# EBT Water/Clay Boxcar #162



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

The East Broad Top Railroad was known for its resourcefulness. Beyond "appropriating" the design of various carbuilders' products and turning out similar/identical cars by the hundreds in their own shops, they were known to adapt cars for other purposes. Case in point, the EBT's box cars that were used to haul water, and later clay. Initially, these were wood cars whose interiors were caulked, doors sealed, with hatches installed on the roof and drain plugs on the floor. They were used initially to haul water up to the coal mines in dry spells, so the boilers at the mines had ample water for steam to run the mine equipment. In the 20s, when the railroad began hauling clay for the fire brick plants in Mt. Union, the cars were used for that since the clay could be dumped into the cars through the same roof hatches. 

As I've demonstrated in other projects, I'm not one to turn down a good bargain if I think I can make use of it. Such was the case this past summer when Caboose Hobbies was blowing out AMS refrigerator cars at a ridiculously low price. Truth be told, I had purchased it to use as a basis for a completely different project, but that got scuttled by the fact that the roof on the AMS car is all but permanently attached. So, I then had this refrigerator car for a railroad that never had refrigerator cars. (Though they did for a time have an ice house.) But, what's the most prominent feature of a D&RGW refrigerator car? The roof hatches, of course. Well, the EBT water/clay cars had roof hatches, right? Okay, so the only existing examples are the steel cars with two hatches, one on each end cut into the middle of the roof, with the hatches blended into the roofwalk. Who really knows _what_ configuration the wood box cars used? Photos of the wood box cars--particularly the so-called "2nd generation" box cars are somewhat rare. The EBT was definitely good at copying others' designs, so who's _really_ to say they didn't have a car with 4 hatches, a la the D&RGW? Okay, historically that's probably a bit of a stretch, but what the heck else was I going to do with this car? 












So, with a little bit of work, the refrigerator got defrosted. The refrigerator doors came off in favor of a more traditional box car door. The grab iron ladders on the end got replaced by a more typical EBT-style wood-sided ladder. The brake staff got lowered, with a brake platform added to the end. The typical D&RGW coupler pocket got cut off, in favor of a simple block of wood. I also added an external truss-rod brace to the end. I took off much of the detail of the hardware on the roof hatches, so they ended up looking a lot simpler. I also replaced the long archbar trucks with Vulcan trucks from one of my EBT steel hoppers. 

So, after a bit of paint and weathering:





























I first sprayed the car with Wal-Mart's brown primer, but (a) it's very thin paint and takes lots of coats, and (b) the can was about half full when I started, so I ran out before the entire model was painted. That was enough to give me a good base, though, and I followed up with acrylics for the final coat. 











The lettering is from the Friends of the EBT Company Store. They sell dry transfer lettering for all three eras of EBT freight equipment. It's sold as hopper car lettering, but it's the same style for all the cars. You can see the Vulcan trucks in this photo, too. It gives the car a more modern look, which is what I was after since I wanted this car to look like it was earning its keep hauling loads of clay back and forth. 










Weathering was done with my usual technique of washes, followed by drybrushing in the appropriate places to simulate wear, then followed up by powders. The clay was shoveled out the side doors, hence the lighter weathering underneath the doors. 











The roof was weathered heavily with a wash of black to simulate lots of soot and cinders. I also dappled the roof panels and edges with silver paint to simulate worn, flaking paint. The roofwalks were painted a medium beige, then washed with black and brown acrylics to bring out the molded-in grain. 










Tan powders around the hatches show where the clay would be loaded. I also used them to simulate the mud streaks on the end of the car from dust and mud kicked up from the wheels of the adjacent cars. 











All in all, not bad for a "plan B" conversion. The car's actually pretty close in overall size and details to the EBT's 2nd-generation cars, though it sits around 6" lower at the roofline than the prototype. But beyond that--and the extra two roof hatches--it ain't too far off from what the EBT actually ran. 

Later,

K


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## Terl (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice bash. Excellant painting and weathering as usual. 

Terl


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Nice work and I love the relationship to history--entirely plausible and well argued. The car looks great! 

How liquid was the clay?


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## alecescolme (Dec 20, 2010)

Excellent work! 






Those paint washes really bring out the detail in the model, especially on the wood 






Will you be making any more ‘modern’ cars? – Will look great with your new TRR #2. 






Alec. 






My blog- http://alec-railroad.blogspot.com/ - D&RGW in Lancashire, England


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Neat trick!


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Nice job!


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Will you be making any more â€˜modernâ€™ cars? â€" Will look great with your new TRR #2. 
Yes, I will. I'm currently relettering a Bachmann 2-bay hopper to accurately portray one of the four "rock" hoppers the B'mann model is based upon, and I'll of course have a few of Accucraft's 3-bay hoppers eventually. I've also got plans to build a steel box car and flat car eventually. All in good time... 

Later, 

K


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## chuckger (Jan 2, 2008)

Neat looking car K, your super weathering jobreally shows off the detailes.

Chuckger


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I've been thinking about this--why would you put the door on the outside of a car modified to carry water? Having it on the inside would make a lot more sense, as the preessure of the water would help form the seal. But why have a door at all? Or why not have a small access door up high?


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Beautiful piece of work!!! 
You wrote you use also powders for the (superb looking!) weathering. Did you fixate these afterwards in some way (for instance matt spray) to protect it? I can imagine the powders wear of easily if you use the car, specially outdoor use... 

Paul


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

The "water cars" were only really water cars when needed, which was only in dry times when the creek couldn't supply sufficient water for the boilers. That wasn't an annual thing, so there was no need for dedicated water cars. Converting the box cars for use one or two months every few years was evidently sufficient enough of a solution, leaving them free to carry regular freight the rest of the time. There are reports of these water trains operating as early as the 1900s, so evidently box cars of all "eras" on the EBT were converted at some point. 

Not much is really known about what--specifically--was done to the cars in order to adapt them to water use beyond the hatches on the roof and drains in the floor. The wood cars had the advantage of being wood, so it would swell to help hold the water in. They were not filled all the way to the top, only about 1/3 full. There was also some kind of internal baffling installed to keep the water from sloshing around too much, but how that was constructed seems lost to history. 

@Paul, no I don't use any kind of fixative on the powders. Two reasons. First, the powders I use (Bragdon's) have a binder blended in that help keep the powders in place even with moderate handling. (There are other weathering powders with similar binders, though I forget their brand names.) Second, when you overspray the powders with any kind of fixative, the powders--as well as the surface you're applying them to--take on the finish of the fixative. You lose the contrast between matte and glossy, satin, or whatever. I like to watch how the two finishes play against each other when running outside in the sunlight. It gives the model a sense of realism you can't get with a single finish. 

The Bragdon's powders will wash off with sufficient water, so if you're going to use them on a building outdoors, then I'd definitely seal them. But for locos and rolling stock, they seem to be rather durable. And if I need to apply more over time, no biggie. A few seconds with a brush for touch-up and you're all set. 

Later, 

K


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## Matt Vogt (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for sharing, Kevin. Excellent work, as we have come to expect from you. 

Matt


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## Bill Martinsen (Mar 4, 2008)

Beautiful car, Kevin. I love the changes you made to the hatches and the painting/weathering job. VERY nice work.

Bill Martinsen


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## MikeK (Jan 3, 2008)

Kevin, 

Very nice job on the conversion from a reefer (as is the norm for your projects)! Timely, too, as I just received my copy of the latest "Timber Transfer" with the story on the clay mine operation that refers to the use of this type of car.


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## up9018 (Jan 4, 2008)

Very nice car Kevin, I really like your weathering techniques. 

Chris


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Your usual fine work, Kevin. BTW, I have been pestering Bachmann to make the 1:20 trucks available as a separate item, especially the Vulcans. No success so far. 

Larry


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## Old Iron (Jan 2, 2008)

Kevin, Very nice job.

Larry, I have two pair of Bachmann 1:20.3 vulcan trucks (from the 2 bay Spectrum hoppers) with Sierria Valley wheels. If you are interested send me a message. Geoff


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Posted By East Broad Top on 04 Jan 2011 10:04 AM 
...
@Paul, no I don't use any kind of fixative on the powders. Two reasons. First, the powders I use (Bragdon's) have a binder blended in that help keep the powders in place even with moderate handling. (There are other weathering powders with similar binders, though I forget their brand names.) Second, when you overspray the powders with any kind of fixative, the powders--as well as the surface you're applying them to--take on the finish of the fixative. You lose the contrast between matte and glossy, satin, or whatever. I like to watch how the two finishes play against each other when running outside in the sunlight. It gives the model a sense of realism you can't get with a single finish. 

The Bragdon's powders will wash off with sufficient water, so if you're going to use them on a building outdoors, then I'd definitely seal them. But for locos and rolling stock, they seem to be rather durable. And if I need to apply more over time, no biggie. A few seconds with a brush for touch-up and you're all set. 

Later, 

K 
Thanks! In 1:35 scale military modeling I was used to use pastel chalk powders. They work fine on static models but are terrible to handle, not to think using outdoors. I'll look out for those Bragdon's Powders you use and give them a try. And your right; you can always touch up again.

Paul


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Paul, you can buy the Bragdon powders direct on line, as well as at the upcoming East Springfield train show. I first bought a sampler set at the show,and now buy direct.

My equipment operates outdoors behind live steam locos, and everthing has held up very well without any overspray.


Larry


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

BTW, I have been pestering Bachmann to make the 1:20 trucks available as a separate item, especially the Vulcans. 
I'd love to see that as well. I want to do one of the ex-Hancock & Calumet hoppers which use the same trucks. Yeah, I could easily buy another 2-bay hopper and steal the trucks off of that, but if I could buy just the trucks, that'd be even better. (More to the point, I need to buy the *%[email protected]!! journal lids!!!) I need to eventually hit Accucraft up for some of theirs as well for my steel box car project. 

Geoff, have you gotten your weathering skills on the Accucraft hoppers yet? I'm just finishing up weathering on one of Bachmann's 2-bays that I just relettered. Gotta do the inside yet, then find some light-colored rock that looks like ganister. (Anyone near Stanton, PA who can send me some?) 

Later, 

K


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

K, do you need a few or want a lot of the journal lids? I think I have a few spares. 

Larry


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Geoff, I sent you a PM re: the trucks. 

Larry


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## Old Iron (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By East Broad Top on 06 Jan 2011 10:57 AM 
BTW, I have been pestering Bachmann to make the 1:20 trucks available as a separate item, especially the Vulcans. 
I'd love to see that as well. I want to do one of the ex-Hancock & Calumet hoppers which use the same trucks. Yeah, I could easily buy another 2-bay hopper and steal the trucks off of that, but if I could buy just the trucks, that'd be even better. (More to the point, I need to buy the *%[email protected]!! journal lids!!!) I need to eventually hit Accucraft up for some of theirs as well for my steel box car project. 

Geoff, have you gotten your weathering skills on the Accucraft hoppers yet? I'm just finishing up weathering on one of Bachmann's 2-bays that I just relettered. Gotta do the inside yet, then find some light-colored rock that looks like ganister. (Anyone near Stanton, PA who can send me some?) 

Later, 

K K,

I've been using Yoder trucks for my custom building. They are awesome... very detailed with correct EBT style wide wheel treads and nicely scaled flanges.

Yes on the Accucraft hoppers. Got four of them. Replaced the wheels, lowered them by removing most of the center plate on the truck bolster, mounted 1/32 scale Accucraft couplers, raised the coupler mounting, built new center sill ends, fabricated new cut levers. Oh, I turned 3 of them into 30 ton two bay hoppers and then re-lettered them.

I've been using crushed granite chicken grit for the ganister. With all the white powder from crushing it looks just like the real thing, plus the white dust adds to the weathering effect.

Geoff


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

My goodness, Kevin. It's all dirty. You make a beautiful, finely detailed car then someone comes along and just makes it all dirty...... 

Super job. K. It looks wonderful.


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

K, they are on their way. 

Larry


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Kevin, I'm no longer amazed by your work. You just do it right. And the results are fantastic. Furthermore, you are a model railroader, one who researches his topic, chooses an era, theme and place, and replicates the same. One question though: when do you find time to do all of this? With my travels. part-time job, photography and numerous honey-dos, the day is not long enough.


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