Rolling Stock: Boxcar (CB&Q 30707)

I purchased this black CB&Q boxcar at a train show last fall but have just got around to finishing work on the details. This was manufactured by USA Trains and came out of the box new. I replaced the wheels and couplers in May and this weekend finished adding the ladders, grab irons and brake wheel.

CB&Q 30707

In the shop for grab iron installation.

I now have three pieces of CB&Q rolling stock so of course I had to build a short train in order to photograph all of them together.

My collection of CB&Q cars out for a run.

UP locomotive pulling my CB&Q red boxcar, black boxcar and red gondola.

A pair of robins was not at all happy with the train. I knew there was a pair nesting nearby but I'm not yet sure of the nest location. The robins are fine with me walking around the yard and even the dog doesn't seem to bother them, but as soon as the train was moving they started diving at it to scare it off. Not sure why they saw the train as such a threat. This behavior is new, as they didn't display such aggressive behavior last weekend.

A very angry robin giving the evil eye to my train.

Bumblebee checking out a pale yellow lupine.

The peonies are just beginning to open. Like everything else, a bit behind schedule this year.

The iris are still in full splendor.

Another small weekend project was repainting the front door. I thought a nice shade of blue would do the trick.