Four more cars from my recent push to finish some projects were a Hawk Boxcar and three Hawk Gondolas.

These first two cars may be found here before I worked them over, being fairly recent eBay finds. The gon was maybe 70% done and a bit damaged (several parts were broken off) and the boxcar more like 85% done with very nicely done metal ends.

To the gondola I added ladders based on Eastern ladders, Eastern brake valves, brake wheels, etc. and there are other additions to the boxcar such as door reinforcements and brake details. The boxcar also got Schorr trucks and a set of Champ HO decals that fit the car very well. For the gon I decided my home road the Orient was the best choice. The design is an uncommon one (an ATSF Sulfur gon) and it was best to go freelance.

Two more gons were also worked over, which came from OO Inventory. I don’t know how long they had been there or who started them but seeing them and starting in on the first car I decided to build them up too to make a nice trio. They were perhaps 85% done when I started in on them and had coal loads by the original builder. They were detailed in the same manner as the car in the top photo but got vintage Kadee couplers to set them apart just a bit.

In retrospect I would think about remounting underset shank Kadee couplers to all the gondolas so that I could set them up lower on the trucks. They seem a bit tall (and high on the trucks) but I don’t know how tall the prototype cars are. For now will just think about it however. [Update: I did change the couplers and lower these cars on the trucks; the look was improved by the changes.]

All in all I am happy with the set of cars and very happy with the boxcar. Nice additions to the layout.