Another Private Owner Stock Car

Canda Cattle Car Company car 78 sits on the siding at the Burnett's stock pen. The hatches on the roof access feed for the occupants while the hand wheels control partitions between the cows. The center hatch is for the water supply which is distributed by the piping along the edge of the roof.

Some months ago (January 2017), I blogged about completing some Canda Cattle Car Company Stock Cars. At long last, I have just completed another Canda Cattle Car Company car, but one built at an earlier time. This model was apparently the first iteration of the "palace" car developed by Canda and built by Ensign. The prototype was featured in the March 2, 1888 issue of the Railroad Gazette. The article featured a good set of dimensioned drawings but, alas, no photographs. To this date, I have yet to find a photograph of this car.
     The car itself was 39 feet long and carried feed and water for the cattle so that stops for these items were reduced. In addition, partitions were provided between every cow or two to prevent them from injuring each other (or piling up at one end during an emergency stop). These partitions were controlled by the handwheels along the roof. Less than 200 of these cars were built as, by 1890, about 1800 of the type II car featured in my former blog post were in use.
     The model was built entirely of styrene in a jig to get the side slats reasonably straight. The trucks are Canda style trucks made by Bitter Creek Models and are very nice-looking. The numerous hatches on the roof all have hinges which are prominent. I had some 3D printed and they turned out nicely. The hand ring lifts on the hatches were made from Detail Associates lift rings.
     I still need a couple of models from Streets Western Stable Car Company and the Hicks Stock Car Company.

Coal Gondolas on the Stockton & Ione

Ten new coal gondolas sit on tracks next to the storage bins of the mine. The mine structure was salvaged from my former layout and will eventually be incorporated into the railroad.

Recently, I was looking through the Shapeways website and found some HOn3 low-side gondolas (https://www.shapeways.com/product/2QVG8295Z/hon3-25-foot-gondola-2-planks-high?optionId=43338423) for a reasonable price. I ordered a couple, liked them and ordered some more for a total of ten cars. I added truss rods from fishing line, a brake wheel and trucks. Now I have cars to carry the coal from the mines at Ione City to Holden.
      The finish on the cars are a little rough but this works on cars which are supposed to have been beat up due to the load they were carrying. The weight is a little low but there is not much room for more weight anywhere. I am still working on that problem.

Little John Creek Bridged!

The bridge at Little John Creek is supported by stone abutments with the scenery roughed in around the bridge.

At long last, Little John Creek has been bridged. Just south of Farmington,

this water course is crossed by the Copperopolis Road. Up until now, the crossing has just been a piece of 3/4" plywood. I had been planning to install a cast iron Phoenix-style bridge but hadn't quite figured out how to make the Phoenix columns.
     The prototype columns were constructed with four pieces of cast iron, each formed in a quarter circle. Flanges were then riveted together to form a hollow tube. I ended up by using a styrene tube with .020x.020 styrene strips glued around it. With the size of the tube and the distance from the viewer, you just don't see whether or not there are rivets. The rest of the bridge was constructed with other strips and shapes of styrene. To build something similar, see Jim Vail's article in the May/June 2001  Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette. I used Jim's article plus drawings for a similar bridge in the California State Railroad Museum.

     To facilitate track cleaning and eventual scenery, I decided to make the top part of the bridge separate from the track-bearing portion and removable. The trusses themselves were made using a jig to ensure that the two sides were alike. Chooch stone bridge abutments were used but had their height and width cut down to match the location and bridge. They were then colored with acrylic paint to match the colors of other stonework in the area where my railroad ran.
     The bottom part was eventually glued to styrene bridge shoes and to the abutments. The plywood temporary bridge was then cut out beneath the track and the roadbed and ties removed so all that was left were the rails. The rails were then coated with Barge cement on their undersides. Wooden wedges made from construction shims were coated with white glue and slide under the abutments gradually lifting them until the rails just touched the bridge ties. They were left to dry and then a small heated iron was used on the rails to melt and the glue and bond the rails to the ties.

The abutments are in place with the bottom part of the bridge lying in place beneath the rails.

Glue-coated wedges allowed the abutments to gradually be slipped beneath the rails. The excess parts of the strips were sawn off after the glue dried.

     Typical scenery forms made from cardboard strips overlaid by kraft paper forms the basis of the adjacent hillsides and riverbed. Eventually, plaster cloth will be added to form a hard shell.
   

Conventions and Operations

Americans and ten-wheelers, all made from 3D printed materials abounded at the American Civil War Railroads convention. Drivers were from the Mantua/Tyco General or imported from Great Britain.

The last few weeks have been very busy, not in modeling, but in attending a couple of conventions. The first was in September when I attended the American Civil War Railroads Historical Society annual meet in Harper's Ferry, WV. There were several interesting talks on Civil War railroads topics. I gave one on producing smooth-running locomotives. In addition, some of the people brought models of locomotives made almost entirely by 3D printing. Wheels, motor and other parts were commercial items but the frame (brass) and superstructure (a plastic) were all 3D printed. This opens up a new way to built that locomotive which no one has ever made. A field trip to the Martinsburg,
WV 1866 roundhouse was also made.

A supply train at the Aquia Landing pier is ready to depart for Falmouth on Bernie Kempenski's U.S. Military Railroad. The white shape on the left is a hull of what will eventually become a side-wheeled supply ship.

     The highlight of the weekend for me was the chance to operate on Bernie Kempenski's U.S. Military Railroad's Aquia Line (usmrr.blogspot.com). It is O scale with just about everything being scratchbuilt. Several of us spent a few hours moving trains across the line and delivering goods to the brave Union soldiers facing Fredericksburg.

The yard at Falmouth is the site of much switching The small disks on the car tops contain the car's destination and if it is loaded or empty.

     The second convention was the annual Virginia and Truckee Railroad Historical Society conference in Carson City, Nevada (vtrrhs.org). This is my favorite convention of the year. The speakers are very knowledgeable and they speak on a railroad that has been of interest to me for a long time. I was honored to give a couple of talks on the prototype V&T locomotives and on building ore cars.
     Unfortunately, these great get-togethers only come once per year but it makes me look forward to the next one. Now, back to modeling.

A Video Tour of Milton

Before we finally leave Milton and turn to other subjects, I wanted to try my hand at another video and also show some details of the town. Here are the results of my efforts.

Finishing Milton

Milton in the afternoon when the temperature is high and no wind blowing. The Walthers corral is in the foreground while the Revell handcar/section house is beyond.

After much effort and time, I think that Milton can be considered complete, at least until I decide to add something else). The last things to be done was to build the turntable and add the corral and tool house.

Engine 8 is being turned on the turntable.Behind it is a small scratchbuilt water tank and an older baggage car which has been de-trucked and is now used for miscellaneous storage and, occasionally, sleeping quarters.

The turntable was built from plans for a standard Southern Pacific turntable of the period. Wood was used for the construction and the table is moved manually through a worm and worm gear arrangement. It's a little different than that seen on most models but it is very prototypical. This type of table is called an A-frame turntable, not to be confused with a gallows type turntable which has a square timbered structure in the center rather than the type which give this table its name. Both types can also be called Prairie Turntables which were designed to be set up on the ground without benefit of a pit. They were used when the turntable was planned to be temporary or when the tracks coming off the table were minimal. There are no pit rails installed but just some wood buffer blocks which ensure that the rails are of the right height at each end. A thin strip was styrene was glued over the blocks to make the table slide easier.

A special excursion train departs Milton. In the foreground is the old baggage car now used for storage and, behind it, the water tank. 

The original set-up at Milton did not have water facilities but Peters, which did have a tank, was not too far away and one was not need. On my version of the S&C, I extended the tracks to Copperopolis and, since Milton is at the base of a hill, I might use helper service some day and wanted to provide water for the engine that would be stationed here.

The corral was built from parts of a Walthers corral kit and the little section/handcar house was an old Revell model I assembled many years ago and which was on my layout in California. Copious amounts of static grass and California dirt completed the scene.

Livery and Blacksmith Open Shop at Milton

Stages are lined up at the passenger platform to take travelers to Sonora, Angels Camp, Chinese Camp and Jackson. The stages were part of the 12-15 vehicles built for Milton.

Since my last post in April, I have been doing quite a few things on the railroad but none that really show up. In my campaign to get Milton finished, I've built around 12-15 wagons and buggies with which to populate the town, painted around 30 figures and numerous bits of boxes, baggage and other junk to pile on the platforms. Two new structures have been added, however, which should be the last ones needed on this area of the railroad.
   

Martin's Livery sits next to the road leading to the town of Jenny Lind and close to the railroad tracks. A corral will be erected at the rear of the building to contain the horses.

The first new structure is Martin's Livery based on an actual livery stable in Milton in the 1890s. I knew the footprint of the building but that's about all. I could see the top of the roof in one of my overall photos but that's it so freelancing was the only way to really model it. A few months ago, I helped a friend of mine, Doug Taylor, make some decals. He wanted to repay me and asked me if I needed a structure. I gave him some drawings and Martin's Livery emerged. While Doug built the building, I painted it and added the signage but it's mostly Doug's work. I think it fits pretty well with the rest of the town.
   

Wagon and tool repair are a product of the Milton blacksmith, Diedrich Helm. Since he has a forge, he also gets to act as the local farrier and show horses.

The other structure was the Blacksmith shop which was adjacent to the livery stable. Since blacksmiths did a lot more than just shoeing horses, I added some welding and metal forming equipment and even included a drop hammer.
     I intended to start work on the Milton turntable this week but did not have the right size beams. These are now on order and then work will begin.
     Thanks, Doug, for your contribution to the Stockton & Copperopolis.