Author Topic: Weekend Update 9/2/12  (Read 20186 times)

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Puddington

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #45 on: September 02, 2012, 12:33:28 PM »
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Looks like you both had a great time!!
Only a rumor until we see pics.   :D

Jon




he has two other CPR open air speeders, seevral track speeder carts, a 1940's open seat track inspection vehicle and two vel...velop.... the things that look like a bike on rails..... :D
Model railroading isn't saving my life, but it's providing me moments of joy not normally associated with my current situation..... Train are good!

seusscaboose

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #46 on: September 02, 2012, 01:16:19 PM »
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from Bedford
"I have a train full of basements"

NKPH&TS #3589

Inspiration at:
http://nkphts.org/modelersnotebook

Puddington

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #47 on: September 02, 2012, 02:38:55 PM »
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Finished weathering the NP hopper.....I haven't been at the bench for months and it shows....will have to get some junkers out and "get back in the game"....



....and what the heck as a C424 doing shunting a single car anyway......?  :facepalm:
Model railroading isn't saving my life, but it's providing me moments of joy not normally associated with my current situation..... Train are good!

coosvalley

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #48 on: September 02, 2012, 02:42:58 PM »
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Another great week, lots of good stuff..... :ashat: s all around...

This week I finished up this HO 45 tonner...I added new pilots and the paint/weathering........







Hope you like it and have a great week!!

skytop35

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #49 on: September 02, 2012, 03:19:26 PM »
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Not an exact model but close enough is Chicago Great Western business car #99. This was built for someone who used to work for the railroad and also rode this car several times. Hope he gets as much enjoyment out of it as I did while building it.



Bill Denton

Skytopmodels.com

wazzou

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #50 on: September 02, 2012, 03:54:33 PM »
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Who made this car? Interesting car



Thank you...

I scratchbuilt it, probably close to 12 years ago now.  It's sides are all completely built from styrene with the exception of the ladders and the vertical rods on the plug door which are brass.  The roof and ends are from Intermountain.
Bryan

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Puddington

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #51 on: September 02, 2012, 04:26:00 PM »
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Very nicely done Bill; really an eye catcher !
Model railroading isn't saving my life, but it's providing me moments of joy not normally associated with my current situation..... Train are good!

wcfn100

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #52 on: September 02, 2012, 04:55:48 PM »
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Not an exact model but close enough is Chicago Great Western business car #99. This was built for someone who used to work for the railroad and also rode this car several times. Hope he gets as much enjoyment out of it as I did while building it.



Well obviously I'm a big fan of that.  But you should have let me know, I would have been in for doing a sheet of passenger car lettering, maybe Skibbe too (if he still models the CGW, or anything right now  ;))


Jason

flight2000

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #53 on: September 02, 2012, 05:09:32 PM »
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It's been awhile since I posted anything, mostly due to the weather being unseasonably warm.  Have to spend time outside if it's that nice instead of working indoors.  Now that it's gotten cooler again, time to finish up the things that have been sitting on my desk for awhile.  Didn't help that I partially tore my rotator cuff playing tennis with my kids. 

Finished up this FB-1 for a friend:



Finished up this Chessie System GP40-2 in the GM50 paint scheme. 



Here's almost "everything" else... not shown are two MTL Evans 3-Bay Hoppers, 2 F7's for NY&W, 1 NW2 for NY&W, 1 CSX Boxcar, and several other items patiently waiting for me to get my butt in gear...  :scared:



eNjoy!
Brian
I've never met a covered hopper I didn't like.... :)
My (HO) NW Ohio Layout Feed: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=57633.msg793742#msg793742

dmassey

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #54 on: September 02, 2012, 05:14:31 PM »
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After lurking here for a couple of months I have some benchwork photo’s to add to the weekend update.   My son and nephew want to build a layout so we are going to start small and see how it goes.  We are starting with a 3’ x 6’ but it could be expanded to a 9’ x 8’ U shape.  We will be using unitrack but have not finalized a track plan yet.  For the benchwork we are using 1” x 4” with 2” x 4” legs and using foam for the top.  Hopefully we will come up with a track plan before too long and I’ll start a thread in the layout section.   Not the best quality photos, taken with a camera photo, I’ll dig a real camera out going forward.   

Doyle Massey




« Last Edit: September 02, 2012, 05:20:04 PM by dmassey »

towl1996

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #55 on: September 02, 2012, 07:33:54 PM »
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Pennsy cabin car



The Bachmann PRR X29



Photos taken with phone.
Never argue with idiots; they'll drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.

mike_lawyer

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #56 on: September 02, 2012, 09:16:59 PM »
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How about a K4 kitbash based on a Kato C55 chassis?



Another shot:



Let's look under the hood...we have a Faulhaber 1016 coreless motor with a 4:1 gearhead.  It also has ball bearings for really smooth running:



A view from above.  The worm was epoxied to the motor shaft.


robert3985

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #57 on: September 02, 2012, 10:16:58 PM »
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Very interesting Bob!  WRT the last pic, may I ask a few details:

 - What is it about the hole/wire method that you prefer over just soldering the point rails to the throwbars? 

 - Can you elaborate on what aspects of the plastic P:87 throwbars didn't work for you?

 - It looks like in the points area there are several PCB ties that may not be needed and still the area would have robust construction.   Seems all you really need are the headblocks and the one tie under the ends of the closure rails.  Did you have a specific reason for using this many PCB ties?

 - I thought the machined P:87 point rails didn't require notching the stock rails (like the proto).   In this pic it looks to me like the straight route stock rail is notched, and also has one of those 'step' bends in it.   Did you find these necessary to make the P87 points work?

 - Are you using jumper wires or anything else to power the point rails?


Thanks,
Ed

Ed,

Answering your questions:

Point rails soldered to PCB throwbars are the weak point of hand-laid turnouts.  You can manufacture brass brackets, or make huge tabs to increase the solderable surface area (all of which I've done) and if your hinges are not sloppy-loose, the points will eventually come desoldered, or the copper cladding will come unglued from the fiberglass of the PCB throwbar.

In the past, I've manufactured "hinges" into my closure point rails by notching them (on both sides of the rail) in the appropriate spot and filing the notches with the pointy edge of a fine, square jeweler's file until I've removed all but about half of the rail web, which then forms a durable and semi-flexible "hinge".  It seemed to answer two questions, which were: How do I form a quick, reliable hinge for my points and how do I ensure electrical continuity in my points?

The problem was that it formed a rigid parallelogram which would rather remain stationary than move.   The hinges weren't going to break, but eventually the soldered-to-the-throwbar-points would come unsoldered, even though I bent the ends of the point rails at a 90deg. angle, filed off everything except the foot of the rail which formed a huge, monolithic pad to solder to the PCB throwbar.

Another problem was that I never liked the way it looked.

So, I have a lot of turnouts manufactured to my older spec, and I have to resolder a couple of closure points every couple of weeks.  When I'm at a show, I just keep a hot iron going in a safe spot because I just assume that one or more closure points are going to break off the PCB throwbars.

Here's a photo to show you my old spec closure points:


I decided that I needed to have actual hinges at both the base and pointy ends of my closure points so there would be near zero torque at those mechanically attached points to ensure reliability, and hopefully, to make 'em look more prototypical.

Sometime between deciding that Andy's throwbars and hinges were the answer to the hinge problem, he decided to make N-scale throwbars "solder only", which negated the hinge on the throwbar end of the point rails, which was unacceptable to me.

I also had worries about the plastic throwbar/press-fit protocol, which would be virtually impossible to repair once the turnout was in place, socked down and ballasted.

Andy solved that problem by supplying a piece of HO scale PCB throwbar material instead of whatever plastic he was supplying with the HO scale throwbars when he shipped me my order...which was also unacceptable to me.

Soooo...I decided to do virtually the same thing as Andy's original HO scale throwbars, except I'd just bend them up out of .015" brass wire, using my etched brass bending tool for consistency.

Instead of relying on a friction fit in a plastic throwbar, I decided to drill holes in an N-scale PCB tie, insert my pre-bent wires into the holes, then bend them tightly over from the bottom for a purely mechanical "lock"

Hmmm...this works well, but I had to precisely drill four holes per throwbar, which takes a lot of time.  The second iteration of this method requires only two holes per throwbar (under the holes drilled in the closure point rails' foot) and the brass rod soldered to the top of the PCB throwbar.  The ends of the brass rod which go through the matching holes in the closure points and PCB throwbar, are still bent over under the PCB throwbar, and I haven't perceived a reason to solder them underneath.

Both methods require that the PCB throwbar be gapped both top and bottom.  Gapping the top on the second iteration also cuts the .015" brass rod at the same time.

Here are a couple of photos of the top and bottom of the 2nd iteration throwbars.

Top


Bottom



Yup, I did overkill with the PCB ties on this batch of turnouts.  I suppose it was because I managed to rip the stock rails off of two code 40 turnouts in the Park City Yard while transporting that module home from the Hostlers Show in Ogden last March.  I used minimal PCB ties on those turnouts, so I decided, especially since I am now installing basically two throwbars on each switch, to install a PCB tie on either side of the throwbars.

However, after doing all the soldering on this batch of seven turnouts, I've decided to install fewer PCB ties on future turnouts because it makes it much more difficult to make small adjustments when I have to desolder four or five ties rather than just heat up the joint and move the rail when it's attached to only one PCB tie!

The photo I posted originally is of a #6 Wye, so both stock rails are diverging and get "joggled" (I think that's the term).  The reason I did this was because of where I had to cut the HO scale, tri-planed points, and because the tip of the points was not as fine as I would have liked. It's also prototype practice in some cases.

These last photos are of a #8 and only the diverging stock rail is "joggled".

None of the stock rails are "notched" and have all of their foots (feet?) intact.

I am planning on using super flexy 30-something gauge stranded wire to route power to the underside of the closure point rails from the bottom of the adjacent stock rails, between the ties.  I'll do that as soon as I'm done here.  I'm not sure if it's necessary (Micro Engineering #6's just use the rail-joiner-hinge to route power, and I have never heard of problems with them), but, it's good insurance and won't take long.

I still have several of the frets of switch tie plates, which I am planning on cutting and gluing next to the rails except I won't be using the "slider" plates near the throwbars.  I thought it was too much work to cut each tie plate down the middle, slide each half under the rails (because they're for code 40 rail...not code 55) and solder them to PCB ties.  I'll determine if it's worth it to use them since it drastically increases my build-time on my turnouts.

As you can see, I've soldered a brass switch stand base plate to the headblocks.  This is part of a batch of Sequoia Scale Models' #2043 Styrene N-scale switch stands which I had invested and cast in brass for durability.  They'll rotate correctly when my Tortoises move the points.  Too bad these are out of production.  I'm planning on doing a 3D model of the same switch stand to produce masters for further casting when these are used up.

Time to get soldering!

Cheers!
Bob Gilmore
« Last Edit: September 02, 2012, 11:07:52 PM by robert3985 »

davidgray1974

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #58 on: September 02, 2012, 11:54:27 PM »
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Well, no surprise.  More trees, about 80 more prep'd and foliage added.  Placed about 50 trees since last week but also purchased a couple of Train Cat High Tension towers from Fifer Hobby Supply.  Only took me about 3 1/2 hours to build it.  Not a complicated build at all and looks fantastic.  If you have the means to pick a few up for your layout, I highly recommend them.

Here is a picture of what was completed as of last week.


Here is what I've done as of today.


Here are a few pictures of the tower on the mountain side.  I used wooden dowels to simulate the concrete piers.  I will add the other across the tracks at the base of the mountain once scenery there has commenced.



Here are a couple different angles of the mountain showing my progress so far. 




Thanks for looking!

Modeling the L&N, well at least a few times a year.

Ian MacMillan

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Re: Weekend Update 9/2/12
« Reply #59 on: September 03, 2012, 12:07:17 AM »
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he has two other CPR open air speeders, seevral track speeder carts, a 1940's open seat track inspection vehicle and two vel...velop.... the things that look like a bike on rails..... :D

Very nice A4E!  He's catching up my collection in numbers! I'm looking to add a Fairmont M9 if I can find a decent one.

I have wanted to get a velocipede but they are very rare and very expensive. A friend of mine has a former Maine Central one made from white oak that he restored a few years ago...its now worth $15,000  :facepalm:
I WANNA SEE THE BOAT MOVIE!

Yes... I'm in N... Also HO and 1:1