S.C.P.A. & M. (Silver City, Pinos Altos & Mogollon Railroad)
It all started after I had an article published by the 7.1/4" Gauge Association on the building of my NWNGR carriage (see appropriate page >) when I received an enquiry to build a 7.25" gauge (approx 1/3 scale) model of this curious little American 2 ft narrow gauge railroad caboose from the SCPA&M in New Mexico. The photo and sketch (above) didn't initially inspire great confdence for producing an attractive model, but as the job progressed I grew very fond of it and wished I had built a second one for myself.
I may possibly build another one, or possibly the prettly little Gilpin Railroad caboose shown at the bottom of this page.
My grateful thanks go to my friend Glyn Lancaster Jones of the Traditional Boat Shop at Port Dinorwic, North Wales who very generously let me use his workshop and facilities to build the caboose. Glyn also helped me and provided good advice from his extensive experience as a builder of steam boats and boilers. I have spent many hours wasting his time over the years, but as we have considerably similar interests it's always a pleasure to waste more time every time I visit him. We have a number of ideas for new products. Watch this space!
After a lot of searching I evenually obtained this drawing that was kindly sent to me by Gerald Styles of Firebox Models in the states.
It was redrawn in AutoCad and widened a little to enable an adult to sit inside as it would otherwise have been only about 21 inch wide!
It is approx 6ft - 6in long (2m) and runs on RMI 7.25" gauge trucks supplied by Tony Martin of Cromar White here on the Isle of Anglesey.
Roof formed from two layers of 3mm waterproof plywood on about ten curved frames. The removable section had to be very carefully cut out from the one-piece roof fabrication using a Japanese pull saw to make about a 1.5mm joint line. The whole roof fabrication took some thought, planning and designing to come up with a tidy solution.
The Gilpin Tramway (Railroad) Caboose No 400. A possible future project.
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