1860-1880 Combine Painted/Unlettered Green

These cars are ready to go right out of the box but I am adding some detail work so these cars are technically still under construction. Primarily I model Class I railroads but I have some logging operations as well and that is where these cars have been put into service, at the rear of a logging train as crew cars on a fictional logging line consisting of only Bachmann logging cars and locomotives (a pair of Bachmann Spectrum three truck Climaxes with DCC). That isn’t what I set out to do but happily it turned out that way. Paint on the car body is flat green giving it an authentic wood look but is lacking grab irons and stirrups for the baggage door portion of the car, but I plan on adding some. The clerestory roof is open on the sides so I will add some mesh. In addition the roof has vents, a smoke jack for the stove and very nice rivet detail, but it is more glossy than the car body so I’ll probably shoot it with some dull coat or paint it. End of car detailing is adequate. Each end has a handbrake lever integral to the prototype safety railing at the end of the car. There are molded grab irons on the end of the car body which I have already painted gold to match the color of the railing. In addition there are indentations at the top of the end of the car body for mounting marker lights if you choose. The end of car platforms are composite wood and steel so I painted those as well. Under car detail is good with accurate truss rods and molded brake rigging details. The car trucks are very nice and deserving of attention so I painted them using both engine black and grimy black paints (not mixed together). I did add Intermountain all brass wheel sets (IRC40050). Not absolutely necessary but again, my preference and the cars do roll a little better. The standard couplers are car body mounted, however I am not a fan of plastic couplers so I changed these out with some Kadee short shank whisker couplers with a scale head (KAD153). These enhance the cars’ looks quite a bit. Initially I was concerned this modification would inhibit the car’s ability to negotiate the tight curvature in evidence with the logging roadbed but there were no problems. At 97g for the combine and 95g for the coach the cars are less than NMRA guidelines but pose no problem in operation so, if it isn’t broken don’t fix it. If you do need to add weight the interior of the car is not easily accessed. The good news is you can order all you need right here when you order the car. If you are going to order the car now is the time to do so because the best news is the price for these cars is significantly lower than anywhere else (by $5 to $7 each) so I would guess they’ll sell out in relatively short order. Overall you get a lot of bang for the buck so I can recommend these cars highly, right out of the box. Now. If you’ll excuse me I have to go and order the new Bachmann Santa Fe baggage, combine and coach cars in this series to go behind my Bachmann Sound Value Santa Fe 10 wheeler (BAC51405)...