American Freedom Train.......


Well the commissioned AFT 'Pie-Car' No.202 is finally finished! The car will be delivered to the new owner via the MadCoW interchange at LaRue. Rumor has it that the new owner of the car is impressed and has ordered at least three more; entrance car, #4449's heavyweight tool car, and a concession car. It's gonna be a busy spring!!

Here the AFT 202 arrives behind #4449 at LaRue.
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Farewell Photo.........
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All set to go with some other parts of the train..........
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More to come...........

Johnny
 
With a fresh 18" of snow, I can get a lot done..................

The American Freedom Train carried two(2) generator cars. One served a dual purpose as both, exit car and display car power plant and was numbered 111. The second, was numbered 200 and served as power for the rest of the train as well as concession equipment on the display site.

It is car No. 200 that is next to be built. This generator car was only accessed from adjoining cars, that is, it had no side access. The car like most on the train was a coverted baggage car.

The starting point is a Rivarossi smooth side that I have filled the 'A' end baggage doors and the bottoms of the 'B' ends.

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Next, I made the cuts for the grill openings and framed them with styrene.

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After building from scratch the grills, I installed them into the sides of the car as they were situated on the train. And pre-drilled all the holes for grabs.

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And now it's on to the paintshop..........

More to come,

Johnny
 
Wow Johnny, that train is gonna be awesome, every time you update it, I drool! Car to share some pointers on passenger car modeling, I have a BNSF & UP business car train I need (want) to build.
 
......... Care to share some pointers on passenger car modeling, I have a BNSF & UP business car train I need (want) to build.


Well Josh, to tell you the truth, When I cut into this car, it was the FIRST time I have ever made a hole in the side of plastic:eek: . I have spliced stuff together before, but NEVER tried to cut square openings. So all I can really say is, go slow, and remember you can always remove a little more, .....but it's hard to replace 'over-cutting':eek: :( .

More to come

Johnny
 
Really nice work there Johnny , And your right measure twice and cut once or you can always salt it up but it's hard to salt it down !
 
Looking great as usual Johnny, Its really coming together!!...Love watching this project unfold!!
Me on the other hand, I must be doing something wrong. I cut it twice and it's still too short!! :D
 
Looking great as usual Johnny, Its really coming together!!...Love watching this project unfold!!
Me on the other hand, I must be doing something wrong. I cut it twice and it's still too short!! :D


Thanks Bob!! If I posted the outtakes, It would be a whole other thread:D !!

Rock on!!

Johnny
 
My problem lies in measuring twice, cutting it and its too long, trimming it shorter then its too short!
 
My problem lies in measuring twice, cutting it and its too long, trimming it shorter then its too short!

Josh, I know what you mean. I had the same problem and here is what I did to help correct it. Instead of cutting, once I get close to where I need to be I use 400 grit sandpaper to get the rest of the way. I don't have a 'chopper' so all these cuts are done by making a template and using it to make the other parts. this results in parts that are usually just a hair too big(long). So the sanding works fine.

A chopper, I gotta get a CHOPPER:eek: .

Johnny
 
Although the Lionel cars provide a great starting point for the 'Showcase' cars, they lacked the correct display windows. In an earlier post in this thread It shows the car that I redid by placing the display items in correct position and fixing them up a bit. The photos also show what the windows looked like, stock from Lionel...........

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The cars actually had windows that went all the way up to the base of the roof. This gave the public an ample viewing space for the encased diplays on these two cars. So with that in mind, I set out to create the look of those windows. I never thought the car, as Lionel produced it, captured the 'feel' these cars had.

After cutting out the tops of the original windows, I used various sizes of strip styrene to frame out the windows............

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Because the roof and windows were cast together at the factory(like IHC, Rivarossi, etc,....), the window castings had to be cut away for the roof to fit properly. I left the ends to give a secure fit, and this is where the cars' weight are stored as well...........

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I created bulheads from styrene to replicate the individual compartments the cars had. With the roof in place it looks a lot better..........

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New flooring has been added as well for display purposes and the car is ready for paint.

Thanks for looking,

More to come,

Johnny
 
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Johnny, Thanks for taking the time to stop and photgraph your work,It is really helpful . Can't wait to see the end reult of this car !!
 
Johnny, Thanks for taking the time to stop and photgraph your work,It is really helpful . Can't wait to see the end reult of this car !!

Thanks Paul,

I wish I took more photos along the way, but, as I'm sure you know, I just get carried away i the project and before you know it, it's almost done. These showcase cars really fascinated me. When I saw them in Madison in 1975, they were a sight to behold. The train arrived(behind SP 4449) around 1:00am and the cars were lit up as bright as bright could be! The cars were kept lit all along the rout and the train travelled mostly at night. What a great memory.

Johnny
 
Got some progress to share.......

This is the AFT car No. 111. It is an Exit/Generator car. Again converted from a baggage car. It powered the display portion of the train.

Here the basic framing is complete and the extra door added. The car used the double doors for the public to exit the car and the extra door was added to gain access to the generator.

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This view shows work being done on the grills. The large grill is done and ready for body putty.

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Same side from opposite end.

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More to come.........

Johnny
 
Thanks Everyone,

Here's some more progress and a new car gets started.........

The AFT No. 111 Generator/Exit car has her blue stripe....

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Now the two generator cars are ready for red.......

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The next car started was actually the tool car for the SP4449. It carried the No. PNWC(Pacific Northwest Chapter) 76. It was the oldest car in the consist and was converted from a Heavyweight Combine.

Starting point... (with appologies to GrandeMan) is an IHC combine. Here it is ready for primer with small doors plugged and the small window bars removed.......

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And after receiving a blue(airbrushed) stripe. Of note is that this is the only car that the stripes wrapped around the end of the car, all the others had black ends.....

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More to come........

Johnny
 



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