I have a soft spot for Graceline cars with the hand painted sides.

This particular car I have owned for some 20 years but have never had on display as it was lacking a roof. Looking at this pre-war model again recently I realized it would not take much time at all to work up a close approximation of the original roof. I used a spare late Graceline or Transportation Models roof as the base, adding a Scale-Craft roof walk and Eastern/Famoco hatches. I painted all the parts before adding them to the car. It was also missing ladders on the sides, so those I worked up from Eastern/Famoco castings. Testors brown is a little browner than the paint used on the ends by the original builder but is close enough to not stand out as very different. I did not replace the missing brake wheel.

Turning to the bottom (and the other side of the car – if you look closely you can spot differences in the lettering), it needed trucks. I opted at least for now for a spare pair of early Graceline trucks, the ones that look like S-C trucks from the side but they are quite different. This particular pair rolls fine but the wheelsets are under gauge, so if I decide to really operate this car I will have to work it over further.

The Kadee couplers are probably overkill for a car that I don’t plan to operate, but the long shank versions were an easy install. I do have a few original Graceline couplers, it would make sense to go back and put those on instead.

The hand lettering is distinctive. I love displaying these early Graceline models and do so with no fear of fading. Some lines of printed sides, in contrast, I keep in the dark in boxes (especially Champion).