Model Train Journal

With Sarge's expertise, we got the 253's body soldered back together. Five of the eight tabs holding the end pieces in place had broken off, so some judicious soldering using a resistance iron did the trick. No way I could have done this so neatly without burning a hole in the sheet-metal or leaving globs of solder everywhere, so sincere thanks for the help:



A bit more bending/straightening was required to get it to fit back onto the frame, and it's a tight fit, so some concern that the stress might pop the solder...we'll see. It'll get some rough handling during the next step (a final cleaning to remove the last bits of paint, then a thorough wash to remove absolutely every trace of chemical stripper) so a good test of the repairs. Presuming everything holds, it'll be off to the paint booth.

Ordered all of the trim parts needed from Joe Mania (JLM Trains), so those should be here in a few days. Also ordered most of the stuff required to refurbish the battered 252 that was in the same box. This includes a new wheel-set, a job I've never done before; looking forward to that. Ultimately, this 253 is going to need its pickup assembly replaced, another project I've never attempted. Been talking to Hondo about ideas/tools for such a repair; haven't ordered a replacement yet.

Healey, Congrats to You and Sarge. Looks like you have turned a sows ear into a silk purse.

Rich

Thanks, Rich. Looking for the parts order this week. I really miss George Tebolt, parts guy extraordinaire.

Going back to this photo. Were you and Sarge able to smooth out the solder on the collector plate roller assembly. ?

Nope, didn't even think to try. I suspect it's too far gone for much cleaning up and should just be replaced.

As if I don't have enough on the workbench, I decided to build another of Carstens' "cut-out" projects, this from the April 1953 issue of Toy Trains:



Somehow the transition from original to scan to ink-jet print leaves the dark colors a bit lighter than they should be. Sometimes that works out, sometimes not. This roof will need some reworking. I edited the windows to a black background with some shades added; otherwise, it's as Carstens drew it.

Healey, that looks like a fun project. I noticed you're not using the tab for the walls and the roof pieces don't have any. Will you use wooden corner supports instead? Also, do you have to be a subscriber to Trains in order to access the Carstens plans?

RBH29 wrote:Healey, that looks like a fun project. I noticed you're not using the tab for the walls and the roof pieces don't have any. Will you use wooden corner supports instead? Also, do you have to be a subscriber to Trains in order to access the Carstens plans?

Yeah, I cut the tab off because I typically print one of these, then glue it onto matt-board or some cereal box cardboard. I use some basswood at the interior corners, then I print a second copy of the page and cut out some bits to use to cover any exposed edges on the corners. I think Carstens drew them literally to cut out from the magazine and paste them together.

These are from the old magazine Toy Trains which was produced by Carstens back in the early 1950s. I have a few hard-copies of these that were in a big pile of mags The Old Man left behind (Model Builder, Toy Trains, Railroad Model Craftsman, Model Railroader, and a few others). Back in 2007, an outfit called Hybrid Systems Ltd., Inc. (HSL) offered a complete set of Toy Trains on disc. I got a copy of that, then sold off the hard-copies (probably a mistake). From the disc I can edit/print pages for my own use.

I don't know if HSL is still in business or not, and if so, do they still offer the digital archive? I'll look around.

Yup, looks like they are still around and still offer the Toy Trains archive. Forty bucks, a bit more than I recall paying fifteen years ago, but I think worth it. Lots of good stuff in there.

I see they offer a few other interesting discs as well...might have to check 'em out.

http://www.hslinc.com/

Thanks for the info. There's some really good stuff there.

Yup, but I wish I hadn't looked at that, lol.

Parts order finally arrived today; I think I have everything to finish off the 253's shell, except for the paint (most of the parts are for the 252 that was in the same box of "junk"). There was some debate as to whether to repaint the 253 in the original color or go to something different. Consensus seems to be that original is best. I got a guy at York that carries Train Enamel, so I'll probably hold off and buy it there (mostly to avoid the shipping cost). I've got a set of paint chips from TCA I can use to get the number (looks like there was only one shade of dark green for the prewar era, so it should be pretty straightforward).

Not much progress to show; I've gotten caught up in some other stuff totally unrelated that has me back on my heels a bit. I did, however, make a few design-alterations and start assembly on Carstens' suburban station:



Carstens' plan included no sort of platform; riders would just stand around in the dirt. We're not having that on my line, so a platform of some sort needed to be developed. I found an ancient paint-stirring stick in the shop that was 1-5/8 inches wide and a 1/4-inch deep. Felt about right, so I cut off a six-inch length and made that the platform. Printed off a bit of brick-paper, cut some strips, then wrapped the perimeter after painting the top "concrete" using some Howard Hues acrylic paint.

Pasted the edited windows/doors into the sides of the ticket office, then assembled it using some 1/4-inch square basswood strips. I glued a three-inch square piece of matt board to the masonite base to serve as a slab for the office to sit on. Sorting out the roof is next; I hated Carstens' attempt at wood-shingle graphics, so I used Model Builder to print some gray slate roofing. It was weird...when I printed it at 1/48-scale, the slates looked too big, so I made it a bit smaller at 1/64. Looks a bit more reasonable, at least to my eye. Anyway, I'll need to apply that to the roof panels.

Roof supports could be fun...

Meanwhile, the shell of the 253 is just sitting waiting for me to clean off the last bits of original paint and other gunk, than a thorough soap-and-water bath to make sure all of the stripper is removed. I haven't done much yet, as I've been trying to figure out paint. I found a can of Plasti-Kote in the shop that I've used in the past to replicate stuff painted dark green. Unfortunately, the can is shot, so the search continues. Worst case, I'll wait until York in October and pick up a can of Train Enamel from one of the parts dealers I frequent. I could order it, but it would cost as much or more to ship it as it does for the can of paint. Too crazy, and I'm cheap.

Here's a Lionel 812 I stripped and repainted years ago using that Plasti-Kote paint:



It's a pretty good match to Lionel Dark Green. I stopped by Autozone this afternoon, and they had some Duplicolor paint in a dark green that might be okay.

Or I can just wait...

Getting down to the end of August and lots of irons in the fire.

Still searching for a suitable can of paint for the 253...I had grabbed a small spray can of Krylon Dark Hunter Green, but I think it's too light. Yesterday, was up to MainLine with Sarge and found a can of Scalecoat BNSF Green which might be dark enough. I'm gonna spray a few samples on a sheet of white card and compare it to the paint chip chart I have; hopefully one of these is real close.

The suburban station project hit a snag...the platform roof section doesn't work as printed, so I'm going to have to come up with my own. First time I've run into this problem with one of Carstens' cut-outs. Put a lot of effort into it, only to find out it won't work as drawn. Shouldn't be too tough to come up with something.

Bought a box of tinplate stuff at an estate sale the other day; gotta go pick it up today. I'll post a few pics later.

Meanwhile, here's another one of those laser-cut kits that are all the rage these days, this one a trolley:



Assembled by my son and daughter, apparently nuts that didn't fall too far from the tree.

healey36 wrote:Here's a Lionel 812 I stripped and repainted years ago using that Plasti-Kote paint:



It's a pretty good match to Lionel Dark Green. I stopped by Autozone this afternoon, and they had some Duplicolor paint in a dark green that might be okay.

Or I can just wait...

I like this with the LCL containers. Who made the LCL containers ?

Those were made by MTH back in the day. O-gauge, there were two in a pack, so two packs worth here. Just simple injection-molded boxes with loops on the top corners; one could put chains on them, I just never did it. A friend of mine has a few of them; he glued a 3/4-inch washer on the top of each and uses his magnetic crane to load/unload. Keeps the grandkids busy!