Freight Car Friday #70 – GBW 8077 Model

This car started out as an Athearn RTR boxcar factory decorated for the Providence & Worcester Railroad which I picked up “used”/new in box at a train show about a year ago specifically with this patch job in mind. It was weathered, patched and re-stencilled following a 1989 photo on rr-fallenflags.org. I have a certain fondness for shortline boxcars and patched out reporting marks of cars in second-hand ownership and I’ve been working on collecting a few appropriate cars from nearby US connections that can fit in to my area and era. These ex-PW cars, as well as other cars from the New Orleans Public Belt (NOPB), East Camden & Highland (EACH) and Wabash Valley (WVRC) Railroads, were acquired by the Green Bay & Western in the early 1980s.

Weathering was done in a few layers/stages. The body was given a general airbrush grime coat (with particular concentration along the lower edges and some vertical “wheel spray” patterns on the car ends) and the rust effects on the door were hand painted with acrylics and a fine-tipped brush. The original reporting marks were painted out with some SOO red I had on hand and new reporting marks and numbers added with Microscale stencil alphabet decals. A bit of work with pan pastels blended the rusty areas, added some streaking off the ends of the door tracks, and added light surface rust to the galvanized steel roof. A final coat of Flat Haze sealed the decals and pastel effects and slightly dulled and faded the body colour.

3 thoughts on “Freight Car Friday #70 – GBW 8077 Model

  1. Very nice. You’ve given me a way/rationale to run those odd short line cars on my railroad, which includes a GB&W interchange with the WCL!
    I always look forward to your “freight car Friday” posts.
    Thanks!
    Phil

    • You may be interested in researching photos for the following series:

      GBW 8051-8197, ex-PW FMC-built 5347 cuft cars, 10′ sliding door. 147 cars listed in 1986 ORER. Athearn or Atlas model. (same series as my car)
      GBW 8200-8299, ex-WVRC Evans-built cars, 10′ sliding door.
      GBW 8302-8419, ex-NOPB FMC-built 5347 cuft cars, 10′ sliding door. Athearn or Atlas model.
      34 cars listed in 1986 ORER between the 8200/8300 series (grouped into one block)
      GBW 10000-10098, ex-EACH FMC-built 5327 cuft cars, 12′ plug door. 99 cars listed in 1986 ORER. ExactRail or MDC model.
      GBW 16000-16299 acquired new FMC-built 5347 cuft cars, 10′ sliding door. 299 cars listed in 1986 ORER. Athearn or Atlas model.
      AHW 301-400 ex-PW FMC-built 5347 cuft, 10′ sliding door. 100 cars in 1986 ORER. Athearn or Atlas model.
      AHW 2000-2099 ex-HS FMC-built 5077 cuft, 10′ sliding door. 77 cars in 1986 ORER. Atlas model.
      AHW 4000-4099 ex-HS FMC built 5077 cuft, 2×8′ sliding door. 45 cars in 1986 ORER. Atlas model.

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