Superb!
Like the magnet idea.
I had a similar one to hold the water tank top onto my 3 truck shay so I could get to the battery in there, I tried 2 magnets opposite each other and they were to strong so I gave up, might just revisit it.
Graeme Price said:
Like the magnet idea.
I had a similar one to hold the water tank top onto my 3 truck shay so I could get to the battery in there, I tried 2 magnets opposite each other and they were to strong so I gave up, might just revisit it.
Me too Graeme !
It’s one of those “I’ll be damned” moments for me.
One of the little things I did, just fyi, was to use Goop as the glue, put the piece in the tank with the metal on it lightly in place but too close to the end, and then I closed the end cap, pushing the tank piece back to the right distance. Then I (from the other end) held the tank piece in place with a stick to help it bond to the PVC pipe.
That way the metal and the magnet ended up at exactly the right position so that when the end cap is closed, the magnet is in contact with the metal.
Not sure if that will work on your shay water tank. You may need to measure it :-).
The wires representing the cables holding the end caps are in place and painted. I don’t have the turnbuckles yet. Will cut the wires and AC the turnbuckles in place when they finally get here.
Next bits: the queen posts and undercarriage cabling.
Cheers!
Jim Rowson said:
Oooh, the magnets are working well! I put the rare earth magnet on the end cap, and a very small strip of steel shim stock (.03" thick) on a piece of wood at the top, inside the tank. This gives me enough strength to hold it securely (including shaking it around) but I have single finger control to open it. Check the video for the demo. And no squishiness!
Bringing this to page 3 for Ralph! (Wait what happened to Ralph and who’s turn was it to watch him?)
Jim,
With YOUR first scratchbuild you are making me go into full molt early this year “publicly admitted”. I have played with the rare earth magnets numerous times and use them for mocking up builds but “completely overlooked” the simplicity of using a thinner piece of steel to achieve the results you have gained.
Very nice work!
Thanks Rooster!
That’s amazing Jim, great job!!
Jim,
Haven’t been on LSC for awhile, your tank car looks great, your attention to detail is superb. The rare earth magnet is a good solution, I used some on my Woody Track Inspection Car for the tailgate. Are you going to be open for this summers Tri Valley BAGRS open house? Keep up the good work.
Hey Dan! I’ve offered to be an open house (a while ago) but haven’t seen the official call for that yet. I’m intending to.
Of course, you are welcome to drop by any time. Bring your woody and inspect my track!
And thanks for the comments on the tank car. Now if I can just get a few bits and pieces delivered maybe I can finish it!
Been a little while since I updated this topic. Life got in the way :-(. It feels like this project is starting to wind up a bit. Last things to do are wiring, hiding the wiring, and the undercarriage. I’ve made some progress on all of that, though I’ll only show you some wiring and how I’m hiding it.
And I need some feedback on something where I may have just gone overboard. Will ask near the end.
First step was to create a small circuit board to hold a switch and recharge plug (I’m trying to standardize on a specific plug type to make things easier).
Then I needed to use my Dremel to remove some material at the top of the tank for the circuit board.
I built a small wooden box to hide the circuit board.
And now we get to the part where I need advice. My original idea was to make this a water tank car. So we need some way to fill this thing up (presumably from a trackside water tank). To do that, I have built a “metal” cylinder with a cap that is hinged and would be swung out of the way to give access to filling the tank.
So my question: does this seem over the top and too non-prototypical? I’m about to paint it and glue it all together and am wondering if I’ve gone crazy and should do something simpler.
Cheers!
Before you decide, paint it rusty and give it a chance to grow on you.
John
Jim Rowson said:
So my question: does this seem over the top and too non-prototypical?
Granted, you have a tank car and these are locomotives, https://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/12234/davidson-chain-and-sprocket-geared-locomotive
https://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/12233/johnston-16-wheeler
But look at them and tell me what counts as “over the top and too non-prototypical” with trains! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
It looks good from here.
Ok, I took John’s suggestion and went ahead and painted/rusted it so I can see if it grows on me, and so far it is. One tweak I made was to remove the bolt ends sticking out of the hex nuts holding on the hinge. They just bugged me. I think I’m happy with this now.
Thanks for the feedback folks! Forrest: those NZ geared locos are a hoot!
Here’s the progression. I started by airbrushing it weathered black:
Then drybrushed on the same weathering palette as the rest of the car: weathered rust, grime, and dust.
And then tried to blend it in with the rest of the car:
I think I’ll glue it on and call it done.
Now that I have this thing, I need a way for somebody to clamber up there and open it :-(. Current thinking: build a ladder on one of the removable end caps, and a walkway from that ladder to this top cap.
Cheers!
Another question: Does this look like the car is riding a bit high? I’ve shimmed this so it is at the right height to put a Kadee coupler (checked with gauge). This is my first non-log car so I’m not very used to how high/low the car should be riding on the trucks.
Comments?
Looks fine, to me. Do you have any clearance problems?
Looking good Jim !
I don’t think I made clear my question: I’m not so worried about overall height and more about how high the deck of the car is above the trucks.
Does that look prototype?
Cheers!
Oh yeah, and thanks for the encouragement!
If the body mount KaDee is sitting at the right height, then the deck would be. Right?