While I should be working on things like the bridge and general layout design, I am also wanting to have enough rolling stock ready. A lot of that I want to be vintage.
I have a real soft spot for 1930's through 1960's craftsman kits, and especially the Megow cars.
The problem is the cast parts.
In the short time that I bought these two hopper cars, the metal rot has accelerated. The hoppers themselves (the actual chutes) have become brittle but are still usable if glued into place on the undersides, which will stabilize them, while the paint will seal them.
The trucks are another matter.
As the metal deteriorates it expands as microscopic crystallization occurs. The cross bars have now pushed both sets of trucks horribly out of gauge, by as much as a 1/16". I could trim these pieces down, but then there is the problem of the sideframes becoming fragile as well. One of the B&O kit's truck had a journal just fall right off.
I know I can cook up a solution, but for now my plan to build either one of these kits will be put on hold.
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