BN Stuff

[JWB]

I always enjoy seeing the TVNAM people post about their work -- it often gives me enough of a new perspective that I pull out some of my stuff for a second look. I don't want to hijack Nick's thread on his layout, but I've been a semi BN fan all along, and I decided to post on some of my stuff. Here's an Accurail car that I detailed with a Preiser "hiker" figure that works fine as a late 20th century style bum:

Here's a Walthers wood chip car:

As a detail matter, the interiors of these cars were painted white:

The guy who started LBF, which was a short-lived HO freight car company that came after Front Range and E&C shops and before Hubert's, got going by making home made loads for Walthers wood chip cars. (LBF stood for Loads by Fred.) I got one and realized that since I had access to a table saw, I could do just as well on my own. I mass produced a bunch. This is one before a layer of sawdust is added to the top:

This has inspired me to get more of my BN stuff out and spruce it up . . . thanks, Nick!

[JWB]

I've been interested in BN log cars. Here's one of a pair I did from an Athearn 40 foot flat following an MR article, using Details West log bunks:

This is another style. The BN cut down a number of 40-foot boxcars into log cars, but they aren't listed in the ORER and kept their box car numbers. I did this one following a photo in RMC, using an Accurail box car and Details West log bunks. I was working on this one very, very slowly, but Nick's post inspired me to put on decals and try to finish it. Decals are still wet and not fully adjusted.

Here's an E&C Shops or LBF, not sure which, car, just with a little paint improvement and weathering:

[Northpoint]

Wow - excellent stuff! More inspiration for me. Thanks for the tip about the white interior of the woodchip cars. Who would ever have known that?

 

Your home made loads - what do you use for the actual woodchips?

 

Your mention of TVNAM - a pity it's so far for you to come....

[JWB]

Thanks -- here's a better look at what I think is an original LBF load -- I cut mine using 1x2, but it looks like "Fred" used something smaller. Either way, the chips are simply sawdust sprinkled on a coat of white glue -- I would bet that both he and I mainly used sawdust from the cuts that shaped the load in the first place:

He also suggested using old nylon panty hose material to wrap the top to simulate the netting that sometimes covers these loads. Friends have told me they've never actually seen this, so I haven't done it very much.

Here's a Quality Craft wood kit for a GSC bulkhead flat, long before the Walthers version. Most of it was wood with a few castings, like the bulkhead frames.

The load is from Out West Lumber Loads. One of these loads was a major project in itself, being assembled from several hundred rectangles of veneer and then put together in a prototype pattern. Here's a Walthers NP car with a load from another defunct load maker, Good Wood. I supplemented the Good Wood load with info from the Out West instructions and left over chart pak tape from that kit:

The focal point of my BN interest is in the first 10 years or so, which lets me operate a lot of equipment still lettered for the predecessors -- that gives me a lot of flexibility. Here's a Walthers Jordan, which I assembled based on info in a BNSF Annual:

And here's one of the best-kept secrets for BN modelers, the old Bachmann caboose. This is based on the Burlington NE-12, which passed onto BN. You could find these at swap meets for a dollar or so, and then upgrading them to minimal standards was a fairly simple task:

I still have a bunch of these in reserve.

[shortliner]

I was surprised to see how much LBF stuff is available on Ebay.com - with some silly postage prices too! John - good job with those loads. Do you have more pictures of your layout? Think I have seen a couple on Carls site. Looks like some street running on there. Inquiring minds want to know!

[JWB]

What you see in the background here was in fact a part of my layout that Carl A. covered in one issue. As discussed there, it wasn't a stand-alone micro, but it was a micro track plan that feeds into a much larger layout. Here's the track plan of what you see here that I sent Carl, except that the main line in the foreground isn't shown on the plan:

The Downtown Deco Triangle Fruit building to the left also isn't discussed on the Arendt site:

The overall layout, though, is 16 x 37 in a semi-basement area of a hillside house. I've been working on it a little the way a nautilus works through its shell -- there's a lot done, but a lot still to do.

[JWB]

Here are a few more shots of the area mostly under discussion here, which is the town of West Egg:

[shortliner]

I thought it looked familiar - very nice In this part of Sotland the N at the end of Eastern and Western is missed off - for example I live in Easter Ross - Just had this wonderfull idea of Wester Egg and Easter Egg

[JWB]

Actually, nearly all my towns are named from cities in American novels (I majored in English). West Egg is a town in The Great Gatsby.

[Parthia27]

Good stuff. I don't know what it is about BN, I have to confess to having a liking for the UP, however BN is always the railroad I choose to model. I used to have lots of BN cars and locos in the late 90's, mainly Athearn Blue Box, LBF, Walthers etc, but I sold most of it when I moved back to UK EM Gauge, then the rest when I went from EM to P4. Now my US interests have been rekindled I am being a tad more restrained in my purchases, but never the less I am starting to acquire a smaller roster of HO BN and BN predecessor cars and locos that would be typical for ex Frisco operations in the Kansas City area in the late 80s early 90s. So far I've got hold of a Genesis GP15-1 and RTR SW1500 and about 18 cars, mainly Intermountain Boxcars and Grain Hoppers, with a few other UP bits and pieces from Tangent. A number of things have prevented me from doing much modeling recently, but I am focused on building something small to run my stuff on from time to time, and on finishing off the collection of cars I think I need (I've been looking for a Proto 2000 52' Drop End BN Gondola and a suitable GATX or ULTX 23K tank car for the 80's). I have to do something layout wise because I've promised Nick a layout for TVNAM 2013 so watch this space!

 

TTFN

 

Chris

[ceejaydee]

Whilst my main allegiance is elsewhere I do also have an interest in BN and the Fallen Flags that made it up so enjoyed looking at your wagons.

The Bachmann caboose conversion is interesting; what exactly did you do in your upgrade as the Bachmann stock seems relatively easy to get in the UK and is good and robust despite it being fairly basic.

[Glorious NSE]

This is the Bachmann caboose in question, basically a train-set toy, and ironically almost impossible to find in a livery that matches the prototype they modelled (CB&Q or BN, they were built in CB&Q shops)!

 

they are fairly easy to pick up (usually in the plastickey Santa Fe red or UP yellow) for a couple of quid:

http://ho-scaletrains.net/bachmannhoscalerollingstock/id74.html

 

They looked rather smart in Q silver and red

http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1931777

[JWB]

You're right, they're easy to find. The first thing was to strip the factory paint using whatever people are used to for paint remover for plastics -- alcohol, brake fluid, commercial product, I think they all work on this. Then I took the chassis and removed the trucks, placed them carefully in the dustbin. I used Plastruct 1/8 inch tube to bush the truck mounting holes attached with CA, drilled them out to accept whatever screws you use. In my case I smoothed the floor and added basic brake gear, then Details West cushion caboose coupler pockets. You've probably got to replace the smokejack with whatever you can find, then radio antenna on cupola roof. They also had a vent over the lavatory, which I didn't add on this car. Replace trucks with caboose style. Then paint. I used Champ BN caboose decals, no longer available, but the Micro Scale BN set will do the P as well.I haven't looked, but I assume there are photos on sites like rrpicturearchives and fallen flags.

 

Bachmann updated this car with separate roofwalks, which would make it easier to update for post-1970 service without roofwalks and blanked windows.

[JWB]

Two items finished thanks to Nick's inspiration. First is the log car rebuilt from a boxcar:

The logs are Walthers, there temporarily. I need to find a way to rework them to make them more realistic. Next is a 30-year-old McKean car -- I think this was even earlier than Front Range, the company dates from the 1970s. The car was sitting untouched in the box until Nick's thread got me going on it. I substituted A-Line stirrups and wire grabs for the plastic parts in the kit.

I think it was based on a Soo Line car, but it's close to a BN type -- prototype photo at http://www.rr-fallen...bn244491bkg.jpg There are two more panels per side, but otherwise it's very close. The factory lettering was pretty crude, so I took the opportunity to weather it heavily.

 

Here's another car type that's somewhat common in the western US, an aircraft parts car:

Since the Boeing plant is near Seattle, they would be common in the area, coming both from subcontractors in Southern California and from Boeing in Wichita. This is an LBF car. There's a thread about these cars at http://www.the-gauge...&hilit=aircraft