A Walk Down Memory Lane

The inspiration for this article came from GAZETTE author and friend, Dave Adams. Dave sent me a set of decals for the late Mike Schwab’s Sn3 San Lorenzo Southern Railroad, as well as Jim Vail’s HOn3 Glenwood & Black Creek Railroad. Both of these individuals were good friends of mine, and through Dave’s help, I felt inspired to build some “tribute” cars for these fallen flags. Up until then, it had been a long time since I’d built any HOn3 rolling stock kits, but Dave’s gesture was the catalyst to walk down memory lane.

While walking down memory lane, I built 11 kits from three manufacturers. I would have built more, but time would not allow it. This photo shows 8 Rail Line boxcars, 2 Grandt RGS/C&S reefers and a Precision Scale Co. D&RGW 40-foot reefer. Of those cars, 6 became tribute cars.

For the longest time, I felt that an article on what rolling stock kits are currently available in HOn3 needed to grace the pages of this fine magazine. For more than a decade, HOn3 modelers have been blessed with a lot of Ready-To-Run (RTR) HOn3 rolling stock releases that have undoubtedly affected the kit market. There have been ownership changes with the traditional manufacturers, and as well, new manufacturers have appeared with new kits on the market. It seemed like a good time to write about what’s currently available and share some kit building tips that I’ve learned along the way.

Thirty-five years ago, when I started in HOn3, there were no RTR models. Over those early years I built literally hundreds of kits to create a large enough fleet to sustain operations on my moderately sized railroad. When Blackstone RTR rolling stock came along, I bought all that I could and focused my modelling efforts in other areas. I’m sure many other modelers did too. During that time, I could see a shift in the hobby and feared that the demand for those much-loved HOn3 rolling stock kits would drop to the point that they would disappear from the market. Through researching this article and reaching out to some of the manufacturers, I’m pleased to say that my fears were unfounded. The kit business is still here to provide us with endless hours of enjoyment. I hope you read along and feel inspired to build some kits too.

AVAILABLE HON3 KITS

I started my journey by building a fleet of Rail Line D&RGW boxcar kits. These must be the quintessential HOn3 rolling stock kits that everyone should start with. Admittedly, the details seemed almost overwhelming all those years ago, and my first efforts left a lot of room for improvement. But as I built these recent kits, it became obvious to me that anyone with some patience can obtain a nice outcome. I marveled at how a kit that was designed and tooled nearly 45 years ago, holds up in detail that can’t be beat today. It really says a lot about the original designer. Amazingly, these kits are still readily available today and just as fun to build. The boxcars that I built were the ideal destination for the SLS and G&BC RR decals that Dave sent me.

This early Rail Line kit represents a typical HOn3 kit with excellent details, and although a D&RGW prototype, it lends itself well for freelancing. It’s probably the most popular kit in the history of HOn3 rolling stock kits. Here is one fully assembled and waiting for paint.

This is one of the first Rail Line kits that I built when I started in the hobby as a teenager. It lacks many details and is crude by my current standards. I’ve included it in this article to illustrate that we all have humble beginnings, and with patience, anyone can improve their skills and build up a fine collection of built-up kits.

Many kits like this Precision Scale Co. D&RGW long reefer come as a stack of parts, instructions, trucks and decals. This kit builds into a prototype that has never been made as an RTR model. The kit will be back on the market soon. These 40-foot cars really add variety to a sea of standard length 30-foot cars.

I thoroughly enjoy building Precision Scale Co. HOn3 kits. The detail is exceptional, and the kits go together well. I contacted the new owners of PSC to inquire about when they were going to put their kits back on the market. The kits haven’t been available since the company was sold a couple years back. I’m happy to share that while I’m writing this article, they are actively trying to make their entire line of HOn3 kits available again. That will include the UTLX frameless and narrow frame tank cars, D&RGW long & short reefers, 34-foot stock car, 40-foot flat car and both styles of D&RGW cabooses. Many of these prototypes have never been done in RTR form. I’m especially excited that they will be bringing back the two different caboose kits that I used in my previous two GAZETTE articles. The 40-foot flat car kit can be kit bashed into the auto flats that I featured in the January/February and March/April 2016 GAZETTEs. I also intend to use this flat car kit in an upcoming column.

San Juan Models offers the former line of Grandt Line HOn3 kits. These are a real treasure especially for the C&S and RGS modelers. They have kits for C&S/RGS boxcars, stock cars, gondolas, and a C&S caboose. All are exceptional in detail. The Grandt family put a lot of pride in designing these kits many decades ago and it still shows! The C&S/RGS boxcars lend themselves well to kit bashing which I demonstrated in the July/August and September/October 2012 GAZETTEs.

The former E&B Valley kits that have been sold under the Model Railroad General Store banner for the past couple of decades are still available through their website and the eBay store. They still offer the D&RGW coach kits, stock cars and RGS 0404 kit. I haven’t tried their new hybrid RPO and baggage car kits, but intend to soon. I especially like their stock car kits because they can be made into many different board variations. A stack of these kits and the Victor Stone book, Taking Stock, can be used to make a very interesting and prototypical stock train.

For those of you who like building wood kits, Labelle Woodworking still offers a long list of passenger cars, and early boxcar and reefer kits. Funaro & Camerlengo offer a wide range of East Broad Top cars and other prototypes in resin. Speaking of EBT, the Friends of the EBT also offer the occasional kit through their website. Durango Press, though JL Innovative is still offering several logging cars and some of their MOW car kits. Unfortunately, it appears that their D&RGW gondola kit is no longer available which is a real shame since it’s the only kit available for this abundant Colorado prototype. Rio Grande Models has recently been sold to new owners and I believe it’s their intent to slowly make all the RGM kits available again. These kits fill a hole for maintenance of way (MOW) and logging prototypes.

New manufacturers like Leadville Designs are putting out kits made up of 3D printed parts like this MOW kit. The remainder of the kit is mostly stock items from other manufacturers. Some of their other kits utilize laser-cut parts. It’s exciting to see that new technology and traditional parts can be married to produce kits that have never been offered before.

For economic reasons, this Northbound Models Works kit for a White Pass and Yukon container flat car would probably never be produced by traditional injection molding methods. With 3D printing, this NBMW can produce a high-quality model with variable production numbers. Kits like these can fill a void for less popular prototypes like the WP&Y.
-Photo by Mike May.

One really exciting advance in the hobby is the appearance of new manufacturers. I believe the price drops in laser cutters and 3D printing has stimulated this. Leadville Designs is bringing out some prototypes never offered before in kit form. They are offering MOW cars, early Rio Grande Southern cars plus many more unique prototypes. Gazette author, Mike May, is offering a resin printed White Pass and Yukon container car through his Northbound Model Works line. Many other modelers are getting into 3D printing and offering kits or parts directly or through online printing services like Shapeways. With the flexibility of 3D printing, I’m eagerly anticipating more kits for oddball prototypes where it doesn’t make sense to invest in injection molded tooling.

HOn3 trucks come ready to use or as kits. They come molded in brass, white metal and Delrin. The examples of each in this photo are representative of the dozens of options available to the HOn3 modeler.

I keep a box from every different kit that I’ve built. Within the boxes, I store the extra parts that come with the kits. This treasure trove often comes in handy if I lose a part while building a new kit.

TRUCKS, COUPLERS AND DECALS

Some HOn3 kits come with trucks but others don’t. Blackstone is currently not offering their trucks for sale, which is unfortunate since they set a new standard for extreme levels of rollability. Precision Scale Co. kits all come with trucks in either Delrin or brass. They take some tweaking, but can be made to work well. PSC also offers these trucks separately through their parts catalog. The Grandt Line kits currently offered by San Juan Models come with trucks. As I’m writing this article, they are bringing back their line of trucks, which have always been excellent. Micro Trains sells all sorts of different trucks that are very free rolling too. Model Railroad General Store sells truck kits to go with their passenger cars. Leadville Shops sells brass trucks to go with the kits they offer. Hopefully the new owners of Rio Grande Models will make their trucks available again soon.

The humble Kadee 714 split shank coupler is the standard for most HOn3 modelers. They are readily available and fit most molded in place coupler pockets on HOn3 kits.

HOn3 modelers are lucky to have many decal manufacturers to support our hobby. Shown are a small sample of a few of them.

I usually stock all these Grandt Line parts to supplement my kit building. They are a great source for replacement parts. I find the Delrin parts more forgiving than some of the styrene parts included in some kits. Not in packages, but seen as gray and black dots at the top of the photo are #5037 D&RGW brake wheels and #5040 Westinghouse brake sets. I didn’t have any of these parts in packages at the time I was writing this article.

Most HOn3 kits have been designed to use a Kadee #714 split shank coupler. These are readily available in black or rust colored Delrin. Most plastic kits have a frame that is molded to accept these couplers and/or their boxes. Some modelers like the realism of Sergent Engineering Couplers which are also readily available.

PSC, Grandt Line, and many other kits come with decals. The kits without decals will need to be sourced separately. Thin Film Decals has most of what you would need and are excellent. San Juan Decals also has an extensive line of high-quality decals. Microscale offers a few different sets of decals that are suitable for HOn3 models too. If you are modelling a more obscure prototype, then Republic Locomotive Works probably has what you are looking for. We are exceptionally lucky to have such a good supply of decals in HOn3.

One tip that wasn’t mentioned in the text is that it’s a lot easier and more efficient to build multiples of kits. For this article, I built eight Rail Line boxcars (7 shown) to use as the basis for my tribute cars.

This is one of three Glenwood and Black Creek tribute cars that I built for this article. The base kit is from Rail Line. The decals are a mix of Jim Vail’s custom decals, Microscale and Thin Film Decals. I lettered them based on photos of cars that Jim built that Dave Adams shared with me.

Here, one of two San Lorenzo Southern cars that are a tribute to Mike Schwab. The base kits are Rail Line boxcars, and all the decals are from Mike. I lettered the cars to match a photo of one of Mike’s cars.

While building the other tribute cars, I decided to use up my last set of San Juan Swill decals. These were given to me by my late friend, Keith Koch. I have two other SJS cars operating on my layout. Since business is brisk, I decided to add another reefer to the fleet with a nod to my lost friend, Keith. In my operating scheme, these cars load beer at Montrose (where Keith really used to live), and transport it to the wild town of Telluride to refresh the rowdy miners.

KIT BUILDING TIPS

I find that having spare parts on hand makes my kit building time more enjoyable. I always keep a decent supply of Grandt Line brake coupler lift bars, stirrups, and turnbuckles on hand. Some older HOn3 kits lack brake details, and I like to upgrade those kits with additional details. Sometimes, brake wheels and other small parts break or go flying into the abyss while I’m building a kit, so it’s always nice to have spares. The Grandt Line turnbuckles are molded in Delrin which is much more forgiving than the styrene ones that are often found in many kits, so I usually replace the kit’s turnbuckles. The Grandt Line stirrups are also cast in flexible Delrin so I often use them as substitutes for the fragile styrene ones that come in some kits. A simple upgrade that I like to do is add PSC #31638 brake hoses to the car ends. Since I snip off my Kadee trip pins, this simple addition adds a lot of realism.

The narrow gauge conventions and swap meets are also a good source of parts. Occasionally, I’ve found partially started kits for a few dollars which can be a cheap source for spare parts. I also keep all the leftover and spare parts that come with the kits as I build them. I keep a box in my cupboard for every type of kit I’ve built and put all the spare parts in each box. I do the same with the kit instructions by keeping a single copy of the instructions for every kit in case they are missing.

For grab irons, brake rods and pipes on my models, I prefer using phosphor bronze wire over the brass that’s provided in some kits. Some of the provided brass wire is so soft that it hardly holds its shape. I discard it and replace it with Tichy phosphor bronze wire. The replacement wire is rigid, and holds its shape much better than soft brass. The Grandt Line kits come with phosphor bronze wire, while most of the others provide brass wire.

Drilling all those grab iron holds can be a real pain. Admittedly, it’s my least favorite part of kit building. What is even more unpleasant is breaking my last micro drill bit before I’ve drilled out all the kit’s holes. I buy my #80, #79, #78 and #76 drill bits in packs of 10 so that I have plenty of spares. This helps keep a tedious task from becoming frustrating.

CONCLUSION

It appears that my fears that HOn3 kits might be slowly disappearing is unfounded. In fact, the opposite is true and there are more new kits coming out all the time. Personally, I really enjoy the satisfaction of building a model kit. Researching this article and building some kits was a nice walk down memory lane. I hope I’ve inspired you to support these manufacturers as well as enjoying the satisfaction of building a new model to add to your fleet.

In this article I’ve tried to recognize all the current HOn3 rolling stock kit manufacturers. My apologies to the inevitable few that I may have missed. I’d like to thank Dave Adams for the decals that started this journey and all the supplemental information that kept it going!

Feature

HOn3 Rolling Stock Kits and Tribute Cars

AVAILABLE HON3 KITS

TRUCKS, COUPLERS AND DECALS

KIT BUILDING TIPS

CONCLUSION