Large Scale Central

Finally flatcars are done

Modeling Rolling stock
#1

Been busy with a few projects. One being my snow plow, the other re-doing my bachmann BH box car (still working on that) and my Hartland flat cars. I ordered some decals from Stan Cedarleaf - I highly recomend for decals. I repainted the flatcars, took bachmann couplers and body mounted them to the car. I forget to put the metal bottom support beams on (not sure what they are called) I have them sitting in some nasty water so I can give them a nice weathered look.

Now I just need to get that Hartland Big John in. Was damaged during shipment so waiting on a replacement.

#2

Very nice :smiley:

Body mounted Bacchmans - what a great idea. You should post an article with details on how you do it. The close coupling looks great - the couplers look pretty good (can’t beat the price) and by body mounting you’ve eliminated the biggest problem with them - droop.

#3

Nice work, Shawn.

#4

Looking good - and so does the rest of your spread, what we can see of it.

#5

Nice job. The Big John will look good with those cars.
Ralph

#6

Thanks guys. I will take some pictures of how I body mounted the couplers. It sure does make a difference and like you said you cant beat the price. I still have a little more detailing to do with the couplers and flats -I want to try and make them a little more realistic looking. I will do an article on how I did it.

#7

Shawn, they look great and so does the layout! Can you give me some idea of how sharp a curve those cars can handle with the body-mounted couplers?

#8
Ray Dunakin said:
Shawn, they look great and so does the layout! Can you give me some idea of how sharp a curve those cars can handle with the body-mounted couplers?
Believe it or not they can handle my LGB R! around my X-mas tree.
#9

I took a few shots on how I mounted my Bachmann couplers. I will put this into the topic discussion as well. Need a few more pictures. It was very easy to do I just took some wood and screwed that to the bottom of the flatcar/boxcar. You need to the size that will give you the hight needed to match up with the other cars. I then screwed the Bachmann couler to the bottom of the block of wood. (make sure it is centered) My next step was what to do with that small rod that keepes the couplers from moving left and right on their own. See picture for what I mean by that rod (not sure what that is really called) (Bachmann cars have a built in slot for that rod). After some trial and error I found a few easy ways to make that slot. I used some very small plastic tubing. I cut it too length and then drilled a hole for the rod to slide in. I then secured it to the bottom of the car using gorilla glue. Tite bond also works very well. Once it dries it is fairly strong for this job. When placeing the tube or whateve you decide to use you have to make sure the wheel axle does not rub against the tube. (i used a small metal washer from some electical screws on my box car. I found this too be the easier. I also had to shave the block of wood for clearence. That way the wheels do not rub onto it when the trucks turn. This is the flatcar with the tubing

(http://i34.tinypic.com/f1y45v.jpg)

This is the metal washer thing - I still need to paint this and spruce it up some

(http://i36.tinypic.com/2nl4l15.jpg)

#10

That’s good to know. Thanks Shawn!

#11

Dear Shawn,

Beautiful work. Thanks for the pics.

Dear All,

Just a warning…

“S” curves and transitioning from straight to curve are where the problems occur with close coupled body mounted couplers.

Always curving in the same direction with the same radius (a.k.a. “a circle”) is much less of a problem, as both carbody overhangs are on the same side of, and equal distance away from, the track centerline.

Ref. John Armstrong’s “Track Planning for Realistic Operation, 3rd Ed.”, chapter 6, curvature and easements.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

#12

Very true Joe. One needs to have or design their track work to accommodate body mounts if the prototypical look and operation is desired. My railroad supports body mounts along the entire main-line and on two tracks of my indoor yard. I have a number of tracks in the yard with R1 switches and S Curves that stock with body mounts can not use. Even some of my cars with truck mounted couplers (I hate when people call these TALGO) can not go in these sidings unless pushed by a very short switcher.

In the end it’s a trade off of what you can do both physically and financially. Some folks are limited to small radius curves because of space, others can’t afford the extra wide switches . These folks end up using only truck mounts with the added distance between cars to accommodate the tight curvature.

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em :smiley:

#13

I was worried about the curves. I have 6.5 ft curves on my layout. The bachmann couplers mounted to the body worked nice on the s curves on my outdoor layout. It also helpes that I have a 1ft section of straight track were the turns changes direction. They even work on my LGB R1 around my x-mas tree.

#14
Shawn said:
I was worried about the curves. I have 6.5 ft curves on my layout. The bachmann couplers mounted to the body worked nice on the s curves on my outdoor layout. It also helpes that I have a 1ft section of straight track were the turns changes direction.
That's what I've got on my layout, 6.5' curves and at least a foot of straight track in the middle of any S curves.
#15

Jon,

What is your offense to using “Talgo Mounted Couplers”? I don’t know another use of the word Talgo and I have felt that came from the model railroad industry, somewhere. Truck mounted would seem to work just as well. I don’t understand the concern, please enlighten us.

#16

Armstrong says that the straight in the middle of any S curve should be at least as long as your longest piece of rolling stock.

That keeps the couplers (of the car or loco on the straight) above the track centerline.

Edit: Hmm, perhaps a better way to say it is:

“The coupler’s centering spring tries to keep the couplers (of the car or loco on the straight) above the track centerline.”

Having a shorter straight or no straight would force the coupler mounts (on the centerline of the cars) to the opposite sides of the track centerline from each other.

When you hit the swing limit of the couplers, a derailment occurs.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

#17
Ric Golding said:
Jon,

What is your offense to using “Talgo Mounted Couplers”? I don’t know another use of the word Talgo and I have felt that came from the model railroad industry, somewhere. Truck mounted would seem to work just as well. I don’t understand the concern, please enlighten us.


TALGO is a direct reference to an articulated passenger train.
Wikipedia said:
TALGO stands for “Tren Articulado Ligero Goicoechea Oriol” (Goicoechea-Oriol light articulated train)…
Talgo trains are best known for their unconventional articulated railway passenger cars design in which the wheels are mounted in pairs, but not joined by an axle, and being between rather than underneath the individual coaches. Talgo trains fitted with variable gauge axles can change rail gauge - for instance at the Spanish (1668 millimeters)/French (1435 millimeters) border. Since the introduction of the Talgo Pendular, the train tilts naturally inwards on curves, making it more comfortable for the passengers. This system also allows the train to run faster on some lines.

Somewhere along the way in the model railroad world someone decided to use the word TALGO to indicate a truck mounted coupler. Why, I have no idea since the TALGO Trains don’t have a truck mounted coupler, but rather two cars share a single truck much the same way as our articulated deep well cars in the US do.

Just one of my pet peeves :smiley:

#18

The person who started using TALGO for truck mounted couplers, probably couldn’t speak spanish, hence, he had no idea what "“TALGO” menat, when he used it in reference to couplers…

Joe, how many pets do you have???

#19

Dear Andy,

I was wondering when this thread would go off topic.

2 cats and a dog. The female cat owns the place and is a stick in the mud. The other two are a blast to play with, and are friendly to one another, though the dog gets a little klutzy and rough at times. (Gentle !! )

I assume this is in reference to Shawn’s boxcar thread.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

#20

In addition to Jon’s description of the acronym TALGO:

I’ve been a life-long model RRer and don’t remember seeing TALGO incorrectly applied to rolling stock until recent times. It has been used to describe articulated style cars where a single truck supports the ends of two adjacent cars such as the SP Daylight articulateds, but the phrase I remember seeing was “TALGO-like.”

I have only seen “TALGO” incorrectly used to describe “truck-mounted” couplers on large scale message boards, and only very recently. Don’t know who started it.

Thanks to Jon for the correct information.

Happy RRing,

Jerry