I hope the fine folks at Micro-Trains don't mine me using this shot to point out another use for their terrific product. I'm going to make one of these converted troop sleepers into a Bangor and Aroostook caboose. A nice blend of wandering the countryside looking for trains and the more sedentary pursuit of model railroading. The one prototype car I have many detail photos to go by is C-87 which is on display in Frenchville at the local historical society. The DT&I Fan and I saw it last October on a quick tour of "The County".
It may require a bit of work but I have assembled the main ingredients, namely the car pictured above and an old bay window caboose to cut up for parts (steps, stovepipe and bay windows). I'll worry about the red paint and decals if I get that far. Thank heavens the model troop sleeper comes with the correct trucks. Allied trucks are readily available anyway but there's always some hangup with length of the coupler extension. My layout is nearly all talgo style couplers, not body mounts.
Here's another shot of the prototype.
I'll have to revisit other photos when I get closer to actual modifications. There may be some missing details and some things that changed with time. A lot of putty or styrene will be needed to fill in all the windows and vents. Cutting out doors ought to be fun. This guy doesn't have any roofwalks or high ladders. That could be because the old troop sleepers didn't either or the BAR modernized before cabooses were discontinued. Anyway, if I get far enough for paint, it will be close enough for me. The latest operating session at Brandon Kulik's gave me the inspiration to dive in. He has an HO version made from a troop sleeper turned baggage car. He cut in windows, the opposite of what I'll do. I'm doing this one in N scale so the whole car is only about 4 inches long. One of those magnifier visors will come in real handy for these old eyes.BC
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