Model Railroading > Santa Fe passenger car construction

This is Santa Fe Budd diner 1481 as it appeared mid-1960's, (Budd 1937) under construction using Union Station Product custom sides. The ends and roof are Train Station Products, and the underbody is modified from Walthers Santa Fe 46 seat chair car, with the dining car interior from a Walthers PS Santa Fe diner. The car will be painted using Alclad ll black base, and stainless steel finish. The couplers are modified Kadee #118 type H tighlock and the steamlines are Barco type 3, from Coach Yard. Also under construction is a PS 1950 Lunch Counter Diner, using a Walthers PS Santa Fe diner as a base.

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Very nice.

ATSF 3751

A well executed model. Does Union Station laser cut there styrene body panels to include the fluting on the side or is this an add on? I am interested in Heavyweight SF passenger equipment. Do you know of any one that makes laser cut car sides for these early cars? Rivets could be duplicated with Archers product. A more significant issue is the absence of steam ejector air conditioning hatches for roofs of these cars.

Regards

Jere Ingram

Very nice work. Does the fluting match up pretty good to Walthers Budd Cars?

UPWPFan Wrote:
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> ATSF 3751
>
> A well executed model. Does Union Station laser
> cut there styrene body panels to include the
> fluting on the side or is this an add on? I am
> interested in Heavyweight SF passenger equipment.
> Do you know of any one that makes laser cut car
> sides for these early cars? Rivets could be
> duplicated with Archers product. A more
> significant issue is the absence of steam ejector
> air conditioning hatches for roofs of these cars.
>
>
> Regards
>
> Jere Ingram


Union Station Products will custom cut sides to your dimensions. While he doesn't list heavyweights, I would contact him to see if such a project would interest him. He is very flexable and exacting in his production. You would have to supply dimensions. The fluting is separate .015 thickness, while the sides are .010. I think this gives the best look, at least for me. I think for a heavyweight, you could use a Walthers Santa Fe heavyweight chair car and overlay the sides with your design if that is what you mean?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/12 14:43 by ATSF3751.

RailThunder Wrote:
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> Very nice work. Does the fluting match up pretty
> good to Walthers Budd Cars?


Yes, but the car you see is customized to match Walthers cars. If you order from him, you will need to specify that it needs to match Walthers cars. My car uses .010 sides and .015 fluting. His regular production models are .020 for both sides and fluting. I requested the smaller thickness and over some months we found the .015 fluting works the best. You can also specify the name and numberboards be cut into the sides. The fluting is normally separate, but he will cut it directly into the sides if you request. Also, the prices on the website indicate a $21 charge, but for my custom requests, he charges $40, a price well worth the effort.

It's coming together well!

Your custom thickness development seems to be the key. When I've looked at this product before, but in the .020" thickness, I had some concerns. Your model looks like it answers those.

Thanks for posting! Very worth investigating, for those elusive but distinctive meal service cars we all 'need' and will likely not get as RTR!

~ BZ

Notch16 Wrote:
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> It's coming together well!
>
> Your custom thickness development seems to be the
> key. When I've looked at this product before, but
> in the .020" thickness, I had some concerns. Your
> model looks like it answers those.
>
> Thanks for posting! Very worth investigating, for
> those elusive but distinctive meal service cars we
> all 'need' and will likely not get as RTR!
>
> ~ BZ

Yes, I've been working with Mark at Union Station Products for over a year trying to find the right "fit". He is a very patient guy who does excellent work. At an average cost of about $75 per completed car, it is certainly a less expensive alternate to brass.

Looks great. Please post more when you apply the Alclad. I am working on. SAL Sun Lounge doing the same type of modifications. I was going to try a NYC grey base to the Alclad. These are good looking cars.

Thomas G.

Are you in the Southern California Area?

Splitrock323 Wrote:
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> Looks great. Please post more when you apply the
> Alclad. I am working on. SAL Sun Lounge doing the
> same type of modifications. I was going to try a
> NYC grey base to the Alclad. These are good
> looking cars.
>
> Thomas G.


I've been using black based on some article I read awhile back. But, I'm sure a dark grey would work just as well. Stainless steel is one of those applications that vary from each individuals perspective, the black base gives it a deeper tone. I have tried dark grey and ultimatly settled on black.
I just painted the first coat of black Allclad ll, and will wait a few days for the next coat. I will then apply a high gloss finish before the stainless application. The air is fairly low in humidity where I live, so paint dries fast, although even at that, my experience says Allclad needs a few days to cure.
Just a side note for those guys out there that don't own sprayers and don't want to invest in buying and learning to use them, there are aerosol can paints that can do a reasonable job if you want a stainless finish. If you do use spray cans, be sure to apply laquer finishes, they are much thinner then enamels. In addition, there is a product called "Killer Chrome", which if used properly over a black gloss laquer base, gives a pretty decent finish that approaches stainless steel. It's not actually a paint as such, but a dispersant of metal particles in a laquer base, for lack of a better term. Car modelers use this stuff and once you get the hang of, it actually is simple to apply. Really, you don't "paint" with Killer Chrome, you spray "dust" the surface and then after it sets, wipe it with a soft cloth. Don't confuse this product with Testors buffing paints, it is quite different.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/12 14:23 by ATSF3751.

The Testors buffing paints do have the advantage of being buffable. So it's no problem to make one area shiny and the the area next door not-so-shiny.
i.e. car sides and the car ends and/or roof. The areas that the car washer brushes could reach tended to be more shiny since they were cleaner and the brushes kinda buffed the Stainless Steel to a degree.

PHall Wrote:
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> The Testors buffing paints do have the advantage
> of being buffable. So it's no problem to make one
> area shiny and the the area next door
> not-so-shiny.
> i.e. car sides and the car ends and/or roof. The
> areas that the car washer brushes could reach
> tended to be more shiny since they were cleaner
> and the brushes kinda buffed the Stainless Steel
> to a degree.


True, but I use dullcoat on the roof, as well (sometimes) as a very light bit of rust, more so on the Budd cars. They tended to collect rust on the roofs more then smooth roofs did.