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1. Begin by cutting off all tabs that secure the frame to the body.

2. Below is a drawing by Frank Ellington, and used with his permission, for the side of this car. If you have the capacity to do so, enlarge it to HO scale and print it out as a pattern. Cut out just the fishbelly portion and tape it to .030" stock. Now it can serve as a template to cut out your fishbelly.

Place the car body back on the frame and locate and glue the fishbelly side to the existing frame.

3. The Athearn molded underframe pieces now extend below the side. Using your fishbelly pieces as a guide, use a razor saw to remove all of the Athearn car which would extend below the sill.

Note: I don't care about underframe details. I only care about what can be seen from my usual viewing angle. If you care about the underbody in details, you will have to start over on a frame. However, if those details matter to you, you probably would not stand for the Athearn exterior anyway.

4. Glue a piece of .020" x .040" strip styrene to the bottom of your fishbelly frame to form the lower angle. You do not need to cut it; it will bend around the corners nicely.

5. Since I use body mounted coupler, cut and glue a .030" styrene pad on each end of the frame so you can mount the coupler pocket to the car. Drill and tap them for your coupler pockets.

6. I used the Athearn trucks. The coupler bar was removed and wheels replaced with 36" wheelsets from Intermountain.

You must now relocate the truck bolster. The normal trucks can not swing sufficiently because the fishbelly blocks them. However, it is a simple matter to reverse the trucks.

On the base of the car there are cross members about a half inch toward the center of the car from the normal bolster. That is the exact distance you need. The center sill rises just a little at that point, so smooth the center sill down to match the height of the bolster. Then glue a piece of .30" styrene to that location to serve as a new bolster. Once the cement is dry, drill a #13 drill (.185") hole in the middle. Cut down the old bolster to the height of its cross member.

If your radiuses are too small, you may still have a problem. If so, remove part of the rear of the truck. It is normally hidden under the car and is not visible anyway.

7. I glued a piece of styrene on the interior of the car over the hole that was left in the middle once the Athearn battery boxes are removed. It is not necessary; I just did it.

8. This car had one visible under car item, a tool box. It was located by (not below) the smaller door. It has a flat bottom which barely misses the rail, but the door is sloped backwards. You can cut one door from the Athearn scrap that you removed and fashion a box from other scrap. In my case, I had a tool box from a Rivarossi kitbash, so I placed it on my model. Because I mitered the top of it to get a sloping door, the bottom of the box slopes up. Since it can't be detected from most viewing positions, I left it alone. The purist would not appreciate this fudging.(See photo above)

9. Now the most time consuming, applying steps. I fashioned all of mine from .020" x .033" strip brass. Santa Fe had at least four different designs for such steps, but I used this one because it was relatively easy. Holes were drilled in the frame using a #76 drill. The ends to be inserted into the car were filed to a point and pressed into the car, later glued with CA. The bottom center support is glued with CA to the lower step and the back of the frame.

10. Finally, apply steps to the corners of the frames. I used steps from Eastern Car works and glued them to the back of the fishbelly. These are very fragile, that's why it is "finally."

11. Now on to the paint shop and decaller. The car is Santa Fe Green. Underbody and roof are flat black. I use Badger Modelflex 16-65 GN Green for Santa Fe Green. Pullman Green is much to dark.

Decals are a challenge for this car. First you must select your era. The earliest cars were

WELLS FARGO & CO.

From 1918-29 the cars were labeled

BAGGAGE

AMERICAN RAILWAY

EXPRESS

(car #)

In 1929, the wording changed to

BAGGAGE

RAILWAY EXPRESS

AGENCY, INC

(car #)

Photos of cars in books with this labeling date into the mid 60s. At some point the "INC" was dropped and the standard became

BAGGAGE

RAILWAY EXPRESS

AGENCY

(car #)

Photos of this style also go into the mid 60s also, so you could see cars on the same train with and without the "INC." Lightweight cars could be labeled either way as well, though the vast majority of photos I have seen were "INC"-less.

After 1948, some cars were equipped with Express Messenger facilities, which means the car had a place for a human rider inside, including a seat for him and a toilet. Those cars had a star above the word "Baggage."

Microscale 87-383 Santa Fe Heavyweight Passenger Cars (early 1950s - early 1960s) has "Baggage" and "American Railway Express." However, it you want to number your car you will need to look elsewhere or use numbers that are too small. No star in this package.

Champ decals PH-8 ATSF-Santa Fe Passenger Car STD. DULUX GOLD LET. will fix you up for the last of these configurations, including the star.

I have not found any decal that includes the "INC." You will need Microscale 87-8008 and apply each letter if you want the "INC" added.

Microscale 87-1043 Santa Fe Head End Cars (1924-1971) has the "Railway Express Agency" but lacks the word "Baggage."

12. The car will require 3 oz. Of additional weight to meet NMRA standards. I use fishing weights from a sports store.

13. Diaphragms will finish off our model. I used American Limited #9100 and did not use the spacer which they recommend be used.

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