Scratch building an old-ish caboose


V

Vince-RA

Well-Known Member
I'm loosely targeting the late 1800s/very early 1900s granite railroads, specifically in and around Barre, VT, in HO scale - see previous (very very old) thread on building a flat car: https://modelrailroadforums.com/for...-a-late-1800s-flatcar-lots-of-pictures.22382/

It's been pretty easy to find kits to build out older boxcars and such, and I have several Bachmann Spectrum 0-6-0 locos that should do the trick, but I haven't been able to find any cabooses that suited me. I had a handful of spare parts from other builds and sample bags, so I figured maybe I would scratch build one! I drew out some rough sketches but it quickly became apparent that I didn't have enough material to meet the drawing parameters, so I kind of winged it. This turned out to not be such a great idea, but oh well...on to the pics!

First built the basic box structure. I used a scrap of caboose roof from a Northeastern Scale Lumber sample pack and some misc basswood. Side note - the Perfect Car Kit Construction and Good Car Sides Forever guides from LaBelle Woodworking are REALLY great (and free!) resources - https://www.labellemodels.com/hints-pointers-c-91.html

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Next up, the cupola. I originally planned to order one from Bitter Creek Models, but they were out of stock so tried to do it myself. This was a HUGE pain, I don't care to think about how long it took. The sides are 1/16" thick (also from Northeastern) which made this possible - I don't think I could have done it with the usual 1/32" stuff you get in kits.

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I used the previously mentioned LaBelle guide to glue scraps of siding together endwise, then added some windows. I did the entire top/bottom frame boards as a single unit and then cut out the gaps to avoid having wonky alignment/leveling - this worked pretty well.

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Sides on the car, and starting to put some extra details on the end. I got very lucky here in that the windows aligned almost perfectly with the blocks I used for the end of the frame. Again, actual prior planning rather than just winging it probably would have been good! :) I also remembered just in the nick of time to glue some lead shot inside to bump up the car's weight.

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Got the cupola glued in place, and started adding some details. Not sure what I'll do about the windows that face blocks (all those that you can see from this angle). I guess will paint them black to fake it, I definitely don't want any part in trying to cut through that whole block to make them pass through to the interior.

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So far I think it looks pretty good, but now that I actually measure it the damn thing is about 13 scale feet tall :D Probably not remotely prototypical, but as I don't have a prototype, I'm cutting myself some slack!! I suspect it will look weird with other rolling stock but probably will look fine as a standalone piece somewhere on a layout/diorama. Anyway, still a good bit more work to do - I'll add a ladder and brake stave on this end, and perhaps a railing if I can make it work. Finish up the roof walk, and put some grab irons on the other end. Then of course paint and add couplers and trucks. I'll post more pics as I make more progress.
 
Vince-RA said:
I'm loosely targeting the late 1800s/very early 1900s granite railroads, specifically in and around Barre, VT, in HO scale - see previous (very very old) thread on building a flat car: https://modelrailroadforums.com/for...-a-late-1800s-flatcar-lots-of-pictures.22382/

It's been pretty easy to find kits to build out older boxcars and such, and I have several Bachmann Spectrum 0-6-0 locos that should do the trick, but I haven't been able to find any cabooses that suited me. I had a handful of spare parts from other builds and sample bags, so I figured maybe I would scratch build one! I drew out some rough sketches but it quickly became apparent that I didn't have enough material to meet the drawing parameters, so I kind of winged it. This turned out to not be such a great idea, but oh well...on to the pics!

First built the basic box structure. I used a scrap of caboose roof from a Northeastern Scale Lumber sample pack and some misc basswood. Side note - the Perfect Car Kit Construction and Good Car Sides Forever guides from LaBelle Woodworking are REALLY great (and free!) resources - https://www.labellemodels.com/hints-pointers-c-91.html

View attachment 152157

Next up, the cupola. I originally planned to order one from Bitter Creek Models, but they were out of stock so tried to do it myself. This was a HUGE pain, I don't care to think about how long it took. The sides are 1/16" thick (also from Northeastern) which made this possible - I don't think I could have done it with the usual 1/32" stuff you get in kits.

View attachment 152158

I used the previously mentioned LaBelle guide to glue scraps of siding together endwise, then added some windows. I did the entire top/bottom frame boards as a single unit and then cut out the gaps to avoid having wonky alignment/leveling - this worked pretty well.

View attachment 152159

Sides on the car, and starting to put some extra details on the end. I got very lucky here in that the windows aligned almost perfectly with the blocks I used for the end of the frame. Again, actual prior planning rather than just winging it probably would have been good! :) I also remembered just in the nick of time to glue some lead shot inside to bump up the car's weight.

View attachment 152160

Got the cupola glued in place, and started adding some details. Not sure what I'll do about the windows that face blocks (all those that you can see from this angle). I guess will paint them black to fake it, I definitely don't want any part in trying to cut through that whole block to make them pass through to the interior.

View attachment 152161

So far I think it looks pretty good, but now that I actually measure it the damn thing is about 13 scale feet tall :D Probably not remotely prototypical, but as I don't have a prototype, I'm cutting myself some slack!! I suspect it will look weird with other rolling stock but probably will look fine as a standalone piece somewhere on a layout/diorama. Anyway, still a good bit more work to do - I'll add a ladder and brake stave on this end, and perhaps a railing if I can make it work. Finish up the roof walk, and put some grab irons on the other end. Then of course paint and add couplers and trucks. I'll post more pics as I make more progress.
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OK, so it's a little taller than you wanted, but I think as you didn't have a prototype to work from, that's pretty neat, nice work you've done
 
Thanks, I am really happy with the overall look. The first time building anything is always a learning experience, with or without plans.

I added some more details - roof walks, grab irons, corner straps, roof stack, and a ladder. The ladder parts are just glued together with CA and are not very durable. I like the look of wire (vs. prebuilt styrene ladders for example) - is there a better way to do this? I've never soldered before but maybe that's yet another thing I should look into? lol

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Vince-RA said:
Thanks, I am really happy with the overall look. The first time building anything is always a learning experience, with or without plans.

I added some more details - roof walks, grab irons, corner straps, roof stack, and a ladder. The ladder parts are just glued together with CA and are not very durable. I like the look of wire (vs. prebuilt styrene ladders for example) - is there a better way to do this? I've never soldered before but maybe that's yet another thing I should look into? lol

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I really like this, soldering the ladder would certainly make it more durable, especially if your going to move it around, but positioning the steps on the ladder behind the uprights rather than if front would hide the join, you could also solder the steps between the uprights, but that would be a very fiddly job to so I would stay with the current method you have.

Soldering stuff together is a learning curve, took me ages to learn, but I'm hopeless with things like that, with practice it's not that hard, as I found out, equipment is quite cheap and available in most hardware stores, you don't need anything expensive, YouTube has lots of tutorials if you decide to go that route.

My only real criticism I have is the windows, it just looks odd with the sides having actual windows but not on the front and back, however
I can't wait to see this painted, I know already it's going to look brilliant and a great addition to your layout.
 
Smudge617 said:
I really like this, soldering the ladder would certainly make it more durable, especially if your going to move it around, but positioning the steps on the ladder behind the uprights rather than if front would hide the join, you could also solder the steps between the uprights, but that would be a very fiddly job to so I would stay with the current method you have.

Soldering stuff together is a learning curve, took me ages to learn, but I'm hopeless with things like that, with practice it's not that hard, as I found out, equipment is quite cheap and available in most hardware stores, you don't need anything expensive, YouTube has lots of tutorials if you decide to go that route.

My only real criticism I have is the windows, it just looks odd with the sides having actual windows but not on the front and back, however
I can't wait to see this painted, I know already it's going to look brilliant and a great addition to your layout.
Click to expand...

Completely agree - at least, I should have cut out the scribed siding so there would be flat wood, like I did with the door. Too late for any of that now though. And who knows, maybe black paint will hide it well enough. I thought about cutting all the way through the solid end blocks but it seemed like it would have been incredibly annoying, and maybe also look weird. Originally I just planned to do a vertical post in each corner of the car but as I tried that it was clear it was really really hard to get perfectly square and it was not very sturdy, so I gave up on it.

At some point it seems like learning to solder for stuff like this would be nice, but there are already sooo many techniques to learn for modeling that I'm fine to avoid adding another for the moment. On to painting I suppose! (yet another technique in which I don't have much confidence haha...only one way to get better though)
 
Vince-RA said:
Completely agree - at least, I should have cut out the scribed siding so there would be flat wood, like I did with the door. Too late for any of that now though. And who knows, maybe black paint will hide it well enough. I thought about cutting all the way through the solid end blocks but it seemed like it would have been incredibly annoying, and maybe also look weird. Originally I just planned to do a vertical post in each corner of the car but as I tried that it was clear it was really really hard to get perfectly square and it was not very sturdy, so I gave up on it.

At some point it seems like learning to solder for stuff like this would be nice, but there are already sooo many techniques to learn for modeling that I'm fine to avoid adding another for the moment. On to painting I suppose! (yet another technique in which I don't have much confidence haha...only one way to get better though)
Click to expand...
Yes, a lot to learn and somehow never enough time to learn it either, I'm still pretty poor at the painting thing, never seem to get it right, and my weathering is abysmal, but each one is a little better I hope.
I only learnt to solder because I wanted to run DCC, and it's cheaper to buy a DC locomotive and convert it, as most of my OO scale (I run both UK OO scale and American HO) needed to be hard wired, I didn't leave myself much choice.
 
Vince-RA said:
Completely agree - at least, I should have cut out the scribed siding so there would be flat wood, like I did with the door. Too late for any of that now though. And who knows, maybe black paint will hide it well enough. I thought about cutting all the way through the solid end blocks but it seemed like it would have been incredibly annoying, and maybe also look weird. Originally I just planned to do a vertical post in each corner of the car but as I tried that it was clear it was really really hard to get perfectly square and it was not very sturdy, so I gave up on it.

At some point it seems like learning to solder for stuff like this would be nice, but there are already sooo many techniques to learn for modeling that I'm fine to avoid adding another for the moment. On to painting I suppose! (yet another technique in which I don't have much confidence haha...only one way to get better though)
Click to expand...

Soldering is just another skill you get to learn as a model railroad junkie. Looks like you did pretty good on those wires! I will add the most important thing with soldering is ... Clean..clean..clean - parts and solder tip.

Later
 
It's definitely too tall, but not freakishly so. The blacked out "windows" look ok - not great, but there is no way I'm going to cut them out for this build. If this caboose were on a layout I don't expect I'd ever really notice.

This is the first time I've painted something more complicated than a flat car (also did a LaBelle models 34' box car at the same time) and definitely have a few lessons learned:
1. Drill holes for grab irons before assembly - my pin vise was too big to get the ones on the cupola where I really wanted
2. Paint before final addition of details like grab irons, ladder, and especially roof walks. I have a long thin brush somewhere that I might be able to use to finish painting under the walks, but ugh, what a pain.
3. I see why people like airbrushes!

Overall though I really like how it turned out, definitely will apply the lessons learned to the next build!

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I really like it, the only thing I notice is the smoke stack is turned so it would bring air into the caboose instead of exhausting it.
Shouldn't the openings be turned so they point to the sides thus drawing the smoke out as the caboose moves?
T.C.
 
T.C. said:
I really like it, the only thing I notice is the smoke stack is turned so it would bring air into the caboose instead of exhausting it.
Shouldn't the openings be turned so they point to the sides thus drawing the smoke out as the caboose moves?
T.C.
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Yeah I suppose you are right there! :D Another one for the "fix in version 2" list!
 
Vince-RA said:
It's definitely too tall, but not freakishly so. The blacked out "windows" look ok - not great, but there is no way I'm going to cut them out for this build. If this caboose were on a layout I don't expect I'd ever really notice.

This is the first time I've painted something more complicated than a flat car (also did a LaBelle models 34' box car at the same time) and definitely have a few lessons learned:
1. Drill holes for grab irons before assembly - my pin vise was too big to get the ones on the cupola where I really wanted
2. Paint before final addition of details like grab irons, ladder, and especially roof walks. I have a long thin brush somewhere that I might be able to use to finish painting under the walks, but ugh, what a pain.
3. I see why people like airbrushes!

Overall though I really like how it turned out, definitely will apply the lessons learned to the next build!

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My only criticism is that perhaps using two single axle trucks rather than double axles, the caboose looks too short for double axles, other than that, add some decals and you have something to be proud of. 👍
 
Smudge617 said:
My only criticism is that perhaps using two single axle trucks rather than double axles, the caboose looks too short for double axles, other than that, add some decals and you have something to be proud of. 👍
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I thought about this too, but decided it was probably a bit big for single axle trucks AND more importantly, I didn't have any :D
 
Vince-RA said:
I thought about this too, but decided it was probably a bit big for single axle trucks AND more importantly, I didn't have any :D
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Yeah, could be a slight problem then, :) should be interesting seeing how she rolls behind a loco tho'
 
The frame sides were not quite symmetrical :( Wheel spacing was slightly different on each. It does seem like there is enough play in the axle slot that it may be mostly ok. But I don't think there's much that can be done short of getting a new frame.
 
Vince-RA said:
I added some more details - roof walks, grab irons, corner straps, roof stack, and a ladder. The ladder parts are just glued together with CA and are not very durable. I like the look of wire (vs. prebuilt styrene ladders for example) - is there a better way to do this? I've never soldered before but maybe that's yet another thing I should look into? lol
Click to expand...
Not bad for a first build. For my soldering i use small pine board about 3.5"×7". This is especially usefull for flat work like ladders. To hold pieces in place i have rail nails which i cut the heads off, this way i can lift the work if i need to inspect it without pulling the nails. If i see that a nail or two are in the wrong spot i pull them out with mini pliers and just push them back in different spot. Jig like that is basically made as i add more pieces to solder. I was able to solder pantograph assemblies on improvised jig like that, but in this case every piece had to be precisely cut to size. Hope this helps.
 
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