Centerbeams, revisited

Burl_Rice · September 26, 2015, 1:45pm

While I’m waiting on parts from Shapeways for my boxcar, I drew this up:

Here’s the prototype:

It still lacks ladders, end walks & the roof detail, but the file is getting too big and I need to part out some of the detailed stuff so I can continue.

I did the opera-bay type several years ago as a kit, but it was pushing the limits of my mold making skills at the time and I discontinued it after a while because of the high failure rate. I always wanted to do this car, but I felt it was too complicated at the time.

So here’s where the monkey wrench comes in: when I started in large scale, I was more or less forced into 1:29 because of the availability of parts – mainly, trucks. Now that I’m making my own trucks & couplers (and almost everything else too), there’s nothing to keep me in 1:29. I can’t make wheels, but there are readily available sources for 1:32 wheels… so I’m strongly considering this car for my next kit, in 1:32 scale.

ctown2 · September 26, 2015, 4:11pm

Burl,

What’s the reasoning behind thinking about switching to 1:32? Does the scale/track arrangement bother you? Size of the models? Just curious as I’m working on ideas to build P:29 track. 3D printing some of the parts that would make transitioning from Gauge 1 to P:29.

Burl_Rice · September 26, 2015, 5:04pm

1:32 is the correct scale to gauge ratio for #1 scale track. Mostly, I’m just curious if there is any market for 1:32 kits.

Are you talking about re-gauging your track to make it 110% wider so it will be correct for 1:29?

ctown2 · September 26, 2015, 6:56pm

Yes, I handlay anyway so regauging the track isn’t a big deal. I’ve found that the USAT freight trucks have enough slop in them to simply widen the wheels on the axle. I haven’t looked at LGB, Aristo, or AML yet to see what it would take to regauge. I’m hoping to buy one of your trucks for my Snow Dozer build, and I’m hoping that I can simply construct a slightly longer bolster… Or take your design and 3D print a longer bolster.

USAT locomotive trucks can be easily reguaged with .060" spacers between the sideframe & the U shaped mounting bracket. The gears still have enough teeth on the axle to hold the gauge fairly well.

There’s a thread somewhere on LSC that discusses most of my ideas.

Burl_Rice · September 26, 2015, 8:02pm

I must have missed that thread somehow.

I have hand laid track before, and after a while, I decided I’d rather focus my attention on building freight cars. But, hey… to each his own.

Burl_Rice · September 26, 2015, 8:29pm

I’ll look at these for a couple days to make sure I didn’t miss anything, but I think I’m about done with the drawings:

(http://burlrice.com/_LS_Centerbeam2.0/NDYX%20728091%20top.jpg)

(http://burlrice.com/_LS_Centerbeam2.0/NDYX%20728091%20bottom.jpg)

(http://burlrice.com/_LS_Centerbeam2.0/NDYX%20728091%20b%20end.jpg)

David_Maynard1 · September 27, 2015, 12:09pm

Burl, there is a market for 1"32nd kits. But, in my opinion, I would think the market would be larger for 1:29 kits, no pun intended.

Bob_Cope · September 27, 2015, 6:24pm

Burl,

One option would be to let the numbers speak for themselves. You post here and on MLS. Post a poll to see where the interest is. Being a narrow gauger, I don’t really have a dog in the race, but nor do I wish to see a fellow modeler go off in a bad direction.

I don’t know about Sketchup (which is what it appears you are using), but the big guys I use it is a simple option to scale parts. I generally model them in 1:1, then scale them to the desired scale. This allows me to go in any direction I wish to.

Just my tuppence worth. Nice modeling tho.

Bob C.

Burl_Rice · September 27, 2015, 7:19pm

I thought last night about doing a poll... but all my 1:29 friends hang on out these two sites, so is it really a fair test? I’m thinking running an ad in GR & judging by sales is the real test.

BTW, this is drawn in 1:1. I haven’t scaled it to anything yet.

todus2 · September 27, 2015, 7:44pm

Nice car , I have one just like that .

Bob_Cope · September 27, 2015, 11:42pm

Burl,

I am sure friends hang at both places, but I am sure there are lots of other folks as well. I am somewhat of a ‘Rivet Counter’ so 1:29 is not my cup of tea in terms of fidelity. An ad in GR will not be cheap and still may not yield an honest return on investment.

Bob C.

Burl_Rice · September 28, 2015, 11:22am

Marc runs new product announcements for free. That’s what I meant to say. Had a brain slip when I used the word “ad”.

Burl_Rice · October 1, 2015, 3:53pm

Hey Mike, did you ever get any decals on that car & weather it? I’ve been dying to see it finished.

Ron_Hill · October 2, 2015, 1:28am

Hey Burl, do you still have a website? I scratch built a 50’ woodrack and 65’ mill gon in 1:29 scale. Used AutoCAD. They turned out good. If I could find some Aristo Craft freight trucks I would build some more. But they are hard to find.

Ron_Hill · October 2, 2015, 1:36am

Burl, are you going to build some bulkhead flat cars like Trinty Railcar produces? It would give a choice of two different types of bulkhead flats.

Burl_Rice · October 2, 2015, 11:33am

My website is: http://burlrice.com

todus2 · October 2, 2015, 1:05pm

No the car is still unlettered as of now . I did some test runs to see how it tracked and it passed the test with flying colors . Hopefully i’ll get to lettering as soon as the director of finance gives the go ahead . Maybe you’ve mentioned it before but where do you get your reference drawings from , they are really detailed and helpful . I had only a few pictures to go by. Hey Ron , post some pictures of your cars !