My next outdoor layout will include a freight platform at the interchange between a narrow gauge and a standard gauge railroad. [Dave's article on building the platform appeared in the October/November 1992 issue of Outdoor Railroader.-Ed.] The narrow gauge track will be "active"; the hand laid standard gauge track on the other side of the platform will be "inactive" and the boxcar sitting on it (the subject of this article) will be a "prop". More than either the figures "working" on the platform or the freight cluttering it, the boxcar will bring life and credibility to the scene. And it will vividly remind us of the size relationship between standard and narrow gauges, something many of us tend to forget.

Even if you have no interest in a standard gauge car such as I will describe, I suggest you read on. What I say about construction applies equally to narrow gauge cars and you just might want to tackle one of those someday.

I chose to build a generic 40 foot car I could letter for nearly any railroad. Since I model the 1920s, a wood car with outside bracing was appropriate and the bracing gives the car a lot of visual interest. When I built my model, I had no access to a drawing of such a car. I did have access to a prototype at a local railroad museum. I spent a few enjoyable outings there with measuring tape and camera and produced crude but workable drawings and sketches of my own.

If you prefer to build in another scale, simply reduce the dimensions.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

I based the key dimensions on the outer measurements of the car's basic wooden "box". Those dimensions disregard the bracing and hardware. For instance, dimensions for pieces such as the side sills allow for the thickness of the side units. Avoid scaling anything off the drawings themselves because they are schematic only and none is to scale.

As for materials, I prefer to use wood to represent wood and brass or styrene to represent metal. I used Testor's Liquid Cement for Plastic for the styrene-to-wood joints although Walthers' Goo works well, too. If you use plastic cement, brush a generous amount on the back of the styrene to soften the surface. Then brush more cement onto the wood, letting it soak in a bit. Put a little more onto the styrene and put the two surfaces together, maintaining a little pressure while you let it dry. I prefer to use weights rather than clamps to insure a tight bond. The idea is to melt the plastic into minute threads. They flow into the pores of the wood and harden there, resulting in a tremendous grip. Do not use a lot of cement when you join styrene directly to styrene.

[A more traditional and "safer" cement for joining plastic and wood is CA, or "superglue". It has virtually no risk of warping or dissolving plastic parts. Goo is also very strong and allows more time to position parts.-Ed.]

Also, anytime you use a clamp, you should insert a piece of scrap wood between the clamp and any surface that will be visible later. The wood not only prevents marring, it spreads out the pressure, providing a better joint.

When you cut sheet styrene, a ridge of material will occur along the cut. You must scrape off the ridge with a single edge razor blade, holding the blade nearly vertical and running it along the edge.

For wood-to-wood joints, I prefer white glue and aliphatic resin. I use the tackier aliphatic resin on models subject to a lot of handling or operation; its flexibility helps absorb shock.

For the steps requiring epoxy, always file or sand any metal surfaces. That will help remove oils, oxidation, and add "tooth" to help the glue grip the surface.

GETTING STARTED

Begin by assembling the floor unit. It consists of flooring and the wood side sills. Use 1/4- x 3/8-inch lumber.

If you build the simplified version, cut a pair of 1/4- by 3/8-inch pieces of lumber 21 3/8 inches long (for the sides) and five pieces each 4 1/4 inches long (for the end beams and cross braces). For the flooring, cut 1/16-inch thick, 1/4-inch scribed sheet 4 3/4 inches long, except for one piece 3 1/2 inches wide. Cut that piece 5 1/8 inches long. Put the longer piece in the center, where the floor will go. It is wider than the door opening will be, but we will trim it later.

Glue the side and end sills together, then add the flooring. Carefully trim any overhang on the shorter pieces so the sides can fit flush with the side sills. Add the three cross braces in the middle, and that finishes the floor assembly. The cross braces are unevenly spaced because two will be truck mounting bolsters.

As you add the center sills, lock a 1/4-inch nut in the floor assembly. Enlarge the truck bolster hole to a tight 1/4-inch fit and use a 1/4-inch bolt as a truck screw. The trucks we will use are heavy, so avoid shortcuts. The couplers will screw onto the extra beams. We will shave them later to set the coupler boxes to the correct height.

Next, the sides. Make two identical pieces for each side, or a total of four assemblies. I used 1/16-inch thick, 1/8-inch scribed sheet wood. It runs horizontally on the outside and laminates to 1/8-inch balsa sheet on the inside. Had no balsa been lying around from some other project, I would have used two more laminations of 1/16-inch sheet wood instead, running the grain of the middle sheet vertically and the inner and outer ones horizontally, scribed side out. Note the outer scribed sheet does not run full height. It stops 9/16-inch short of the bottom.

Assemble the side units as follows: Starting with the center sheet, glue together as many widths of sheet as you need to make the center lamination 9 1/16 inches wide. Make sure the top edges all line up straight.

Follow that with the outside 1/8-inch scribed siding. You will need two pieces since scribed sheet comes too narrow to do it with one piece. Carefully sand the edges so they fit together perfectly and look exactly like a scribed joint. Line the top edges up with the center lamination. Put a thin layer of glue around the sheets, then lay them on a flat surface, put on weights, and let them set overnight. The next day, glue on the 1/16- x 3/16-inch strip and trim it to length. Apply the inside scribed sheet in the same way to complete the three plies of the laminated sides.

ADDING THE SIDES AND ENDS

To glue the sides to the floor, lay one side unit in position with the end exactly in line with the end of the floor assembly. Trim the long piece of flooring to an exact fit with the side unit. Glue on the side unit and clamp it, making sure it and the floor are exactly square. Glue on the other three side units in the same way.

Laminate two pieces of scrap sheet stock to fit under the floor extension and between the sides. The pieces will be only 1/8-inch thick, 3/8-inch high, and 3 1/4 inches long. The joint they make with the sides is not critical because the next step will hide it.

Now we're ready to attach the "iron sill". Cut two pieces of .060-inch thick styrene 3/8-inch wide by 21 3/8-inches long and glue one on each side.

Next, the ends. They go together with the same "three lamination" method we used for the sides. Glue on the ends as you did the sides. If the ends come out slightly wide, file them flush with the sides. Have no concerns about the iron sills failing to meet at the corners because styrene corner braces will hide the joint.

BRACING THE BOX

Add the inside wood bracing around the top. Glue in beams of 1/4-inch square stripwood flush with the top of each side. That will form a solid box. Then make two filler pieces to go above the doors. They should be 3/16-inch thick by 1/4-inch high by 3 1/4 inches long. Neatness here is unnecessary because a styrene strip and hardware will hide the joints.

Car builders call the side and end outside braces "Z" and "C" braces because of their cross-sectional shape. The only source of such shapes I know is Plastruct, but they offer no Z shape. It is fairly simple to make one, though. Just take it a step at a time.

We will need only two different lengths for all the Z and C braces so do them as two batches. The short ones are the vertical side braces. The long ones go everywhere else. I make all braces slightly too long, then trim each to an exact fit when I install it. The car requires 4 C braces, 12 short Zs, and 20 long Zs.

Start by cutting .060- x .100-inch strips for the web (or use HO scale 6 x 8s). Make 17 pieces 5 1/8 inches long and 42 pieces 5 1/2 inches long. They will be the flanges. The extra piece is to allow you to discard the worst looking or to have a spare. Then cut 34 pieces of .025- x .140-inch styrene each 5 1/8 inches long and 42 pieces each 5 1/2 inches long for the flanges, or use HO scale 2 x 12s.

The C braces do the work of a Z brace and are on each side of the door openings. They are virtually invisible with the door closed but you should install them regardless of whether you make your doors operable.

Assemble the braces by gluing together the web and one flange, using a metal backstop such as a machinist's ruler to insure they are straight and even. Use metal so the glue joint won't stick to it. Make sure the entire length of each piece of styrene is tight against the ruler. Hold until the joint feels firm, then let it dry so the joint has time to harden. Repeat the process for the other flange.

The bottom end of each brace will glue to the plastic strip along the bottom of the sides and ends I referred to as the "iron sill". No corresponding sill runs along the top for you to attach the other end. Some outside braced cars may have had an iron sill on both the top and bottom but not the one I copied. Instead, it had individual steel plates with the Z braces riveted to them. The outside surface of each plate lies flush with the exterior of the siding just as the sills do, so we will add the plates as an "inlay".

Cut small rectangles of styrene and inlay them tightly into the siding. Use .060-inch thick sheet. Use a single edge razor and the individual plastic rectangles as a cutting guide to mark the scribed siding and carefully remove the outer lamination. When you can see the cross grain of the inside lamination it is time to stop removing material. Remove just enough wood so the "plate" fits snugly into the slot.

Install the Z and C braces. Be sure all the bottom ends are flush with the bottom of the car body. On the sides and ends, the tops stop evenly 1/4-inch below the top of the body. On the ends, the tops are angle cut. On the sides, the angled braces are trimmed to fit against the verticals.

Finally, install the corner braces. There are four kinds. For the vertical corner brace, cut 4 pieces of .020-inch thick styrene 1/4-inch wide by 5 3/8 inches long and 4 pieces .230-inch wide by 5 3/8 inches long. Glue one of each size to the corners with the wider overlapping the shorter so the resulting widths are equal. File the corners to round them slightly to represent the prototype's single piece of sheet steel; it had a 90-degree bend and a slightly rounded corner.

That should keep you busy for a few weeks. Next time we will add the roof and a lot of hardware.

BILL OF MATERIALS

Wood

6 sheets 1/16" thick, 1/8" scribed
2 sheets 1/16" thick, 1/4" scribed
5 sheets 1/16" thick, plain
5 feet 1/16" x 3/16" strip
5 feet 1/16" x 1/4" strip
1 foot 1/16" x 5/16" strip
4 feet 1/4" x 1/4"
12 feet 1/4" x 3/8"
1 foot 1/16" x 5/16"
1 foot 1/16" x 1/16"

Styrene

2 sheets .010" thick
2 sheets .020" thick
2 sheets .025" thick
1 sheet .040 " thick scribed 3/32"
2 sheets .060" thick

Plastruct

2 feet 3/32" angle
1 foot 1/8" angle

Brass

6 feet 1/8" angle
6 feet .028" dia. rod
2 inches .052" dia. rod
2 feet .020" thick x 1/16" wide strip
3 feet .020 thick x 3/32" wide strip
2 feet 1/16" square tubing
1 inch 3/16" dia. tubing
6 sq. inches .035" thick sheet

Miscellaneous

1 pair Gauge 3 trucks from Sidestreet Bannerworks
2 each 1/4" bolts
2 each 1/4" nuts
1 pair Kadee® 830 couplers
1 package 1/4" escutcheon pins
1 package 0-80 nuts
1 brake wheel
4 stirrups
1 package grab irons
2 cans Krylon Ruddy Brown Primer
decals or dry transfers to suit

TOOLS

single edge razor blades
razor saw
machinist's square
Vernier caliper
fish nose pliers
small metal snips
modeler's hammer
soldering iron
2 foot or longer straightedge
scale rule
clamps
weights
files
sandpaper to suit
modeler's center punch
drills, number 56 and 70
0-80 tap and die