Rock Island 40' Fowler Clone

[Mike]

This started life as an S Scale America kit of a D&RGW Fowler Patent car. With the Rock Island utilizing modern steel ends and roofs on their Fowler clones in the mid-1920's, I figured I'd try modifying the kit to match. Steve Hile provided information on the dreadnaught ends, which I scavaged from a Pacific Car Shops 1937 AAR car (and narrowed and chopped) while the radial roof is scratchbuilt out of styrene.

 

[Mike]

I posted an inquiry on the STMFC yahoogroup asking about how to laminate large sheets of .005" styrene. The suggestion was made to simply allow Testor's Liquid Cement to "flash off" but press the pieces together when still sticky.

It worked for the most part. I did get a couple spots where the cement pooled at a seam in the underlying styrene roof structure, and depressions appeared a day or so later.

 

[mcjaco]

I had the depressions when I did something similar on the N scale Cabbage. Sure enough, the plates on the roof of the prototype tended to depress as well, so I left them alone.

Are you going to fill them, or leave them?

 

[Eric Hansmann]

Nice job on that Fowler, Mike! It caught my eye in the display room and was inspiration to build a Westerfield HO scale version following a D&RGW prototype. - Eric