Post by mph on Jan 31, 2019 23:17:45 GMT -5
On my layout, I have three categories for my work: Repair refers to quick fixes such as replacing a couple, Restore refers to returning an item to factory condition and Rescue which means doing whatever it takes to take something designated for the junk yard and getting it back on the rails.
This is a post of a recent rescue. I picked up an NMRA Pacific Northwest 25 Anniversary Overton Combine car at a train show a few weeks ago. It was somewhat dirty and while some anniversary cars can be interesting, most do not intrigue me. When I found this one for $5, I was thinking trucks, couples and a BRAKE WHEEL. When I got home I put it in my holding area to wait for its future demise.
Last Monday, I pulled it out and gave it a quick once over and my mind changed. It looked like it was suffering from a calibrated drop and the damage wasn't too bad. Actually, all it really needed was a replacement frame and a couple of detail parts, a 5 minute fix. Of course, thinking it was a 5 minute fix was an omen of the evil to come.
Before:
Those of you who have read me recent posts know that I don't have a shortage of Overton cars and I have a reasonable pile of parts for them as well. I knew had another frame and the process to replace it is simple, but I hadn't removed the roof yet. When I did, I discovered that this car had a third degree case of POM.
I'm sure all of you have encountered POM before, but you don't know it because this will be the first time you've heard the term. POM stands for one of three things: Previous Owner Modification (first degree POM), Previous Owner Mistake (second degree POM) and Previous Owner Madness (third degree POM).
For a reason that I can only attribute to madness, the previous owner cut off the truck mounting posts, drilled holes through the body and then used 2x56x1/2" screws and nuts to hold the frame to the body and the trucks in place.
For awhile , I reverted back to the original plan of parting this out, until the battle ensued to remove the trucks. It took a heavy-duty pair of pliers, about ten minutes of fighting and a reasonable amount of cussing to remove the screws and retrieve the trucks. Now with that much effort expended, I was going to rescue this car no matter what!
Then came the next discovery of madness: the frame was glued to the body. Other than pure madness, I don't know why anyone would do this. I thought about going back to the original plan, but I had to give it a try. So I started to gently pry the frame off and found the first piece of good news: the previous owner used Walther's Goo, or something similar. While Goo is not a product I am fond of, it has one redeeming quality, you can usually pull things apart. In this case I was successful.
The damage:
The frame was designated as MUNGed (Mash Until No Good) and treated appropriately. But now I'm left with a body with two substantial holes and no way to mount a frame or trucks to it, unless I repeated the madness which I wasn't going to do.
This is the challenge of a rescue: what can I do to get this thing back on the rails. My idea was to cut pieces of sprue to fill the holes and cut two truck posts from a junked Overton car. This process went surprisingly well.
With a body that now resembled what typical Overton car normally looks like, the rest of the work became similar to building this as a kit. Install the new frame, trucks, couples, etc. I added my typical add-ons of styrene for the glass and metal wheels and declared the car operational.
This is a variation of the Northern Pacific Overton paint scheme and I'll probably run it with that set. The only other thing I might do to it is repaint the roof. The car is not pristine so the dirty roof seems appropriate. On the other hand, a clean roof may really improve the appearance, but this is a decision and task for another day.
If any of you have rescue stories, feel free to include them in this post. I like to learn from other's creative solutions to damaged, neglected equipment or battles with POM.
This is a post of a recent rescue. I picked up an NMRA Pacific Northwest 25 Anniversary Overton Combine car at a train show a few weeks ago. It was somewhat dirty and while some anniversary cars can be interesting, most do not intrigue me. When I found this one for $5, I was thinking trucks, couples and a BRAKE WHEEL. When I got home I put it in my holding area to wait for its future demise.
Last Monday, I pulled it out and gave it a quick once over and my mind changed. It looked like it was suffering from a calibrated drop and the damage wasn't too bad. Actually, all it really needed was a replacement frame and a couple of detail parts, a 5 minute fix. Of course, thinking it was a 5 minute fix was an omen of the evil to come.
Before:
Those of you who have read me recent posts know that I don't have a shortage of Overton cars and I have a reasonable pile of parts for them as well. I knew had another frame and the process to replace it is simple, but I hadn't removed the roof yet. When I did, I discovered that this car had a third degree case of POM.
I'm sure all of you have encountered POM before, but you don't know it because this will be the first time you've heard the term. POM stands for one of three things: Previous Owner Modification (first degree POM), Previous Owner Mistake (second degree POM) and Previous Owner Madness (third degree POM).
For a reason that I can only attribute to madness, the previous owner cut off the truck mounting posts, drilled holes through the body and then used 2x56x1/2" screws and nuts to hold the frame to the body and the trucks in place.
For awhile , I reverted back to the original plan of parting this out, until the battle ensued to remove the trucks. It took a heavy-duty pair of pliers, about ten minutes of fighting and a reasonable amount of cussing to remove the screws and retrieve the trucks. Now with that much effort expended, I was going to rescue this car no matter what!
Then came the next discovery of madness: the frame was glued to the body. Other than pure madness, I don't know why anyone would do this. I thought about going back to the original plan, but I had to give it a try. So I started to gently pry the frame off and found the first piece of good news: the previous owner used Walther's Goo, or something similar. While Goo is not a product I am fond of, it has one redeeming quality, you can usually pull things apart. In this case I was successful.
The damage:
The frame was designated as MUNGed (Mash Until No Good) and treated appropriately. But now I'm left with a body with two substantial holes and no way to mount a frame or trucks to it, unless I repeated the madness which I wasn't going to do.
This is the challenge of a rescue: what can I do to get this thing back on the rails. My idea was to cut pieces of sprue to fill the holes and cut two truck posts from a junked Overton car. This process went surprisingly well.
With a body that now resembled what typical Overton car normally looks like, the rest of the work became similar to building this as a kit. Install the new frame, trucks, couples, etc. I added my typical add-ons of styrene for the glass and metal wheels and declared the car operational.
This is a variation of the Northern Pacific Overton paint scheme and I'll probably run it with that set. The only other thing I might do to it is repaint the roof. The car is not pristine so the dirty roof seems appropriate. On the other hand, a clean roof may really improve the appearance, but this is a decision and task for another day.
If any of you have rescue stories, feel free to include them in this post. I like to learn from other's creative solutions to damaged, neglected equipment or battles with POM.
