FC today, gon tomorrow, lol

I've been wanting a gondola for my Allegheny Valley RR for a while now, but none I saw were really suitable to use with the stuff I already had. (I run Lehmann Toytrain because they are indestructable, look good on my R-1 curves, and - at least until EPL imploded - were cheap...).

Then the other day I saw an evilbay auction for a couple of really ugly Toytrain open stock cars...

For the princely sum of $17 plus shipping I had a couple flatcars. I was going to just toss the sides when a little light went on.... snip snip with a sprue cutter, a little glue, and this is what it looked like...

I then added a bit of paint ,decals and weathering and ended up with this...

Yes it does look like a kludged together homebuilt. Absolutely perfect for use on a shoestring budget shortline like mine...besides, I kinda like it.   All it needs is now a brakewheel (ordered off Ozark but not here yet) and a load.