TSG MOW Camp Cars
A few years ago I painted some N scale equipment for our fictitious Tuscany & Sabine Grove railroad. The T&SG is a shortline operating somewhere in California. Every railroad has to maintain its track. Since I wanted my fictitious railroad to seem believable, some maintenance-of-way equipment would be essential.
Camp cars are used as housing for track crews. In the real world they aren’t used as much as they once were. One of the benefits of freelancing a railroad is that you can do things the way you want. I thought the camp cars would be interesting.
All three of the TSG MOW camp cars in the picture were made from Micro-Trains models. I’ll describe them as they appear from left to right.
Tuscany & Sabine Grove
TSG 112 MW (Camp Car)
This car is the most heavily modified of the three. It’s also the most modern in design. Norfolk Southern has some cars similar to this. Essentially it’s an RV trailer mounted on a flatcar.
For my car I used a shipping container instead of an RV trailer. It’s the same idea. I modified the container by cutting some openings and fitting some window castings. I put a door in one end using a part left over from a structure kit. The rooftop RV-style air conditioners are from BLMA. I used the head of a pin as a rooftop vent. I painted the container body white. The roof was already painted silver from the factory.
I cut some strips of small scale lumber and glued them crosswise on the flatcar. I mounted the completed container on top of those. I made some railings on the porch end of the flatcar from fine brass wire. The TSG reporting marks are decals that I custom printed on a laser printer using Walthers decal paper. The other decals are from Microscale.
TSG 925 MW (Bunk Car)
This car is a Micro-Trains troop sleeper. Troop sleepers like this were built during World War II. After the war many railroads used them in maintenance-of-way service. I bought and undecorated car and painted it. All of the decals are from Microscale. I pieced the “TSG” together using an alphabet sheet. I used some pieces of tape inside the window glazing to simulate curtains.
TSG 938 MW (Kitchen Car)
This is another Micro-Trains car. Troop kitchen cars also sometimes found their way into maintenance-of-way service. It was painted and decorated the same way as TSG 925.
I’m pleased with how these TSG MOW camp cars turned out. Eventually I may add a dilapidated passenger car or two into the mix. These cars still need a bit more weathering. They look too clean to me right now.
All three of the TSG MOW camp cars have Micro-Trains trucks and Fox Valley metal wheels.
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