Berg's HUB Set

Although I've named this blog "Bigdirtyfreighttrains" there is always room for a passenger set. 
Buying RTR items is somewhat boring for me especially when there are kits available (with the exception of Locos, I prefer them RTR)

I have been working on a Berg's HUB set for some time, following the article in December 2010 (Issue 285, Vol. 12, No. 12) of the Australian Model Railway Magazine. 

The idea behind me making these is that they are a 'preserved' set. The historical accuracy of the set is second to building the cars to the livery and making of my preference. 

The FH car is my 'most' complete. The only addition is the interior lighting when I get around to doing it. The roof is also not fully secured.

 The RBH is complete minus steps and lighting. You can more easily make out the green first class seats inside.

The PFH wagon needs some finishing touches, steps and lighting. As per the kit from Bergs there is a 2BS bogie above the generator, I would have rather just added another 2AN and modified it a little bit, but I still think it looks the part.

Now for the more incompletes. This BH needs decals, interior and all the other fiddly bits I've mentioned. Bogies also need to be added.

The RFH car needs to be assembled (floor is just sitting in place), roof needs detailing plus everything else to make it complete. I haven't glued the floor yet as I've been using it as a guide to do the underframe of the next car.

The HFH is the final car I bought (due to availability at Berg's) and is currently needing a complete underframe detail, roof detail, painting, etc etc. The handrails on the terminal end are going to be an interesting test of my soldering skills.

Here are the 2AN bogies destined for the HFH car. In these ones I decided to solder wire directly to the brass bearings in the bogie. This will then be run through the floor to the lights in the roof. 

The lights I will be using for the HUB cars are from Trainaidsa in the US. The LED strips are modular, and the Flicker free circuit (black bulge) plugs straight in to them without any soldering.

 The pickups are also from Trainaidsa and are designed for Marklin coaches. They fit and work well thought so I will be using them on the HUB cars.

The wire is from Model Railroad Craftsman in Blacktown. It's thin and flexible so works well to run around tight spaces inside the cars.

As a whole the Berg's HUB cars are great and I would buy them over RTR anyday, but that's because I like assembling and customising them. I am looking forward to having the complete set with lighting.

NPRY Update

Another quick update, I have finished detailing the two NPRY's I got from AR Kits. 

I did decided to replace the ladders after going past Clyde on numerous occasions and deciding the metal etched one looks much better. However I did away with the soldering iron and used super glue instead. With my lack of brass soldering skills this was better and much neater than I had achieved before.

I also added:

• Uncoupling bars
• Side handrails
• The rivets on the ends of the wagon behind the coupler bar. (little brown dots)

Overall I'm now very pleased with their look, and next stage will be painting and weathering.

 The ladders look much better now.

Here's a comparison with and older (~5 yrs) standard NPRY and the detailed one I've just finished. The photos don't complement how much better they look. Eventually I will upgrade the Freightcorp one to the same standard. 

Enjoy!

NPRY wagon (AR Kits)

Hi all,

I bought 2 NPRY wagons during AR Kits March Madness sale (great idea!) and I set about trying to make them more accurate to prototype.At this stage I have started on one, I added an etched brass mesh deck from the Keiran Ryan Models kit (KRM-101) to replace the original plastic one; I think the difference speaks for itself, much better. 

As for the brass ladders, I struggled to solder them in place, and upon close inspection the only major difference between these and the original plastics was the rungs are slightly thicker on the plastic, something which for the sake of long and frustrating soldering time, I will live with happily.

This photo shows the roof walkway and some of the added detail to the underframe. I replaced the plastic spider wheels with the brass from the KRM kit, and discarded the plastic wheel as the prototype photos I was using did not have these equipped. 

From the other side, this shows the mesh deck quite nicely. It does make a substantial difference to the appearance. 

Here is the underframe, I roughly followed what I could see from prototype photos, however I just wanted to give the impression that there is a lot of piping down there. I am satisfied with the view from the side. I also glued a piece of flat lead sheeting to the top side of the underframe, and glued it in place instead of using the included screws. 

I am hoping to do a bit of painting this week, and I will photograph the progress for those interested.

Only problem is that I have about 5 other NPRY's and will have to look at updating them to the same standard at some stage. 

Cheers,