Continuing the build of an example of the Myron P. Davis “Streamlined Caboose” kit (photos start here), there has been big progress.

Prepping the parts

There are several challenging things about this kit, including especially the bronze dome casting.

I decided the best plan of attack was to open up the holes with a power drill, then cut the openings bigger with a jeweler’s saw, then move on to files. I had some nice new files which was a help.

In the photo, I was to the point of filing. The windows took an entire morning to file out. I made the windows somewhat bigger than in the original model I have that was made by Davis himself. Below shows the initial results, with also the floor and ends in place temporarily.

With that, there were a number of parts to modify, which took another chunk of time. I did several major things differently than Davis. One is I modified what he had set up as an interior bulkhead (under the dome) to be ends like on a streamlined passenger car, with now also a full floor. I also modified the steps to be, I hope, a bit less dangerous. Finally, I cut out the roof under the dome properly. I’m not planning to do a full interior, but I am planning to mock up bulkheads and an upstairs seating area, and you will see that I made it so the floor and ends can be separated from the body for interior access.

Assembly

This was a challenge to put together.

The first step was to sand the patina off any place that I planned to solder.

That done, it was time to solder the dome on with a small torch. I set it up so that it was resting (suspended) on a piece of thick brass stock. I use acid flux for this type of work.

The torch is the only way to do this, the dome is a large piece and takes a lot to heat up. Had one unexpected consequence. The brass stock he used for the body, it really is a bit thin, and it warped under the dome (above the side window) on both sides. It’s not real obvious, but not quite looking as I would hope.

The holes in the roof, they are alignment holes for when he stamped out the body or perhaps bent the body. Two stories there. One is that the body (and also the other two bodies I have) is slightly canted to one side on one end. The other is he was thinking you would hide it with a big roofwalk. I thought however that looked a bit odd, and I opted to make covers for the holes, that I hope resemble vents.

One other quick side story. In the book I mention that with the parts was the steel tool used to bend the roof. That’s not correct. It’s similar in shape, but not the same shape — and way too short anyway. I think maybe it was just a handy tool he made use of when fabricating OO parts. I’m going to keep it in the shop.

Continuing, I had interior ends to attach to the body. I did this using the same setup I put together to build the switcher cabs earlier this year, with square reinforcements as seen below. For everything other than the dome I used my resistance soldering outfit.

After that I turned to the floor, and I managed to not take a photo of that in progress. My big idea was to use the modified steps to help hold the modified ends to the frame, which has a central piece of brass tube for strength. It was a challenge to set up, and I was worried about heat management, that the steps would not fall off when putting the ends on. But with careful work I got it done.

With that, I was pretty excited to see the car together!

Separated, the inside of the car looks like this:

The original Davis model is not at all built this way. There is no full floor; it’s actually pieced together with a portion of a Nason flat car frame.

In any case, my model and the Davis original are pretty unique models. I’m aiming for a crazy, home built inspection car or president’s personal car vibe — which maybe Davis was aiming for too, who knows. As I said in the book, the overall cross section is very similar to a Zuhr streamlined passenger car, and I’m looking forward to running it with a passenger train.

Not too many more details to add! I’ll add some handrails for sure, and I’ve got some special trucks in mind for it. Goal is to paint this when I paint the two observation cars, which I hope to get to soon.