Erie Lackawanna
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From: "Schuyler Larrabee" schuyler DOT larrabee AT verizon DOT net
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:25:09 -0500
Subject: RE: (erielack) Covered hopper - better photo
"DSCF0012.jpg" - image/jpeg, 2848x2136 (24bit)

Tony, I'm a bit flattered that the photo of my model inspired you to go find the QC kits. I'd
advise you a bit on them if you want to get to similar results, however.

Seal the wood parts, all of them, a lot. IIRC (it's been QUITE a while, ~20 years) I used airplane
dope because I had it. OTOH, it worked well. I used 600 grit paper, and sealed and sanded them at
LEAST three times. I might have also used 0000 steel wool on them. Be careful not to flatten the
hat channels on the side out of shape. If I were doing this again, I'd probably glue some 600 grit
(or better, you can get it now) sandpaper to a metal straightedge with a Very Sharp Corner Edge, and
sand along each hat individually, very carefully and lightly, to get sharper edges than I ended up
with. Seal and sand the stripwood too, which I didn't do, at least, not as much, and you can see
some "furry" stuff on the end verticals in the photo.

The ladders are brass ladder stock, bent at the top and bottom as you can see in the picture.
Grabs, I ditched the green crap that came in the box for brass wire, probably .012" which I used in
those days, I'd use .008" or maybe ..010" now. I used some roofwalk material that Quality Craft
made for just a little while, which had a nice thickness to it, but the openings in it (it's open
grid) were too large, like 3x4 inches in scale, so at full size they'd be dangerous. 20 years ago,
this was a jaw-dropper of a detail. Today, I'd use Plano Products etched walkways. The steps below
the frame are brass strip, as are the diagonal braces for them on the ends (see the attached end
shot) and the little steppy thing where the cut lever is attached is a bit of brass sheet with an
eyebolt for the cut lever. All those soldered together and then 5-minute epoxy'd to the wood. I
epoxy'd the cut lever to the bottom of the MKD-4 coupler pocket; today, I'd use the 58 coupler in
the scale width pocket. Comparing just now, that would exactly match, as it should, the centersill
milled piece. A trick I've figured out since those days is that I'd make the cut lever as you can
see it, and then when it's at the point where it's under the coupler, bend it so it goes back toward
the car, under the draft gear box, and, with a loop in the end, hold it there with the screw
fastening the draft gear to the car. If you use the scale draft gear 58s, you have to use the
provided screws to attach them to the car, as the box is cast in that "slippery engineering plastic"
you cannot glue to anything else. This allows you to remove the coupler if/when it breaks. I
can't recall if I substituted somebody else's brake gear castings or not, but, probably.

Those are Barber S-2 trucks. Those on my model are white metal made by Roller Bearing Models I'm
not sure if they're still available (doubt it), but there are others available now, I think even by
Kadee if you like their trucks. I'd REBOXX these trucks for the narrower tread, except the wheels
are painted Just The Way I Like Them now. These very seldom see service in a train, so the treads
ought to be cleaned up.) The decals are Herald King, but maybe Paul Tup's done something that will
save your . . um, you know. Or somebody else will have an idea.

SGL

> -----Original Message-----
> From: erielack-owner@lists.elhts.org
> [mailto:erielack-owner@lists.elhts.org] On Behalf Of
> tonyhorn1@comcast.net
> Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 11:02 AM
> To: Schuyler Larrabee; erielack@lists.elhts.org
> Subject: Re: (erielack) Covered hopper - better photo
>
> After viewing Schuyler's photo, and having wanted some of
> these 100 ton covered hoppers, I searched eBay without much
> success. However, there was a reference to an individual in
> Florida that specializes in out-of-production kits. He does
> have some of the QC 1979 Prestige kits - the 100t covered
> hopper. I have gotten three from him and, in talking with
> him yesterday, he has 4 left should any of you be interested:
>
> 2 ea #352 D&M
> 2 ea #353 GT
>
> They are $15 ea + shipping
>
> Contact:
>
> Jay Cohen
> 800-932-8221
> www.jaystrains.com (not everything is clearly listed on the
> web page; I thought he only had one of these kits, but
> ordered an additional 2 kits after seeing his printed catalog
> sheets that were included in the first model I had ordered.)
>
>
>
> -------------- Original message --------------
> From: "Schuyler Larrabee"
>
> > NOTE: This message had contained at least one image attachment.
> > To view or download the image(s), click on or cut and paste the
> > following URL into your web browser:
> >
> >
> > http://lists.elhts.org/listthumb.cgi?erielack-12-27-06
> >
> > EL_21324_by_SGL_QC_kit.jpg (image/jpeg, 2848x2136 1458118
> bytes, BF: 4.17 ppb)
> >
> > Some time ago we had a discussion about the EL's 100 ton
> hoppers. I posted a
> > crummy, crummy photo
> > of the Quality Craft kits I built up as these cars. I
> finally broke down and
> > bought a digital
> > camera this last month (Not a Christmas present, except
> maybe from/to me, I
> > suppose. Somewhat
> > forced by a need for photos for the office, but then, I was
> ready.). So, to
> > make up for the
> > previous example, here is a much better photo, however
> impromptu the photo.
> >
> >
> > SGL
> >
> >
> > The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
> > Sponsored by the ELH&TS
> > http://www.elhts.org
> --
> Tony Horn
> ELHS #2
>
> The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List
> Sponsored by the ELH&TS
> http://www.elhts.org
>


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