Modeling Monday

Given the nature of The Valley Local project, I'll be posting lots of prototype information as my research evolves.  But at the end of the day, this is a model railroad, so of course There Will Be Modeling.

The only prototype model I have so far specific to The Valley Line is the Wethersfield station.  But since I didn't build that myself, I'm loathe to highlight it here.  I have built a few prototype cars though, which would have seen service on the Valley Local, so for this first edition of "Modeling Monday," I'll post some pics of those.

NH NE class caboose #C-265, Funaro & Camerlengo with Crown Custom trucks & stripwood roofwalks & flooring

 

We'll start from the "end" of the train with a New Haven Railroad "NE" class caboose.  While the NE-4 class was more prevalent on local freights in my era, you can't deny the outright charm of the smallest NH caboose of the late steam era.  They lasted through the 1950s in wire train and work train service, but in the late 40s could still be seen on the occasional local freight.  That's all the excuse I needed to build one myself.

New Haven Railroad Double Sheathed Wood Boxcar #64928, F&C flat kit

The New Haven got these cars before World War I, but rebuilt them in the 1920s & 30s.  They were actually the mainstay of the railroad's freight car fleet until new steel boxcars began arriving in the early 1940s.  Notice the wood door & wood/steel composite end.

New Haven Railroad Single Sheathed Wood Boxcar #70294, Westerfield kit 

Pretty much the same story as the double-sheathed cars, these cars lasted a bit longer in revenue service, but all were converted to work train and tool car service by the mid 1950s.

New Haven Double Sheathed Wood Boxcar #71982, F&C one piece body kit

Another NH DS wood boxcar, but this one shows the steel ends & doors applied to many of the cars during rebuilding.  I've also shown a little bit of the layout.  Actually, this was shot in the freelanced town of "Mill Hollow" on one of the modules that's a stand-in for the Air Line portion of the layout.  Since this pic was taken, I've added a photo backdrop.  Hopefully my picture-taking skills will improve soon so I can better show you how it looks today.

So that's the first edition of "Modeling Monday."  In future posts, I'll go into more detail about the prototypes for these cars and how I modeled them.  But for now, I hope these pics whet your appetite for what's to come.