MQR Slab Cars – Part 3

I finished up cutting and staining the planks for the slab cars and then moved on to painting the main components. A long time ago I purchased a couple of cans of Montana 94 matte spray paint for this project. Their RV-203 Oak Brown color seemed the closest to the weathered red paint seen on the cars at the National Slate Museum. I sprayed on one coat and let it dry for an hour or so. I then did a second touch up coat:

Photographed at the National Slate Museum
Montana MTN94 Oak Brown

I then glued the inner sole bars to the outer sole bars, using the the brass bearing cups to align them. I had to further enlarge several of the holes; after messing a couple up with a small round file, I switched to a 1/4″ drill which worked better.

After many test fits of the brass bearing cups with the Accucraft wheelsets into the sole bars, I epoxied the cups in. I then glued the ends and the sides together:

Next, I added the decking to the cars and added the coupling hooks. A quick touchup with the oak brown spray paint on the bearing cups and the cars were essentially complete:

I still need to weather the cars but that’s for the future. I’m pleased at the way they turned out and they are great additions to the MQR rolling stock inventory.

MQR Slab Cars – Part 2
MQR Slab Cars – Part 1

MQR Slab Cars – Part 2

Well, it’s only taken me six plus years to get back to working on the slab cars. I’m using the following photo to guide the next steps of construction:

Photographed at the National Slate Museum (2014)

There is also a good reference webpage by Chris Bird on his build of the ACME Engineering slate wagons which uses the same construction methods.

I started by epoxying the buffers to the end sills and trimming the brass pins to length. Then, using a round needle file, I enlarged the laser-cut holes for the brass bearing cups to get them to fit well. You can see from the photo below that I have been experimenting with Trade Secret stain markers to color the popsicle stick decking. I’ve found that the lightest colors of grey and brown are sufficiently dark to match the look of untreated wood.

Finally, some progress after 6.5 years!

Next up is paint which will be some variant of boxcar red.

MQR Slab Cars – Part 1

Photo Set: Ontario Narrow Gauge Show 2026

Craig Perry’s Crowsnest Tramway

The 2026 edition of the Ontario Narrow Gauge Show was held May 16 in Cambridge. This was my second time to the show, the first being in 2023.

There was a good mix of vendors and exhibitors in attendance. I was very impressed with Chris Perry’s Crowsnest Tramway layout. It was built by Roy C. Link in the UK and brought to Canada by Chris and updated. A beautiful executed exhibition layout.

I also got the chance to chat with a couple of other live steamers, including Jeff Young who I knew of from the SE Lounge but had never met before.

I’ve made available a photo set of the Crowsnest and a few of the other exhibited layouts on Flickr.