Baggage #4

[Keith Hayes]

A few years back, a modeler asked the forum what we were using for baggage cars? The C&S had four baggage or express-only cars: numbers 1 and 2 were short, 2-door cars, measuring 34' over the sills; and two long, single-door cars. Number 3 measures 35' over the sills, and number 4 measures 40' over the sills (per Ken Martin). In the interim we have been blessed with a wood kit created by Bill Meredith for number 1 or 2, and a 3d resin print of number 4 by Ride Trains. I picked up my resin model of 4 at the Sn3 Symposium in Denver in Spring of 2026. Jim Courtney did a terrific post on his build of the Leadville Designs kit for number 1.

Here is the Ride Trains model as we accepted delivery. You get the body, underframe, trucks, brake wheels, a bag of screws, and some clear plastic for the clerestory windows. You have to provide wheelsets, couplers and decals. Oh, and chain and wire for grabs.

I just returned from the NNGC, where I procured the decals from Fred Hill with the intent of starting on my kit.

The body is crisply rendered, and lacks the fuzz on the siding of my RPO 13 print. No grab iron locations are spotted, and I was relieved that these were not part of the print, as I prefer to model these parts with wire. The light and stove vents are modeled (I wish they were separate parts), and a conduit snakes across the roof. The one visible downside is the print layers are very visible on the roof.

After unboxing, I washed all the parts in water and let them air dry. Then I sprayed the body and roof with Tamiya primer to see what I had to work with.

The painted roof is on the right, and the sanded are is on the left. I used sanding sponges and was able to sand most of the contours out. The conduit and vents are surprisingly robust,  but I still am taking care to be gentle around them. The sanded area is very smooth,  and I believe primer and paint will fill in the rest of the gaps.

The lower roof also has some visible lines, and will benefit from sanding as well.

[Keith Hayes]

Grab irons installation underway. These cars have a LOT of grabs, plus corner stirrups and steps under the side doors.

[Mike Trent]

Hi, Keith, are those apparently resin trucks included in the kit?

[Keith Hayes]

Yessir.

They roll well, but lack brake shoes.

[Keith Hayes]

Yessir.

They roll well, but lack brake shoes. They also only have a brake hanger beam in one end, evidently intended to face the end of the car.

In my advancing years, I am more apt to reject brake rigging in favor of smooth operation. Whike the image of the beam sans brake shoes causes some cognitive dissonance and an occasional twitch,  I am hopeful the physical reaction will pass once I install chains and a pin release lever.