Guys,
I’m on the road and don’t have my laptop handy.
Jonathan, I too see the price of 3D printing coming down. Have you investigated the 3DHub (?sp) guys? They seem to print locally quite inexpensively. And your point about future availability is a good one.
Randy, Rich doesn’t advertise parts but he sold me a pair of trucks for $95. I think he still has some. Drop him an email.
Hi Pete, I didn’t notice your last post until just now. I will check out the 3Dhub, as you suggested. It sure would be nice to have a cheaper option!
Jonathan, I purchased a cars worth of both side frames in 1/22 and was totally pleased with the appearance. The wheelbase was spot on. I haven’t made up bolsters yet but just used wheel sets to hold them together so I could see how they look under cars and next to the Bachmann versions. Below are truck comparison photos
The surface texture is fine and looks a lot like what I would expect a cast surface to look like. I was also surprised to see the leaf springs on the inside of the side frame, a nice touch that could have easily been omitted. One issue I noticed when using on the Bachmann EBT caboose is related to the caboose itself, on the Bachmann model the steps come straight down from the body instead of slanting outward and the prototype has two steps and Bachmann only one. As a result the journal boxes hit the steps and severely limit the amount the truck can turn. I don’t think it will be that much of an issue to modify the steps. On a similar note the only thing I find that looks a bit out on the trucks is the amount the journal boxes protrude. I don’t have drawings that show the dimension and it may be spot on but it looks long to me. Hard to tell in most photos. I have one I took of a truck that was not on a car taken down on it to show the side frame profile but have yet to locate it. It’s not an issue on anything but the caboose and in that case I think even if they were shorter they will still hit the steps if they are not modified. Now if I could get a cars worth for about $10 I would be all set. Anyway, thanks for your great work on this !
OK, the statement about the caboose steps is wrong, the steps are correct as modeled, apparently sometime after end of regular service they were changed. Unfortunately this makes the issue of interference more difficult to deal with.
Gary, I’ll be out there this weekend and I’ll verify how far the “stick-out” is. I believe there may be two different lengths as well. I think on the heavy duty trucks for use under standard gauge cars the stick out was further. This was done for more bearing surface instead of increasing the diameter of the bearing and wheel axle.
Very sorry for the lateness of this post, but better late than never I suppose. The photos below show the two different stick out lengths that I could find in the Rockhill yard. I was told that day by a few in the know that there is actually a third length as well. Hope it helps.
