Building The StromBecker HO Scale Refrigerator Car - Part 1

My first exposure to StromBecker kits was to the stacks of them at my local hobby shop in the early 1970's. How long he had them can only be speculated. I was just ten when I started to be a bit more serious about model railroading, and felt that these extremely simple kits were below me (I longed for Central Valley, Silver Streak, Ambroid, all great and much more complicated kits). 

By the time I decided to look into one, after a disaster with a Central Valley kit, they were all gone, apparently all picked up at the same time.

More than fifty years later I figure it was time to try again.

The wooden parts that represent the body are common between the refrigerator and box car. Whoever had this kit before me had already sanded the roof, but my concern was the possibly eighty year old wood parts themselves. This is pine, and depending upon how long it had dried before being cut would determine if there was any warpage. As it turned out, there was no real warpage but possibly some shrinkage. It wasn't enough to deter me, as I expected that if it was too great I could always shim it up.

Since the Casco glue failed to mix I was left to use its lineal descendant, Elmer's Glue-All, something I have used my entire life. Using the pre-gluing technique (apply glue to parts, stick together, pull apart, allow glue to partially set, reattach pieces) the body's former went together with ease. I used rubber bands to hold it while the glue set.

Once this had set for a few hours it was time to do a little painting. My plan was to paint both the roof and the underside before adding the sides, but instead opted to do just the roof. While the kit was a bit confusing, with the instructions and the printed parts recommending different colors, a little research into Illinois Central 50000 series refrigerator cars mentioned that apparently many used the same shade green as the trim on the sides for the roof. On newer, more accurate kits this color is an olive, but the shade used on the old StromBecker kit was lighter. I found a good match in Apple Barrel Kelly Green. After two thin coats, the project was set aside overnight.

The next day I decided to add some weight to the inside of the car. While I could pick up old cast trucks, it wasn't always a guarantee, so eight small fishing weights were glued to the floor corners using E6000 silicone adhesive.

Next, we moved on to the printed ends and sides. Using an OLFA Snap Utility Knife I carefully cut the sides out first. I should mention that I had done a little measuring of the printed parts before beginning and found that the ends were slightly wider than the with of the body former. Since the details on these was close, I decided that these would overhang the sides. 

After the pieces were cut I used markers for touch up, coloring the edges where needed.

As suspected, the sides were almost 1/8" too long. They'd need to be trimmed 1/16" on both ends.

Once the pieces were trimmed and the edges colored they were carefully glued into position, making sure to push the top against the roof overhang.

Now time to do the ends. These were cut to printed size and their edges blackened.

The ends were glued into position and were a good fit. Since both the sides and the ends dropped slightly below the floor of the car I felt it was a good idea to reinforce those corners with some Elmer's Glue-All. 

The final details for this part of the assembly were the four roof hatches. According to the instructions these fit at the ends of the roof and up against the roofwalk (I have yet to check against drawings of the prototype to check these out). Once more, the edges were colored with a marker.

Once these were colored they were glued into position. 

With this, the basic body is finished. Now, it waits for details, specifically trucks and couplers.

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor...

Casco Adhesive was a casein glue that had a great reputation. StromBecker included it in their kits, and it was rather easy to use.

This was probably one of the attractions of the StromBecker kits - pre-shaped parts, a pad of sandpaper, and a little envelope of Casco.

Personally, I never used the stuff before, though I know I saw old tins of the stuff amongst my grandfather's tools and paints. By that time, Casco had been long out of production, having evolved into Elmer's Glue-All, which would eventually do away with the casein and switch to polyvinyl acetate.

But this doesn't mean that Casco was weak glue. It wasn't. It and similar glues were extremely tough, even being used in aircraft construction.

Since this StromBecker kit includes a pack, I have decided to use it. Supposedly it could be stored in powder form indefinitely.

We'll soon find out.

EPILOGUE - 

It didn't work. Sigh...

The Vanishing Craftsman Kit

 There once was a time when you could walk into any hobby shop and find the shelves filled with model train kits of all variety and complexity, the so-called "craftsman kits". Some were rather complete, including rolling gear and couplers with full color printed sides. Other were a little more complex, and so forth. 

When the plastics age began in earnest after the Second World War these kits began to be displaced. By the late 1980's they had pretty much vanished, after all, who wants to sit there and wait for coats of Floquil to dry so you could add trucks and couplers to get a car running when you could pick up a plastic "rattle-the-box" kit and be done in minutes?

This isn't even counting the flourishing ready to run market.

Craftsman kits had their day.

Sadly, I feel that something was lost here. These wood, cardboard, and metal kits may have required skill, but they also imbued the builder with a real sense of accomplishment. Also, they were full of potential for conversion.

Some of these kits are deteriorating to the point of full on decay. Metal fatigue, paper degradation, wood warping, many have past the point of no return. The many that survive in collectible condition only do so because they are stored not in attics or basements but in temperature controlled environments. 

I am unsure they will ever be built.

Here are two sets of scans from three such kits. These scans are to the primary wood and paper components. In both cases, these represent the main bodies of the cars in question, and if one wanted, they could be scaled out and replicated. Potentially poking a bear there amongst collectors, I worry, but these would be reproductions only, if anyone chose to do it. Both are HO.

StromBecker Refrigerator Car

The StromBecker company referred to their simple model kits as "basic trainers", as they were often pre-shaped and had only a few parts. This refrigerator car is one of the more common ones. All of the details are printed, no metal detailing parts were needed. I suppose one could use them if one chose to, but right out of the box with proper care and painting the car would look just fine. StromBecker included wheels on dummy trucks of sorts, but also included directions on how to add proper metal trucks and couplers. With those additions the car could be used on any HO layout.

Megow Two Bay Hopper

While the StromBecker kit may have been a basic trainer, the Megow kits required a bit more finesse. They were far more complicated and usually included hefty metal trucks, stamped ladders and occasionally couplers, and plenty of metal and wood bits to add details and produce a rather attractive model. John Allen, of "Gorre & Daphetid" fame had a version of this kit, a Virginian hopper, that featured prominently in his early published photos. I had a copy of that kit.

While there is only one scan of the instructions and wooden parts, there are two sets of printed sides for a B&O and Pennsylvania car. Sadly, the very delicate embossing that is found on both sets is not evident in the scans, but it might not be too much work to add it. I should add that the wooden floors of both kits were warped, and all of the cast metal parts crumbling.

As for myself, the refrigerator car is in good enough condition to build, and I intend to do so. Expect it to be shared here, naturally.

Tall Rails, Deep Flanges, Cheap Locomotives, & High Hopes

 File this under "Thoughts".

When I started more serious model railroading in the 1980's, I had such glorious plans. Marvelous plans. I wanted wide sweeping tracks, long strings of freight cars headed up by monster late steam. Huge fiddle yards. Mountainous terrain. Bridges. Trestles. 

All perfectly accurate.

And none of it happened, at least in HO scale.

I did make multiple layout designs, a couple for clients, helped build two, made multiple floor layouts, but not once, ever, did I actually build a true home layout of any size. 

Ever.

I did read a lot, though. Studied the heck out of the hobby. What ended up happening was attrition by perfection. Plus a really severe lack of personal stability (sadly).

One of the problems was a love for older, "junk: equipment. 

One of my favorite locomotives was the old Marx 4-6-4 Hudson. 

This locomotive was chock full of inaccuracies. The trucks on the tender were repurposed Blomberg diesel trucks. There really wasn't a lot of detail.

And of course the flanges were deep.

But it could run and pull everything you put behind it. A Hudson, a dedicated passenger locomotive, hauling freight? Marx made it happen (the equally lamented Athearn B&M Pacific could perform likewise).

I did manage a couple of "higher end" (chuckles) locomotives, usually Bachmann, but they were so fragile where gearing was concerned. 

Track was another issue. Brass Code 100 was the order of the day. All of my more serious model railroader friends were screaming at me to go to nickel silver, but since everyone was dumping brass, I could get it cheap. I just had to keep it clean. Beside, my initial layout plans eventually grew smaller.

Forty years later, nothing ever came of it.

I built cars (freight, a couple of passenger cars), modified locomotives, built structures. And nothing ever happened.

Sigh.

It's Kind Of A Weird Story...

 Right before I began finding these cute little semi-toy HO trains, I stumbled upon a strange little auction. 

Apparently, right after the Second World War, a German citizen named Ernst Ganzer began producing kits in the now popular OO scale. 

Let's be clear - OO was the gauge. The scale was all over the place. 

In the US, OO was 1/76. So it was in England, except it ran on 16.5mm track, as it had when it started out there (practical reasons... that should be another post). For sake of comparison, American OO was 19mm betwixt the rails.
16.5mm gauge is most commonly found as HO.

On the continent, OO gauge was apparently more confusing.

Most German manufacturers used 16.5mm gauge, with some manufacturers using 1/90 as the scale.

Enter Herr Ganzer. 

He starts a little company that manufactured cardboard model kits, including rolling stock and a fascinating three rail track system. He named his little endeavor ERGA-Lehrmodell. 

(Sorry - I can't remember the source)

It was an auction for some of these models that got my attention. In addition to being cardstock, they also had stamped and diecast metal parts, though the little steeplecab critter (ain't it cute?!?) is unpowered.

This is where the seed was replanted. The rest was a matter of watering and fertilizing.

Shifting Gears & Gauges

 Sometimes things don't quite work out the way you had planned.

After a roaring start to my O27 layout, it all had to be taken down and eventually abandoned. All the projects, from adding bigger motors to Marx-Tronic Vulcan locomotives to adding Tilt-A-Matic couplers to Lionel diesels, came to an end. 

In late 2023, I ended up moving and taking along the few remaining locomotives and rolling stock pieces, and gave most of it away.

Don't get me wrong, I love trains. I mean, I do have other hobbies like miniature ships and model rockets, but model railroading has always held a soft spot in my heart, coming as I do from a family that was steeped in railroading on my maternal side. 

I also do astronomy, but let me be clear, that is my vocation.

I did keep some smaller pieces, N gauge, and all early stuff. Just a strange fascination with the near toy like quality of Lone Star Treble-O-Lectric and early Arnold Rapido.

Then, it happened. As if by fate.

I began stumbling across HO gauge "toys".

These were not serious model trains. These were... just that. Toys. 

(((RING!))) Universe calling!

So here I am. 

Let's see what happens next.

Changes... Big & Mostly Smaller

 Things don't always go as planned.

Anyway, changes coming.