Feasibility of 3D printing Erie Stillwell coaches

[Chris333]

MBK has 5% off BLI products right now, just sayin' 

The Erie release isn't till "spring 2016" 

I just ran my old Lifelike models a few laps. Maybe I'll put Kato shells on them, or just buy a Kato model.

[brokemoto]

they ran from Cleveland to Pittsburgh, but I just read that train is why they bought their first PA1's.

Erie ran the Steel King from Cleveland to Youngstown, where it was supposed to hand it over to P&LE PAs.  Sometimes, the Erie PAs ran through to Pittsburgh (with a P&LE crew) and sometimes the P&LE PAs ran through to Cleveland (with an Erie crew).  In fact, I remember reading an interview conducted by a reporter from a Cleveland newspaper that showed a photograph of the P&LE PA in Cleveland.  The reporter asked the engineer how long he had worked for the New York Central, to which the engineer replied that he worked for Erie.

About 1960, or so,  P&LE packed its PAs off to parent NYC and used its passenger GP-7s for the train.  I have seen photographs of E-L RS-3s working the train, as well.  For as long as B&O ran the Washingtonian, some of the Steel King cars did get coupled to it.   The Steel King often had a colorful consist:  cars from Erie, B&O, P&LE and NYC.  After 1960, some DL&W cars not yet relettered E-L found their way into it, as well.

It was a major disappointment that BLI did not issue either PA-1s or PA-2s in P&LE.   We have PAs from three manufacturers, all of whom issued them in NYC, but none ever have done P&LE.   I do have a pair of C-Cs that I transferred to the  latest power chassis.  Dave Thurston painted them for me many years back.  I do not know what decal solution he used, but age has made it yellow and grey.  I have a Kato pair that a guy cleaned up for me.  I tried to erase the lettering and road number and made a mess of it, so I handed them over to him and he fixed them.  Sadly, he put the sublettering under the road number instead of above it, where it belongs.

[Upstate Gator]

Nor doe BLI offer the E8s in Erie.

[brokemoto]

What is wrong with LL PAs, anyhow, be they plastic or metal frame?

I have some of the plastic frame E-units and plastic frame PAs and like both.  I do have one metal frame E-8 A-B pair.  It is a B&O that I bought just to have it.  When LL came out with the split metal frame E-*, I already had more than enough E units.   When LL came out with the metal frame PAs, I did not buy any, as I already had enough PAs.

[Chris333]

In the end I might just stick with the LL PA1's. If I spent the $ for the BLI model I would have to remove the "radio equipped" and lightning bolt off the side as they weren't delivered with that. Plus there is the whole dynamic brake thing. LL and Kato have it, BLI doesn't (in their artwork)


Anyway back to the Stillwell goodness 

[Upstate Gator]

FWIW--The street price on the recent run of BLI PAs is about the cost of a Kato plus a non-sound decoder. (I sold off my Wabash PA and bought a pair of BLIs.)

Definitely back to Stillwell goodness. Time to start saving my pennies.
Ben

[Upstate Gator]

@Lemosteam How are these coming along?

[Lemosteam]

@Lemosteam How are these coming along?

Well there have been a few setbacks based on printing variability issues, but @Scott Lupia and I feel that we have redesigned the kit to accommodate the Shapeways variability to allow the etchings to control the length of the car.

This will be a Craftsman's kit in the truest sense, but should still be simple enough to assemble.

We need to do some more proto testing to confirm.

[bbussey]

In the end I might just stick with the LL PA1's. If I spent the $ for the BLI model I would have to remove the "radio equipped" and lightning bolt off the side as they weren't delivered with that. Plus there is the whole dynamic brake thing. LL and Kato have it, BLI doesn't (in their artwork)

I prefer the LL model. The tooling quality is slightly above the Kato, the operation quality is comparable to the Kato, and the deco quality is far superior to Kato. I'm glad they released two NH schemes before being gobbled up by Walthers.

[thomasjmdavis]

This will be a Craftsman's kit in the truest sense, but should still be simple enough to assemble.

I dunno.  I once asked an old fellow (in the days before I became an old fellow) what distinguished a "craftsman's" kit from any other kit.  He responded that most kits were easier than scratchbuilding, but a craftsman's kit was more difficult.

Kidding aside, looking forward to this, and "budgeting". 

[Lemosteam]

I dunno.  I once asked an old fellow (in the days before I became an old fellow) what distinguished a "craftsman's" kit from any other kit.  He responded that most kits were easier than scratchbuilding, but a craftsman's kit was more difficult.

Kidding aside, looking forward to this, and "budgeting".

What I mean by this is that one will be expected to assemble and finish the entire car, not just slap on some trucks and run.  IMHO, the new design will not be a challenge to build, just more complex of a process.

[Upstate Gator]

@Lemosteam Thanks for persevering. Based on some other posts, I thought you might be running into issues.

[Lemosteam]

Adjustability in design or assembly can ALWAYS mitigate the effects of tolerance, so long as directional controls are in place to permit the variation to occur without affect on function or assemble-ability.

Steps off soap box...

[thomasjmdavis]

John,

I apologize, I meant it as humor.  Given that you are producing a "core", I imagine these will be simpler than most of the heavyweight conversions I have done using Rivarossi or MT cars with sides.  I have a set of Scott's business car sides, haven't started on the car yet, but the workmanship is excellent, and the fit very precise.  I expect the Stillwell kits will also be at a very high standard, and I look forward to working on them.

I do appreciate all the work you are doing to make this happen.

Tom D

[wcfn100]

I'm finding myself in the same situation with my tank car.  The walkway will be etched so I have to try and compensate the design for 3D printing tolerances.  I don't know if that means getting one good part and making castings but I hope not.

Jason