HISTORY

At around the turn of the century, the Union Pacific owned what would soon become the C&S and ordered the first modern reefers from the St. Charles Car Company. Cars number 550 through 555 arrived in 1898 but, by that time, the C&S recently had taken over line so the reefers arrived with Colorado & Southern lettering.

The cars had only two sets of hand grab ladders, on the right-hand end as you face the car. In 1910, when the United States Safety Appliance Act went into effect, those cars, and twenty others the C&S had built in its own shops, presented the C&S with an engineering problem. The act specified new spacing for the grab irons and required installation of four more sets, two on each right-hand corner, as they appear today. Other regulations mandated additional grab irons and standard handbrake equipment on the car ends.

To comply, the C&S would have to strip the interior linings and insulation in order to bolt the grabs onto the appropriate locations on the car sides and ends. Then someone came up with the idea of using ladders instead of grab irons. The result was a reefer different from any other in Colorado at that time. (D&RGW reefers with side ladders came later.)

Ladders will make a difference to your models. They will stand out from any other reefer.

THE MODEL

I began with a Delton reefer. I removed every set of grab irons constituting a vertical means of climbing to the roof. Then I covered resulting holes with the new ladder assemblies.

You'll have to make four almost identical ladders so I suggest you make a simple jig for spacing the rungs.

1/8-inch square plastic tubing comes closest to the correct size of the uprights. I cut each to fit between the lower edge of the roof and the bottom of the car side. The bottom of the ends will be slightly different, though. I notched each piece with a file so it would fit over all plates and roof fascia and lie flat against the car side or end.

Drill the ends for small pins (lills) and also use them to hold the uprights on your jig. I made rungs from 1/16-inch diameter round tubing about 7/8-inch long to match the width of the ladder. Grip about 1/8-inch of each end of the rung in a smooth-jawed vise and squeeze it flat. When you're done, the rungs should fit on the uprights and lie flat. Cement the rungs in place with a good liquid plastic cement.

The lower rung on the end ladders, where the upright ends at the top of the lower reinforcing plate to clear the coupler release lever (if you model it), is an exception. Because of the unique bends in that rung, you must form it from 1/16-inch diameter brass tubing.

I suggest you paint the ladders before attaching them to the car.

While you're at it, you might as well add the brake retainer valve since none of the cars includes one. The end ladders are too close to the brake rod to allow placing the retainer valve line between them as it should be. The reason is the position of the brake rod. It is too far from the car's centerline. It is very difficult to move the brake rod so move the retainer valve and air line instead-about 1/4-inch closer to the car centerline. Mount the valve itself on the end roof fascia board. Bend the air line from 0.033-inch diameter brass wire and remember it has a "Z" so it will lie flat on the car end. Bend the bottom end of the wire 90-degrees so you can glue it into the car end.

At least two firms produce a retainer valve casting. Ozark Miniatures part number OM-16A is very close to scale but, because of its small size, is quite difficult to drill for the air line. Shortline Car & Foundry's part number 3353 is slightly larger and easier to install. Whatever part you choose, drill and pin the valve body in place using the two mounting holes.

CAR NUMBERS

If you want more accurate numbering on your cars, you should know those first five C&S reefers eventually became numbers 1120-1124. The newer cars with steel underframes became numbers 1100-1119. If you use those road numbers, your C&S refrigerator cars will more accurately represent their prototypes.

One other discrepancy is common to all available models, though: They have incorrect roof details. C&S cars had wood roofs rather than the steel (Murphy) roofs on the models. I am now working on a way to convert existing model roofs to C&S standard wooden roofs. If enough of you are interested, I'll write up an article. But we'll never know how you feel unless you send a note to LETTERS.