Rebuilding an Inexpensive HO Scale Tank Car

EVERY TIME I complete one of these freight car rebuild videos, I think “that’s the end.” But then I think of another, completely different, project I’d like to try...

Links to items mentioned in this video. (Note: I am NOT endorsing any particular product(s), nor am I compensated by or connected to any of the companies mentioned.) I do NOT guarantee that these links will give you the best available price! Consider these links to be a starting point for your search.

MATERIALS:

AB Brake components: https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/...

Phosphor-Bronze wire: https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/... I used 0.0125” (1” OD) for the brake piping, and I used 0.020” (1¾” OD) for the train line and for the handrail. You can also form your own hand grabs from 0.0125” wire, but you’ll need a bending jig to make uniform sizes. These are available from several manufacturers including American Model Builders, BMLA, Grandt Line, and Micro-Mark.

Brake Mechanical Linkage: http://www.accurail.com/accurail/brak... This set also includes stirrups steps designed to fit Accurail’s kits – I’ve not found a way to use these on other cars.

Hand grabs: https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/.... I used 18” straight grabs for the car ends and 24” straight for the car body.

Stirrup steps: https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/... For this project, I chose #3042 Angled Offset Bottom Mount steps.

Brass Ladders: Brass ladder stock seems to get harder to find every year. Here are two possible sources:
– Seaport Model Works https://seaportmodelworks.com/product... These ladders are about 20 scale inches wide.
– eBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/154057247798 These ladders are about 15 scale inches wide.

Styrene tubing for truck bolster/kingpins: Evergreen #224 and #226: https://evergreenscalemodels.com/coll... You’ll spend $8.37 (plus tax and shipping) for one pack of each size, and you’ll have enough tubing to remount over 100 pairs of trucks.

Truck sideframes: http://www.accurail.com/accurail/part... You can buy either Bettendorf or roller-bearing trucks. Accurail models the open-ended roller-bearing trucks, which became popular in the mid 1960s.

Metal wheelsets: https://www.intermountain-railway.com... Use 33” wheels for cars with a Load Limit up to 70 tons; above that, use 36” wheels.

Decals: https://k4decals.com/collections/tank... In addition to specific freight car, locomotive, and passenger car decals, K4 offers a huge selection of letters, number, and stripes in a variety of sizes and any of eight different colors.

Circus City Paint Patch Decals: https://circusdecals.ecwid.com/produc...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This video was edited using Shotcut for Linux. Video footage and still images were recorded using a Galaxy A10e phone and a Nikon D7100 camera.