Craftsman style Wood freight car kit

Two companies still offering wood craftsman kits are:

Labelle Woodworking. Most are under $20, no trucks and couplers, and variable detail. One of the oldest makers of wood freight car kits, and still one of the best. State of the art in the 1960s. You'll drool over their wood passenger cars. :-)

Ye Olde Huff'n'Puff. Produce the Silver Streak and Mainline series, among others, which in their day were state of the art, too. Also in the $20 range, no trucks or couplers.

Both are on line, just google them.

There is a sad but very good reason that Walthers no longer carries wood freight car kits: very few people still want them. I have three Ambroid and two Juneco kits on my shelves. Even the local "I don't like plastic and won't even look at it" hasn't taken these off my hands... (Available at reasonable prices to a good home, BTW. If interested mail me using noshomosu at sympatico dot ca.)

There is also a pretty good reason: the resin kit. Westerfield, for example, makes a line of accurate kits that just couldn't be duplicated in wood. Check them out.

Wood is still used a lot for structure kits, which are largely laser cut these days.

HTH

Another source of some fine craftsman kits is Trout Creek Engineering:

I believe the former Taurus line of kits are now sold under their name. The Taurus PFE and Rock Island reefer kits were *very* nice. And if you're looking for a good supplier of craftsman kits in general, I suggest Valley Model Trains:

HTH

If you can use older era models : HUFF N PUFF

LABELLE Roger Aultman

Chuck Norman wrote:

Wolf:

I really think wood rolling-stock kits just need a big promotional splash like the laser-cut structures generated to become equally popular. To be honest, I've never built one (though I've scratchbuilt a few cars with varying results) but I'd really like to try some day.

Cordially yours: Gerard P. President, a box of track and some plans.

Valley Model Trains is the largest dealer specializing in craftsman kits of which I know. They mostly seem to list structures, but there are a few rolling stock kits mixed in there if you search thoroughly.

Besides the previously mentioned manufacturers, there's also Trout Creek Engineering. The former line of wood craftsman kits from Taurus Products has also been melded into the Trout Creek line. The CRI&P and PFE reefer kits are very nice.

Train shows. Old Ambroid, Labelle, and Silver Streak kits show up regularly. For that matter, it's just about as easy to scratch build from wood. All you get in the kit is plans and a bunch of wood. Find some plans, buy the wood from Northeastern, and you are in business. The old Model Railroader had prototype plans in every issue. Start with the easiest, a boxcar. They don't have windows, which can be tedious to cut square and even, they don't have insides that need to look good, and the the full roof and bottom make them strong. Northeastern sells milled boxcar roof stock and matching floor material. Buy or make a pair of end blocks, glue the roof and floor to the end blocks. Make sides out of thin bass wood sheet. For a steel car, the paper from a glossy photograph works well as siding. For a wood car, use scribed basswood sheet. You can buy ready-to-go wood truck bolsters. Make the main floor beam and the roof walk from strip wood. Buy or scrounge ladders, grab irons, trucks, and brake gear. Dreadnought ends can be purchased or cannibalized from junker train show cars. Paint brushes on well, you don't need an airbrush. A coat of box car red, or a spray can of red auto primer, some decals, and you have a very good looking car. They only take a few evenings to assemble. Tool requirements are modest, an Xacto knife, a scale rule, some twist drills and a pin vice.

David Starr

Well, maybe. I took a look at some of the unbuilt wood car kits I have, designed in the late 50s/early 60s. I decided that apart from the basic body, almost everything else would have to be replaced. Some die-cast underbody parts and doors are OK (and add weight), but ladders, roofwalks, brake parts, grab irons, door tracks and so on are just not up to current standards. AFAICT, the available wood freight car kits are still the old designs. Compared to resin kits (for example) they just don't cut it.

A modern, upgraded wood car kit would have to have all major parts laser cut to size, painted and printed. Tab and slot construction, exact scale parts for brake gear, ladders, roofwalks, etc, even if that entailed different materials. A fairly elaborate kit, requiring new tooling, and therefore expensive. Definitely a niche market item.

OTOH, I'm assembling a 4-wheel PRR caboose from Ye Olde Huff'n'Puff. The roofwalk is too thick (I may replace it with card), the end ladders are thin stampings, the hand grabs are spot on - IOW a typical kit from the

50s-70s, made up of as many readily available materials as possible. But I like it (I have a soft spot for 4-wheel bobbers anyhow.)

Nostalgia can be a powerful motivating force. :-)

Have Fun!

Just about the only ones left. Be prepared for a shock when you read the prices.

HTH

Hi Chuck,

I am in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Around 35 to 40 years ago I bought a number of La Belle, Ambroid, Scotia scale Models and Northeastern kits of American outline wagons and passenger carriages. I have assembled some of them.

There was a scarcity of local outline models then.

Now I want to model the local prototype exclusively and want to sell my collection of American outline models. A local person indicated some interest. But if his answer to me is that he doesn't want them, would you be interested?

You could write to me off group.

Thanks

Ezra