Progress report #2

[ginzokid]

I locked the other thread. There is some good stuff in there that probably has been reposted in other threads. I'll check. In the meantime, here's another place to write. B-)

[taz-of-boyds]

Pete,

Cool, sounds funny to pour the water and wait for it to dry....  like ... ah ... why not skip the pour water part and go straight to the dry part !! 

He he he,

Merry Christmas,

Charles

[taz-of-boyds]

PS,

Dave,

I really like the sunset (?) shot with the train in silhouette.  The highlighted diesel exhaust adds character to the image.

All the best,

Charles

[taz-of-boyds]

Hi all,

Here is the Shapeways print in metal with the MT trucks it was made for:

This is for some experiments, I am not completely sure how I am going to attach trucks and frames together, but I hope to use some king of screws.  For follow on prints I will be making some adjustments for fit, and maybe the screws etc.  I will have to figure it out, but it looks pretty good and fits well with maybe a little filing needed because of slightly misshaped parts.  I checked the conductivity too, this metal should work with parts that need to conduct electricity (like maybe wheels for large scales?).

All the best,

Charles

[ginzokid]

I hope you have some sort of bolster cast in that piece. If not you will be looking at washers as shims from what I can see. The idea of a screw attachment sounds the best. You must have a good drill and tap set. What kind of metal is it Charles?

[taz-of-boyds]

Pete,

Good point, the flatcar bed part that would rest on the truck-bridge has a bit of bolster, but probably needs adjusted.  I will need to add a bit of bolster to the truck bridge where it rests on the trucks.  Though for this copy of the bridge some washers will make a good way to experiment with bolster thickness (so to speak).  I do need to get the screws, taps and drills.

Shapeways calls the metal: "Matte Bronze Steel" it is some kind of stainless steel, the "steel is printed by depositing a liquid binder onto a bed of steel powder one layer at a time. The product is then removed from the printer and infused with bronze." Here is a page from Shapeways with more details:

https://www.shapeways.com/materials/steel

Thanks,

Charles

PS, meanwhile, I have done an experiment with the NMRA RP-25 wheel profile for a G29 scale locomotive wheel in SketchUp.  This is a 44" wheel (tire and rim only) drawn in 1/29 scale to see what it looks like (intended for a narrow gauge C&P built locomotive of the 4-4-0 variety):

I plan to add spokes, hub, etc. and see what it might cost for a metal print at Shapeways (only need four of them for one locomotive at least, and the wheel profile can be reused, blah, blah, blah.  Note, if you follow the words and numbers on RP-25 

for the "code 175" profile this is based on it is geometrically impossible, So I made some little adjustments, it seems to look good.

[taz-of-boyds]

Mele Kalikimaka!

Why did I say that well, it is Christmas Eve!  And it was 60 deg F here today!  (No white Christmas for us!)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Charles

[taz-of-boyds]

Hello All,

I stumbled across a photo on eBay of a home-built looking snow plow labeled C&P (Cumberland & Pennsylvania Railroad).  It is of particular interest to me because the fabled C&P snow plow has only been spoken and written of in rumors.... (at least according to the most recent C&P history published).  Here is the photo:

I won the auction (no one else bid) and now have the photo, I made a high resolution scan which has been handy to produce this current draft drawing (in 3D SketchUp):

So continuing to have fun...  The trucks are a 160x copy of an N Scale MT truck drawing I have, and the coupler is 160x copy of a Z Scale MT coupler drawing I have.

All the best,

Charles

[dl85vette]

quite an interesting find. Sounds like a holy grail if you're after such a thing.  You're way ahead of us for technology with all your cool CAD drawings.  Will be a neat project to build.

[taz-of-boyds]

Dave,

I like snow plows so this is nice, and does not look like anything I ever thought of as a stand-in for the C&P snow plow.  The drawings help me figure out better what I think I see in photographs.  Now if I can start getting some things built like you guys!

All the best,

Charles

[dl85vette]

One thing that is cool is that it is different than just another russel plow or snow blower.

[taz-of-boyds]

Hi all,

Well one of the things that happens when I start trying to make drawings of real life trains and stuff, are some tedious details that don't want to be ignored or over simplified, and I have to take a side trip from and existing side trip.  In this case it was the air brake systems of the railcars that hang about under the cars.  The bug-a-boo was something called the triple valve.  While trying to determine how to draw this and understand the piping and linkages I made a drawing of the valve from illustrations in the 1898 Train Shed Cyclopedia books I have.  Looks like this:

I think it came out nice, this is a life size drawing, and now I can adapt it to scale.  This is what the C&P snow plow photo looks like:

 This is what the TSC diagram looks like:

All the best,

Charles

[taz-of-boyds]

On to another different topic,

Anyone ever hear of "C/MRI" for controlling things on a model train layout?  It seems to have been around for about 30 years.  I stumbled across it a little bit ago, and being a bit on the geeky side, I have been getting acquainted with it.  All that aside, someone on the a C/MRI Yahoo! group asked what people would like to see in a C/MRI to turnout interface board, because he want's to build one for the turnout motors he sells.  Well people wrote a bunch of stuff, and I just had to do something myself to make sense.  So I ended up writing about seven pages of interface specification, which if I say so myself, turned out nicely.  Though I believe I could add a few more diagrams of examples.  I left off any diagrams that show how LEDs could be connected to show turnout position.

Anyone want a copy of the PDF because you are bored or can't get to sleep?

All the best,

Charles

[ginzokid]

Yes I know of what you speak, but have never been interested in computer controlled running of trains. I have seen it on line and at shows and frankly to me it amounts to just running the trains around the tree at Christmas because there is no interaction between human and train. My buddy has JMRI that he uses to program his trains and he did a few of mine as to the sound and speed charastics, but that is a far as it goes around here for computer usage with the trains. I know you can do wonderful things with the computers, but I prefer to be hands on with the actual running especially with switching.

So now that I have spouted off, what do the rest of you guys feel about this?

[taz-of-boyds]

Pete,

I am with you on the "let the computer run your trains for you" idea.  My interest would be more towards controlling some signals and stuff.

Anyone else got much in the way of electronics and lighted signals and stuff on your trains?

- - - - 

I have been making some adjustments to my triple valve and having a little fun, here are scaled copies for a look-see:

I am working on the air tank and piston parts too.  Then I will put it all together.  It might make an interesting 3D print for an add-on detail for freight cars.

Pete you need these for any of your O Scale trains?  It might keep you busy gluing these to your freight cars and adding piping and break linkages...  Back to the dungeon for you!

All the best,

Charles

[ginzokid]

Since I buy most of my rolling stock RTR there is no need for add-on parts. Also, since my era of the layout is sort of 1930s to 40s there isn't much automated signaling stuff around. I do have crossing shanties at roads ready for flagmen. So, I don't have need for a computer interface.