Reason for the build...

This is a project I have been wanting to tackle for a long time, but other hobby projects and Historical Society projects have been higher on the priority list.  Now is the time.

The inspiration for the build are Chicago & Eastern Illinois USRA hoppers.  

This isn't a great picture, but you can get an idea for the type of car I am modeling.  These 260 of these two bay hoppers were acquired in 1940 from Hymann Michaels, a used freight car dealer/scrap dealer, in Chicago, IL.  The cars started life as Public Service of New Jersey hopper cars.  The cars were painted black and had the C&EI logo, "Dependable Heat and Power" applied to the cars.  There is an old Champ decal that is still around on Ebay and there is also a decal manufacturer working on a version of this decal as well.  

Two of the six hoppers will get this paint scheme.  

Two of the other six will get a paint scheme for a friend's freelanced railroad.  

The last two will be topic for another blog post.  

Dave

Looks like a good project, I

Looks like a good project, I can't wait to see construction to begin

St. Louis & O'Fallon connection...

The last two of the six Tichy hoppers have a connection to a very little known railroad called the St. Louis & O'Fallon Railroad.  

The SLOF was a small railroad that operated from East St. Louis in Illinois about 8 miles to rural Belleville, IL.  In fact, part of the SLOF right of way is now a part of the Illinois side of Metrolink.  The SLOF had several coal mines and a glass manufacturing plant along the right of way.  Most of the coal went across the river by the TRRA and Manufactures Railway Association.  

The Chicago & Eastern Illinois acquired the SLOF in 1954.  The hope was to increase business originating from the East St. Louis area.  Those hopes were never realized.

Included in the purchase was one engine, one caboose, and several hopper cars.  While photo evidence of the hoppers is hard to come by, some of the cars were twin bay hoppers and some were older, I believe, USRA twin hoppers.  

The TRRA has a back issue of its magazine that covers the SLOF in more detail.  

Mask Island Decals has produced decals for SLOF hoppers and can be acquired from the C&EI HS or from Mask Island Decals directly.  

Therefore, one car will be in SLOF paint, and one will be a C&EI repaint of a hopper in the same class.  

Dave

Unboxing the kit...

Here are the parts of the kit.

The parts are all packaged.  You can see the car bodies, the sacks of parts, and the sack of trucks.

The bodies are free of flash and look pretty darn cool.  I have assembled the Tichy wreck train kits and enjoy the experience of putting together these well designed kits.

Here are the parts in the sacks.  

The kit also includes the grab irons and two sizes of wire to make the brake lines and some grabs on the end of the hoppers.

Dave

Organizing the parts...

The first step was to organize the parts for the build.  I plan on assembling them in order as I go along, figuring that will save me time overall.  My one concern is that if I mess up one step, then I have messed it up six times.

 Here are all the parts.  The first step is to file the under frames so that they fit under the car bodies.  I used a set of files that I use only for plastic to accomplish this task.

Dave

Gluing on the weights

The next step was to super glue on the weights.  There are little lines on the slopes that show where the weights should be glued.  Pretty easy step.

I am missing one set of weights.  Anyone have an extra?  I contacted Tichy about getting a replacement part.  Will be interesting to see if I get a response.  

Next up is attaching the break parts and forming the break lines with wire.

Dave

Coal cars tend to multiply.

Coal cars tend to multiply. Sure you start out with 6 but before you know it you have hundreds. Don't ask how I know.

For proof the guys at the club are on me again. Ron sent me an e-mail that said he found an image of our club layout on Google Earth, he also sent it to everyone else, except Leroy and Paul they do not have e-mail.

I will post it for you since coal cars are applicable here.

Now to me that is what a proper yard should look like!

...

That's exactly how a yard should look.  So full you can't do any switching!!!

@Rob..

Thanks for sharing the picture.  That is awesome and hilarious!  

I totally get that hopper cars are contagious.  Several years ago I got Karig's coal car book and have been studying them ever since.  

Thanks for sharing.  

Dave

Break Equipment...

The next component to assemble is the brake components.  Working in assembly line fashion does seem to go quicker.  I removed the brake cylinder and filled the mark with sanding sticks (cheap nail files from Wal-Mart). 

Since I plan on installing parts of the train line and brake rigging, I next drilled holes for the ends of the wire.

To help start the drill bit, I have found that using a needle in a pin vice to mark a dimple will prevent the drill bit from wondering away from the initial point.  Very handy tip I picked up years ago.

Here is the assembled brake components on the frames.  The next step will be to bend and attach the brake line parts and then keep on assembling the cars.

Thanks for looking,

Dave

Trucks

Will you be using the Tichy trucks?  When I built my 4 ore cars, I used Kadee trucks, in part to add a wee bit of weight; those ore cars have no place to hide any weight.  Also, I hate building trucks--they seem to come apart at bad times--like on a high bridge or in a tunnel.

I do like the tichy kits--did 4 ore cars, and have a tank car on the workbench.

Trucks @IrishRover...

For now I will be using the Tichy supplied trucks.  The trucks supplied in the package are ready to go, just pop in the wheel sets.  I believe the trucks supplied in the ore car kits are kit built.  I have had similar troubles with other kit built trucks.  

At some point, when the hobby budget allows, I plan on replacing all my plastic wheel sets with metal wheel sets. 

Thanks for the post.

Dave

Kit built

The ore car trucks are kit built.  The Tank Car, I was pleasantly surprised to see, has one piece trucks.  I'll be looking forwards to seeing the results of your build; I'd done my ore cars in pairs.

Missing Weight Resolved...

I contacted Tichy about the missing weight and one is being mailed to me today.  Awesome customer service and another reason to like their products.  Thanks Mr. Tichy!

Dave

Trainline Part 1

The next step was to add the airline between the cylinder and the valve.  The directions included a line template for how to bend the included wire.  

I used a set of needle nose pliers to hold the wire and bend the 90 degree angles with my fingernails.  This method worked pretty well.  I had considered making a bending jig but decided that the time and effort to make a jig wouldn't justify the results as the wires will be mostly hidden anyway.  

This not so good pictures shows the results.  One airline is installed and the others are in the background ready to be installed.  I used super glue to attach the wires.

The next step will be to attach one other part of the trainline and then it will be back to gluing on the end pieces.  

Dave

Very Nice

I have a this set of 6 , also.... want to build mine for me

Really like the wire for

Really like the wire for brake pipe detail. I have begun a build of 10 kits for a display at our up coming open house and some of the real detailed kits in plastic have plastic for piping. Would love to be bending wire instead of trimming and sanding tiny plastic pipes. Keep sharing your progress I might have to get some of those kits, do they come with decals or do you need to buy those yourself from another source?

Replies....

@ Don, 

If I had them when I started, doing 12 would have been just as easy as doing 6!  But, now you can follow along!  

@Rob,

The kits I purchased do not have decals.  I do believe their individual kits can be purchased with or without decals.  You can check out their website for more information at http://www.tichytraingroup.com.  

Thanks for following along,

Dave

Train line part 2...

The next step was to finish the trainline by attaching a plastic connecting piece to the air valve and to the .020 wire trainline.  I always worry about working with little parts as they inevitably seem to fly into the either when cutting or moving and sure enough, I spent about five minutes looking for one of the parts.  I think the key is to work right over the desktop so the pieces can't wonder to far.  

This is the finished brake detail minus cutting the remaining wire.  The parts are engineered and molded well enough to make a good fit on the plastic and metal part.  Although, I did file down the nozzle of the valve to better sit in the concavity of the part.  

These are the finished ends of the break lines.  Next is on to the hopper car build.  

In the background you can see my AC gluing method.  I use a stack of sticky notes and a toothpick to apply the AC.  

Dave

End build part A (for the A end, get it?)

The first part on the body build is to cut the A end from the sprue and file the top to a press fit on the hopper body.  I used my nail file boards and this part went pretty smooth.  

Here you can see the glued in A end.  The pieces are very thin and I found it was easier to use a sharpe #11 blade to remove the parts rather than a pair of flush cutting pliers.  

However, BE CAREFUL!

The directions warn against getting glue on your fingers, and sure enough, it happened.  I held the parts together a little to close to my fingers.  I also noticed some residue on the sides of the cars as well.  A couple of lessons learned: 1, watch where you put your fingers, 2, wash your hands while working.  

I believe I will be able to prime and sand down any remaining finger marks using a fine sanding stick.

Next step, part B!

Dave

End Build Part B and braces...

I got the B end completed.  Again, I marvel and the engineering that when into the design and manufacture of the parts.  The pieces just seem to drop in nicely.  

 Here are the hoppers B ends.  You can make out the brake detail and train lines.  I also added the interior braces.  I don't have interior shots of the four prototype cars I am modeling but chose to put in the braces anyway as I thought they are a cool feature.  

 A close up of the B end detail.  

I also glued in the under frame as well.  As you can see in the previous picture the kit includes stands on which to place the cars while the other details are being added.  I plan on using those stands for future builds.

Dave

Doors...

Just finished the door detal.

 The door detail consists of three beams and three little square pieces that try really hard to strain the eyes and get lost in the carpet.  Don't ask me how I know.  These are the stands I referred to in my last post.

A close up view of the door detail.  

Next up is drilling out umpteen billion holes for the grab irons.  That will be fun!

Enjoy,

Dave

@ cei modeler

I am thinking Tichy should be putting you on the payroll. Nice build story and you have convinced me to buy some of these in the future. They look to be very well done kits and very enjoyable to build, that is a win-win situation for me. Thanks for sharing your build.

Good stuff

Thanks for sharing this build; I'm enjoying following it.  Tichy does make excellent kits, so a modeler can concentrate on making the car instead of trying to make the kit work.  They are, as far as I know, the only manufacturer that says, "If it doesn't fit, you're doing something wrong," instead of, "If it doesn't fit, sand or add putty."