the Doniphan Branch Railway

Missouri Pacific LBW Caboose #13610

MP Long Bay Window (LBW) caboose in HO scale using the Athearn model as a starting point.
Model by Elvin Klepzig. Photo by Mark Allen.

Model and photos by Elvin Klepzig except where noted.

This started with the Athearn Bay Window caboose kit but it's been modified a bit. I do want to say up front that the number on this model is outside the range for MoPac Long Bay Window cabooses. That is deliberate as I felt the model isn't accurate enough to carry a true number.

I use this caboose as my "traveling caboose" when I visit other model railroads. I like to photograph it on those pikes as a reminder of my visit.

I hope to add detail photos as I get them ready.

Model: Athearn large bay window caboose

Trucks: Check and gauge all the wheels. Cut a thin piece of brass tubing to fit over the roller bearing on the left side of one truck or use the detail part listed for the generator. ACC either in place.

Frame: Remove the tool boxes from the underbody and keep. Remove the reservoir and valve and keep. Cut the coupler pockets off and discard. Fill the holes for the ladder and brakestand. Let dry and sand the end beam smooth across the end. Trim the sides of the steps so they are 15" wide at the top. There is a company that sells a see thru step kit that will fit this caboose. Do some looking on the internet. Drill the holes for the end grabs and railings, see diagram. Glue the frame to the floor. Glue your Kadees up in their own boxes, use the small ones for a better look, remove the end tab on the Kadee box and shim and glue them to the floor so the box extends 15" from the end sill. I use double sided tape and attach the added weight on top of the floor. Wait till the side sills are done to mount the battery box, air valve, and reservoir.

Roof: The roof for this caboose is incorrect and isn't worth fixing so I used it as is but did add the missing raised panels and corrected the stack and vent locations. These cabooses should have a diagonal panel roof. Fill all the holes for the roof walk. Some LBWs had roof walks while others never had them. For this caboose remove the uprights for the roof walk , sand a file smooth. Using the thinnest plastic you have, duplicate the raised panels on the roof to fill in the bare panel. Glue in place. The roof needs to be lengthened to match that of the frame. Use your plastic to build these out and down and cap the end with your thinnest. Drill the underside of the roof ends for the end railings and the roof for the vent, stack and the antenna, see drawings for details.

Sides: Remove the side grabs and drill for their replacement. Fill in the side windows with plastic and putty and smooth. You can add plates to simulate welded up windows or cut windows in the body if you want an as delivered caboose. Remove the bottom sill all along the side including that under the bay. You can fill in the floor under the bay if you wish, I didn't. Glue a piece of 1x6 along the side for the bottom sill. It needs to be flush with the inside of the body so that you see that it is recessed from the outer edge. I add thin plates behind this for added strength. Reference the drawings and cut the indent over the pulley on your truck on the same side of the body as the antenna. Determine if your caboose has the oval or rectangular side windows in the bay, fill and cut out as needed to match. See drawings for details.

Ends: Fill and smooth the window. Remove the molded on grabs, drill for new grabs as per the drawings. There are modifications that can be made to the door frame but not any I did. The frame for the door looks like a very skinny H with the crossbar of the H having it's top side tapered into the wall of the end. It's made to shed dirt and water and keep birds from nesting on it. Dump trucks have a similar design along the sides of their bed. The frame extends to the underside of the roof. The end with antenna also has the oil fill spout. Cut this in as per drawing and add a piece of plastic inside to back the hole. Add a piece of rod to simulate the fill pipe. Now make up the various grabs, vents, stack, and battery boxes per the drawings and add these to the model. The valve, reservoir, and battery box should be shimmed so they are flush with the side sill bottom. Reference the photos for placement. Don't forget details like the stack bracing and the electrical pipe coming out of the battery box.

End Railings: Reference the drawings. The railings are made of 1" rod. I use scale 3/4" brass to make mine with the thickness of the paint making up the difference. To solder the railings I recommend making a pattern first by drawing the railings out on a piece of aluminum. To do this you need a piece of aluminum at least 1/16" thick that is square on at least one corner and large enough to hold the drawing. Use a scribe, mine is a carbide scribe, and a small machinist square and mark a reference line horizontally along the bottom. This is the top of the end sill. Measure from this line up the distance to the roof as measured on the model. Now do all your horizontal measuring from the bottom line. Then change and scribe in the vertical railings. Once you have the pattern down, scribe the vertical lines in deeply with the three long railings going past the top and bottom lines. The other two should be from their intersection with a horizontal rail down past the bottom line. The horizontal railing lines should be scribed in from intersection to intersection but not beyond. If you have done this correctly, a piece of brass rod should lay in these scribed lines pretty well. Now its a matter of fitting and soldering. Cut the three verticals longer than needed and place the two outside ones in place. Hold them in place with a weight or tape. Cut the long horizontal piece, true one end, place it against the right vertical and mark the intersection where the third vertical is to go. Place this piece on a piece of steel and flatten your mark with the tip of a small screwdriver and hammer so that the vertical can lay in this indentation without much of a bump. This will lengthen the brass rod so refit the piece and then add the third vertical and solder all three joints. Finish the right side as per the drawing.

The left side horizontal piece should be left a little long due to having to bend and fit it to the brake wheel stand. The kick plates across the ends at the bottom of the railings are of 3 different heights and made of shim brass. Get the thinnest they have at your auto parts store. Cut to the fit as per the drawings and solder these in place. The plate to the left of the stand can be drawn out backwards on a piece of brass, scribe the bend in deep, cut out and folded to shape. Cut the side where the bend is so it can be bent to shape. Fit the railings to the end by cutting to fit. Notice that the third vertical is outside the end at the top and has to be bent to do this. See the drawing.

Brake Stand: I use the one with the kit and a good file and shape it as in the photos. Take a thin piece of plastic and cut square and dimple four rivets in the corners. Glue it to the back side. Drill a hole in line with the top rivets on the plate in the left side of the stand to take the end railing. The railing should be bent as per the drawing and fitted to this. ACC the railing to the stand and the stand to the plates.

Even with all that the model has some issues but looks fair. Paint the oval windows black for gaskets (don't know what I was thinking) and the rectangular ones aluminum. See the paint section for suggestions on colors.

One last note. Walthers produces a Large Bay Window caboose kit which they sell in MP paint. It is way wrong in almost every dimension, look and feel. They did a good job on the end railings but even they are too narrow to fit the Athearn body. Their brake wheel will work though. I owned one but finally gave it away just to get it out of my sight. If you'd like to have a MP LBW then the Walthers model is not the place to start. For now, just make your own and hope some manufacturer will produce a correct roof at some point in the future.

Take care, Elvin

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