Kaolin Boxcar Update

Last December, made a post about building a kaolin-service boxcar built from the parts bin. After setting most of 2018, I finally completed stirrups and applied a coat of paint to the body. This car started as an Athearn "Blue Box" refrigerator car. Spare 6' boxcar doors were installed, and door tracks were scratchbuilt from strip styrene. The stock grabs were shaved off and A-Line grab irons were installed. Stirrups were bent from extra locomotive handrail wire and installed. The roof loading hatches were left over Bowser parts from a different project and the running board is an overland brass part that I've hand on hand for a number of years.

I then added Kadee scale head couplers and Kadee solid journal bearing trucks. This car is a little bit light per NMRA standards, so I may add weight to the bottom of the car at a later date. Hopefully, I'll have the lettering done in the next few weeks. Kaolin-service boxcars tended to be quite dirty, so weathering will be a must on this model.

10 Done and 20 to go

I've spent the past several months painting and applying decals to several freight cars. Back over the winter, I scored a case of 30 CP Rail 40' Athearn boxcars. The first 10 were painted, with 8 of them representing parts of two orders that the KY&N made in 1939 (13000-series) & 1946 (21000-series).

By the early 1960's the cars were rolling through the car shops at Wheeling, WV regularly for minor rebuilds and new paint. The cars lost their as-delivered "slogan" paint for the simplified scheme with the small KY&N herald located high on the body to the right of the end of the door tracks.

After the roofwalks were banned in the mid 60's, the KY&N began rebuilding the boxcars (including roofwalk removal) and repainting them in Hunter Green. While some of the 40' steel cars went into Maintenance of Way and storage use, most were scrapped between 1977 and 1984.

A "Non-Update" Update

In 2015, we moved back to my home town and also managed to upgrade the size of living space (along with the added bonus of owning a paid-off house). However, this house has no basement. While the upstairs is finished and heated, it is narrow and has a knee wall, typical of 1-1/2 story houses. This finished space is also shared with two busy, growing children, ages 5 and 2. I'm sure most of you can imagine toys scattered throughout the room. 

Our goal is to find a home sometime in 2019 to call ours for the long term. I intend to build a permanent layout for the Kanawha, Youngstown & Northern at that time. Obviously, without having any clue of what space I would have to work with, any significant layout construction at this time would likely be a wasted effort. So I'll continue to focus on locomotives and rolling stock for the time being. Until then, I'll continue to plan for the future. 

Here is a little glimpse into the future:

March 1969, a quiet moment at West Union, WV, where the KY&N interchanges with the B&O Parkersburg Branch (Baltimore - St. Louis Line).