phantom (n) 1phantom (n) 1. something
elusive or visionary. 2. a representation of something abstract, ideal
or incorporeal. (adj.) fictitious
Why did Gilbert never make a double dome tank car? They had single
and triple versions, and even a single dome chemical version. The Other
Guys had one that didn’t look bad. Just as my RDC
represents "what might have been", so does this. A "phantom", if you will.
I started with a junk tank car body (actually two) and started cutting.
I removed the center section of the top of the tank along with the dome.
To replace it, I heated a styrene sheet over a section of metal pipe in
the oven until it sagged to the right curvature. The piece was fitted into
place so as not to leave any gaps then cemented. Then the domes were filed
to their "collars" and fitted into a hole cut in the top sections of the
tank with drills and files, then cemented. Again, I took great care to
match up the dome with its hole so as not to have any gaps. A new catwalk
was made of styrene, and the car was painted with a custom mixed color
to approximate the old Shell orange tank cars. It was assigned a plausible
Gilbert number and assembled . It was then placed on an early junk metal
frame, which had also been restored, and fitted with cast journal trucks
and couplers with thin shanks.
Could this model ever be confused with an actual Gilbert model maker’s
prototype from the 40’s? One look at the dry transfer lettering and the
date in the data lines will say otherwise.
Jerry Poniatowski <poniajXXX@mail.wcresa.k12.mi.us> (Remove XXX before use)
