L&N Wood Chip Hopper Build

[Sawdust]

I have been wanting to build a Wood Chip Hopper for awhile & was recently inspired & challenged by Catt to build one. Catt built a nice one for a rotary dumper. My candidate for this project is one of five new CSX coal hoppers my wife bought me last year not knowing these are way to recent for my era. so I thought I would sacrifice one to convert to an L&N WCH.
Here is the CSX Coal Hopper.


Here is the prototype that I will build as close as I can.


I will first remove the markings. I normally use brake fluid because it is somewhat plastic friendly but it takes too long for this so I will use lacquer thinner & remove quickly & wash immediately with soapy water to prevent any plastic damage.


I will be adding side ribs over top of the eleven existing riveted braces instead of having sixteen like the Proto. I will be shaving off the moulded rivets so the braces will make a good contact .


Next I will put these parts together & I am thinking about shaving off the moulded ladder & add one from Central Valley because I have to add a ladder section on the wall extensions anyway. Thanks for viewing & stop by for some more progress.

[Catt]

I like it already.

[ak-milw]

Jim,
Nice start, I would hack off the ladder, you are going to the trouble of making a nice car you might as well make it as good as it could be. A lot of folks stop short of a great model when all it would take is just that little extra, maybe it's a time thing. I know you for one will understand what I am saying. Keep us posted!!

[Sawdust]

Thanks Catt & Andy, this has been a fun project. I cut the ladders off last night & finished the braces. Today I attached the extension on the hopper. I added some ladders from Central Valley that was very close to the proto. I attached a section on the side of the hopper & a short section on the extension. I'm glad I did this because it looks a lot better this way.


Here it is all primed & maybe tomorrow I'll paint it Red Oxide primer for the finish coat. I'll also do some planning for the lettering. The yellow sign that says For Wood Chip Loading might be a challenge. I might print this on paper then sand the back off thin to look like paint.



Thanks again!

[LiveSteamer]

Looking Good Jim.

[ak-milw]

very nice so far Jim.

[thogan3]

You can do one of those for me too! I'll even pay the postage

[Steve]

Great job!.....can't wait to see it all painted up!

[Eastern Roads]

Isn't it amazing what a coat of paint can do?? Interesting model of a type we don't see here in the Garden State.

[Sawdust]

Thanks everybody for your comments, that's what makes it so nice being on here is to check out each others projects. Well today was race day not much modeling other than painting the finish coat. I just realized when taking this pic I forgot to extend the ladder next to the brake wheel I'm not sure if it's worth the effort now that it's painted. I have plenty of ladders . Any comments lay them on me.