I model the Alaska Railroad which used rebuilt Troop Sleepers as boxcars, gondolas and high cubes. box car: Alaska Railroad Photographs hi cubes: Alaska Railroad Photographs They also had Troop Kitchens rebuilt into refrig / heater and repeater cars. Alaska Railroad Photographs I'm new to kitbashing but want to attempt a Troop Sleeper to Boxcar conversion. Any suggestions? It appears that I "only" need to fill the windows, find doors, and change the car ends. What is a good source for parts? What kind of car end would fit?? ... I assume that the MTL Troop Sleeper is the starting point to use - I haven,t seen any others. The only dissuading factor is the high price of MTL cars. In the process it looks like I'll need to learn to make my own decals - direction towards favorite techniques would be appreciated. thanks very much. Bob in Denver
Except for the rivet detail and sills, it's pretty hard to tell that those are ex-troop sleepers! You are right, the MTL cars are not cheap and are the only ones offered. You may want to consider scratch building the whole thing.
I converted one of the troop sleepers to a Bangor and Aroostook "buggy". I rather pains-takingly cut and filed 1 mm sheet styrene "plugs" to fit in the window openings I needed filled. Someone suggested I should have just painted over the windows I wanted to "disappear" but, I think they might have been too obvious. I might get brave someday and try bashing a B&M converted baggage car. Good luck...sounds like a neat project.
Hi Bob, If someone hasn’t’ already said it, Welcome to Trainboard!!. Love your avatar by the way. I see by the attachments in your last post that you’ve already found the Alaskarails.org website. This site is a gold mine for anything to do with the ARR. (Thank you JC) While I haven’t modeled this particular piece of rolling stock I sympathize with you when it comes to modeling things that the ARR has run on the rails over the years. I don’t know about other railroads but it seems the ARR has amassed over the years some of the most eclectic bits and pieces of rolling stock one could imagine. Resourcefulness is the name of the game up north it appears. I was stumbling around the ANC yard last month (as inconspicuously as possible) trying to get some better pics the old Russell plow and would bet a buck that there is one of these old troop sleeper cars ( unmodified to a box car) sitting on the siding along E. Whitney rd. If I get up there next month, and I wasn’t hallucinating (which very possibly I could have been), I’d be happy to snap a few photos for you if it'd help. Sorry I don't have any techniques for this particular project (I haven't evolved into a proto basher yet) but you've come to the right place. Someone around here probably has tips and or tricks to help you make this happen. Regardless of whether you do this project or not, keep on posting and show us what you’ve got cooking in regards to a layout, or plan for a layout, or etc…. Best of luck, Brian
