Front Range 45 foot trailers

Front Range 45 foot trailers Front Range 45 foot Chessie Trailers...
This project can be considered either a "Vehicle" or a "Load" type project. Semi trailers are parts of over the road vehicles seen on any highway or city street. They are also loaded onto Trailer-On-Flat-Car (TOFC) cars and shipped via the railroad. This project is therefore listed in both sections of this website.

Chessie owned almost exclusively 40 foot trailers, but did have a few hundred 45 footers. This project is for the rarer 45 foot trailer. A-Line makes a Fruehauf trailer that is perfect for the Chessie 40 footer.

Below is a pic of a real Chessie Trailer on a flat car. This is a 40 foot trailer.

Dean Heacock photo

How To:
1. Purchase the Front Range Chessie 45 foot trailers. I got my two for $1 each at a train show. The kits come all white with a Chessie System logo and road number for lettering.
2. Paint the areas shown below silver. Basically, the top and the frames around each side are painted silver. The back has the same treatment, although you can't tell in the photo below. I use Polly Scale Flat Aluminum as the silver color.
3. Assemble the car as per the instructions. Add a piece of wire on the underside of the trailer between the rear bumper and the tires. Attach two small rectangles of plastic for mud flaps. Paint them black.
4. Paint the wheel spokes and rims silver. Also paint the support stand silver.
5. Paint the rear lights red and the back up lights white. Paint the inside area of the bumper (see below) black. This will give is a more realistic look.
6. Spray the sides and mudflaps with gloss coat.
7. Decal, using Microscale Decals for Chessie Trailers. This kit only needs the data below the Chessie System logo, mud flap decals, and the ownership decal above the tires. The rest are already printed on the kit by the manufacturer.
8. Spray the whole trailer with dull coat.
9. Weather the trailer with light overspray of roof brown. This simulates road grime nicely.
10. Weather the top front portion of the trailer with an overspray of black to simulate soot from the semi exhaust pipes.
11. Spray again with dull coat to seal the weathering and you are done.

Below is a detail shot of the backs of the trailers. The lights have been painted and the mud flaps added and decaled. I also painted the area inside the bumper black, so make it appear more realistic.

Below is one of the two trailers I did. I added the small decal above the tires and the two lines of data below the Chessie System logo. Also note how the corner posts and bottom part of the front of the trailer are painted silver.