The Washington & Old Dominion RR, which ran near our house until the 1960s, had a lot of oddball rolling stock, including this
"/img> and they also ran a more conventional baldwin freight motor, like this
"/img> Does any manufacturer make a Baldwin freight motor? And if I wanted to try to model the first one, W&OD #26, what would be a good place to start? I’m thinking some kind of diesel undercarriage, and an old boxcar, but I’m a complete novice
Try Chandler Car & Foundry… they aren’t that far from you…
Ken Brunt said:All you have to do is put the bug in Bruce's ear that something is cool. Worked with the boxcab.
Try Chandler Car & Foundry...... they aren't that far from you......;)
I’d also love to tackle this thing:
"/img> Bruce? Bruce? I just have no idea how to start. I suppose get a couple Aristo FA1 motor blocks, and an old wooden boxcar cit, and some styrene…
Wow, that sure looks like a neat project! It looks like it’s scribed…so I’d be VERY tempted to scratch build the body from Evergreen scribed styrene. If the windows are round (not oval), you could cut them with a Forstner bit. You could also go with real scribed wood; I think Ozark has some that would do the trick. You could either scratch build the frame or start with something like a flat car, so you have the truss rods and everything. But, that might be too much of a compromise for the wheel base. Building a good frame might be better. If you just want general appearance, these Aristo blocks MIGHT do the trick. I suspect that they could be modifed a bit for a less heavy look. Don’t know if there’s something else that might do better.
(http://www.aristocraft.com/catalog/parts/images/29351-Diesel%20Motor%20block.jpg)
I don’t know about that cow catcher - I suspect you might have to make one. I’d probably think about doing it in brass, unless you can find a stock one that could be modified. The roof would be fairly easy. I’d just do it with styrene strips, like I did for my motor car. It’s very strong. You should be able to get the detail parts (lights, bell) from Trackside Details, or maybe from other projects. Do you have any more pictures of that? Or any dimensions? Need any help?
mike omalley said:
I’d also love to tackle this thing:"/img> Bruce? Bruce? I just have no idea how to start. I suppose get a couple Aristo FA1 motor blocks, and an old wooden boxcar cit, and some styrene…
Now this would be interesting, but a bit more difficult. That slanted, rounded front end could be tough to model. You might also want to look at Hartland motor blocks for either project, though the wheelbase on that bus thing sure looks small.
(http://www.h-l-w.com/Products/Selfpowered/Silver-wo-trailer-web-lg.jpg)
See? See?
He’s probably cutting up cardboard right now getting the proportions right. By this evening he’ll be working in styrene.
Here are a couple more pictures of #26
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/lownote/_forumfiles/583c.jpg)
(http://www.lscdata.com/users/lownote/_forumfiles/15c1.jpg)
Also I have some more pictures in a book on the W&OD Bruce, I’d need to make sure I could commit the time–but now that you’re retired…and I work right down the road from you… The rail bus would be a blast but hard–I was thinking it might be easiest to carve the thing from a big block of balsa and then cover it with…with…paint, maybe. But either way I’ve never done anything like this Which looks easier, the rail bus or #26?
Mike,
I’d go for #26. There’s no compound curves. Make the railbus the next one. Rather than carve, I think I’d build a frame out of styrene strips, and then cover it with layers of thin styrene sheets.
Seriously, if you want some guidance, or assistance, I’d be more than happy to work with you. I’ve cleared up some space in my workshop recently, so there’d be plenty of room for it. I have some regular busy time already booked (Monday morning, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and Thursday afternoon/night.), but the rest of my time if pretty flexible. Some mornings get booked that day because the weather is nice and we go birding. Hot days are always good for working in the basement.
I have an old transformer for my test track in the workroom - I’m assuming you want track power, though this could be a neat battery project. You might want something inside, just because you have all those windows.
1/29? Do you have any drawings or dimensions?
Looking at the side view picture of #26, seems to me, like you could just take a USA Wood Boxcar and use that for the chasis and body… Cut back the ends, and lower their height, then make the curved roof for it… The harland motor trucks that bruce mentioned and showed the picture of would make great trucks for it…
Seems that overall, it would be a pretty simple bash to make…
I wonder how easily the Hartland trucks could be modified? Or how critical is that? If you got this, you’d have a start if you didn’t want to build the frame from scratch. You’d also get some of the electrical parts for the roof…
(http://www.h-l-w.com/Products/Electrics/Undec-Grey-Linecar.jpg)
This could give you a longer wheelbase.
(http://www.h-l-w.com/Products/Largepics/PE-Combo-web-large.gif)
Neat find, Bruce. The work car looks to be about the right length, and the trucks are close. That and a USA trains boxcar (Thanks Andy), and a bit of time on the belt sander might do the trick. The roof between the arched ends is flat, so youd have to build up the sides a bit. Maybe a sheeting of scribed siding over the boxcar body?
A box car would seem a logical staring point for No. 26. The Hartland cars seem a bit short although with a little work it could be lengthened. The Hartland motor blocks looks like they’ll work.
Wow, that interurban is almost twice as much as the line car.
I’d go with the line car and build a new frame; the trucks just seem a bit too close to each other. I might just leave the trucks as is, or you could add a little strip on each end to make them appear longer.
Judging by the second picture in Mike’s last entry, the roof of the motor car looks a tad shorter than the trailing boxcar…
The USA wood boxcars that I have here, the sides are already scribed… or, maybe it’a a refrigerator car… Yup, they be refrigerator cars, sorry…
I’d be worried about the door in a regular boxcar…though maybe Bob has the right idea - just cover it with scribed siding. Still worried about length. But maybe that’s because I want to scratchbuild everything.
I was thinking about the framing for those round windows. These might do the trick, but you’d have to sand them down a LOT, as they’re way too thick.
(http://www.plastruct.com/catalog.images/r/ri-12.gif)
http://www.plastruct.com/Pages/OnlineProductDetail.lasso?-op=‘eq’&CCode=RI-32 Or you might be able to find someone that would laser cut them out of say 1/16 or 1/32 stuff. You might be able to use some of the Plastruct pipe fittings to help make the railings if you didn’t want to solder brass.
Wow! Now I’m going to have to commit to the thing!
There’s a Yahoo group devoted to the W&OD, and a search of the archives found a mention of plans for #26. I just posted to the group asking about the plans. Find a set of plans, settle on a scale–probably 1/29…
Hmmmm
See that, Mike…we don’t always argue politics…
It doesn’t have to be a exact replicate. But it does have some nice possiblities…if you do decide to do it, keep us posted on the progress. From a non-novice point of view, it doesn’t seem all that difficult a bash…especially with a guy like Bruce guiding you along.
Bruce. For using those plastruct rings, you could cut a hole in the side the outside diameter of the ring, and set them into the side itself.
Hmm.
