In the section of my book on Myron P. Davis and his OO products, one of the featured (p. 271-2) and very unique items is the one I’ve been calling a “streamlined caboose.” Although I think it was maybe to represent something like an inspection car or superintendent’s special car?

Overall, it is as big as a Zuhr streamlined car, just shorter, with a stylized dome. Besides owning one that I believe was made by Davis himself, I have three complete kits. Looking at possible projects for the last bit of time I can use my garage shop, I got thinking, maybe it’s time. Time to go big — and build one.

So this is what you’d get from Davis if you bought one. I’m not wild about the actual Davis model, it’s pretty fanciful and kind of heavily built — but I have an idea to build it slightly different, put my spin on it. A bit more realistic, I’m hopeful.

My first step was get the bend of the body a bit better. The brass is dead soft, so it was not hard to manipulate.

Looking a bit closer at the body, on all three of the bodies I have you can clearly see his lightly scribed marks used to line up the window openings. These, he must have had a steel die to punch the windows one by one. Plus a die to punch out the entire body from flat sheet. The project to develop this kit was pretty involved! As he also had to develop master patterns for the dome and steps and have them cast in bronze.

The ends he made in stacks of four each, by hand. It’s not easy to see in the photo, but for example clearly he drilled holes at each corner of the door and cut them with a saw, maybe a fine band saw. Smoothed it out then with big files. The two holes that look like they are for a hand grab, those had alignment pins for the stack in them.

You need 4 ends, by the way. On his original car, two ends are in the middle, if that makes sense, under the dome. I’m thinking to manage the ends differently than he did.

Oh, then we get to the dome. It’s styled like one on a streamlined car. I’ve worked it to this point so that it fits on the body, as below.

The next step is a big job. What I need to do is drill holes in the window openings, then work them over with saws and files. It’s not going to be easy or fun! And I have to cut a floor out of brass stock as well. But after that, I think the build can be finished pretty quickly using the same techniques I’d use working on French horns. I have all the supplies to get the bodies together, just need to have all the parts prepped and ready to go.

More soon!