# The Canadian And Western Maryland Shops Roll Out Their First Caboose



## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

For years the CWN have been moving logging equipment up the Niagara Escarpment in support of the Armstrong Logging Company. As the logging camps prepared to send their first payload off the mountain, the director of the CWN was approached by its engine crews about the safety of monitoring the rear end of these strings of logs on steep grades without a caboose. Management thus agreed to commission the CWN shops in Mountain Lake Park to build one. What follows over the next few days is a builders log for your entertainment.

What you see here is my first scratch built piece of equipment. I based it on plans from Garden Railroads magazine. It is modified not to represent a prototype but rather a collage of ideas I gathered and liked from photos and other modelers.

I’ve had the plans that were published in Garden Railroader magazine sitting around for years waiting for the time to tackle this project so I cannot tell you which issue of the magazine these plans were in. The plans call it 1:20.3. I messed with the scale in certain areas to suit my preferences and material availability. I also did not confirm any dimensions against the scale. Most of the wood I used I purchased as scale lumber. I can cut this small stuff to length but typically struggle to create the small widths required.

I purchased a pair of Bachmann® trucks and small metal wheels for this caboose. The brake beams were made from scrap cedar. The rod used to mount the brake assembly is 1.25 mm dia. welding rod. The size is not critical here. It’s what I had on hand. I glued Ozark Miniatures® casting OM 16-6 Monarch brake shoes and Ozark NBW castings to the cedar beams after weathering. All Ozark castings and the welding rods were dipped in patina to rust them prior to assembly. I glued one beam to one end then dry fit the other beam to measure for the final rod length. I cut the rods glued them to the other beam. I learned this technique on line from a posting at MyLargeScale.com by Wayne Spence. I painted the trucks with washes of browns, rusts and blacks. I then sprinkled rust dust I filed off an old piece of metal I keep outside to promote rusting on the wet trucks. Once dry I sprayed them with Testors® dull cote. 
















Tomorrow I hope to have a description and some photos of the undercarriage build.

Robert


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Clever idea of using that rust-dust. 
Looking forward to your post on the undercarriage!


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Paulus. I will caution you that the first time I did that, others warned me about the various dangers of using real rust. I was rusting up some details I added to an LGB Porter. I was careful to use it sparingly and am happy to report 4 years later there are no issues. The effect is much better than I can depict in any photo. It seems that I am all thumbs and fairly impatient in terms of the photography side of this hobby. 

Robert


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

OK part two

I built the wooden portion of the undercarriage as shown in the plans. I did not follow the plans for the tie rods as I felt the plans were weak here. I bent my tie bars out of brass rod. The queen posts and turnbuckles are Ozark Miniatures details. I choose to only install two sets of tie rods because I wanted to maximize the swing of my trucks. I have some curves less than 5ft in diameter that I wanted to ensure this car would run smoothly on. Once the car is assembled and turned upright they won’t be missed.


















Notice also in the picture above that I modified the truck mounting point by using a slice of a dowel. I am experimenting to see if this will allow the wheel set to rock a little bit and thus track better. I will write an update after it’s been run a while to report on its performance. This may prove to have been unnecessary or even counterproductive. Time will tell. I then stained the undercarriage with a dark stain I had on hand.

Robert


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## alecescolme (Dec 20, 2010)

Looking great, I really like the finish on the wood.

Alec


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Alec. I hope to post some pictures of the shell tomorrow. 
Robert


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Today's brief installment describes the start of the body shell.

I realized after the project was started that some of the interior was going to be visible so I printed out some wood grain images I found on line. There are several sources for such images. Once I found some to my liking I used Powerpoint® to manipulate the image to scale size. I printed a couple of sheets of the planks out and then wallpapered the interior with it. It scales out well and I like the colour but with the roof off it looks toy like. When the roof is in place I am quite satisfied with the effect.












As per the plans, I constructed a shell for the car body with cutouts for the window and door frames out of modelers plywood. Once I had this built, squared and sized, I sheathed it with scale wood siding I purchased at my local hobby shop. It was too long ago for me to cite the manufacturer. This photo shows the sheathed and wallpapered copula. I added the corner re-enforcements from scrap material. By placing them right at the top edge, once the roof is in place they will disappear, even if one glances in the windows. I hope to have some pictures of the main body for you next week. 








Robert


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

The body was built just like the copula. It was also wallpapered with a wood grain interior. The only other interior detail I added was a stove. More to follow later on the stove. Tomorrow, doors. 








The window frames proved to be problematic for me. Ultimately I made a jig to keep things square while the glue set up. I added paper blinds to the upper windows and dirtied them up a little to help hide the fact that the cupola has no interior. As you can see in the later photos my window work is probably the weakest part of this project and definitely relies on the ten foot rule! If I post a close up or two of the finished project you'll see my flaws. Its amazing what paint and a photograph can do to REALLY make imperfections jump out.


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Initially I build the doors as laid out in the plans. See the first door photo. They looked too chunky and oversized, so I redid them to look more like the doors in some of the photos I had on hand. The door knobs are Ozark castings. I’ve long since lost the packaging so I cannot list out the part number here. Just to add some uniqueness to my version, I built a different door for each end of the caboose. I know it is not prototypical but I enjoyed the variation.









Door styles I settled on; 









Note that this door is simply a reproduction of the planned door with thinner planks used. I'll repeat, that may very well take it out of scale, I just preferred the appearance. 









Robert


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## alecescolme (Dec 20, 2010)

Looking forward to seeing the whole caboose completed. 
Great work! 

Alec


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Definitely looking good! I, too, am looking forward to the "completed" shots!


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

The grabs were bent out of some rod I had on hand. I made a couple of wooden jigs to get all four to come out the same. By the time I was done, the jigs were sufficiently dented and mared to render them useless for any future projects. They are riveted in place with pin heads. The railings are Ozark parts with craft chains added. I tried to solder my own railings together. Hats off to those of you can do that well. Mine were a mess so I was very happy to find the Ozark castings on the rack in one of my local hobby shops. I did manage to solder some craft chain to the Ozark rails.

The steps were made from wood, the sides were cut from styrene sheet material I had on hand. They are riveted to the frame with pins. 










Robert


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

For roofing material, I used slightly used black sandpaper. I liked the stain effect the wear spots created. The stain and discolouration isn't nearly as shiny in real as in these pictures. The picture on the left is more indicative of how it looks, even in natural sunlight. So much for my photographic skills. I think now, I need to add some ash colour weathering dust around the stove pipe. The strips were glued down using PL. I’ve seen amazing roofing jobs on this site using masking tape and CA. That method certainly produces a generally more prototypical look. I wanted to try for something that looked believable but different and perhaps a little more rustic, in keeping with my pike’s theme. The tape method allows for overlap that, when painted well leaves a very nice effect. Sand paper is too thick for that so I needed to simulate butt joints, hence the decision to create tar beads from the PL at some of the seams.


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

Very well done Robert. I like the rustic feel about it. I have my mind set on building a caboose for my roster as well so I've been taking notes. Looks great, and thanks for sharing.


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Randy. Last couple of pictures etc to follow soon.


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

And finally a pair of pictures of the finished result.


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## alecescolme (Dec 20, 2010)

Looks great! 
I am pleased to see it finished, it has got lots of good character. 
Have you got any rolling stock that you have made/modified to go with it? 

Alec


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