SCENES ALONG THE

CIMARRON & TALL TIMBERS RR

By

Tom Troughton, MMR

Building PBL Drop Bottom Gondolas

Back in August of 2004, I decided to tackle the construction of four PBL Drop Bottom Gondola car kits. Upon opening the kit and seeing all those intricate and highly detailed components, I was a bit intimidated because this kit looked like it was the most detailed of the previous PBL car kits that I've assembled in the past. However, after looking over the instructions and carefully studying the parts, it didn't seem as though it was going to be too difficult if I took my time.

This document starts after the basic box and underside of the car was assembled. It does show the many details this car has and how everything went together.

The three preceding photos of the wheels show results of the progress I used to blacken and weather them. The plated wheels sets were first given a bath in Ferric Chloride solution. That's the liquid used to etch printed circuit boards. The etching solution was then rinsed off the wheels with clear water and then painted with gun bluing solution to darken them further. That was also rinsed off and they were set aside to dry. The rust color is the result of them being brushed with my, "sweet and sour," rusting solution.