The above picture is of two of my most recent project cars.
Since October York I've been collecting beat-up, derelict. pieces of rolling stock with an eye towards resurrecting them during the doldrums of winter.
Here I share the fruits of my winter labors (really fun, not labors) with before and after pictures of these projects.
Let's start with a couple Lionel Standard Gauge pieces.
The first was finished late November/Early December 2023; a WW-II troop car honoring my late father and father in law. One side reads "Bernard "Benny" Warren, Sergeant-WW II", the other "Augustine "Gus" Blasi, Private-WW II". For more on this project, click here: Standard Gauge "Junk" to a Observation Car Tribute (warrenvillerailroad.com)
A "Before"picture:
And "After" pictures:
My second winter 2023-2024 Standard Gauge project was completed late December, the first LITCA club car, a caboose. For more on LITCA click here: "Comraderie Through Trains" The Formation of a Local Club (warrenvillerailroad.com)
A "Before" picture:
After:
Moving on to Lionel O gauge. I created a "Mint" (Bullion") car and Work caboose to match my PostWar Lionel 2351 Milwaukee Road EP5. A picture of these 3 pieces together is the lead photo of this Blog entry.
The "Mint" car was completed early January, here is the "before" picture:
And the "After" picture:
Completed Mid-January was a matching Work Caboose. I love custom cabeese and like to make them to match my Lionel PostWar engines. For more on these other custom cabeese, click here: One of a Kind Cabooses (Cabeese?) (warrenvillerailroad.com)
Here is a before picture of the Milwaukee Road Work Caboose::
And now, the "after" picture:
While no longer a piece of rolling stock, the diner shown in the pic below was made from a Lionel/MPC Milwaukee Road passenger car. It was finished February 2024.
For how I made this diner, click here: The Making of "Karen's Trackside Diner" (warrenvillerailroad.com)
Earlier, in late October 2023, I converted a set of TCA Aluminum passenger cars to Milwaukee Road with nothing more than adding Milwaukee Road decals that I printed. By the way, I also designed and printed all of the decals adorning all of the above projects.
I didn't take any "before" pictures of these common passenger cars, but here are a couple "after" pictures:
STAY TUNED HERE FOR FUTURE WINTER 2023-2024 CUSTOM ROLLING STOCK PROJECTS!