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An "Operations" Quality Boxcar

I believe it was Bob McCown (site owner of Large Scale Central) that coined the term "operations-quality".  

It's not a contest quality model at all, but is designed to hold up to the rigors of being transported between shed and railroad without losing a lot of pieces along the way.  

It's meant to be run during operations, not sit on the shelf as a model to be compared to the prototype.

I had some wood siding and other parts lying around so decided to make such a car. It should be pretty sturdy; it uses some superglue and brass escutcheon pins to hold parts in place.

The stirrup steps are made from brass strips I had; the grab irons are also brass - 1 mm rod in this case and formed using a jig.

The door hardware is all brass; not much detail, but enough to look like a door if you squint from 10 feet away...

There's no brake detail, although there is a cylinder glued underneath; the idea is to not add details that are not seen in a typical operations session.

The roof walk strips will be glued in place after it receives a coat of paint.

Trucks are from AMS.

Nothing fancy, but hopefully a good operating car.

I donated this car to Bob McCown (seen hiding his face here at the LSC "Drag and Brag" held annually at the East Coast Large Scale Train Show) as thanks for creating Large Scale Central.

(Left to Right: Bob McCown, his wife Martha, Deb & Stan Ames)