I thought it would be fun to make a citrus train for the garden railroad. I like to reuse broken hobby items from my junk box, and I had several pieces to build my train inexpensively.
![Front of grover’s caboose citrus train model](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GRR_barnwell_citrus_train1_0522-246x300.jpg)
Certain livestock trains had a car — usually a converted long caboose — called a drover’s caboose for the drovers (cowboys) to ride in while transporting animals. I made a car for my citrus pickers to ride in and out of the groves, calling it a “grover’s caboose.”
I started with a Hartland Locomotive Works short dump car and removed the dump. Using broken parts from a Bachmann boxcar, I built a small shed on top of the dump car’s base. Here and there, I added “holes” in the siding. I cut the strap rivet detail in a few places and repositioned pieces to add additional wear.
On the floor, I cut and distressed the boards with a hobby knife. I made the tin roof from Evergreen corrugated styrene sheet and ladders purchased from Plastruct. I painted and weathered the caboose and added stick-on letters for the “Orange River Fruit Co.” I repainted figures I had on hand.
![Back of grover’s caboose citrus train model](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GRR_barnwell_citrus_train2_0522-860x1024.jpg)
To model the fruit, I bought craft lava beads, which have a nice, rough texture. The oranges measure 2-milimeters, and the grapefruits are 4-milimeters. Florida citrus oranges aren’t a “pretty” orange like the ones you see in stores, and are a mix of orange, yellow, and green in color.
![Figures in a grover’s caboose citrus train model](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GRR_barnwell_citrus_train3_0522-800x1024.jpg)
I put the beans in a cut-apart empty milk jug and spray painted them. After the paint dried, I shook the jug a bit and added paint in another color. I used three paint colors (orange, yellow, and avocado green). The bead holes looked like stems after painting and are pretty believable.
![A citrus train for the garden railroad](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GRR_barnwell_citrus_train4_0522-681x1024.jpg)
I cut a piece of Styrofoam to fit inside my LGB side-dump gondola cars and glued the fruit on top of the foam to simulate a load. I added my kitbashed 0-4-4 LGB 2020 Forney to complete the train.
![Model produce store on a garden railroad](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/GRR_barnwell_uds_produce_store_0522-976x1024.jpg)
I had fun with this project, and the train ties into other elements on my railway. I’ve built a produce store called UD’s Produce and am planning to build an orange-packing plant from a broken PIKO America garage.
Love your work! Excellent! Glad to see some garden RR articles here.
Steve Seidensticker