Freight Car Models – Notes on Designing, Building, and Operating Model Railroads

Shawmut freight car update

I was recently searching for something on my blog and I came across Perry Squier’s posts on Shawmut freight cars he was building. After reviewing his posts again, I realized the final appearance of some models had not been shared. It’s time for project closure!

The latest freight car model

With the recent addition of air hoses and wheel spray marks on the car ends, I have finished this Westerfield Models HO scale resin freight car kit. I started building this kit in early June and planned to post regular progress reports. But things went awry and life got in the way. Let’s review the work.

Carmer uncoupling levers

*End view of DL&W 44317 on Pier 2 at Jersey City/Hoboken, NJ, ca. 1927. William B. Berry, Jr. photo from the NPS Steamtown collection*

Uncoupling levers are found on all freight cars on North American rails. In my 1926 focus, these levers would pull a pin from the top of the coupler to allow the knuckle to open. One version that was common on many early freight cars were the Carmer uncoupling levers, as seen in the DL&W box car in the lead image. These were a two-part design with many variations. Let’s review some basics and installation of these details on a few HO scale box cars.

Canadian Pacific automobile box car

Here’s an HO scale resin freight car kit that took me longer than expected to complete. It’s a 40-foot, Canadian Pacific (CPR) automobile box car that was offered by Yarmouth Model Works.

Fixing a finish

There are few things more frustrating than arriving at the end of a long term modeling project only to have an issue arise with the finish coat. That’s my opinion at least.