# Henry Ford's Caboose...scratchbuilt



## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

Hey All,

Well, it's killed me to not post photos as I worked on this but I wanted to wait till I finished before I let you know what I was working on.

I started this project during the Christmas holiday. I say it's totally finished with the exception of replacing the trucks with caboose trucks once USA Trains releases them (later this year). There is very little that isn't scratchbuilt on this.

It's been a fun and challenging project.

It's a model of a Steel Car Co. caboose that was built for DT&I in 1925 which was during the years Henry Ford owned the railroad. They had 40 of these cabooses (the most of one style ever on the railroad). I painted it in the paint scheme used between 1956 and 1971 when these cabooses were retired. The B&O had a similar model caboose.

Many of these cabooses still survive today. Strasburg #12 was one of these former DT&I cabooses. The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI has one on display inside the museum. Flat Rock, MI (home of the DT&I's biggest yard) has one on display in the park. And several private owners have them on thier property, including the real #89 which was restored completely recently.

Enjoy,
Brian Briggs


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow! That's some beautiful workmanship my friend! Terrific job and a beautiful model!!


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes, ditto what Dwight said. Plus, if I don't stop drooling, I WILL short out my keyboard!









David Meashey


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## Bob Baxter (Jan 3, 2008)

Outstanding detail work. That is a masterpiece. Well done!


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Very nice. Your attention to detail is amazing, especially on the ladder. I don't envy you making those windows in the least. I just got finished making some cupola windows myself on my latest project and feel your pain. I had the advantage of castings for the sides.  

http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/forumid/8/postid/87607/view/topic/Default.aspx

Great job, and great paint. Reminds me of the SPSF's "Kodachrome" diesels.  


BTW, what did you use for the step treads? Please tell me you didn't mill that out yourself. 

Later, 

K


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Brian, 

Nice work - thats a colorful caboose! Did you add some weight to the inside when building it?


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

That's a fantastic caboose Brian. Great workmanship and attention to detail. Could you provide a little detail on the construction of your ladders? I think we could all learn from your techniques.

Doc


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Very, very nice. A number of details are rather unique, such as the end platform railings that go thru the channel end sills. 

Larry


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## Matt Vogt (Jan 2, 2008)

Fantastic modeling, Brian! That is one beautiful caboose! 

Matt


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Amazing work. About ten years ago, I did about a day's worth of paint/detail research for an aborted model of this car in HO from a large collection of slides. 

You have capured the car well!


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## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks Guys! 

Sorry I haven't replied sooner as last night I spent it replacing my water heater. I'll reply in depth tonight when I get things cleaned up in the house. 

Brian


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## Ted_Roy (Jan 2, 2008)

Great work and level of finish, very clean styrene manipulation into a first class model. 

Ted.


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Excellent detail! I, too, am amazed at the quality of your work!


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Brian, 

That is an absolutely gorgeous model! Your work does great justice to a seldom modeled railroad. Congratulations!


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## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

Guys, thank you all for your kind words,


By the way.....it's a 1:29 scale model, I should have mentioned that.


Kevin: Breath easy, if you look closely at the 3/4 view of the unpainted model you'll notice the steps are green in color. What I did was to purchase USA Trains 50' boxcar roofwalks (they sent green ones....I didn't specify a color knowing I would paint them anyway). I cut them up and used them for the steps. I was lucky in that they were the right width and depth.
Doc: Once again Burl inspired my solution to the ladders. I had thought of cutting them out of brass or plastic but either of those would have been very difficult to achieve consistant results. I even thought about taking flat brass strips and bending them but thought that might be more than the brass strip could handle. So, my solution was to take a 1/16 diameter brass tube and hammer it flat (Burl makes his stirrup steps this way). It takes a lighter touch rather than hammering the crap out of it which results in a more uneven thickness. Anyway, by using the tube it bent easier than strip stock would because of more material to work with. I bent it around a small Xacto handle mounted in a vise. Of course as it bent it also wanted to bow a bit but that was flattened with a few more taps of the hammer. There's a certain amount of massaging you do as you work brass. Here's a picture of my practice piece, which I ended up using as a drill guide for the ladders on the caboose. I used .028 brass rod for the rungs.











Larry: Thanks for noticing....funny thing about that channel, it's actually an 'I' beam that I cut/filed off one side to make it 'C' channel. Nobody makes 'C' channel that size in styrene but it was available in that hieght in an 'I' beam, so that's how I made that, then drilled holes thru it to allow the handrail posts to go thru.

Garrett: We miss you over at the DT&I Modelers Group....a few of us have noticed your absence.

Cheers,
Brian Briggs


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## Bill Martinsen (Mar 4, 2008)

Brian -

That is a beautiful model. Your styrene work and your painting are very crisp and clean. Absolutely super!


Bill Martinsen


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## Scott (Jan 29, 2008)

Superb workmanship!!! That is one beautiful model. 


Jonesy


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Brian,

I appreciate the description of how you constructed the ladders. Great ideas. I think the others will also value your techniques.

Doc


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## Colin Stewart (Jan 28, 2008)

Brian

Great work, thanks for posting

Colin


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

An awesome job, Brian. It's always a pleasure to see such fine modelling...


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