little different on both halves in order to get them to fit together. I went by the roof panels and kept an eye on it all with a scale ruler. The B-end was also cut off at this point and and Improved Dreadnaught End (4/4 IDE) from an Intermountain boxcar was used to replace the older 5/5 dreadnaught end.
For a bit of extra strength, I drilled holes in the sills and roofs and mounted four metal "pegs" to help keep some of the flimsy parts together.
There were a few drawbacks: the panels on one side don't line up exactly with the roof panels as per the prototype, but that would be hard to pick out unless you're comparing a dead-side shot of the real thing to the model. I also cut a bit of the thin sill right under the bottoms of the body panels, which meant cutting a bit of the IMRC end that became a bit too tall, which meant mounting some end hardware (grabs, tack board and handrails) a rib higher than they should be in order to line everything up.
I also just cut and shortened the underframe rather than rebuilding it and redoing all the bracing beams, but did relocate all the brake gear. Since it was an already built-up car, a number of the rods and rigging was damaged and needed to be replaced with metal wire. The cuts between the frame and floor were staggered and the weight was also cut down and screwed into both cut ends.
Information on the doors is somewhat hard to come by, and there are conflicting sources as to how wide the doors and opening are on various car series'. Door combos of 6' + 6', 6' + 8', 7' + 7', 8' + 8', 7' + 8', 7.5' + 7.5', some with extensions and some overlapping the given opening widths (e.g. 2 8' doors over a 15' opening). Going by photos of the series I wanted to do (a late 295xxx/early 296xxx series), I was able to determine the door width to be about 7.5' each. The P2K doors were 8' wide, so I had to cut a small slice out the middle of the door openings. A lot of gluing and filling and sanding (and repeat) around ribs was needed. Next car I do will probably have standard 6' doors, or a 7' + 8' pair to make it easier.
I also made little top door tabs later on, by bending and gluing on 0.010" styrene strips around the top rib:
CN had some similar ones build by CC&F in 1959, but they were 50' cars with no end doors. CN and CP on the other hand both had 40' double door boxcars with end doors. The double door boxcars were mostly used for automobile hauling and equipped with Evans auto-loaders, but over time they fell out of use as larger capacity 89' autoracks started hauling auto traffic. But all was not lost - many were used to haul lumber for the North American housing boom during the 60's, 70's and even later, before bulkhead and centre beam flats gained popularity. The double doors and wide openings (typically 12-16') made it easier to load lumber into those cars than the standard single 6-8ft door 40' boxes. The idea of chopping one of the 50' P2K cars down into a 40' CP box was in the back of my mind until I decided to get out the cutting tools and give it a shot. A few compromises were made along the way as the P2K tooling is a bit different than the CC&F boxes.
Prototype selection was needed. CP's 29xxxx series was where they slotted their early 40' and 50' double door boxes. I found a few other photos of similar cars in books and online in addition to this one:
freight.railfan.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=cp296102&o=cprail
Similar series: www.ebay.com/itm/Canadian-Pacific-Railways-CPR-Double-Door-Boxcar-No-295851-8x10-Photo-/291405478489?
The model was stripped of all its parts and the cuts were made along the roof and through the sills, to hide the roof joint where parts of the panels meet. The cuts were a little different on both halves in order to get them to fit together. I went by the roof panels and kept an eye on it all with a scale ruler. The B-end was also cut off at this point and and Improved Dreadnaught End (4/4 IDE) from an Intermountain boxcar was used to replace the older 5/5 dreadnaught end.
For a bit of extra strength, I drilled holes in the sills and roofs and mounted four metal "pegs" to help keep some of the flimsy parts together.
There were a few drawbacks: the panels on one side don't line up exactly with the roof panels as per the prototype, but that would be hard to pick out unless you're comparing a dead-side shot of the real thing to the model. I also cut a bit of the thin sill right under the bottoms of the body panels, which meant cutting a bit of the IMRC end that became a bit too tall, which meant mounting some end hardware (grabs, tack board and handrails) a rib higher than they should be in order to line everything up.
I also just cut and shortened the underframe rather than rebuilding it and redoing all the bracing beams, but did relocate all the brake gear. Since it was an already built-up car, a number of the rods and rigging was damaged and needed to be replaced with metal wire. The cuts between the frame and floor were staggered and the weight was also cut down and screwed into both cut ends.
Information on the doors is somewhat hard to come by, and there are conflicting sources as to how wide the doors and opening are on various car series'. Door combos of 6' + 6', 6' + 8', 7' + 7', 8' + 8', 7' + 8', 7.5' + 7.5', some with extensions and some overlapping the given opening widths (e.g. 2 8' doors over a 15' opening). Going by photos of the series I wanted to do (a late 295xxx/early 296xxx series), I was able to determine the door width to be about 7.5' each. The P2K doors were 8' wide, so I had to cut a small slice out the middle of the door openings. A lot of gluing and filling and sanding (and repeat) around ribs was needed. Next car I do will probably have standard 6' doors, or a 7' + 8' pair to make it easier.
I also made little top door tabs later on, by bending and gluing on 0.010" styrene strips around the top rib:
Missed you at the RPM.... tisk tisk
