This is an example of what can be done with a cheap train set car and a little work. This car started life as a Tyco train set UP gon. It was yellow plastic and had all the UP markings in red.
First I stripped the red paint off the car and then removed most of the cast on detail, like grabs and ladders. These were replaced with A-line grabs and some left over scrap box ladders and brake wheel/housing.
