Small project: a Maine Central gondola

In 1939, the Maine Central Railroad received an order of 150 low-side steel gondolas, 40 feet long, numbered 17000–17149. They were evidently durable cars; by the time I model, 1953, all 150 were still in service. A recent discussion of these cars on the Steam Era Freight Cars list (or STMFC) made me think about them.

Do I need a model of one of these cars for a layout set on the West Coast? No, but such a car certainly might appear anywhere in the United States, so it could fit in. I believe it was Tim O’Connor who observed that small railroads, or small car groups like this one, are statistically invisible in the national freight car fleet by themselves, but in total, they add up to well over 5 percent of the fleet. So you do need to have a selected few.

A good prototype photo, shown by Tim O’Connor on STMFC, shows one of these cars at Everett, MA on July 2, 1950. The car has the round “Pine Tree” herald, introduced about 1949, but the as-built cars had the “Box Name” emblem, and many cars continued to carry that paint scheme as late as the 1960s.

This is of interest because years ago, Ertl Models introduced a low-side 40-foot steel gondola model in HO scale. I picked up one in Atlantic Coast Line markings, though the model does not match the ACL cars of this type (which is why it was still in the box). The model was manufactured in China and is ready-to-run, with free-standing grab irons and sill steps. The “wood” floor in this photo needs to be trimmed to fit better.

The models also have quite a nice underbody, with all equipment well presented.

While reading the STMFC discussions, including the point that drawings by Chuck Yungkurth of these MEC gondolas were in the May 1989 Railroad Model Craftsman, it occurred to me I could repaint my model and letter it for MEC. As it happens, Highball Graphics makes a Maine Central set that can letter several different freight cars, including this gondola, set F-218 (see it at: https://highballgraphics.com/product/maine-central-steam-era-freight-equipment/ ). I ordered a set. 

Then I went ahead and repainted the Ertl car body black, while masking the couplers and temporarily replacing the trucks with my “paint shop trucks.”

With that paint in place, I proceeded with the nice Highball Graphics decals. These were straightforward to apply, though possibly a little oversize for the gondola.Here’s the lettered model, still on its “paint shop” trucks.

With lettering completed, I weathered the outside of the car moderately, and the inside considerably more. My method was my usual approach using washes of acrylic tube paints (for more on this, see the “Reference pages” linked at the top right of the present post). This dulls the lettering, along with softening the stark black car color. With that step finished, I added a coat of clear flat, followed by a few chalk marks and route cards.

This simple project, repainting and re-lettering an existing ready-to-run model, has been interesting and, as I always feel when completing f freight car project, definitely fun.

Tony Thompson