Fleet Tuneup

Back to the ol’ Hills Line Mailbag…

"Hey brother if you ever need any mural/graffiti etc...I can do that for you man!!"

Thank you, random person on the internet, for your generous offer. I’m fully aware that my car fleet is woefully behind others when it comes to detailing and weathering. But before that, I need to make sure they’re mechanically reliable. On The Hills Line, that means using consistent couplers and wheelsets.

Years ago, I standardized on Kadee #158 Scale Whisker Couplers for all my cars. Yes, I should be using shelf couplers for my tank cars, but I’ve found they interfere with uncoupling. In this case, reliability must trump accuracy.

Since I manually uncouple my cars with skewers, I have no need for Kadee’s magnetic airhoses. I place a group of the couplers into a piece of corrugated cardboard and snip the hoses off using a pair of diagonal cutters. Eye protection is always a good idea when working with small objects that often fly across the room.

That same piece of cardboard makes a great holder and mask for painting and weathering. I lightly spray the couplers using Rust-oleum Rusty Metal Primer. Too heavy an application will gum up the joints and make the coupler useless. An equally light dusting of PanPastels completes the process.

While I’m replacing couplers, I also work on the trucks and wheels. In the past, I’d used Intermountain Wheelsets to great success. However, recently I’ve started to standardize on Arrow Models Semi-Scale Wheelsets, which work just as well but look far better in photos.

Both the wheelsets and the trucks are blasted with Rust-oleum Camo Brown. The trucks are held with painters’ clamps while the wheels are held in an American Model Builders masking rig. Both do an excellent job of painting the parts quickly and easily.

Once reassembled, the car is checked for accurate coupler height and wheel tracking, making sure it performs as expected… and even beyond. Only when that task is complete can I move on to making it look as well as it runs.