Re: Busy C&S HOn3 passenger car shops
Posted by drgwcs on Mar 20, 2025; 10:07pm
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Busy-C-S-HOn3-passenger-car-shops-tp20594p20595.html
Tyco Narrow Gauge.... WAIT WHAT???????
(or a pseudo Bowers Dure C&S coach in HOn3)
I have always like the looks of the little Bowers, Dure and Co. coaches that found a home on the South Park/ DL&G and the C&S. In their original configuration they were classy, easy to distinguish cars. In their rebuilt configuration they were stocky little cars with character.
A while back while strolling through a swap meet I spotted a Tyco coach. Normally I would not give Tyco a second look but I had been looking through the pictorial a couple of days before and a light bulb went on. Being a Santa Fe car it was even appropriate as these cars were made for Santa Fe in their short lived takeover of the Rio Grande during the Royal Gorge War and then leased and purchased by the DSP&P. To be sure there are some differences- they are slightly longer and the window count is off plus the windows are square. The overall width is pretty good. The roof is a smidge wider but extremely close to a Labelle. The body is a bit wider but fits flush with the roof so does not stand out. It certainly is far narrower than a Roundhouse Overton.
I was a little surprised my crazy idea worked. Turns out it was a fairly easy conversion. After snapping off the trucks I used a xuron cutter to snip off the bottom third steps then cleaned up with sandpaper. This goes a long way
I cut off the bolsters off a little above the triangular gusset. I had to file a little more and super glue in a dowel rod that I drilled out for Roundhouse trucks. I mounted Kadee scale head couplers on the bottom of the platforms. You may need to make a few adjustments on height.- I am still a little off and need to grind down the bolsters a smidge. I did shorten the queenposts a bit.
The body did require a few modifications to get it closer. The right side windows were filled in on both sides with one strip of styrene added as a rib over top. Another strip was added under the bottom rail to better model the belt rail. Now what to do on the windows? I tried a few ideas including leaving them square. I then hit on an idea. The windows are exactly the width of a paper punch so I took a strip of thin styrene (same as below the rail) and punched halfway after marking out the windows. While this raises the arch rather than being recessed it does capture the look. I did scribe in lines over the little squares over the truck as well as dragging a razor saw over the bottom boards to give them a slight amount of texture. The roof has a tin texture but not nearly with as many sheets by far as the prototype but I left it alone.
The car got a painting with Vallejo dark green which is now my go to for C&S passenger cars. I debated a bit on the roof color but went ahead with black. I suspect it was green when first rebuilt but the few color photos and movie film that we have of C&S cars show black roofs at the end of operations at least on some. (and I wanted this to match my others) These didn't make it that far we think. These cars were scrapped either in 1928 or 1939 depending on the source. I was going to letter all of the passenger cars at once I'm working on. I had waited a little while for the weather to turn before I glosscoat them for decaling and then dullcoat them.
The coach got an interior using Walthers seats. You can't see much of it so I used some lesser quality figures from my stash.
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Busy-C-S-HOn3-passenger-car-shops-tp20594p20595.html
Tyco Narrow Gauge.... WAIT WHAT???????
(or a pseudo Bowers Dure C&S coach in HOn3)
I have always like the looks of the little Bowers, Dure and Co. coaches that found a home on the South Park/ DL&G and the C&S. In their original configuration they were classy, easy to distinguish cars. In their rebuilt configuration they were stocky little cars with character.
A while back while strolling through a swap meet I spotted a Tyco coach. Normally I would not give Tyco a second look but I had been looking through the pictorial a couple of days before and a light bulb went on. Being a Santa Fe car it was even appropriate as these cars were made for Santa Fe in their short lived takeover of the Rio Grande during the Royal Gorge War and then leased and purchased by the DSP&P. To be sure there are some differences- they are slightly longer and the window count is off plus the windows are square. The overall width is pretty good. The roof is a smidge wider but extremely close to a Labelle. The body is a bit wider but fits flush with the roof so does not stand out. It certainly is far narrower than a Roundhouse Overton.
I was a little surprised my crazy idea worked. Turns out it was a fairly easy conversion. After snapping off the trucks I used a xuron cutter to snip off the bottom third steps then cleaned up with sandpaper. This goes a long way
I cut off the bolsters off a little above the triangular gusset. I had to file a little more and super glue in a dowel rod that I drilled out for Roundhouse trucks. I mounted Kadee scale head couplers on the bottom of the platforms. You may need to make a few adjustments on height.- I am still a little off and need to grind down the bolsters a smidge. I did shorten the queenposts a bit.
The body did require a few modifications to get it closer. The right side windows were filled in on both sides with one strip of styrene added as a rib over top. Another strip was added under the bottom rail to better model the belt rail. Now what to do on the windows? I tried a few ideas including leaving them square. I then hit on an idea. The windows are exactly the width of a paper punch so I took a strip of thin styrene (same as below the rail) and punched halfway after marking out the windows. While this raises the arch rather than being recessed it does capture the look. I did scribe in lines over the little squares over the truck as well as dragging a razor saw over the bottom boards to give them a slight amount of texture. The roof has a tin texture but not nearly with as many sheets by far as the prototype but I left it alone.
The car got a painting with Vallejo dark green which is now my go to for C&S passenger cars. I debated a bit on the roof color but went ahead with black. I suspect it was green when first rebuilt but the few color photos and movie film that we have of C&S cars show black roofs at the end of operations at least on some. (and I wanted this to match my others) These didn't make it that far we think. These cars were scrapped either in 1928 or 1939 depending on the source. I was going to letter all of the passenger cars at once I'm working on. I had waited a little while for the weather to turn before I glosscoat them for decaling and then dullcoat them.
The coach got an interior using Walthers seats. You can't see much of it so I used some lesser quality figures from my stash.
Jim Curran
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