Beginning on the 5000

Over the past few months I've been doing a bit of project hopping.

I stepped away from 3D modeling to do some “real” modeling. This has focused on the 5000 series Skokie Car. I’ve had this thing for several years and I finally started doing something with it. Prior to painting (which would be done best with an airbrush—a tool not currently within the Dunsel Line shops) the car needs to be primed.

Brass models often come with a protective coating so that they arrive in the eager hands of the modeler with a crisp, glossy luster. While this coating keeps the brass free of surface imperfections, it impedes the painting process and therefore needs to be removed.

My 5000 no longer had the glimmering brilliance it must have had when it was new and had developed a few tarnish spots in. As such, I wasn’t sure if the brass had the protective clear coat on it. Going the safe route, I “removed” it anyway. The method here was a breadbox filled with thinner. (I actually got this breadbox while on the IRM Highliner fundraiser. It’s officially traction related!) I started with the middle section as this requires no prep work, unlike the ends. The body and underbody/floor were soaked separately in the bath for 24 hours before being brushed off and cleaned. Interestingly, there was no gel coating left on the parts after the bath (as I was expecting) however there was a distinct color change in the thinner, so I’m left to assume that there was a coating on the brass.

Dis is what happens when you displeases da boss, see? You sleep wit da lacquer thinner fishes, chump!

Before I repeat this process with the ends, I need to remove the trolley pole shrouds and roof boards. This will require a soldering iron which will be acquired in the immediate future.

Once both pieces of the middle section were dry, they were primed with Tamiya light gray primer.

I also ordered the replacement wheels for the unpowered trucks. As delivered, these cars came with resilient wheels but by the time they were assigned to the Skokie Swift, these wheels had been replaced. (Since I need the car to be 2-rail operable, the wheels have to be insulated and therefore replaced anyway.) A quick search of Chicago-L.org shows that the 5000-series were equipped with 26” wheels so I acquired a set of 26” flush axle wheels from NorthWest Short Line.

I quickly installed them on the two trailer trucks and (aside from the faces needing to be painted silver) they look great. There is, however, one problem. The wheels supplied with the model aren’t the same size as the NorthWest Short Line wheels. They’re slightly larger, a difference which is only really noticeable when you have both sets in hand. The new, smaller wheels cause the truck to sit marginally lower. Unfortunately, this is just enough to cause the “hanging” track brake to rub against the rails. Other than switching to 28” wheels, I don’t have a solution at present.

A front truck with original wheels and tread-gap as seen under poor lighting conditions

A middle truck with replacement wheels and no tread-gap under the same poor lighting conditions

With an unusual bit of forethought on my part, shortly after buying the model, I ordered an interior kit from Q Car. The seats have all been cleaned and primed. I tested one seat with a can of Rustoleum chrome for the metal parts and I find it passable. Only this one seat has been done in this way since I haven’t been bothered to start the tedious process of masking all the other seats yet.