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Post by tom on Apr 1, 2022 15:49:55 GMT -8
On this date back in 1976 the Lehigh Valley disappeared into Conrail but a new LV boxcar is now running on my PC railroad. The LV car started with an undec Kadee it that I added new sidesills, lowered the ladders, removed the roofwalk and added Plano roofwalk supports.  These cars were rebuilt and then leased back to the LV. They were painted green perhaps because the Penn Central had a financial interest in the LV. The cars were not quite PC green though so I applied a mix of ~3 parts Scalecoat PC green to 1 part British Columbia Green. I then lettered it with K4 Decals which seem to me to be more accurate than other sets since those sets did not have the LEHIGH VALLEY quite the right size. The K4 ones appeared to be spot on.  A long time ago RMC did an article of modeling these cars that inspired me to model this one.  These cars lasted on Conrail until the early 1980's. |
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Post by lvrr325 on Apr 1, 2022 16:11:57 GMT -8
I have a blurry print of one in 1987. And one still sits in Hamburg NY on the Buffalo Southern, for that matter.
Some suggest using NYC jade green for these cars, which is a tad lighter than PC.
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Post by el3672 on Apr 1, 2022 17:44:49 GMT -8
Awesome Tom!! As a rebuilt, those side sills look great.
EL also had a rebuilt program on their box's like that, Care to elaborate
those side sill upgrades? Thx
-Alex
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Post by cera2254 on Apr 1, 2022 18:45:35 GMT -8
Love it!
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Post by tom on Apr 2, 2022 3:11:59 GMT -8
Awesome Tom!! As a rebuilt, those side sills look great. EL also had a rebuilt program on their box's like that, Care to elaborate those side sill upgrades? -Alex Thanks! I first removed the lower door tracks on the car. Then removed the sidesills and used a file to make sure that all of the sidesill remnants were gone and the bottom edge of the car was flat. I then glued on the new sidesills using 4x10" styrene. It is pretty thick but makes for a nice strong joint. I then added replacement sidesills using 0.020x0.030 strips. |
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Post by tom on Apr 2, 2022 3:14:16 GMT -8
EL also had a rebuilt program on their box's like that, Care to elaborate those side sill upgrades? Yep:  |
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Post by drsvelte on Apr 2, 2022 12:03:55 GMT -8
WOW! The paint execution on the LV boxcar is like Goldilocks finding the small bowl of the bear family's porridge. The weathering is "just right"!! A little goes a long way and you nailed it. Superb job. 👍👍
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Post by lvrr325 on Apr 2, 2022 14:44:07 GMT -8
I have some Kadee box cars I got cheap I was thinking I would re-do as these cars. I wanted to confirm having the right ends and so forth before I started though.
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Post by tom on Apr 2, 2022 17:12:14 GMT -8
I have some Kadee box cars I got cheap I was thinking I would re-do as these cars. I wanted to confirm having the right ends and so forth before I started though. All of the 40' kadee boxcars have the same ends. So just make sure the doors are correct. The LV PS cars that were rebuilt came with two different Superior style doors. If your cars do not come with the correct ones Kadee offers them separately. |
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Post by protofrtcar on Apr 2, 2022 17:43:05 GMT -8
Nice work Tom. When modelling these cars check prototype photos as some of the LV USRE rebuilds got replacement Diagonal Panel roofs to solve weather tightness issues ( rusted roofs ) If choosing one of those examples an Intermountain 40' PS boxcar would be a good starting point as the roof is separate on the body and can be replaced with a Branchline DP 40' roof. Other roads that had USRE 40' PS rebuilds with random roof replacement were Rock Island and Atlantic & Western. When choosing a Kadee 40' PS boxcar for these rebuilds get one of the models without roofwalks as this saves a lot of work filling in roofwalk holes. Cheers.
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Post by tom on Apr 3, 2022 3:21:14 GMT -8
Nice work Tom. When modelling these cars check prototype photos as some of the LV USRE rebuilds got replacement Diagonal Panel roofs to solve weather tightness issues ( rusted roofs ) If choosing one of those examples an Intermountain 40' PS boxcar would be a good starting point as the roof is separate on the body and can be replaced with a Branchline DP 40' roof. Other roads that had USRE 40' PS rebuilds with random roof replacement were Rock Island and Atlantic & Western. When choosing a Kadee 40' PS boxcar for these rebuilds get one of the models without roofwalks as this saves a lot of work filling in roofwalk holes. Cheers. Thanks! I noticed that some of the PS roofs did get replaced but I chose to use one that had still had the PS roof. Kadee has not released too many boxcars without the roofwalk so those are sometimes hard to find. Besides I like to start with the undec kits plus those are cheaper than the decorated models.....plus no paint stripping. It is not fun filling and filing those holes though...... |
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Post by markfj on Apr 3, 2022 15:03:11 GMT -8
Nice work as always Tom, thanks for sharing! Fingers crossed that Tangent cranks up their PS boxcar production to produce rebuilds like this LV car. 65016 in relatively fresh paint.  65077 showing some wear plus wheel dot and COTS.  Thanks, Mark J. Reading, PA |
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Post by lvrr325 on Apr 3, 2022 18:31:36 GMT -8
Nice work Tom. When modelling these cars check prototype photos as some of the LV USRE rebuilds got replacement Diagonal Panel roofs to solve weather tightness issues ( rusted roofs ) If choosing one of those examples an Intermountain 40' PS boxcar would be a good starting point as the roof is separate on the body and can be replaced with a Branchline DP 40' roof. Other roads that had USRE 40' PS rebuilds with random roof replacement were Rock Island and Atlantic & Western. When choosing a Kadee 40' PS boxcar for these rebuilds get one of the models without roofwalks as this saves a lot of work filling in roofwalk holes. Cheers. FWIW, those Atlantic & Western cars show up in a lot of LV pictures and films. It does make me wonder how hard it would be for a Tangent or similar to tackle a model of these rebuilds. Were there enough similar cars to tool one main body shell, for instance. I'd have to look at pictures of how the side sills were done. |
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Post by el3672 on Apr 5, 2022 19:15:35 GMT -8
On this date back in 1976 the Lehigh Valley disappeared into Conrail but a new LV boxcar is now running on my PC railroad. The LV car started with an undec Kadee it that I added new sidesills, lowered the ladders, removed the roofwalk and added Plano roofwalk supports. These cars were rebuilt and then leased back to the LV. They were painted green perhaps because the Penn Central had a financial interest in the LV. The cars were not quite PC green though so I applied a mix of ~3 parts Scalecoat PC green to 1 part British Columbia Green. I then lettered it with K4 Decals which seem to me to be more accurate than other sets since those sets did not have the LEHIGH VALLEY quite the right size. The K4 ones appeared to be spot on. A long time ago RMC did an article of modeling these cars that inspired me to model this one. These cars lasted on Conrail until the early 1980's. |
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Post by el3672 on Apr 5, 2022 19:21:54 GMT -8
Perfect Model Tom...Awesome man!!!! Hey just noticed one missing detail tho,
your missing that rebuilt gusset plate applied on the lower left door.
Thanks to Markfj's posted image below. I'm adding these on a few MEC 40'
rebuilds. Gussets are a different animal.It requires some .005 styrene
and a small "poker" to get the rivets right.
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Post by champagnetrail on Apr 6, 2022 6:12:16 GMT -8
Nice work Tom. When modelling these cars check prototype photos as some of the LV USRE rebuilds got replacement Diagonal Panel roofs to solve weather tightness issues ( rusted roofs ) If choosing one of those examples an Intermountain 40' PS boxcar would be a good starting point as the roof is separate on the body and can be replaced with a Branchline DP 40' roof. Other roads that had USRE 40' PS rebuilds with random roof replacement were Rock Island and Atlantic & Western. When choosing a Kadee 40' PS boxcar for these rebuilds get one of the models without roofwalks as this saves a lot of work filling in roofwalk holes. Cheers. FWIW, those Atlantic & Western cars show up in a lot of LV pictures and films. It does make me wonder how hard it would be for a Tangent or similar to tackle a model of these rebuilds. Were there enough similar cars to tool one main body shell, for instance. I'd have to look at pictures of how the side sills were done. First off...nice work as usual!
Many of the Atlantic & Western rebuilds, along with the LV and EL rebuilds, were used to haul bagged flour out of Buffalo. That accounts for how common they appear to be in LV (and EL) trains in the early/mid 70s.
-pat
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Post by wagnersteve on Apr 6, 2022 10:48:44 GMT -8
Pat, I'm sure I saw the Atlantic & Western rebuilt 40' cars in Massachusetts in the early 1970s as well, either on the PC's ex-NYC, ex-B&A or on the B&M's Fitchburg Route, or both.
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Post by tom on Apr 6, 2022 12:40:03 GMT -8
I have those ATW cars covered too. I love the Seventies!  |
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Post by champagnetrail on Apr 7, 2022 8:10:07 GMT -8
Yeah, that's the one! Incidentally, does anyone know if the Atlantic & Western herald had any significance? What is it supposed to be?
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Post by flexivan68 on Apr 14, 2022 17:25:59 GMT -8
Very nice clean build
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Post by ln1263 on Apr 15, 2022 11:03:35 GMT -8
All 3 boxcars pictured on here look great Tom! (LV EL ATW)
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Post by tom on Apr 15, 2022 14:47:39 GMT -8
All 3 boxcars pictured on here look great Tom! (LV EL ATW) Thanks! Modeling these seventies cars are fun! |
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Post by alexandre on Dec 11, 2022 9:13:09 GMT -8
It’s great to see your excellent work Tom. It’s refreshing to see quality model building and kitbashing projects instead of just the ready to run stuff.
-Alex
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Post by wagnersteve on Dec 11, 2022 9:19:10 GMT -8
Very nice indeed, Tom!
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Post by tom on Dec 11, 2022 9:30:33 GMT -8
Thanks! I use RTR, kitbashing, and detailing as needed to model accurate freight cars from the seventies. Accurate factory painted cars are a nice change of though and it is great that lots of decals are available from smaller suppliers. Those very accurate EL decals are from Prime Mover and the LV and ATW decals are from K4 Decals.
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mdq
Full Member
Posts: 128
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Post by mdq on Dec 11, 2022 9:45:38 GMT -8
On this date back in 1976 the Lehigh Valley disappeared into Conrail but a new LV boxcar is now running on my PC railroad. The LV car started with an undec Kadee it that I added new sidesills, lowered the ladders, removed the roofwalk and added Plano roofwalk supports. These cars were rebuilt and then leased back to the LV. They were painted green perhaps because the Penn Central had a financial interest in the LV. The cars were not quite PC green though so I applied a mix of ~3 parts Scalecoat PC green to 1 part British Columbia Green. I then lettered it with K4 Decals which seem to me to be more accurate than other sets since those sets did not have the LEHIGH VALLEY quite the right size. The K4 ones appeared to be spot on. A long time ago RMC did an article of modeling these cars that inspired me to model this one. These cars lasted on Conrail until the early 1980's. Awesome!! |
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Post by ChessieFan1978 on Dec 11, 2022 12:14:34 GMT -8
LOVE 1965-85 Railroading back when it was COLORFUL and COOL !
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Post by The Ferro Kid on Dec 11, 2022 19:54:06 GMT -8
Yeah, that's the one! Incidentally, does anyone know if the Atlantic & Western herald had any significance? What is it supposed to be? I was told that there's an A and a W in that logo. I don't get it either. These were very common in Buffalo in the 70s. To the point where I got sick of seeing them. Now it's like an old friend. |
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