US $5.95 • Can $7.95 - O scale trains

Merchants Despatch Transportation(MDT) traces its roots back prior to theCivil War. In 1871, control of MDT wasacquired by the Vanderbilt group, andMDT began leasing freight cars. At itspeak, the MDT fleet numbered about18,000 cars, mostly wood reefers withsteel underframes. Roger Hinman haswritten an excellent reference coveringthe history of the MDT reefer fleet, completewith photos and diagrams, that waspublished in the NYCS Historical Society’s“Headlight”, Second Quarter, 1998.The Red Caboose reefer kit is anexcellent starting point for modeling severalvariants of the classic MDT reefer.In fact, Red Caboose sells a kit alreadylettered for MDT, which is a very closemodel of a 1930-1940 MDT car, straightout of the box. In this article, I’ll show1how to backdate this kit to model MDTcars of the 20’s (the more common version),and WW I. The latter version issuitable not only for MDT, but for theRutland Railroad as well. The Rutland,which was controlled by the NYC at thetime, purchased MDT-built reefers justprior to WW I.Photo 1 shows a stock Red CabooseMDT reefer built exactly to the kitinstructions. Note it has AB brakes, anAjax brake wheel, red ends, and the letteringhas no NYC oval herald. This is amodel of a 17000-series MDT reefer builtin the early twenties, and rebuilt in thethirties, with a new AB brake system anda new paint job. The only changes to thismodel are that the end ladders have beenshortened top and bottom as per the prototype,and cut levers have been addedto the ends.1920’s MDTReeferStart witha kit pre-letteredfor MDT.(If you can’tget one, you’llhave to paintthe roof boxcarred, and the sides and ends white.)To backdate the kit to model a 1920’s car,we need to change to K brakes with a verticalbrake staff, add some corner bracing,and make some changes to the paintingand lettering. Build the roof and sidesas instructed. I used TENAX-7R plasticcement to assemble this kit. The 1920’scars had white ends with black hardware,much like the sides. Before adding anydetail to the ends, they must be paintedwhite. If you are starting with a kit preletteredfor MDT, this is much easier todo before you glue the ends to the car.You’ll want to plug the leftmost hole atthe top of the car where the original Ajaxbrake wheel gearbox attached. I addedthe grab-irons before I painted the ends,and later painted them black. Use anygood plastic-compatible white paint, thenattach the painted ends to the car.Next, add the corner braces, one percorner. I used Evergreen Styrene 1x6(HO) strips, each a total of 5 ⁄8 inches long.Bend them in the middle, and cementthem midway between the top and bottomof the car side. When dry, paint themblack. Now you’re ready to add the enddetails.The kit’s end ladders are longer thanthose on the prototype, so shorten themSept/Oct ’04 - O Scale Trains • 19