like these?
http://cgi.ebay.com/100-PCS-ELASTIC-ROLLER-BALLPOINT-PEN-USE-SPRINGS-/310216651327
Sure, except they cost almost as much as the trucks :o Iāve got sources for promotional pens that have springs. Plenty enough for the 10 trucks I bought. I figure 2 pens/truck !
EDIT to add that those do look to be closer to the correct length then the ones from the pens I have.
The saw lives 
With more careful measuring and some saw setup tools, I was successful at cutting the dado from the bunks so they will sit down over the sills. Once I had the set-up figured out, running a batch of bunks took only a few minutesā¦
With bunks cut, all the mill work is complete, and assembly can begin. I started assembling frames using all the sills I had on handā¦
Next the bunks were added. I only had enough bunks milled up for 6 carsā¦
Here is a close-up of the final fit of the bunks to the sills. I think it came out greatā¦
Next up is determining a method to gray up the wood. One method Iāve read of is a dilute rust solution (steel wool dissolved in vinegar). I have a test frame or two I can experiment on. Pictures will follow when I decide on a method.
Jon Radder said:LOL :)
The saw lives :)
Nice dado Jon. Cars are looking good
Jon Radder said:If you add baking soda to the vinegar it will age faster in large batches.
Next up is determining a method to gray up the wood. One method I've read of is a dilute rust solution (steel wool dissolved in vinegar). I have a test frame or two I can experiment on. Pictures will follow when I decide on a method.
Jon,
i use diluted leather shoe dye in alcohol to turn my newly sawn wood grey. it is getting hard to find though. i think the steel wool in vinegar only makes a good rust solution.
Take another look at the first part (step 1 &2 ) of method 3?
http://www.the-ashpit.com/mik/weathering.html
Are they done yet Jon. 
I use India Ink in alcohol to gray the wood.
Thanks Bruce. Iāve read lots of different recipes for stains. I have a few scraps simmering in some now. The best look I found was this made from various acrylic paints and water soluble black ink diluted with windshield washer fluidā¦
You can find the recipes hereā¦ http://homepage.mac.com/michael21/Stripwoodstains/stripwoodstains.html Iāve been busy moping up from Mondayās flooding, but some progress has been made: building more trucks, taking an inventory of on-hand cast detail parts and resurrecting some ārust solutionā that has been brewing in a mayonnaise jar since 2006 :o
Jon I just use the acrylics found at craft stores. I do a heavy wash in black and then a wash in brown.
My ārust solutionā basically did nothing. I think itās too old because it has worked to turn wood an orange/brown for me in the past.
I like the simplicity of India Ink and Alcohol, especially since I have it on-hand. The last time I tried it was on my flat car and it was way too black. Iāve since learned that my 50/50 mix was just too heavy on the ink side. So, some new experiments got under way this evening. Using some 50/50 mix I had on hand, I tried several dilutions for comparison. FYI I am using the Wiki definition of 24 drops = 1/4 teaspoon.
1 Drop of 50/50 in a teaspoon of 70% alcohol resulted in a super light staining - almost unnoticeable.
1 Drop of 50/50 in a 1/4 teaspoon of 70% alcohol resulted in a light gray staining - just noticeable.
2 Drops of 50/50 in a 1/4 teaspoon of 70% alcohol resulted in a medium gray staining - becoming easily noticeable. Darker on end grain.
3 Drops of 50/50 in a 1/4 teaspoon of 70% alcohol resulted in a silver-gray staining - This looks like it will be the one. Might use with the 2-Drop formula on the end grain.
Just for fun, I tried the 50/50 mix without further dilution. The result was a nice flat semi-transparent black stain.
I was going to post some pictures, but it got dark. Artificial light wonāt show colors anywhere near true enough.
Hey Jon, the 50/50 might look good where creosote might be used.
Bob C.
I have several pints of alcohol that I use. My dark one has 1 TBSP of ink. Another one has 1/2 TBSP of ink. Yet another has 1/4 TBSP.
Thanks Bruce - Iām going to be mixing some up tonight. Obviously mixing by counting drops only works well for small quantities. Iāve converted my formulas to ratios so I can use any unit of measure thatās handy - like 1 Pint of ink into a gallon of alcohol Iād be mixing in that quantity to stain my entire house 
you might be better off to keep mixing in small batches. no two boards weathers exactly the same in the real world, so you WANT a lot of variation.
Very true Mik. For these cars I donāt have the patience to stain individual pieces. By dumb luck, the wood I cut varies in color somewhat so there will be a bit of variety to the color. Here is the color test. The ratio shown is in drops of 50/50 diluted ink/alcoholā¦
I mixed up a 4 ounce batch of the ratio used for the group on the left and stained my best 4 frames. They havenāt completely dried yet, so itās a bit early to tell, but I think they will be OK. They are significantly darker than the test sample. I checked my math so Iām not sure why. Starting to think about hardware. Iām not going to go nuts with detail - no log release levers or brake detail. I will hide where the draft gear should live with a āmetalā cover bolted to the frame. Marilyn donated some Super Fine sterling plated chain that should paint up nice ($3.99 / 100 inches). Iāve got plenty of NBW type castings that I can simulate some of the assembly hardware with. The one thing I havenāt come up with an idea for is a log stop on the end of the bunks. The Hoo-Hoo car has what looks like a cast spike - thatās where Iām leaningā¦
Or the MichCal skeleton that Mik dug up has a rod-like holder and a spike - that would be OK tooā¦
ozark has really nice bunks 
These ??
(http://www.ozarkminiatures.com/ProdImages/815-2.jpg)
Very nice but A Little to pricey for me at $12/car. This is a low budget operation. So far the only think that hasnāt come from stock or free is the Delton trucks you pointed me to.