Page 68 - 38. MRH13-04-Apr2013

Erie Railroad Boxcars, p1 - 12
STEP 5: Proper Car Side Thickness Continued ...
16: Tab spacing diagram drawn to assist with the
construction and location of the tabs.
Accuracy is not that necessary as the pieces only are
needed to stiffen the sides and prevent any possibility of
warping when the silicone rubber is poured over them to
make the mold.
After the 4” x 6” stiffeners were added, I located where the
stirrups will be placed and made some divots similar to the
ones needed to locate the grabs on the side of the car.
16
STEP 6: Car Sides 76500 – 76999 Series
17
17: This is how I set up the chopper to cut the tabs.
Now, on to the tabbed car sides. These cars are 1” taller
than the 76000 – 76499 series. Normally I wouldn’t have
worried about the difference and made them both the
same. But in studying the photos of the two different series
of cars I noticed that the ends of 76000 – 76499 have five
ribs and the 76500 – 76999 have six ribs.
Since I need to make different ends for each one I went
ahead and made the side heights per the prototype. I fol-
lowed the same procedures as on the other sides with the
noted exceptions.
My original plan was to cut the tabs out of the .020 styrene
body. I wasn’t satisfied with the results. They looked just
plain awful, and made a quick trip to the trash can. Plus,
as I studied the photo of 76949, I realized that I cut the
tabs wrong. After some thought about how to proceed, I
index contents
MRH-Apr 2013