I have a half dozen old Con Cor bay window cabooses (N scale, of course) that I want to replace the end rails on. The Con Cor ones are awful looking. I was wondering if anyone has tried replacing them with these Micro-Trains ones: https://micro-trains.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=517&search=caboose+parts Thanks for all replies. Hmm... ALL replies...??? When are you going to give me supper...???
I have used MT caboose end rails on some other brands before.There are little pegs on the bottom of the sills on MT end rails that have to be trimmed off. MT end rails are design to press fit on their stuff. Barely visible but they are there on each side. I simply ACC the end rails on. The bottom sill forms an L bracket which I nudge up to the end platform
I have yet to try it on C-C cabooses. I have done it on Arnold, Roco, MDC wood cabooses as well as the B-mann four wheel. In all cases there was a minimum amount of trimming required and, as @John Moore mentions, you do have to trim those little pegs on the bottom of the railing. Further, you must use some sort of glue to secure the end railings to the chassis. You might have to drill some holes in the roof to accommodate the ends of the ladder which curve into a hook. In some cases, though it is not necessary. I acquired some Father Nature shells, including a short drover caboose. It seems that he concocted it from an MDC Overton combine, a MT roof and an Atlas cupola. The telltale was the holes in the roof casting. I had a damaged MDC caboose chassis; the damages' being to the ladders and end rails. The combine shell fit right onto it. I then trimmed the MT end railing base a bit. There was no need to do anything to the actual railings or ladder. I then poked the ladder ends into the holes on the roof, then glued the bottom of the railing piece to the chassis. It makes a pretty good passenger car/caboose for a mixed train. For those who are not familiar with Father Nature castings, they can be pretty crude and require a great deal of cleaning up, but once you do that, you get some unique pieces. He has passed, but some of this castings are still out there.
Aren't these made out of Delrin? Seems using ACC to attach them would be iffy, no? At least if not scuffing up the surface to be glued?
If you use something like GOO or carefully use a contact cement they should stay. A little roughing up will help with adhesion.
Oops, 5 of the cabooses are Model Power. I'm just assuming the last one is Con Cor. I'm such a clown... Hmm... step this way to the Greatest Show On Earth...
Hein, couilllon; reveille-toi. Tu t'es oublié les barniques? I never have tried it on the MPs, either, but I am guessing that the procedure would be much the same as on the other brands. You might have to trim the ends off the base of the railing pieces, but you should not have to do anything to the actual railings.
Gold Metal Models makes end rails for the Model Power (bay window) cabooses and I have also used those on other cabooses as well (p/n 160-18) Brokemoto: How do you sit in that cupula with the doors located directly under it?
That is how Father Nature cast it. It would take a pretty curious floor plan in the baggage compartment. Perhaps only a ladder, duck when you get to the top and slide into the chair? The baggage compartment would have to be used for mail and express as that is important to all lines on my pike. That car, as a rule, runs only on Sunday and usually when the college is on break, so there would be only limited express traffic, anyhow. When the college is in session, the larger Father Nature car runs, but, again, only on Sunday, as a rule. Here is Father Nature's other drover caboose: That one is a bit more believable. You could put a messenger desk by the stairwell. The odd window would be the messenger window. This one was a bit more crude and required quite a bit of cleanup. Still, I was not quite satisfied with it, but I do run it. It appears that Father Nature cast the body from an Arnold wood combine; the roof from a B-mann ATSF caboose and the cupola from a MT caboose. Instead of a separate piece for the roofwalk, he left it on there in the mold. This is why it looks warped and funny. That is no big deal on that kind of a car. You would expect it to be beat up anyhow. I made a baggage car out of two of the B-mann shorty standard combines. When you saw the combine in half, each half has one window that remains. Those are messenger windows. Some baggage cars on the various railroads had messenger accommodations. As it is the head end traffic that keeps the passenger trains on my pike, an allowance for messenger service is appropriate. As an SP Guy, you would be familiar with this, as SP offered messenger service on many of its trains. The Peninsula Accommodation train, #110/#151 had it until it stopped doing mail and express. I took those photographs before I lowered the ride on the cars.
