Sorry I am late to the party, but I did some research on Bettendorf freight trucks to find the narrow gauge ones used under the C&S cars. What I did find was a great photo essay on the Eagle Lake and West Branch RR in Maine. It was a logging line with a unique history. Now abandoned and left to rot. Here is a picture of the standard gauge Bettendorf truck under their cars.
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Thatâs a cool truck. For some reason i like these style trucks with the more or less modern looking cast profile but still using the friction bearing journal boxes. Has a very transition era feel.
Dan,
I was not at all looking to make them functioning. And I was just going to super glue them in place. I have become fond of buying dollar store packs of retractable ball point pins to rob the springs out of. I think they are a nice looking model spring if maybe just a tad light looking in the wire. I have used them on my working wood bolster arch bars with good success but that is because I made the spring pockets on the spring broads and the bolsters deep enough to hold them good. On the first version of this truck I did not make good enough spring pockets to hold the springs decent and they just didnât look right to me. They seem fine for arch bars but they are just too light of a wire and the coils spread out to far to look like a decent spring for the Bettendorf. And when I made the spring packs for the first version they printed nice and clean and looked good so I went with it. But like I said I didnât care for the over all proportions.
So with that said, here is the next rendition. This time I was at home next to an Aristocraft truck to model after. I like the proportions much better. Still going to print it as one piece.
Looking at the one Bob posted still not sure I like m springs. Still too anemic.
Now I need to print it and see how it comes out.
Devon, those look good. If I may make suggestion, look at Bobâs photo, see the lip around the openings in the side frame, you might want to consider adding that to your design to add to the realism of the truck. Not at all necessary, but I think it makes the entire truck more believable. Just my 2 cents.
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Good call, I like that also. Here it is included in the design. Hard to see but it is there and looks much better.
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Cool stuff. If Rodney was still around, Iâd recommend talking with him - he got the masters from somewhere, but his trucks were awesome!
Yep, that looks much better, Devon.
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The biggest thing with this project is a repeatable 3D printable design that I can print easily and make several copies at will. With the one piece design and if it prints nice then when I start making the fleet of log cars I can print them at will. I am thinking this design will do that.
Iâd was never about a rivet counting model. Just something to easily build a fleet of about 10 to 15 of my log cars.
In addition to the trucks, I already have the bunks designed, and the basic brake mechanicals done. Craig, has talked me into a master car then casting them in resin. Once I get a mold for that then I should be able to spit this out relatively fast as they are a very basic design.
that last picture of the truck looks great, Devon⌠
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Looking good, Devon. You DO remember the hole in the head thing, right? 
Thats why the ideas flow so well. Right out the hole
You do know that I would mail you a USAT truck for you to cast, right?
This is easier than casting. Youâll understand
I just think you like procrastinating on a project now that youâre a grandpa⌠
He ducks for cover as Devon throws stuff at me.
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Just send him so pastries, Craig, and he will stop Devoning??
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Maybe itâs the opposite problem. He hasnât had a tasty treat from me in a while. Ironically we tried meeting up this last summer when I was in Spokane for a week. And then it didnât work out for both of us. Between Devon and my sister I wouldnât have too much of trouble moving to the eastside of the state if I had too. My sister keeps trying to make me buy a house by her that has an old abandoned ride on train.
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So, you want Devon to STOP Devoning? (Whatâs up with THAT? )
He needs to clear out his backlog of builds, so he can Devon on new stuff. All the old Devoning stuff is just sitting around waiting to be finished or probably mailed