Just curious,
Would this be applied to the existing body of the caboose, would the molded details be sanded smooth, or would the existing side/end structure be cut away and only the roofs be used.

@Barry H.-> Sounds like a clinic topic,..... just sayin......

For some time now, I have been considering such a conversion to at least one of my 30 proto Reading cabeese in my stockpile. (The next logical question is why on earth would I have 30 Reaading Proto cabooses and no layout to speak of. LOL - Other than to keep Caples in business with his modernization kits. Hey John - I only need 23 more now)

Rob

Pages 93 (diagram specifies diamond tread platform) through 95 (the table lists differences between wood and steel construction). A picture on page 95 clearly shows a wooden roofwalk.

Rob wrote:
That's a lot of cabeese, Rob!!! I wish I had squirreled away a few more. I guess I long ago resigned myself to building small branchline railroads requiring only a few locomotives and cabins.

Have you ever come across the BCW laser cut coversion kit I referenced earlier? I think it was marketed under their Kitbits label. It utilized the Proto 2000 core and under frame. The modeler applied the wooden sides, roof and cupola to the Proto "interior box" and discarded the shell. The instructions even suggest that the builder carefully remove the grabs from the original model and install them on the wooden sides and roof. I have a kit and a Proto caboose in MEC colors stowed away somewhere. I've only seen one completed model in the flesh -- at the legendary Model Railroad Shop in Piscataway, NJ. It looked great, but the wooden kit roof looked like it was flattening out a bit. The wooden roof may have needed more support.

Hey Rob,
So, the way I'm doing it is to sand down the existing details, then glue the pieces on. I figured that I think most people will want to use tichy train grab irons anyways for extra detail, so that's why I didn't make molded details for grab irons. Now, so far I have only modeled the sides based off the Bachmann caboose measurements, so I'll have to see just how different the measurements are for the proto caboose. If it's different then I would probably work on that conversion too. Thank you Robin, for the page number. That really helps. I'll have to work on it when I get home later. Oh, Rob, I don't even have that many hacks haha I have probably...... around 10-15 hacks haha

-Nick

I have done 2 Proto cabooses with the BCW wood kits, one Reading and one L&HR.as of 2 years ago John Greene sold the remaining kits he had to someone in N.J.(I forgot the persons name) and i don't know if there are any left.

As we continue to discuss the topic, Butch mentioned the laser cut wood kits. They went to Shortline Products, and they are alive and well in production. There is a web site, and are listed under the kits section, product no. SP-25 for the Reading. Here are a few pics of mine in "slow" progress, and this was a donated prize from Shortline at the first Modelers Meet. If anyone is interested in a core or two for these conversions, I have a couple sets to spare. I purchased a "lot" of projects that someone started as LV conversions.

Bill