LHRR Equipment (formerly "The Boxcar Project")

BakerJohn

BakerJohn

Baker, Modeler, future husband
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UPDATE 3/2025: This thread will now include all of the stock projects for the Leeds Hill Railroad starting with post #10.

Does anyone recall the boxcars I'd purchased off evilBay a few months ago? Allow me to refresh your memory...
There's the brown Boston & Maine that came with crappy wire grabrails, a melted brake line, bad trucks & couplings, and needed some paint touch ups.
There's the orange Santa Fe Refer with flimsy rubbery grabrails, a broken brake wheel, a repainted catwalk, and the same couplings.
Finally there's a blue Virginian which all around is a good boxcar, but it doesn't fit my theme.

The plan was to replace all boxcars' couplings & trucks, replace grab rails on the B&M and SF along with the brakelines, paint where needed, and reletter the Virginian.

Today, after a few months of doing nothing, I finally started the process.

The B&M is done! Well, almost. The step that goes on one end of the car is missing still. I'd ordered it along with everything else and they sent me the wrong piece.
Before & After Pics...
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Ultimately, with this car, I replaced all the grab rails along with the brake rod and wheel. I touched up the paint on the catwalk as well as each step at the corners of the boxcar and decided to paint the door handles on either side of the boxcar as well. The trucks are from my USAT boxcar. They work for now but I'll need to get a few sets of good trucks for the other two cars. All this car needs is the step that goes next to the brake line on the end of the car.


All I really did to the SF boxcar so far is take it apart and paint it. I also painted the catwalk black instead of the grey it came as. It looks much better!
camerafv5_0578.JPG

Ultimately this refer will become a B&M Milk transport. Technically it's the wrong style for the reference photo I am using, but I'm okay with that.


I haven't really done anything to the Virginian yet. I'm trying to scrap the lettering off, but it's not going very well. I may just paint over the whole thing with a similar blue, though I was really hoping I wouldn't have to repaint that one...
 
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BakerJohn said:
Thanks, but now the black paint is scratching off. I may need to start again...
Click to expand...
Having repainted quite a few varying types of G Scale Wagons/Coaches and Locomotives a Spray with a Rattle Can using an Undercoat Spray first cannot be beaten. I would use a Grey for a Black Start or most colours, but Red Oxide for any reddish based colours. A white undercoat is also usedul for anybother really light colours such as creme.
 
As much as my limited experience with painting B'mann rolling stock may be...
I have painted numerous Bachmann freight car kits over the years, and haven't had any problems such as the ones described here recently.
My good fortune may be due to the rather inexpensive "Rattle can" paint I have used. I simply go to Home Depot, Lowes, or even Walmart, and purchase the paint there. All of the freight cars I have painted were painted in with one of the following; Iron Oxide red/brown primer, a green primer, or a grey primer. This gave me a flat finish, which resembles paint that is slightly weathered.
My only preparation before painting, is to submerse the cars in warm soapy water, using dish-washing liquid soap; brushing lightly, then rinsing well in warm water. I let the cars dry well for a few days, before painting. I do NOT prime with any other paint, I just use the paint I want to finish with.
I know that Decals are better applied to shiny surfaces, but I gave up on them years ago, and just use a Brother Label Maker, which is fine for my needs. The label maker can produce a fine product that will fit well in the letterboards of the B'mann passenger cars. I do not model any railway other than my own, and we are a rather "Cheap" bunch of blighters, and only require a number and reporting marks on our equipment !!
BTW...when working on the Bachmann equipment; it is mostly cast from Styrene, and is easily "Welded" using lacquer thinner or MEC...no need for that clear liquid in miniature bottles at $5 a crack. I gave up on that stuff called "Uhoo" or whatever...
I just did major repairs on a POLA Station...it proved to be made of Styrene...and the lacquer thinner worked great on it too.
Fred Mills
 
After a long while I am finally able to return to my boxcars!
I have decided to make the ex-Virginian boxcar a simple process and just cover the existing lettering with new. So, I spent last night and this morning creating my decals and then test-fit them on the car. Thoughts?
Once I order the decals the lettering will be white on the blue background. This car will also be weathered eventually; so it will look old and re-purposed.
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I have finished my Pan Am boxcar as of this morning. I had some issue with the decals getting lost in the mail. But, after a wonderful interaction with Del at G Scale Graphics, he sent me a new sheet and I have been able to finish this car. It's not perfect; but for my first time creating and applying decals, I am happy.
This car also got a new brakeline (see the nice brass rod on the left!), a quick undercarriage paint-job, and the trucks were touched up. I may also repaint the grab rails black. They have blue paint on them in part.

EDIT: Oh! And I need new Kadees on this car. The springs are failing on these guys...

DSC_0300.JPG
 
Reviving an old thread.
After all this time, I still haven't finished that ex-Santa Fe refer. I'm working on stripping paint from it still (almost done!). Then it'll get primed, painted, and detailed out.

In the meantime... shortly after I'd bought the lot of 3 boxcars off eBay, I also bought another single boxcar. This one was a wood-sided Penn car. I've been working to get it repainted and detailed. The idea is that it is a privately-owned boxcar for my current bakery. So, decals have been printed and the first coat of paint has been sprayed. More to do today...

Pictures:
1) What the car looked like when it arrived to me in 2019.
2) Scrapping off the decals with an Xacto (in direction of wood grain)
3) after the first coat of paint
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So, it is at this point that I am annoyed by my number of different threads for different rolling stock projects. Going forward, this thread is now my main for all stock projects for the Leeds Hill Railroad.
This merges the following threads into this one:
Going forward, these threads will continue here along with anything else I may begin.
For my own sanity, here's a list of all my current projects.
  • Toby still needs some detailing.
  • Henrietta's main body needs sanding and priming next. I've purchased a 3D printer so the balcony railings will be easy to produce once I get that set up.
  • I've decided to re-mount my custom-built snowplow and add wings.
  • GZAX #556 is almost done. Decals are on, details need to be re-attached. (This is the car seen in post #9 above.)
  • NHSX #646 has been stripped of paint & it awaits a warmed day for priming and painting, then decals. (This will be a maple syrup tanker.)
  • MPFX #1904 (former Santa Fe refer) is almost stripped of its paint. Decals are printed. Warmer weather cannot come fast enough.
 
As it is my weekend, I am busy doing RR things...

I have wanted to give Toby a couple more details for a while now. One is more cab details, such as a throttle. The other is a complete cow catcher on the front of the engine. I'd had an idea for a way to build a set of throttles that I never did, so instead I made these. They are based on this image from Toby and the Stout Gentleman from The Railway Series. All they need is paint and they are ready to be installed!

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I also cut apart Toby's front cow catcher and have started fitting styrene pieces to match the rest of the model.
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Fun fact: I actually have Thomas the Tank Engine The Complete Collection (1996). I haven't pulled it out in years...
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I also have spent time taping up my 25 tonner for painting & also updating my website to make it easier to navigate. Any feedback would be appreciated!
 
Today, I used rattle cans on lots of stuff...

... painted & installed throttles for Toby (sorry for the crappy cab photo...). I also replaced the factory bell line with a real string & a hook in each cab for it to catch on. The way I installed this allows me to remove it still, if I need to.
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... primed the entire 25 tonner & went to the store to buy paint for the final coat.
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... primed/painted many bits for Henrietta including the body, roof, chassis, and end walkways. I laid everything back together just to take this photo. It looks pretty good except for the top half of the body. The finish on the car wasn't sanded away enough, so the primer didn't stick well.
Does anyone think if I give it a couple more layers it'll be OK, or should I sand it down and try again?
20250304-174247_orig.jpg
20250304-174344_orig.jpg


... painted a tanker that I stripped down two weeks ago. I bought this in 2019, I think. It's sat in storage ever since.
20250304-123841_orig.jpg


... primed the body of my refer box car. The doors are proving to be a challenge. The paint refused to come off, but now it is showing through.
20250304_155518.jpg

... primed my ex-CSX for Old Sac.
20250304_155522.jpg

I also fabricated some more details for Toby: 3 link couplings & new hooks for his lamps. The lamp housings got a coat of paint, too. Not sure if they need more than that.
 
BakerJohn said:
Today, I used rattle cans on lots of stuff...

... painted & installed throttles for Toby (sorry for the crappy cab photo...). I also replaced the factory bell line with a real string & a hook in each cab for it to catch on. The way I installed this allows me to remove it still, if I need to.
20250304-104058_orig.jpg
20250304-111638.jpg
20250304-111424.jpg


... primed the entire 25 tonner & went to the store to buy paint for the final coat.
20250304-124113_orig.jpg


... primed/painted many bits for Henrietta including the body, roof, chassis, and end walkways. I laid everything back together just to take this photo. It looks pretty good except for the top half of the body. The finish on the car wasn't sanded away enough, so the primer didn't stick well.
Does anyone think if I give it a couple more layers it'll be OK, or should I sand it down and try again?
20250304-174247_orig.jpg
20250304-174344_orig.jpg


... painted a tanker that I stripped down two weeks ago. I bought this in 2019, I think. It's sat in storage ever since.
20250304-123841_orig.jpg


... primed the body of my refer box car. The doors are proving to be a challenge. The paint refused to come off, but now it is showing through.
View attachment 339610

... primed my ex-CSX for Old Sac.
View attachment 339611

I also fabricated some more details for Toby: 3 link couplings & new hooks for his lamps. The lamp housings got a coat of paint, too. Not sure if they need more than that.
Click to expand...
I think I would be tempted to lightly sand the area where the primer has not correctly adhered. Not fully down to base level. Just. A point on spraying, are you giving plenty of rattles to get things well mixed? Well worthwhile a few extra rattles between presses of the spray tip. Not meaning to sound like you do not know as all of your other sprays look good so just thinking. Also I tend to prefer to spray out side in the warm sun that I find helps with the jib.
 
dunnyrail said:
I think I would be tempted to lightly sand the area where the primer has not correctly adhered. Not fully down to base level. Just. A point on spraying, are you giving plenty of rattles to get things well mixed? Well worthwhile a few extra rattles between presses of the spray tip. Not meaning to sound like you do not know as all of your other sprays look good so just thinking. Also I tend to prefer to spray out side in the warm sun that I find helps with the jib.
Click to expand...
Your point is an important one, Jon. I do shake as I go, and honestly I may not shake quite as much as I should before I start. I have a couple of different product lines of spray paint that I am working with (color, availability, you know). I'm finding that the brand/product line of the white primer I'm using - which I also bought in cherry red yesterday and used for Henrietta's chassis - is lesser quality than the others and seems to require more rattling before spraying. Or maybe even warmer cans. I am keeping everything inside and prepping before I actually spray outside, then returning everything inside between sprays. So, I'm trying to keep things warm, but that could be part of the issue.

I will likely do as you suggest and sand lightly. Seems I probably need to clean up some of the infill, too.
 
Doing a bit or research your ‘throttles’ for Toby are in fact handbrakes one each end, normally the would be an L shape with the bottom of the L pointing upwards on a similar upright to that you have made. In some instances a wheel could be used, but in the J70 space was tight thus the tiny handle.

There was a wheel mounted on each end of the boiler, this would be for ‘notching up’ a way to conserve steam the regulator would be a longish handle with a link to the other end along the boiler so the loco could be driven from each end, pretty standard practice for steam trams.

Using the Toby pics can be a bit misleading, may I suggest you search for pictures on google (other search engines are available) for ‘pictures of LNER J70 locomotives” substituting the J70 for Y6 will find the 4 wheeled version as well though Toby is a J70 being a 6 wheel jobby with outside cylinders unlike the Y6 that is a 4 wheeler with cylinders inside the frames. Some pictures show one with the top off, quite handy for difficult to see detail. Pictures below of an 00 J70 that was recently in for some fixing with the top off, very handy for detail.

Nice to see the bachman one being upgraded.
IMG_5666.jpegIMG_5667.jpegIMG_5668.jpegIMG_5669.jpeg
 
Wow Jon. Thanks for all the info. I appreciate your help figuring out how this all works. I did find a picure of the inside of a J70 when I started this project. My boiler is modeled (best I could) from that photo. I never added the wheels, but I do have the link between the two ends of the boiler for connecting the wheels together. I should add that.
Great to know that what I made is a brake. And I actually did find a phototype photo where you can see this brake in the cab. Ill have to post it later, as I am at work.
 
A small exciting update for this morning: On Tuesday night, my new 3D printer came in (Bambu A1 Mini) and last night I printed a few of my small designs.
The only relevant one I printed (and tweeked) was replacement Bachmann grab rails both 1" and 3/4". Here's the first test of the 1". I will end up printing a whole car's worth and then painting them black.

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