Starting a Yarmouth Model Works kit

Awhile back I purchased one of the very nice Yarmouth Model Works kits developed by Pierre Oliver. I was struck by his success in representing a common appearance in the earliest welded box cars: rippled side panels. In later years, the welding process was improved to minimize this effect, but in the 1950s it was often very evident. I bought a kit for an Atlantic Coast Line box car, built by American Car & Foundry.

But the model is interesting for several reasons beyond the welding ripples. It models two interesting variations on the usual boxcar components, variations which are called “carbuilder” ends and roof (“carbuilder” meaning a part used only by a particular car building company, in this case AC&F, at a time when components of that type were becoming industry standards, but the particular company used something else). 

The carbuilder ends in this case are essentially the Standard Railway Equipment Co. (SRE) Improved Dreadnaught end or IDE, but without the intermediate small ribs. The photo below shows these intermediate ribs between the large ribs, in the standard version of the  SRE IDE end.

The AC&F carbuilder end, however, though produced by SRE, omitted the small intermediate ribs between the major ribs. This can be seen in the prototype photo below of one of the ACL cars (AC&F photo). Note also the 8-foot door, unusual for a 1951-built box car. (For more background on these AC&F box cars, see the Railway Prototype Cyclopedia or RPC, volumes 26 and 29.)

Not visible above is the AC&F carbuilder roof. This was a really unusual design, with a pair of flattish ribs in each panel and a small raised area between the ribs at the outer end. I haven’t found a good prototype photo which shows these unusual features well, so I show below the model’s roof. I think the rib profiles can be seen here (you can click on the image to enlarge it).

The first step recommended in the kit instructions is to glue a pair of steel nuts inside the floor, before gluing the floor into the body. I used my usual choice, 5/8-11 nuts, attached with canopy glue. This is shown below, along with the body, prior to cleaning it up. You can see the rippled side sheets of the welded 12-panel sides.

But before putting the floor into the body, I drilled the bolster holes for truck screws, and tapped them 2-56. Meanwhile, I examined the kit directions, which merely advise, “Add the cross bearers, crossties . . .” with only an inconclusive model photo for guidance as to which ones are which. Luckily RPC 26 contains a very useful view (AC&F photo) of one of the AC&F cars, looking upward through the side door opening, and showing the underframe members at that location.

Clearly in the photo above, the two underframe cross-members at the door corners are cross bearers, and the one between them is a cross tie. I will show more about the model work on this point in a future post.

Tony Thompson