Bundle Of Sticks

     Much has been said for and against "box of sticks" kits. I have avoided this controversy by embracing the "bundle of sticks" method of car building. I select strip basswood of appropriate size (1/16" square) and Shaun (one of my hobby shop dudes) bundles them for me at checkout. But before that, I stop off to see John (the Owner) and ask to rummage through the bin of old trucks and wheel sets. Some really great treasures in there, as you can see on the rip track behind the car. Anyway, I pick my rollers, grab some #158 couplers, and my bundle of sticks kit is complete!

     The base is actually a sheet of 1/16" basswood, and the rest is built up log cabin style. I sand the stripwood enough to knock the corners down so that you can see the individual boards. Since this is the "Spirit Wagon," and not a revenue car, I wanted to keep the construction simple. After all, the original was built from recycled mine timbers by inebriated moonshiners. It had no couplers, since it was just rolled down the grade into Drywater, and eventually pushed back up to the Delirium Terminus by any available engine. I think I'll include couplers, so that it can be more conveniently handled.

     I'm completely up in the air about how to paint it. Festive and colorful? Railroad red with white lettering? I do want to letter "DE LI RI UM" on the side in R.R. Roman, but maybe by hand rather than the press-on letters. Inside will be barrels and jugs, a still, a little shack or tent, and a few riders. I'll fashion a banner of some sort, advertising whiskey and rye. All of this in a 24' gondola! As I said before, I love short cars. On my agenda: 26' tank car, 28' boxcars (1860's era,)  and a little ore car or two to fill with my delirium ore specimens.

     The bobber caboose is still in the works, but I felt like a diversion from the cardstock cutting.  I like to indulge my modeling whims, and a bundle of sticks was just the thing to break up the monotony.