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Occasionally I get a hold of a few older modern Roundhouse kits. I found some modern 50' tank car kits, and the detail looks ok (like some older RTR Atlas I have), but whatever the lines are on the sides (brake lines?) aren't in there. I figure I can duplicate the lines with brass wire or tubing, but the brackets that hold them to the tank, I don't have a clue on.
I did a details search on Walthers, and came up with nothing. Is there something out there, or will I have to cut some styrene?
from looking at this picture of a tank it looks like some square tubing (styrene or brass) would suffice. The lines on the side look like safety rails not brake lines as they are not connected notice the gap at the ladder.
In some cases, depending on the prototype I use handrail posts/stantions as the brackets along the lines. I mark, then drill a suitable hole and hold it with a spot of CA if necessary. If you drill the hole correctly, it can just press in and stay.
Pic: Some of the MDC tanks (shorties in particular) have a hole in the end platform that will hold the end of the line/pipe/rod. It is vertical so you'll have to make a carefully measured 90 degree bend to get it to fit in. On the shorties, the rod doesn't stop at the ladder, it goes just behind it. On the few prototypes that I've seen there were no intermediate brackets either.
If you can find some of the older Athearn handrail sets with the eyelets rather than the fold over variety, they make it real easy to run a thin brass tube through and they hold well to the car. The side handrails from Custom Finishing look almost identical to the Athearn ones but the Athearn sets are way less expensive.
