C-30 wood caboose

[Rwilliams]

fgroza,

Nice to see that someone has stepped to the plate before my effort and built a nice looking C-30. It is even complete with a tool box which is not that common.

I like the smoke darkened top on the stove pipe which is quite common in the older photos.

Never having seen good views of the top of the stove pipe, the style you have created peaks my interest as I would like to make one up but have little to go on. Can you post a few close up images of how it looks from the side and the top.

I would like to make one up for my C-40 Overnight caboose which needs a more accurate replacement due to a transportation incident. May as well make the new one correct.

Your help would be appreciated.

Robert

[fgroza]

I'll try to find the photos of it. The car was built from actual SP prints that were drawn in 1'' scale if I remember. I built it to 1.6'' scale, mostly from bass wood and plywood. All of the siding boards were individule boards with beveled edges that I routed with a Dremel in a routing fixture. The windows and doors were made the same way, from scratch in bass wood. This car has frosted windows because I stored all of my gear, parts, etc in it . The cupola is removable to gain access to the inside. I can copy parts of the prints if you need info on the car.

Frank

[Rwilliams]

Frank,

Looking forward to seeing a few detail images of your caboose. Even I have much to learn about caboose building.

Recently I was asked to assist a friend with some details on his caboose and the end result was, I started looking at what I had done to mine long before I found out what colored LED bulbs could do for realism. I decided that with a few very minor modifications to my roof jack assembly, I could simulate the light from interior oil lamps that might find its way up the insulating sleeve into the vent holes above the roofline.

I have ordered yellow bulbs but elected to do a test with just one of the orange coal fire simulation bulbs held in place with nothing more than some masking tape. The effect was everything I had hoped for except not in the yellow color. I suspect a dimmer with lower voltage will reduce the brightness a bit for better visual effect.

Robert

[fgroza]

Here is a shot of the print.The tapered cone is 1'' dia x 3/4'' high. The hat is 7/8'' dia x 5/8'' high. that is the 1'' scale size. BTW this print shows interior detail.

[fgroza]

I only have a few photos of the build, sorry.

[Rwilliams]

Frank,

Thanks for the views of your caboose construction. Always nice to see a work of art in progress. The top of the stove pipe is not all that clear but appears to be perhaps one piece or is it more than one piece?

The work on the endsill hand railing and grab irons is dead on to the print and what was in real life. I have a start on that area of my caboose and am working on a special bending fixture so everything looks almost the same.

Looks like a nice SP Black Widow F unit hiding next to the caboose. Nice to have another SP fan in the group.

Robert

[Rwilliams]

After some very careful work in tight areas never intended for such creative endeavors, I was able to make up a LED holding fixture with 3 mm diameter amber bulbs. Sometimes I only had a few thousandths of an inch to work with. The end result is shown in the photo with the amber glow in the vent holes more like what would come from oil lamps inside the caboose. I received recently some scale oil lamps that will lend themselves to conversion to LED lighting and wall mounting complete with chimneys. Only need three of them to make the interior like the print calls for. Another fun adventure with LED bulbs that almost did not happen.

Robert

[fgroza]

Forgive my drawing but this is what i had. There were 3 tabs that attached the hat to the cone on 120 degree space.

[Rwilliams]

After the test of the amber lighting in the smoke jack vent holes, I began to wonder what an orange LED in the top end of the stack reflecting off the underside of the weather hood would look like. Thought about it all day and elected to run that test this evening to see what I might be missing out on if I did not give it a try. The result of the single LED in the smoke stack tubing turned out wonderful and I am glad I thought to do the test. Another level of night operation detail has been established.

Not much more I can do with the stove area of the caboose, so I will have to start on the kerosene lamps for the interior lighting.

Robert

[fgroza]

excellent!
Frank

[Rwilliams]

With the roaring hot fire in the coal stove, we need to take the matters of safety very seriously as it would not do to have the crew reporting that the caboose caught fire and burned up out on the road. Therefore, the shop crew installed a reflective sheet of aluminum spaced 1/8 inch away from the coal bin body to insure no unwanted fires. The same material will also be applied to the wall behind the stove and the cabinet to the right of the stove. The coal bin was ready so it was first for the reflective material. In real life it was a sheet of asbestos covered with a thin layer of aluminum which seemed to serve well. I used some small 1/2 inch brass brads to secure the sheet of material. A coat of green interior paint also helps the appearance.

The shovel will be needed to keep the fire burning on cold winter nights.

Robert

[Rwilliams]

The short end of the caboose interior opposite the water table has a small desk in the corner. I hunted through the scrap box and found enough pieces to make up the desk. Almost a shame to paint the cherry wood interior green but it has to be done. I used some 9 ply Baltic Birch for the core of the desk and added the cherry pieces to obtain the needed shapes. In the past I have always used a wood working vise which is not known for having parallel jaws. With flat surfaces, the parts cold creep badly after even a thin layer of glue is applied and clamped. It is a frustrating event to chase a part all over the surface of another part once the glue acts as grease.

I had nothing in the Angle lock vise on the mill and with the parts being just small enough to fit in the mill vise, thought about giving glue up a try in a vise with ground square jaws for a change. I had nothing to loose! It was a pleasant surprise to find that with rigid parallel jaws, my parts did not wander about as usual. The first time I thought I had just got lucky, but in all of the various glue ups of the small desk, the parts did not move on me. I was impressed and just wish I had tried this many years ago for my smaller parts. By the time I got to the drawer handle which is only 1/8 wide by 1/2 inch long, I was hoping for no movement on that hard to deal with clamping job. When it did not move on me I knew it was a game changer for small parts in the future.

Robert