Eric Mueller said:
Update:
Looking good!
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Update:
I opted to add bulkheads, as that seems to have been the norm here:
The whole train is starting to come together:
CINCHOUSE said they were cute and “looked like little dolly beds” and expressed regret they will get the tie down chains! I guess one may stay “as is.”
The chains come next. I will drill a small hole in each post, make a loop of wire, hang the chains, then - JOY!!! - solder the rings shut. After that, each side will get two vertical chains similar to the local example. I a still looking for the alleged hole punch to make the journal bearing covers! I
Oldest Son, who helped me mark on some “nails” with Sharpies, also helped me realign one of the journals. Unplanned radomized design variances (mistakes) had lead to one car being wider at one end than the other, causing one of the axels to come lose. Tack hammer. knife, glue, C-clamps, and time fixed it. This is validating my decision to craft some sort of jig for the second flight!
Updates to follow required!
Eric
Looking good, Eric!
Looking like a real cane train there Eric.
Bear in mind when making the next batch to allow some variation as no 2 wagons were ever the same, well they were the same until the went from the manufacturer to the first farm where they were “modified” by various types of handling.
For cane look for a millet/straw broom and cut it up to make the cane sticks, dye them in strong tea or coffee to give some colour.
Final push the last couple days!
Before proceeding, though, GAP, have no worries about the next flight being overly uniform! My main concern is making sure the frames are flat with only right angles, something I did not achieve this go around. Also, if I cut the craft sticks in half first and assemble the bulkheads before installing them, it’ll ensure I don’t end up with a lot of craft sticks that are almost long enough!
The first order of business was the chains. I drilled holes in the vertical post, made rings of steel wire, and soldered the latter shut. I later found out that the craft store had rings that were cheap and actually round… Oh, well. Youngest Daughter helped me to drill holes in the chassis to accept the cotter pins that hold down the vertical chains. She also graciously joined me in cutting the chains to length and fitting them to the cars:
I was glad for her help. She did easily what was giving me blisters! You might also note we worked the wood over by drawing either a hobby saw over it or giving it a whack with a brass brush affixed to my Dremel.
Today, Youngest Daughter surrendered the fabled hole punch, so the journals got covers. A bit of black paint made everything OK. When that dried, Kid-zilla wandered out, and he helped me apply a wash of dilute India ink over all the cars. That went a long way towards making these look done, but, after it dried, I felt it looked to dark. I found burnt umber, and, per GAP’s suggestion, used that. I started with drybrushing, but, Oldest Daughter, who had replaced Kid-zilla at some point, noticed it wasn’t really doing anything and suggested a wash. Wash we did, and the results are below:
I am sure there is some way to blacken the chains, but CINCHOUSE has informed me they will rust in time. I am going to wait on loads until I have the mill in place, which, by bringing this project to a conclusion, is the next project in line.
I am pleased with how these came out. The project followed the mandate that “this is not just my hobby,” involved everyone over the course of the project, and resulted in credible, functioning, representations of Hawaii’s can cars. After the mill is done (done-ish), I’ll apply lessons learned to the second flight, which will include a small box car and field tender (I have photos of both) as well as a tank car (more to try and make a tank car than for adherence to any known Hawaii prototype) and possibly even a small crane. The other point of that project will be to rip my own wood for the frames and again attempt to master the Art of the Straight Cut! Ultimately, the mill area and “plantation loop” should have a nice string or two of can cars and a few unique industrial cars to help establish M&K Sugar Co. as a self-sufficient plantation along the route of the Triple O similar to the plantation of Oahu in the early 1900-s.
Many thanks to “Rooster” for the wheels and couplers to get me out of the books and into my tools, to GAP for his personal experiences with cane railroads, and to all others who made suggestions and offered encouragement along the way!
Aloha.
Eric
Beautiful work !
Edited to let Eric know you can build junk from junk. Involving the kids is over the top!!!
Kudos to the entire Mueller family for the involved efforts and thank you for the pics as they say 1,000 words!
Now spray them all black then weather them by scraping off the paint and …never mind …as I don’t like steam or cane cars …(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Congrats to everybody on a cool set of cars!
Very nice work! They look great!
Thanks again, everyone!
This sure is/was a fun project to follow. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
