Page 64 - 38. MRH13-04-Apr2013
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Erie Railroad Boxcars, p1 - 8
STEP 2: Car Sides Adding the Details
10
Next it's time to make and install the top and bottom door
guides. The guides are nothing more than 2” x 4” styrene
strip cut to a length of 12’-4”. A total of eight are needed
for the four car sides. The top door tracks are located first
at the left hand edge of the door opening. With the top
door tracks in place, I began searching through my “junk”
drawer(s) for proper Youngstown doors.
For the 75000-75999 series cars I found 2 doors from a Red
Caboose X-29 kit that fit the 8'-8" car sides. I had screwed
up and put on the Superior doors when I built the kit. Oh
well, it worked to my benefit years later.
10: Now it is time to begin adding the details. I
added the 1” x 6” strip across the top of the 9’ – 3”
car sides. Using the T-square I made sure that the
1” x 6” is straight and parallel with the bottom of the
car. If it's not it will be visually noticeable.
1" x 6" strip
cemented in place.
The T-square keeps
everything straight.
STEP 2: Car Sides Adding the Details
Continued ...
I made sure that the doors were square in the opening
with the T-square and a triangle before cementing began.
Once I was satisfied that they were square in the open-
ing, the doors were cemented and allowed to dry. Once
the doors had set, I added the lower door guide using the
T-square to make sure that it was parallel with the top
door track. The bottom door track should be 6” above the
bottom sill of the car.
During the same search I found 2 Youngstown doors that
were from a Branchline kit. These needed to be modi-
fied for the 76000 – 76499 series cars. The modification is
simple. I used my X-Acto miter box to cut out the middle
rib from the top panel of the door. When finished the door
should measure 8’ – 8”.
Careful cutting and a little cleanup with the Northwest
Short Line true sander is all that is required. When I was
done there were 3 ribs at the top panel of the door. While
this doesn’t match the prototype, I was OK with it.
The bottom door track was installed in the same manner
as the previous car sides. When finished there should be
6” from the bottom of the door track to the bottom of
the car.
In my continuing scavenger hunt of the scrap boxes, I
looked for tack boards and defect cardholders. I found
the tack boards, but only two defect cardholders. I know
that they are out there somewhere in the vortex of scrap
parts and they shall be found! These were located and
cemented to the car sides following the photos.
MRH-Apr 2013
