Here is a model of a Reading HTn 70476.

I built this model about 10 years ago using an Intermountain USRA twin as the starting point. The second set of hoppers came from a donor car. The car sides between the bolster ribs were built up from styrene.

I was experimenting with this car using the magnetic air hoses. It got new formed brass stirrups at the same time. The experiment sort of worked OK. I have some new brass parts coming in shortly and there will be a new round of experiments with the magnetic air hoses. More on that later.

This is where I stopped last on the NW-2.

The long hood has been fully cut off and fitted. The sand fills were cut from an extra cab and then thinned down. I hate doing that, it not hard, I just hate sanding tiny parts. The Atlas couplers were thrown in the TRASH where they belong, and Kadees have been installed.

I still have to attach the handrails, cut the front window arch in the cab windows, add a frame shim and attach the cab/hood/rear step to the frame.

Maybe I’ll get a chance to work on it this weekend. It’s not looking like it. Besides I was thinking about starting to work on the K-1 by turning the twin sand domes.

One walkway still to cut - Bottom View of the All-Nation Shell

I started by cutting the ends platforms off the shell. Since the cab was not going to stay it was also cut off the body through the doors.

The Cab, and walkways have been removed.

This photo is from the same time as the last. You can see the opposite fuel tank still below the walkway. Also you can see where I rough cut through the walkway floor and the cab walls. The finish cuts will be just inside those walls.

Here is the Mock-up with half of the engineer

I stopped an put the cab and shell on the Atlas frame. I was checking to see if I needed to shorten the fram at the cab wall area. It did need that cut also. You can see that about half of the rough-cut material has been removed from this side.

NW2 hood with two of the three finish cut made.

This view shows the finish cut on the engineer’s side and along the cab wall. I still have to make the Fireman’s side cut. This view also show the roof line clean up that has been done so far.

The beginning of the project.

As with any project you build at some point you lay out the parts and see if they can be made into what you are thinking. Here we see the All-Nation NW-2 body. I bought this shell second hand at a meet. It shows signs of being striped of paint at least two different layers. Yet, if you look closely at this photo, the modelers never bothered to clean up the center seem on the body casting.

I had disassembled the NW-2 into its parts, the main body, cab front, cab rear and grill front. Before I could just start cutting, I had to see if I wanted to keep the All-Nation Cab that was on the shell. The All-Nation Cab has the correct windows for an NW-2 but it is crude compaired to teh Atlas cab. I’d rather cut the window arch into the Atlas cab than try to bring the All-Nation Cab up to the Atlas level of detail.

Cab Fronts showing what changes will need to be made to the Atlas cab.

Rear Cab Walls

Rear Deck Details

Reading 103

So I think I will use the Atlas cab in this project. Also I want to reuse the rear deck area of the Atlas model as it more closely represents the prototype.