CP NSC 4850 kitbash (Walthers)

[cemr5396]

As I'm sure some of you are aware, Walthers recently released a model of the National Steel Car 5150 cu.ft. covered hopper. As a modern-era modeler, this was exciting news. Models of modern 110-ton grain cars are nearly non-existent, aside from the Genesis Trinity 5161 and ScaleTrains' Gunderson 5188, so more variety was (and still is) badly needed. 




(continued below..)

[cemr5396]

One of the announced road names was CP. This gave me even more reason to get excited, because one cannot accurately model CP grain traffic from the mid-90s to today without large numbers of NSC-family 110-ton grainers of various sizes. They make up roughly 40% of the grain fleet. Here's the thing: CP never had any NSC 5150s. However, they did have 4850s, 5200s, and 5300s. Luckily, all NSC 110-ton grain cars with the exception of the 5155 cu.ft. and 5431 cu.ft. cars are extremely similar in appearance. So the question became, if I was going to attempt to make one of those out of the Walthers car, which one should I do? One of the benefits of using a decorated model for this potential project was that I could re-use most of the factory CP paint job, no matter which one I decided on.

First, I looked at the NSC 5300. Coincidentally, this is what the car came decorated as. However, both the 5300 and the 5200 are a no-go. The outlet bays are significantly larger on these two cars than they were on the earlier models such as the 5150.

So that leaves the 4850 as the only option left, and the more I looked over pictures, both my own and online, the more I realised that the 5150 and the 4850 are pretty much identical, at least on the outside. The two cars are similar height and length, and the outlet bays on the 4850 are only barely smaller than those on the 5150, so the 300 cu.ft. difference must be mostly internal. Here's a prototype shot, taken by yours truly:

Once I got all the details sorted out, I ordered two of them. 

[countryroads]

Going to be cool

[cemr5396]

First step of the project is to disassemble the model

[big train james]

Neat project. Ive got the same thing planned in O scale, but starting with a Trinity 5161 and ending up with a 3281.

Atlas makes a really nice 5161 in O. I've done a lot of figuring, and it appears that most details other than the slope sheet angle are very close. I'm guessing the slope sheet is 45° versus 40° on the 5161, so the end panel on the 3281 isn't as tall. I can accept that. Striker to bolster centerline, and bolster to outlet gate centerline seem to match. So I can feel pretty comfortable just taking out the middle and splicing it back together.

I'll need to figure something out for the panel lines. I'll probably go with Archer for those, although I'll need quite a bit in O scale. I've never tried the stretched sprue technique, so I guess that could be a possibility as well. I also might try scoring a groove on the car side, and recessing a small diameter styrene rod in there. The problem with that is scoring a straight line on a curved surface might be a trick. I'll have to test that on some scrap.

The roof walk will be the other issue. I'll have to see how the panel lengths match up between the cars. If theres a big difference, I'll do up some etch artwork and have new roof walks made up. I plan on having at least ten cement hoppers for a rail to truck transfer facility, so I'll get some mileage out of the artwork. The nice thing is, I can get all of the relevant dimensions from the Morton website, which is also useful for diesel steps, crossover platforms, and well car platforms.

The last thing will be to hopefully replace the Atlas trucks with some of my own modern 110 ton trucks. I've got most of the cad done already, I need to finish out the bolster and work up the brake beams. The real trick is getting them produced, but I'm working on that too.

Add it to the list of things to do!

Jim

[cemr5396]

Body Modifications (Part 1)

Because the outlet bays are higher above the rails on the 4850 than the 5150, one of the first steps is to remove the gates from the bottom of the car. The gates are separately applied, so a gentle pry with a knife where the gate meets the body popped it off pretty easily. 




Next, I separated the top and bottom pieces of the gate. Again some prying with a knife did the trick.




Once the two parts were separated, I pitched the top part, and removed the mounting tabs on the bottom part so I could cement them back to the car. I installed them in an A-B-B arrangement since that seems to be the most common on the 4850s.

Once the gates were installed, I cut the cranks off the outside of the gate, shortened them to around 1 scale foot to more resemble the prototype, and re-attached them.




(to be continued..)

[cemr5396]

Body Modifications (Part 2)

Because the model has body mounted brakes, and the prototype has truck mounted, there was a bit of work to do re-arranging the brake details on the car. First step was to remove the air reservoir from it's position on the bottom of the slope sheet. Then I removed all the brake detail from the floor of the car. This included the brake cylinder and it's mounting bracket, as well as the brake levers and rods that were molded into the floor at both ends. I left the triple valve alone since it is fine where it is. Then I moved the air reservoir to it's new spot on the floor, and mounted it in such a way that it will tuck up next to the sill when the car is re-assembled.

 

The final bit of body work that was required was to remove the middle rung from the corner steps. I had the car on its side to take the picture, but I found that the best way to do it was with the car on its roof. I also made the first cut on the inboard side of each one, since the outboard side has some bracing attached to it that makes it a bit sturdier. cutting the outboard side first makes the entire step more fragile and likely to break when you try to do the inner side. (ask me how I know this..). Once the step was removed a little bit of filing cleaned it up nicely.




Next up: the re-decoration!

[countryroads]

Interesting way of altering a car.

[cemr5396]

The Re-Decoration

The re-decoration of the car was pretty straightforward. I used Micro-Sol and a Q-tip to remove all of the old lettering that I couldn't re-use, and then used Microscale decals to re-decorate the car. The MS set comes with data for the 4850cu.ft. cars, which saves a LOT of trouble. I probably wouldn't have tackled this project otherwise.

[sbcarshops]

Nice little project! Really good to see your thought process here too. It's really straight forward and could be applied to many other avenues too. I.e like those rebuilt well cars I always see lol

[cemr5396]

Finishing Touches

So after I finished the rest of the car, it was bugging me that I could see into the car through the holes in the ends. So I notched out the end of the weight, and painted it black. I also had to remove part of a plastic ridge that sits right below the weight. Problem solved. Completely invisible.



I also added the brake piping on the B-end of the car

[cemr5396]

DONE!

Some dullcote, painted the trucks and wheels, and Kadee 153 couplers finished it off. This is actually the first car I had finished, note that I had to replace the steps because I destroyed on of them. And yes, I will get around to painting them eventually.



 

[cemr5396]

Before and After:




Prototype Comparison:

[sbcarshops]

Awesome work man! Loved the workflow and a great result. Id say you captured the car well! Do you plan on weathering it?

[cemr5396]

Nov 24, 2019 1:30:44 GMT -5 sbcarshops said:

Awesome work man! Loved the workflow and a great result. Id say you captured the car well! Do you plan on weathering it?

Thanks. I may give it a little bit of weathering, but I would keep it pretty light. As you can see from the proto pics these cars have stood up pretty well over time. They look pretty good for being 25 years old.

[sbcarshops]

Couldnt agree with you more there! I was just curious how much you were trying to match the prototype ;-P