September 2026

 

Free-lancing for fun!

by Joe Zappa

It all started when a friend of mine decided she wanted to build a model railroad for fun.

She bought some track, a loco and a couple of cars… in On30, and started building a layout with some help from her nephews…bear in mind, she is 70 years old, but very young at heart !  Along the way she saw a little “bobber” caboose that she really liked and commented on, and right away I knew that I just needed to make her one.

I had a variety of materials laying around, and I love to scratch-build, so I put together some basic dimensions along with an idea in my head and jumped in.

The materials I used were very basic; some sheet styrene, some flat bamboo strips and some brass.  I laid out a basic floor and underbody, some walls and roof pieces in styrene, and decided on a diagonal planking scheme for the bamboo planking.  The concept is that of a “home brew” bobber that might have been built with various pieces laying around the yard at some little narrow gauge, short line operation.

The basic elements came together quickly. At this point I decided the car would have a simple platform on one end, and therefore needed some end railing…. out came the brass rod and soldering tools and I fabbed up something basic, with a little bit of flare. I know my friend would want something “cute” so I kept that in mind.

After laying out, soldering and test fitting, it was time to start the assembly and making the windows and trim boards…again using various bits of styrene I had laying around.

I also decided that a simple battery powered lighting set up for the end lanterns and an Interior light would be best in this case.  End lanterns…yes…some tiny LED lights, a bit of aluminum tube and powered by a watch battery via a small switch.  Simple enough.

Ok…moving on. I pirated a truck/wheel-set from a spares box, along with a coupler and got those mounted. Checked with my NMRA gauge and everything lined up nicely.

I know that my friend likes red, so I primed everything and airbrushed the basic red color and proceeded to weather the little car. Trim was done in white, and weathered with a little dust and grime, and a few rusty nail streaks. I added a chimney made from aluminum tube and some purposely slack support wires. I felt that since this was a humble little railroad, they probably didn’t always do the best upkeep !

A few simple decals were added and the whole thing was sealed up with a satin finish. I then added some window glazing made from clear plastic from some container or other, and made a little birdhouse to hang from the rear facia boards.  A small brass planter railing was soldered and put on the front, and a styrene planter box with some flowers for good measure.

Just a fun little freelance project built over a couple of days and is sure to make my friend smile !