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Rivarossi model

Drawing, Frank Ellington, Head End Cars.

The AHM car is close enough to give a Santa Fe Modeler 15-20 hours of fun modifying into a Santa Fe Class 2024 car. Cars 2024-2038 were 1927 Pullman products which remained active until the 60s. They had 30' mail rooms. 2038-2048 came in 1928 and were identical except for the trucks. A further order brought 2049-2052 in 1929.

Looking at our AHM model there are some things we can do to make it more Santa Fe-ish, if not totally correct. The big change is the door and side platting.

The doors on the AHM are totally wrong. Start with the smaller door. Remove it back to the inner moldings. I drilled holes in mine, cut with a knife, and finished with a file. While you are there, removed the horizontal bar which divides each window into two parts. With the large door, cut it away removing the inner molding of the door. Then use a razor saw and knife to remove the raised doorway castings on the inside of the car, leaving a smooth interior (both doors).

Pieced together ……and the finished door

For the large door, I cut large doors from a scrap AHM combine. Be careful how you do this. I wanted my door to be as close to the end of the car as I could make it, so on one side, I cut the AHM doorway even with its rivited frame. On the other side, I left some of the side plating entact. See the attached photo for details where I have outlined the cut with a white line. Now carefully cut and file until the replacement is an exact fit.

At the small doorway, fill all of the holes where the AHM mail arm had been located. Cut a rectangular hole in a piece of .020 styrene large enough for all three windows. Then glue pieces of .020 square stock in that hole to form the three pains. I find cutting three identical rectangles impossible. Just glue this to the interior of your car and you have a Santa Fe door. Cut styrene pieces to form the windows into 1/3 - 2/3 sections. Once set, trim the remaining window sash to match.

Remove all cast on grabs, and the ridges on the end doors. The prototype had break wheels on both ends, so you will need to add one on the blank end.

The AHM has a (sort of) cast on car diaphragm. Cut that back to the car. It is much too long. Add flexible diaphrams of your choice.

I decided to experiment with something on this car. I cut away the rail in the middle of the plating all the way around the car. I used my trusty Micro-mark Plastic Modeler's Chisel #80893 ($12.95). I find its increased size and mass and long bevel heel ideal for such work. Of course you must resharpen it from time to time, but it is far better in my hands than an Exacto blade. Once the plating was off, I sanded the area with fine sandpaper and finished it with fine steel wool. It is difficult to remove the rail and not the rivets.

Time to go to the bottom. I cut off the side of the car just below the rivet line. Remove all the underbody details between the cast on cross members. I glued some flat .015 styrene across the middle to cover up the holes and give me a smooth surface to put some details on. Now what you do to the bottom is up to you. I only want details I can see from the side. I don't care about every pipe and line - you might. I did re-contour the center sill and build it up - the AHM one is too short. I added two additional cross members, a Cal Scale passenger car brake set, Cal Scale steps for the small door, and pads for body mount couplers. The last thing was my Santa Fe Sill, which I create from Plastruct CFS-4 1/8" HIPS channel. I lay the channel flat on a cutting surface and remove one side, leaving an "L" shaped piece that I glue to the bottom of my car.

My battery boxes are resin cast. I take AHM Rivarossi boxes which have been cut from the bottom of the car. To them I add characteristic Santa Fe reinforcing channel. Since channel this small is not available, I glued pieces of .040 x .030 styrene on the boxes and carefully scribed the middle away using the back of an Exacto blade. Once I had ones with the right look, I resin cast them.

The steps for the large door are fabricated from .020" x .033" strip brass. You can see my other head end documents for close ups of those. One problem you will face with any of these baggage cars is getting clearance for your trucks. I use the Rivarossi trucks, replace the wheel sets, and feel free to cut away bits and pieces as necessary.

At this writing I have not decided what to do about the generator which should be on one of the trucks, usually at the baggage end. They tend to interfere with clean rolling, so I don't usually attach them to trucks. They can be body mounted, and I may do that, or I may leave it off.

Now its grab time. You can buy some of these, or bend them yourself from brass or musical wire. Also add the fittings for a Cal Scale mail grab arm.

I cheat on the corner steps. Plastic ones tend to break very easily. I make mine out of HO scale signal light ladder stock. It takes three full step lengths. The bottom is rounded, the second is untouched, the third is removed and the uprights filed smooth. These long uprights can then be bend around the sill and inserted in holes drilled into the floor. In this case, a double bend brings the step even with the edge of the side sill. I know these are too large for prototype, but I have found nothing better.

Finally the roof. The AMH Rivarossi unit has far too many windows. I opted to plate over all of them and start over. I have a very small chisel, first cousin to the Micro-Mark one mentioned above, which I secured from a fine woodworking supplier. It is marked "Star-Dent Starlight Stout #1." The blade is only .1" wide, great for small places. I removed the cast on window frames and most of the rivet strips in the clerestory. Then I glued .015 X .125 styrene in the opening. Finally I cut new windows where I wanted them using drill and file. Add gutters and exhaust housings and the roof is complete.

I decided to add an interior. It will barely be visible, so is designed for an illusion. All components are .020" styrene. The fake mail sack honeycomb is made from .156 X .020 strip styrene glued on end to pieces cut from styrene sheet. The concave area at the front where sorting boxes would be is a single sheet of styrene scribed at the bend lines and glued into place.

I have kept the cast-on windows (I know, I'm funny that way). I did removed center tabs as they interfere with the underbody construction. I wrap it with blue (the easy remove) masking tape to protect it during construction and painting.

There you have it. The measurements are not exact, but they turn this B&O prototype into a Santa Fe illusion.

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