Large Scale Central

Scratch-built Snowplow

Modeling Rolling stock
#1

Hello my North American friends,

I had disappeared from this forum for a while, but I am hoping to post more and keep involved.

Yesterday I built a snowplow to attach to a Bachmann TTTE car. At the moment the plow is only attached by the screw holes meant for the front coupler. I’m thinking it needs some more support either against the front of the car or supports mounted inside the car. What do you think?

Also, this snowplow will end up with a headlight and battery pack in the car which will be hidden by either a coal or ballast load. The car itself will get decals for the LHRR and the plow will be painted either black or grey when it is done.

Ultimately I am very happy with this build so far, as it’s my first time building something larger than a scale pallet in styrene.

#2

Welcome back John,

Nice plow build, and yes it needs bracing to the upper edge from the car floor for cosmetic reasons if nothing else.

If your going to actually plow snow then again, yes, it needs bracing.

Good job and post more pictures if you make changes.

Rick

#3

Pretty neat! You will also want to put a LOT of weight in it. I used a brick in mine, and it wasn’t really enough for a heavy wet snow…

#4

John, like Rick indicated it will need more bracing, especially if you plan to actually push snow with it. I marked up the photo as shown below to give you some ideas. Obviously what i show can be done in many ways. I would at the minimum add additional interior bracing similar to what you have a the top either midway of the plow (vertically) or maybe in a couple places (1/3’s). See the red markups below. Again as Rick mentioned, you will need some form of vertical bracing back to the car to push snow. The yellow lines below is one way you can accomplish this. What I show can be built as a solid piece to make it look like it was specifically designed for the plow and not some patchwork that was added later because there were problems. Anyway, I like the plow and think you will have a fun time pushing snow. We want pictures of it in action when that time comes. Thanks for sharing.

#5

Thanks, all. I like Dan’s bracing plan. I think I’ll do something similar and screw it down so I can still disconnect the blade from the car.

#6

Hmmmm … that looks a lot like Baker Johns plow…

#7

Sean McGillicuddy said:

Hmmmm … that looks a lot like Baker Johns plow…

Really? Huh. This guy taking my photos lol

#8

It’s not done. But, I got to test my snowplow today…

I learned a lot from this run…

  1. It is a VERY good thing that I’ll be using a tram to clear the line once everything is operational. The snow gets stuck all over my Forney!
  2. The snow also gets stuck in the spoked wheels of the Bachmann car. They may need to be replaced, if possible.
  3. The snowplow is at the perfect height.
  4. I have some spots on my line that are too severe a grade for the plow. They need to be eased off.
  5. I may need to add wings to the plow. If I do, I want to add them on the car itself, about 2 inches past the plow’s blade.
  6. There needs to be a lot of weight in the car. I have several ideas of how to manage this. Ultimately I think it will end up being a coal or ballast load with a slab of brick underneath.

Once I can edit the video I took to a watchable length I’ll post a link from YouTube.

#9

John Wilda said:

  1. I have some spots on my line that are too severe a grade for the plow. They need to be eased off.
  2. I may need to add wings to the plow. If I do, I want to add them on the car itself, about 2 inches past the plow’s blade.

Nice photos and success is good!

Hmm, interesting what the machine automatically does to the list/bullet point numbering when you delete some of them.

Anyway …

Put those 2 points together and think how much more force/tractive effort will be required to push the additional snow those wings will be moving

#10

The Forney design is poor for traction. Separate tenders keep more weight on the drivers… the tram probably has better traction and should be ok. Wet snow, of course, is the hardest to plow because it’s sticky to itself.

Problem with wings, is backing up. A tactic often used to batter drifts. You might should oughter try fold up wings to use on the second pass.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

#11

John, I built a plow a few years ago using a Scientific Toys caboose, and put 3 lbs of lead weights inside. While the wet snow is harder to plow, on my elevated layout, my biggest problem is ice on the rails. I sheared the front truck

off the pivot the first year I used it. I was pushing it with a USAT S-4. Last year, I tried pushing with my 040 Roundhouse Sammie. This time the ice derailed the plow, and stopped the Sammie dead.

I like the design of yours, and looking forward to the video. I’d like to see how the tram works for pushing the plow.

#12

John

What if you made the blade of the plow wider, than say the car ?

You could just add a wider skin onto the original plow.

FYI : All of my snow fighting equipment has lead installed , engines, plow, rotary plow…

#13

Lead weights sound perfect!

Sean, The blade is 1/2" wider than the stock, but perhaps it should be slightly larger still.

I can definitely see the heavier snow and ice being a problem, Mike. I probably won’t be able to run it if the snow is real wet and heavy, but its a fun little project!

#14

I went to a local gun shop and bought lead shot. I chose bird shot hoping for the densest fill with the smallest voids. I filled voids with shot and covered with glue. Later Kevin suggested foil packets to hold the shot.

10 lbs would have been enough, but I got 20, come by and I’ll give you some.(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Putting it in our trains is the best use for it, in my book.

Get it quick, it’s on the no-no list.

#15

I use some lead from old water mains. No one likes the taste of lead anymore…

It shapes well with a hammer… I have put it between the beams under the decking…

#16

For weight, as a suggestion, is wheel weights from a tire store. Heavy and would allow you a little more option for a prototypical load in the car such as scale ballast. Just an idea. Glad it worked for you. I need to make one for my pike.

#17

I finished the rivets and frame for my snowplow! Next: painting.

#18

Nice work… (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#19

That’s coming along nicely

#20

I’ve managed to paint the snowplow today!