# HO standard gauge short caboose



## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

After a year and a half we finally had a train show here in Colorado. Among my bag of over-spending I picked up an Ambroid wooden short caboose kit, and while going over the assembly instructions it occurred to me -- why build only one when I could build several? There was also the nagging issue that I usually focus on D&RGW cars and this one had several details that were completely wrong. I generally don't built things that are perfect replicas, focusing on 'good enough', but I did want the obvious details to be more realistic.

I began picking up styrene from the local hobby shop and ordering window and door kits from Tichy to see what would work here. I've always wanted to do a caboose with a removable roof so I could detail the inside, and I discovered that each caboose was assigned to an engineer for life, so they got to personalize their own car. This means that each one will have different arrangements and pretty much anything goes if you're not reproducing a specific car.

So to get started I built the floor from a number of sheets and strips of styrene, followed by laying out the four walls. This is where I ran into my first problem. I realized that the kit uses cast metal steps on each end, which look nothing like the D&RGW steps. I had to scrap the first floor completely, but the new design meant I could incorporate a lot more detail on the bottom of the car. Here's the pieces I ended up with...










The sheet of wood slats used for the floor is only 0.020" thick, but the 4x8 strips provided some strength and the walls will make the floor solid. The doors can't be glued in until later because they will sit on top of another bit of wood to cover the platforms. The pencil marks on top of the side walls are my doodles to figure out how wide I want to make the copula.

The next step was gluing the walls in place. The side walls sit flush with the bottom of the frame while the ends will sit on top of the floor.









For the platforms, I added more of the wood panel material over the top of the floor (this is what the door has to sit on top of), plus an extra bit on the sides. I finished with a short piece of .040 square stock where the end walls left a small gap. I need to fill the seam between the bottom of the end wall and the top of the square filling so it looks like a single long board going from roof to frame.









Last night I finished up rounding over the top of the end walls to create the roof line (the Ambroid kit has a wood piece that I used as a template for the curve), then started cutting out the copula sections and finalizing the layout of the windows in those four pieces. If I have time, I'm hoping to get the roof built up tonight, then I can glue the doors in place and start working on the bolsters, coupler pockets, and the ends of the car (bumpers?)/

One last detail not shown in the pictures so far... The thickness of the wood piece added to the platform allowed me to cut a piece of 1/32" lead sheet to lay down on the floor, then I laid down another piece of the .020" wood used for the bottom of the floor. This gives a decent amount of initial weight to the caboose down low, and I'll finish adding more weight by stuffing lead shot under the beds. I'm not sure yet is I will add use wood paneling on the inside of the walls, I've seen interior pictures with and without, so it's a toss-up.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Some more progress today, plus one repair. I've been thinking the center to beams of the under-frame were too close together, and it looked even worse when I set a coupler pocket on it. So I decided to pry those two pieces loose and glue some down just a little further apart. That came out looking a lot better. I guess that's what I get for trying to reference the blueprints from the original narrow gauge car! 

The biggest job today was the copula. I had the rough shapes cut out last night, so I finished cleaning them up and cut out the windows. Whew that was tedious. Then I cut four ribs to shape the inside of the roof. It's getting there, but I think I need to add more support to stiffen the roof a little more.









It appears I also need to take down the rounded walls over the doors a little more, as they are leaving a small gap under the edge of the roof.









I checked over at the hobby store but they didn't have any of the .020" thick wood siding in stock, which is what I wanted for the interior walls. However they had it on order and said it should be in on Monday. Meanwhile I need to figure out the right type of brakes for this car. I got some K-line kits from Tichy but that doesn't look anything like the narrow gauges cars I've been looking at. Need to do more research on that tonight.

I looked for some model spray paint but they didn't have anything in a caboose red. I also couldn't find anything in the pale green that seems to be the standard interior color. I may have to break out the air brush for this. I still have a ways to go before I'm ready to paint anyway.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

So I ran into a problem this week. I realized I had made the platform on each end only about 66% of the width it needs to be. Erg! Turns out the cement holds pretty well too. Once I get the old ones off I'll use the new piece to anchor the extensions to the frame.

I did get the sheet of 0.020" wood strip styrene to cover the inner walls, though, so they'll look nice when I build the interior.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Just a quick update on the (minimal) progress I've made this week. The end decks have been lengthened a bit and look much more in proportion now. Unfortunately that meant the roof isn't long enough now so I pulled the copula off and am planning the next roof piece.

The interior walls of the main area have been lined with wood paneling. I still need to do the same with the copula before attaching it to the new roof. I'm doing some final clean-up on the doors but then I might be ready to glue them in place. And I have some .010 x .020 styrene to use for adding interior trim around the windows and doors.

I've heard of a trick of using hot water to shape styrene, and I think I'm going to try that for the new roof. What I want to do is lay out a full set of ribs for the roof, use the heat to bend the entire assembly, then trim the ends of the ribs so they fit vertically inside the main body shell when the roof is put in place. Hopefully by using heat, the ribs will actually hold their rounded shape and keep the whole roof nicely formed. The big problem will be finding some kind of tube with the right diameter that I can lay the styrene in while it cools down.

Windows are going to be another issue. I can't glue the 'glass' in place until after I've painted, and the addition of the internal walls has blocked the normal way of adding windows. However the inner walls have created a pocket space behind the frames, so I think I can trim the glass to be the same as the vertical height of the inside of the frames, give the glass a little bend, and slip it into that pocket one side at a time. Hopefully it will work, I should probably cut a piece of glass to test this idea before I start painting.

If all goes well I hope to have the basic framework and roof completed this week, then maybe I can get some bolsters and wheel in place to see how it all sits. Will try to get some pics of the current progress posted tonight.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

So a quick update with pics... With the addition of the board along the top edge, the walls have gotten pretty thick. In scale they are just over 5" so maybe that's about right? Note sure if you can see it in this pic but the exterior walls are vertical planks and the interior walls are horizontal. Adding the small extra length to the ends make them about 30" wide now (target was 28", so that's pretty close). I also forgot to mention gluing the inner walls in place also permanently pins the sheet of lead in there as well.










I need to get the end sills added as well. I don't have an exact measurement, but I think something like an 8x16 plank would be appropriate.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

I made a little more progress yesterday and this morning. The interior framing around the windows and doors is completed. Whew those are some tiny strips to work with! The windows have 0.010x0.020 strips. I had to use some of the same around the doors to build up the inside of the frame so they came out to the same height as the interior boards, then added strips of 0.010x0.030 for the actual frames.









So that finishes up the bare interior. While at the hobby shop yesterday I also found an acrylic that I think is a good match for the interior color. I've also been a bit delayed on working out how to do the interior because while I have found blueprints showing various layouts, and lots of pictures up into the copula, I wasn't really finding anything that showed a good image of how the closets, seating, etc. were actually built, and more importantly I couldn't find anything showing the ladders or steps used for the crew to climb up into the copula. Well last night I finally had some success and found TWO photos showing the details I was looking for. I think I'm ready to start building the interior now, but I want to get an initial coat of paint in place so the walls and floor are prepped.

The end sills are now in place, plus as indicated above the doors have also been glued in. Nothing really exciting, but here's an updated shot anyway.









I put together some bolsters last night, thinking I might need to add a little more height to make sure the wheels clear. I need to find the packaging for my caboose trucks, though, as they still have the center piece that the screw should go through, and I don't remember if that affects the final height of the trucks. I also need to get some queen posts and brake system ordered from Tichy, then I think I can finish up the underside.

I've been ignoring the roof completely but maybe I can work on the copula today. Train club meeting tonight so I'm not going to get too much more done today anyway.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Last night I started building some of the interior. I figured it was easiest to start in the center and work towards the ends so I finished up the three beds and two of the closets. That leaves two smaller closets, the sink, a work desk, and the area around the stove to finish on the bottom level, and then the raised platform and seats under the copula. Unfortunately it was really late and I completely forgot to cut doors in the first two closets so I'll have to go back and do that. I also found some scrap vinyl with a leather grain to it which gives an interesting look in this scale, I'm going to use it to make the padding for the beds and seats.




























New parts have been ordered from Tichy. I have some stoves on hand but they're more for small buildings, however I found some styrene kits from Grandt Line last night that perfectly match what I need, I just need to find someone selling it that isn't charging twice the cost in shipping as the kit costs. I also need to find some kind of sink and a proper chimney, and I think I'll be close to having all the detail parts I need.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

I've been doing a little more work here and there. Got the platform in for the copula seats and trying to finish up the copula. Today I received a package with some Grandt Line stove kits so I can have a proper model set up in here. I'll have to get one put together and paint it up, but I like how the pieces look.

Last night I made a new roof with some 4x6 ribs. Some folks at the club suggested putting styrene in near-boiling water and shaping the curve while it was wet. Unfortunately that did not work at all, I couldn't get it to bend in the right direction and ended up with it actually curved along its length. Even worse, it looks like the styrene shrunk and now the end ribs are out of place by nearly 1/16". Grrr! My guess is it has something to do with the differences in mass between the roof itself and the ribs, so I think what I'll try next is just using the heat to curve some of the rib material to about twice as much as the curve I need, then glue it to the roof and see if the two pieces average out to the amount of curve I want. I might also try curving some of the roof material by itself -- I'm thinking working it with a rolling pin on top of a rubber mat and forego the heat.

So... once I can work out the roof, I can finish up the interior trim around where the ribs sit on top of the body, and then I might be ready to paint the interior of the body at least. It's been a busy week, and not much time free this weekend, but we'll see...


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