I’m going to take a small step back here before moving on. I realize I talk about using Athabasca scale products which I’m about ready to do again. And most of you probably never heard of them. This company is from Canada and not many shops carry their products here in the states; I got mine from High Ball graphics which is selling off his parts supply and no longer carrying detail parts. The eyebolts are brass etchings and come in various sizes on the sheet. I posted a pic of their eyebolts so you can see for yourself.



The part number is #1001, and I’ve had my sheet for good several years now. From this sheet I pick what size I need and drill out the holes if necessary to the size I need. I find these to be very handy and easy to use for my modeling needs. Here’s the link to their website http://www.athabascashops.com/. Click on products then “All scale Items”.

With the major work out of the way, I needed to come up with a plan to add the sand lines to the truck frames. Looking at pictures of the Reading S1s, the sand lines are supported midway on the side frame with flat stock bent to an “L” shape, and the sand nozzles are held in place behind the wheels. The Bernhart picture of #54 offers the best view of the sand line brackets and how they are attached to those side frames. I was going to use flat brass bar stock, but I didn’t like the way it turned out and it proved to be a little difficult to mount to the side frame. The alternative was to use brass rod for the bracket, it was much easier to drill a hole in the side frame to mount the rod. I cut 8 oversized lengths of .015 rod and bent these into an L shape. Looking at the picture of #54 gave me the location for the hole and drilled those holes with a #78 drill bit.

Next I made the sand lines out of .022 brass rod cut in oversized lengths. I bent a curvature in the rods to mimic the sand hose and then test fit them on the side frame for appearance. I didn’t concern myself with getting the curvature right the first time. I adjusted these as I went along. I drilled holes for the Athabasca eyebolts that would be used to secure the bottom of the sand lines to the inside of the slack adjusters. I only drill deep enough for the eyebolts to be secure and I wanted these holes a little undersized for a snug fit. Now working with one side frame at a time with the inside of the frame facing me, I inserted the sand lines through the eyebolts and adjust them in a natural looking position. I added a little flux and soldered the sand line and eyebolt in place. A quick hit with the solder gun will soften the plastic a little, so I dip the soldered end in water for a few seconds, I did the same for the other frames.

I took the .015 “L” shaped rod and inserted it to the frame; I trimmed the bracket to length until it touches the sand line. I made my final adjustments to the sand lines and mad sure the bracket was vertical across the sand line. I dabbed a little flux at the joint of the support and sand line and soldered that in place. Then I trimmed the bracket flush to the sand line. I repeated this step with the rest.



Next, I drill a #78 hole behind each of the brake cylinders so I can add a .015 brake line to them. I glued them in place with CA.
When I’m done all detailing, I grit blasted the side frames and the outside of the gear boxes with baking soda. I washed these up to remove the particles. The one thing I noticed once these were dry is the frames and gear box looked weathered. So for me, there was no point to prep theses for paint. I will only touch up the new additions when I’m ready to weather the trucks. Next I soldered the power wires to the contact strips. Next I assemble the gear boxes and add a little lube to them, then add the wheels and side frames.




I set the frame on the trucks and trim the sand lines up to make sure I have no interference while turning the trucks back and forth. The trucks are complete except for touch up and weathering.

Walkway/Pilots

After looking over the walkway of the Proto S1, there wasn’t allot of detailing to do. I was happy to see the dimensions of the pilot were correct along with the coupler box opening. So no major modifications are needed there.

For starters, I’m sticking with the factory handrails for this model even though I’m not a fan of the Delrin handrails. I do have a set of brass replacement railings, but the stanchions were oversized and just too thick whereas, the Proto handrails do have finer detail and are closer to scale. I did make one minor change to the handrails which I will address later in the build. Looking at the step wells, the perforated steps are incorrect for this model but I decided not to replace the steps. No manufacture makes an aftermarket replacement style step used on the S1 model.

Even though I’m staying with the stock handrails, those pin lifters (coupler lift bars) have got to go. So referring to my photos, I made some decisions on how I was to accomplish that task and I generated a small laundry list of upgrades.

Replace stock pin lifters and brackets.
Enhance the detail around the poling pockets.
Reduce the thickness of the pilot steps and add support brackets.
Add Emergency fuel cutoffs.

I started with the poling pockets; these are separate parts that are glued in place. My poling pockets had gobs of glue behind them that pushed those outwards and made them crooked. I popped the poling pockets off, scraped the glue and paint from behind the pockets and cleaned up their intended location. I used liquid cement to glue them back in their locations. They looked much better sitting flush with that little fix. The other thing I did was to add some styrene to the sides of the poling pockets. Looking at the photos, the poling pockets actually wrapped around the side sill. I cut 4 small pieces of .010 x.030 styrene to build up those sides and glued them in place with liquid cement. I blended the edges next to the poling pockets by rounding the corners.

Also you’ll notice in the pic that I cut out the access plate in the step well. Sometimes these covers were removed to get to the valves, but more than often the plates were kept on.

Moving on to the pilot, the kick plates on the back of the pilot steps are as thick as the pilots. I wanted to thin these out for a better appearance. I reduced the sides of the kick plates by .015. Then I took a small flat needle file and thinned the back sides of the pilot steps to match the sides. That little bit of thinning improved the overall appearance of those steps.




I also made support brackets for those pilot steps using DA .010 x .030 flat brass wire. I cut these a scale 1 ½ foot in length. I marked and cut 8 pieces of the flat brass. I marked off ½ scale foot and used my chisel blade to mark off that dimension. I then bent the brass at that location opposite of the mark for a clean bend. I attached these using CA.