As my vacation continues, so does work on my freelance, narrow gauge freight cars. What was a basic chassis with ends and a deck yesterday, is now this:

3/4 view. Mostly stripwood, formed wire for grabirons, kadee On3 couplers. Still needs door hardware and a roof, and I think the door needs some kind of bracing board. Oh, and a brake wheel, and since this is supposed to be old-school, end ventilation hatches at some point.

Behold, for it is vacation time again, which means I finally have time to really work on my railroad! First project up for work was reworking my rolling workshop. I obtained a (cheapish, wooden) microwave cart with two lower shelves and a single drawer, and sorted and piled my project supplies on it. If anyone asks, I can take pictures of this later.

As everybody is really getting on board with weathering lately, I thought I would share a couple of cars that I have done recently. 

11/11/17 

I added this car to the list.  As you can see, I am trying oil paints as per the recent MRH article.  This is just the first layer as oils are very slow drying.  The oils I am using are a "value line" at  my local AC Moore and at only $3.99 a tube, it made the initial investment for 4 colors under $20 bucks.  

A few months ago I picked up an Athearn FMC covered hopper with etched-metal running boards that had bowed up in a couple places. As seen below, they are attached with a series of pins into the carbody. Two of these pins are loose on one side and one on the other. What would be the best way to re-attach these? I haven't found a way to get inside the car so I *think* that is out of the question.