Post by kpack on Dec 2, 2019 14:21:32 GMT -8
Here's a model that I actually completed last year, but it took me forever to get the pictures I wanted. I was going to take more, but it's snowing here now and that's just not going to happen.
CRYX 3162 "Tyrone" is a Gunderson-built reefer that has been highly modified. The prototype was built as a cryogenic reefer for Cryo-Trans at the end of 1991, originally numbered as 1241. Cryogenic reefers work by having a cryogenic liquid (CO2 I believe) injected into the car, which circulates inside the walls, roof, and floor to keep things frozen. These cars went in for a rebuild and refit starting in 2000. The majority of them were sent to GBW Railcar Services in Finley, WA. There the A-end of the car was extensively modified. They removed a large section of the car, keeping the original lower sill. Then they fabricated an end-cage and fuel tank assembly, as well as converted the car to be cooled by an external reefer unit. The interiors were refit with new insulation, paneling, etc....all designed to efficiently move cold air and keep everything evenly frozen. The reefer unit is run by diesel fuel, kept in the 400 gallon tank on the A-end. The temperature can be controlled and monitored remotely by GPS. The GPS is powered by a solar panel that is either located on the roof of the car, or on the top of the reefer unit. This car's solar panel is located on the reefer unit.
The car was renumbered to CRYX 3162 and named "Tyrone", and was also repainted. Cryo-Trans names most of their cars, usually after physical locations. "Tyrone" seems to be named after a person though, possibly a prominent employee of the company?
I photographed the prototype in 2016 in Ellensburg, WA and managed to capture both sides. This version of the car has 10' doors, whereas other versions have 12' doors.
This version also has the later style end-cage, allowing more room for workers to get around the external reefer unit.
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No company makes these cars yet, and I got tired of waiting. I used a Walther's 70' Cryogenic reefer car and got to work hacking. The Walther's car really isn't a bad model to start from. The overall dimensions seem correct and besides the molded-on details, the rest of the tooling looks good enough.
I removed the A-end of the car keeping the end face intact. I also retained the lower sill. I removed as much of the sides of the car as I thought appropriate judging off of prototype photos (I did not have exact measurements). I then replaced the car end back onto the car and used Bondo to fill gaps. All molded on details were removed including all ladders, stirrups, door rods, grabs, etc. I replaced the ladders and stirrups with detail parts from Exactrail. The grabs were replaced with 0.012 brass wire. The door rods were replaced with 0.019 brass wire. Coupler pockets were replaced with Details West parts. The brake wheel was replaced with one from Kadee
The end cage was a lot of work. I used angle styrene to fabricate the vertical bars and horiztonal supports, 0.010 stryene sheet for the platform (the prototype uses treadplate), and flat styrene stock for the lower support that wraps around the outer portion of the platform. Angle styrene was used for the diagonal supports. I flattened angle styrene and used that for the vertical stanchions on the end of the platform. 0.010 brass wire was used for the bars and vertical grabs. 0.012 brass wire was used for the drop grabs.
The fuel tank was made from scrap styrene and made in a basic rectangle. I used thin stryene strip to fill in the under the 2nd and 3rd end plate ribs, as per the prototype. Square styrene stock was used at the top edge of the end plate to build it out to the reefer unit, per the prototype. The reefer unit is a BLMA/Atlas model.
The underframe was detailed as normal for me. I replaced the wheels with semi-scale wheels. The couplers are long-shank lower shelf E's. I primed the car with Tamiya primer, then painted with Testor's white. I painted the upper and lower orange stripes with craft acrylics. I then decaled using the Microscale sheet, and corrected the color on the "Protecting Today's Perishables" using craft acrylics. The entire car was washed and faded to the characteristic yellow-brown. I don't remember what colors I used. I then painted the white chipping areas and outlined them using a fine pencil. The graffiti was all done with craft acrylics, per my usual method.
Overall this car was a lot of fun to build. It took a lot of time and work, especially for me since I'm not much of a kitbasher/scratchbuilder. I have a couple more of these in progress, showing different versions of the rebuilds. I'm also trying to build a 82' BNSF reefer....that's a chore. Not sure if what I'm doing is going to work.
As I work on a couple of other CRYX cars I'm in need of some measurements. If anyone has access to one of these prototypes shoot me a PM.
-Kevin
CRYX 3162 "Tyrone" is a Gunderson-built reefer that has been highly modified. The prototype was built as a cryogenic reefer for Cryo-Trans at the end of 1991, originally numbered as 1241. Cryogenic reefers work by having a cryogenic liquid (CO2 I believe) injected into the car, which circulates inside the walls, roof, and floor to keep things frozen. These cars went in for a rebuild and refit starting in 2000. The majority of them were sent to GBW Railcar Services in Finley, WA. There the A-end of the car was extensively modified. They removed a large section of the car, keeping the original lower sill. Then they fabricated an end-cage and fuel tank assembly, as well as converted the car to be cooled by an external reefer unit. The interiors were refit with new insulation, paneling, etc....all designed to efficiently move cold air and keep everything evenly frozen. The reefer unit is run by diesel fuel, kept in the 400 gallon tank on the A-end. The temperature can be controlled and monitored remotely by GPS. The GPS is powered by a solar panel that is either located on the roof of the car, or on the top of the reefer unit. This car's solar panel is located on the reefer unit.
The car was renumbered to CRYX 3162 and named "Tyrone", and was also repainted. Cryo-Trans names most of their cars, usually after physical locations. "Tyrone" seems to be named after a person though, possibly a prominent employee of the company?
I photographed the prototype in 2016 in Ellensburg, WA and managed to capture both sides. This version of the car has 10' doors, whereas other versions have 12' doors.
This version also has the later style end-cage, allowing more room for workers to get around the external reefer unit.
No company makes these cars yet, and I got tired of waiting. I used a Walther's 70' Cryogenic reefer car and got to work hacking. The Walther's car really isn't a bad model to start from. The overall dimensions seem correct and besides the molded-on details, the rest of the tooling looks good enough.
I removed the A-end of the car keeping the end face intact. I also retained the lower sill. I removed as much of the sides of the car as I thought appropriate judging off of prototype photos (I did not have exact measurements). I then replaced the car end back onto the car and used Bondo to fill gaps. All molded on details were removed including all ladders, stirrups, door rods, grabs, etc. I replaced the ladders and stirrups with detail parts from Exactrail. The grabs were replaced with 0.012 brass wire. The door rods were replaced with 0.019 brass wire. Coupler pockets were replaced with Details West parts. The brake wheel was replaced with one from Kadee
The end cage was a lot of work. I used angle styrene to fabricate the vertical bars and horiztonal supports, 0.010 stryene sheet for the platform (the prototype uses treadplate), and flat styrene stock for the lower support that wraps around the outer portion of the platform. Angle styrene was used for the diagonal supports. I flattened angle styrene and used that for the vertical stanchions on the end of the platform. 0.010 brass wire was used for the bars and vertical grabs. 0.012 brass wire was used for the drop grabs.
The fuel tank was made from scrap styrene and made in a basic rectangle. I used thin stryene strip to fill in the under the 2nd and 3rd end plate ribs, as per the prototype. Square styrene stock was used at the top edge of the end plate to build it out to the reefer unit, per the prototype. The reefer unit is a BLMA/Atlas model.
The underframe was detailed as normal for me. I replaced the wheels with semi-scale wheels. The couplers are long-shank lower shelf E's. I primed the car with Tamiya primer, then painted with Testor's white. I painted the upper and lower orange stripes with craft acrylics. I then decaled using the Microscale sheet, and corrected the color on the "Protecting Today's Perishables" using craft acrylics. The entire car was washed and faded to the characteristic yellow-brown. I don't remember what colors I used. I then painted the white chipping areas and outlined them using a fine pencil. The graffiti was all done with craft acrylics, per my usual method.
Overall this car was a lot of fun to build. It took a lot of time and work, especially for me since I'm not much of a kitbasher/scratchbuilder. I have a couple more of these in progress, showing different versions of the rebuilds. I'm also trying to build a 82' BNSF reefer....that's a chore. Not sure if what I'm doing is going to work.
As I work on a couple of other CRYX cars I'm in need of some measurements. If anyone has access to one of these prototypes shoot me a PM.
-Kevin
It's that good. I'm also so glad I don't model modern, and thus have to painstakingly hand-paint all that graffiti!
