1700 Series Baggage Car Repair/Repaint

When Amtrak's Superliner II cars entered service, Amtrak found itself with a surplus of equipment but a shortage of baggage cars.  Instead of ordering brand new cars to carry bagge, Amtrak converted a number HEP-equipped heritage coaches to baggage cars.  Amtrak covered up all the windows excluding those found on end doors and vestibules, and added a roll-up door in the center. 

These cars are still in service today and will likely be in service until Amtrak's new Viewliner Bagge cars are delivered.  They may even last beyond that depending up Amtrak's equipment needs.

Walthers produced an exact replica of the prototype in 2000 when they ran a series of heritage cars which in addition to Amtrak liveries, came in other roadnames as well.  These cars are an excellent represenation of modern Amtrak equipment.  My modeling and operating session needs revealed that like Amtrak, I too was short rollingstock to handle baggage but as my budget restraints prove to be more challenging, I had to work with what I had.  I decided to go into my storage bin and pull out the first 1700 series baggage car that I purchased over ten years ago; car number 1702.  I had already successfully painted a newer baggage car in this paint scheme and I wanted another so I opted to re-paint one of my existing models rather than pay well above MSRP for a factory-painted phase IVb 1700 series baggage car through the Amtrak store (I already took the hit for the three heritage P42s and one F40).

***Note: Part of the reason why this is the case is that Amtrak is selling these exclusively and independent of Walthers' planned production schedule so they won't be distributed through hobby shops like previous Amtrak equipment from Walthers.  As a result, the purchaser has to pay full MSRP in addition to roughly $10+ in shipping/handling as well as roughly %5 sales tax, all without any sort of discount one would normally expect/get at a hobby shop or traditional model railroading vendor.*** 

As is commonly dealt with when handling well detailed equipment, some parts tend to break off easily or with time.  Such was the case with my model.  The very first (1 of 3 total) of these cars had the stirrups damaged due to handling over the past decade.  Fortunately the stirrups for the roll-up door were salvaged although they were at the point of breaking off.  Fortunately the application of liquid cement to the area did the trick.  The stirrups for the end door were a different story.

Below is a brief summary of what I did to repair the damage and get this car back into service.

Thanks for your interest!  If you have any questions, please contact me.

Notes

Here is a shot of the stock model with the damage it has received over the last decade.  It was the only one of its kind for almost a decade until I purchased two additional cars in 2009

This close-up shows the broken stirup which is completely removed from the shell which it was molded to originally.

At this point we simply finish the work "nature" started and make the areas flush but still identifieable.  The points at which the two contacts were molded on will serve as place holders for drilling later.

The other side was still in tact but barely.  In the interest of uniformity, and inevitability, it's recommended that this stirrup be removed as well.  Besides, it's only a matter of time before this one gets damaged too right? 

BUT WAIT!  If one of your stirrups is in tact, try to remove it cleanly and in one piece.  You can reference this in order to shape the new stirrup later.

This is probably still one of the most excellent model railroad bargains around.  "Tichy" sells packs of bronze rods in various diameters for just under $3 MSRP in packs of 10.  Each is roughly 7 to 8" in length.  

After making the areas flush, I recommend taking a .24 size drill bit and drill into the areas that are still marked by the removal of the original stirrups.  Then test fit your rod into the hole.  If all works well, it should be no more than a press fit; no adhesive required.  If it doesn't fit, go up one size.  If it's too loose, you'll have to drill deeper with a smaller drill bit and make the stem of your new stirrup a bit longer.  The other option is to use an adhesive if the fit is too loose. 

Be sure to drill to just the right depth.  Too far and you run the risk of pucturing throught the side of the model (hopefully inward in which case, it's not noticeable). 

The next step is to shape the rod in order to match the salvaged factory stirrup we saved earlier.  With fine, needle nosed pliers, this process is simply an excorcise of bending the rod 90 degrees.

Bend the rod to conform to the shape of the original stirrup.  Once that is completed, you are ready to insert the new stirrup into the drilled holes.

Repeat the process for the other side.

The first photo shows the newly installed stirrups pressed into the drilled holes without adhesive.  

The second photo shows the ne stirrup installed with the car right side up.

The thrid photo shows the comparison between the original and new stirrup (before removing the other original stirrup of course).

From this point forward we can either paint the new stirrups now or come back and paint them later after we apply the new livery (optional).

As stated earlier I've decided to update the livery on this car and so I moved forward with applying the new phase IVb livery prior to painting the stirrups.  I decided to do this because I planned to paint the stirrups with a brush using testors metallic silver.  This paint lifts easily and so I decided to hold off until I was done with masking.

This is the resulting baggage car should one decide to paint it in the latest livery.  This is a picture of a different car shown.  I do intend to re-visit this page and update it with a photo of the more recent model as well as the steps to painting it.  Also look for additional photo inserts in this tutorial for some of the steps above. 

Thanks again for looking and if you decide to puruse this project; good luck!