Modelling the Silica bunkhouse (aka coach/mail #41)

[Jeff Young]

Ken Martin shared these great pictures in the July 2012 issue of Bogies and the Loop:


Otto Perry


Otto Perry

There is some question over whether this is car #41, #42 or #43.  It is usually accepted to be #41 as documentation suggests that was retired in 1928, whereas the others left the C&S in 1939.  (The above pictures are 1941, and show some fairly significant weathering -- probably too much for just a couple of years.)

My skills aren't yet up to scratch-building passenger cars, so I decided to see what kind of destruction I could rain down on one of Rick Steele's kits.  I chose the Alamosa as it appeared that its window cadence could be most easily adapted to the C&S baggage mail cars (which contain quite wide paired windows).

Here's a drawing showing the areas requiring removal from the car-body sides and clerestory windows:



Note that this won't quite get you a 100% accurate C&S coach/mail, as they had one more pair of windows.  But the cadence of the windows is right, and the over proportions of coach vs. mail sections is right.

The red line at the end shows that the car (and roof) need to be shortened by 8".

I couldn't find end-details of #41, but what we can see looks pretty similar to #40 and #42.  This platform end shot of #40 shows that the Alamosa's windows on either side of the door will need to be closed over:


Richard B. Jackson

... and this mail end shot of #42 gives us an idea of the scratch-built mail end we will need to replace the Alamosa's vestibule end:


Richard B. Jackson

Here's what I have so far:  I've shortened and shaped the roof, cut all the clerestory windows, completed the coach section sides and platform end-wall, and built up some baggage doors with the right windows and panelling.  Next up are the mail section sides and end-wall:

[Keith Hayes]

A fun project, Jeff!

[Jeff Young]

The mail doors turned out to be a bit more work than planned.  The doors are set quite far back into the car-body (the quarter-round on either side of them is the same as on the car corners, rather than the smaller quarter-round used around the end-doors).

In order to get the proper depth, I needed to cut all the way through the car-body sides (and part of the letter board).  

The sides are stepped to make the window details correct, which also makes the addition of full-height scribed siding more difficult -- so after carefully shaping the first bit of full-height siding, I chopped off everything below the letter board on the mail end.

The back is also stepped, which required two layers of paper packing to get an even surface for the door backing:



I'm really enjoying this.  There might even be some 100%-correct, scratch-built cars in my future....

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Jeff Young]

The sides complete, and the mail end wall glued to the base (note the right-angle brace, as the end wall sits mostly on top of the base, and the two notches in the base to clear the bottoms of the mail doors):



.. and the side walls being glued:



Cheers,
Jeff.

[Jeff Ramsey]

My grandfather acquired a Handlin Buck lamp that was supposedly from this carbody, most likely it was located in the mail section as it was side mounted like a caboose lamp. Unfortunately he had it electrified but interesting it was mounted on a piece of oak panneling from this car. Either my aunt or uncle possess it today and if I ever see it again I will post pictures of it.

[Jeff Young]

The platform end wall has been added, and the letter-board return is being clamped.  (Its corners will need rounding after the glue has fully cured.)

Also shown is the platform, which required a bit of work.  I cleaned up the casting, added wood graining to the floor boards, and deepened the grooves between boards.  I also shortened the front steps, which will be half-buried (the rear steps are left out entirely, as they will be fully buried).



Cheers,
Jeff.

[Jeff Young]

Hi Jeff,

Hope you had a good holidays.

If you do get a chance, I'd love to see pictures of the lamp.

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Keith Hayes]

Nice weights, Jeff!

[Jim Courtney]

Where did you get the cool brass clamps, Jeff?  

This project is looking great!

[Jeff Young]

Jim, the brass clamps came from Micro-Mart, believe it or not.  Those are the 3-3/4” and 7” ones in the picture, but they also have 4-3/4” and 12” versions:

http://www.micromark.com/solid-brass-miniature-bar-clamps-3-3and4-inches-long-set-of-2,7066.html

Cheers,

Jeff.

[Jim Courtney]

Well I'll be . . . they look superior to the trigger-hand grip bar clamps that I've been using.  They always tend to shift the work a bit when I tighten them.  

Ha, the new Micro-Mark catalogue just showed up in the mail box today!

[Jeff Young]

Ken Martin and I were discussing the pole that appears in the two pictures from Bogies and the Loop (as to whether it was on top of the car, or behind it).

I ran a bit of a triangulation experiment lining up where the pole appeared in the two pictures on the car.  Note that I didn't actually take elevation photos to match the angles 100%, so this is only an approximation.  Never-the-less, the result seemed to leave little doubt:



Yesterday the car got primed; 3 hours of sanding this morning was followed by a coat of gesso.  More sanding tomorrow....

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Jeff Young]

Slinging a bit of paint around:



Glazed and shaded:



... and a trial fit in Silica:

[Jeff Young]

Bashing some stove-pipes:



Roof painted; stove-pipes and flashing added:



A bit of distressing around where the iron-work was salvaged, and a door knob for the end-door:

[Robert McFarland]

Why not build an operational twin brother.

[Jeff Young]

Robert McFarland wrote

Why not build an operational twin brother.

I've only room for one passenger train, and I'm running baggage/mail #13 on it.  (Still need a coach, though.)

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Jeff Young]

Anyone know what common practice was for recycled car-bodies?

a) lettering was left on the car
b) either C&S or salvage company removed lettering
c) either C&S or salvage company painted over lettering
d) something else?

Thanks,
Jeff.

[Jim Courtney]

Was the car body a railroad building at Silica or a cabin/bunkhouse for the quarry there?  I can't imagine the railroad would paint out the lettering if it was a railroad building, and if privately owned after removal from service, the new owner may not have bothered.

Since your modeling mid to late 1920s, I'd letter the car with modest weathering, a bit more than the photos of the in-service RPO-coaches.

My two-cents worth.

Jim

[Jeff Young]

Hi Jim,

We don’t really know whether it was C&S property or the Helmers' property.  (The Helmer brothers were local ranchers who operated the quarry.)

M. C. Poor states it was a station, but oral accounts from the Silica Landmark application state it was a bunkhouse.  I’d say it’s 90% likely it was the latter.  Then again, C&S records indicate “dismantled / body sold” for the other two coach/mail cars, but just “retired / dismantled” for this one, so who knows.

Jeff.

[Keith Hayes]

My money is on the railroad recovering the iron it wanted and shipping the car body on a flat FOB Silica. Looks like you need to letter the car and weather it with a fiberglass brush and weathering powder.