Kitbashing a Pennsy “Betterment sleeper”
ment. To avoid damage, it’s best to in- stall the steam traps and generator just prior to painting.
Shape the roof With no Pullman Betterment roof
available as a part, it was necessary to form one from Bethlehem Car Works milled wood roof stock (part No. 102)– a near-match to the Betterment car prototype after a few modifications. The required operations include nar- rowing the roof to match the carbody width, tapering the ends, and adding end caps to hide the wood grain at the ends.
I had not looked forward to this part of the project, but once underway the work went quickly and easily. Original- ly designed to fit Rivarossi’s heavy- weight Pullman model, the Bethlehem Car Works roof is about 6″ wider than the correct 10′-0″ width of the Branch- line carbody. Remove an equal width from each side of the roof by drawing it across a sheet of coarse sandpaper resting on a flat surface, such as a pane of glass, then finish with fine followed by extra fine sandpaper. Be sure to blend the revised surface into the cur- vature of the original profile. The milled lips below the bottom of the roof will interfere with the top of the Branchline carbody’s interior core cast- ing. Correct this by reducing the height of the lips by about ¹₁₆″ with sandpaper or a plane. With a file, narrow the over- all width of the lips from 9′-3″ to 9′-0″ so they will nest inside the carbody and the roof will rest on the tops of the sides without leaving a gap.
The roof is slightly longer than the
Branchline carbody and must be trimmed to length. Allowing for the thickness of a .040″ styrene end cap at each end, cut the roof to match the length of your carbody minus .080″. For my roof, the correct length was 81′-2″. A NorthWest Short Line Tru-Sander is handy for sanding the ends to a per- fectly perpendicular surface. At each end of the roof, file a pair of bevels, matching the profile of the carbody end; fine sandpaper on a sanding block is handy for final shaping of the bevels. Next, shape the taper at each end of the roof. A template photocopied from a published plan for a lightweight pas- senger car is handy to achieve the cor- rect end profile. Based on a published plan for a different Betterment car (Mainline Modeler, September, 1989), the taper should start about 4′-4″ from the end of the roof.
I found it easiest to do the rough shaping of the taper with medium sandpaper on a sanding block, working longitudinally on the roof. Final shap- ing was done with a single-cut mill file,
52 12.
12. The end details–including the diaphragm spring mechanism, roof detailing, and stirrups– are visible in this close up. 13. This view shows the drawing room side of the finished model.
working transversely across the roof. Be sure to blend in a gentle curve at the transition point. Final sanding was done by dragging the roof across fine, then extra fine sandpaper resting on a flat surface. Cut each end cap from three pieces
of .040″ styrene sheet. Match the pro- file of the bottom edge of the three pieces to the top edge of the carbody end and be sure the seams between the three pieces are as tight as possible. Glue them to the ends with cyanoacry- late and file their tops to match the curvature of the wood roof. Fill any gaps between the ends of the wood roof and the styrene end caps with Squadron putty and sand to achieve a seamless joint. Test-fit the roof to the carbody to as- sure that the fit is tight in all dimen- sions. You’ll likely find it necessary to notch the interior walls to clear the lips on the roof.
When satisfied with the roof, seal the wood grain with sanding sealer and sand the surface smooth with extra-fine sandpaper. A second coat may be need- ed for a perfectly smooth surface. As in- surance, I primed the roof with gray primer, allowing me to easily spot any remaining small defects for correction.
Build the diaphragms Originally part of Pennsy’s late-
1930’s “Fleet of Modernism,” Pennsy’s Betterment Pullmans were equipped with full-width diaphragms. While giv- ing the train a streamlined, tubular appearance, they proved less than practical in service and after a few
years were removed. What remained was not the stan-
dard Pullman diaphragm, but a vestige of the full-width diaphragm. Torched off were the side wings, but left intact was a section reaching upward to the roof of the car which contained a spring mechanism. With no commercial part available, the diaphragms are easily modeled by using the Branchline diaphragm as the base and fabricating a faceplate made from .010″ styrene strips. Using the photo as a guide, layout the faceplate on a flat surface such as plate glass. The bottom strip
is .080″, the side
strips are .100″, the intermediate strip near the top is .125″, and the top strip is .100″, its top edge curved to match the roof profile. Glue the strips as shown, and when dry, glue the assem- bly onto the Branchline diaphragm. The spring mechanism struts are ³₆₄″ styrene rod, 1′-0″ long; glue one near each top corner of the back of the face- plate. Test fit the diaphragms to the carbody, and mark the centers of the struts on the carbody ends. The circu- lar fittings where the struts meet the body are represented with Precision Scale No. 48274 boiler washout plugs. Remove the diaphragms. We will glue them permanently after painting.
Carbody details A removable roof will allow interior
access, and a pair of 2-56×1″ screws running from the floor into square tub- ing glued to the roof underside is a handy way to accomplish this. Drill (No. 42) the floor for the screws be-
FEBRUARY 2012
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