N Scale 3D printed Roundhouse.....

Sumner Oct 10, 2020

  1. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    I'm in the process of designing and printing a N scale roundhouse that could be printed and assembled with any number of stalls. This is a freelance design where I've pulled ideas from different photos but doesn't represent any real life roundhouse. I decided to give the project a set of pages all to itself since there are quite a few printed parts. Some I've designed and printed, such as the ones below, and others (as of 10-09-20) have been designed using Fusion 360 but haven't yet been printed as of this date. I'll be adding pages to this as I print and build the roundhouse. I won't post files on thingiverse until they have all been completed and printed and assembled at least once. At this point I still have to do the side/end walls and the side floor sections along with the roof beams.

    This page will be info on one stall's floor and front and back walls. You would print and assemble as many of these as you wanted and then put side walls on to finish off the roundhouse.

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    See the picture near the bottom of the page for more info on how the floor sits on the base shown above.

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    I'll try to get pictures up of the roof soon and will be working on the end walls next. You can also follow the build and find more info here ....

    http://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/Roundhouse/Roundhouse-Index.html

    Sumner
     
  2. goatfarmer

    goatfarmer TrainBoard Member

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    Very nice Sumner, I'll be watching for the finished product. I have started a roundhouse for my layout but the brick walls I prefer are very tedious to design.
     
  3. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    I wanted brick and have used them on other buildings....

    http://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/3D-Printer-2/page-26.html

    .... but for a building this large my computer is too slow to work with them. There are way too many faces for it to have to recalculate all the time and I spend way too much time waiting on it so I gave up on brick and went to the corrugated siding. Maybe some day I'll have a faster computer and will try again. It doesn't take too long to change wall material if the computer is up to it.

    Sumner
     
  4. SLSF Freak

    SLSF Freak Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Looks awesome! Was wondering when someone would get around to doing a roundhouse- you're the right guy for the job! Looking forward to seeing a complete build out.

    Cheers -Mike
     
  5. wingnut1974

    wingnut1974 TrainBoard Member

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    looks great i will be looking forward to seeing finished project
     
  6. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    What software are you using?

    You probably have a good method for doing you brick walls so not sure if the following is of any use but it is what I do for my brick and usually other wall materials using Fusion 360.

    1. I design the wall with bare flat material and put in the windows and trim. I usually have trim around the wall on the sides and top and usually have some kind of foundation showing at the bottom (concrete, stone or block).

    2. Use the 'Extrude' command to push the flat bare walls out. Now you will have two 'Bodies' and you can 'Remove' the body that was the flat bare part of the wall. The other 'Body" is the wall with just the trim, windows, doors and foundation showing with holes where the bare wall was. I call this the 'cookie cutter'. Save the 'cookie cutter' as a file you can call back up (f3d in Fusion). I find that it works best to create a 'Component' from the 'body' and save it as a 'Component'

    3. I'll make a wall section of brick, stone, wood or what ever siding I want that is longer and taller than the 'cookie cutter'. Using Fusion's 'Pattern on a Path' command this goes pretty quick as you have it repeat a pattern over the whole wall area. I save these walls for use on other buildings as 'Components' and f3d files.

    4. I'll put the 'cookie cutter' behind the wall section and extrude it through the wall. This will then leave a section of wall that fits inside of the trim, doors, windows and foundation along with another section of wall outside what you need. I call the inner section the 'cookie'. Save the 'cookie' as a 'Component' and a f3d file also and remove the outer section you don't need.

    5. Open a new project and 'open' the 'cookie cutter' and the 'cookie' and put the 'cookie' in the 'cookie cutter' using the 'Move' command. Using the 'Move' command you can recess the 'cookie' in or out to where you need it.

    6. Then use the 'Combine' command to make them one unit. Now you have a wall with trim, windows, etc, and the wall material (brick, stone, boards, etc.) combined into your finished wall. If the back of the two sections you combined aren't on the same plane you can use the 'Extrude' command to make them flush with each other.

    Using this method you don't have to try and create bricks, stone, boards or whatever you are using around the doors and windows and trim and foundation. There are probably other good methods also but this works for me well. Hope the above is clear enough but if not I could supply some examples if anyone would like to see them,

    Sumner
     
    goatfarmer likes this.
  7. Donstaff

    Donstaff TrainBoard Member

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    OMG, Sumner! You're making me want to want another toy!!
     
  8. sidney

    sidney TrainBoard Member

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    very cool . looking forward to seeing the finished project. i find this stuff very interesting . i need to start trying to design my own stuff. i got to many things going on and all of them at the same time :) are you going to design the turn table as well ?
     
  9. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    That is the plan but like you too many different things going on so not in the near future,

    Sumner
     
  10. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Been working on the Roundhouse as time permits. It is a big project.[​IMG]

    The roof sections that go over each of the bays is designed but I haven't printed them yet as they are long prints and I want to make sure there won't be changes to them. I still want to add a smoke vent/smoke jack to the each roof section. It will either be part of the print or an add-on feature.

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    The skylights are a variation of the ones I designed that can be added to any building and you can find those ( HERE ). These will print as part of the roof and will butt up against the skylights on adjoining bays. I still need to design the roof sections that go over the partial bays as each end of the roundhouse.

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    Above we can see one bay on the left and the front of the building with the end wall and an entrance door at the front. The two sections have not been glued together for the picture at this point.

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    The end walls consist of four sections. In the middle of the wall are two sections that can be used interchangeably. One has windows that can either be all closed or you can use a print where some of the windows are printed individually and put in partially open.

    Another section has a service door where items can be dropped off at with an entrance door to the side of the service door. You could move this section to where the window section is if you wanted or you could use two window sections or two service door sections, your choice.

    The front wall prints with a section of the end wall that goes back to where the window section is seen above. The back wall (not in view) prints along with a section behind the White truck that goes to the beginning of the service door section.

    I've mirrored this wall so that you have the same options at the other end of the roundhouse.

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    The wall prints in sections but then will be glued together and the glue seams filled.

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    Above we can see the back wall that is also part of the print for the end wall. The front and backs attach to the first engine bay. You then use as many engine bay sections as you need with another end wall similar to or different that what is shown above.

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    Above we see the end wall sections with the first bay front and back walls.

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    I looked at printing the whole end wall with the front and back sections as a single print but didn't like that option. The steps at the front of the building made the print a little too long for the Ender 3 Pro's print table so I would have had to remove them. They could be a separate print but I also don't like to do real long 10+ hour prints which it would have been for a print with the four wall sections printed together. If the print fails, which sometimes they do, you would have to start all over again. If it fails on only one section you don't have as much time lost.

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    The downside to multiple prints is they need to be glued together and the seams filled. This doesn't take that long and you can also paint section one at a time. In all the pictures above I had the sections taped together for the pictures. They fit together better once glued and it isn't hard to fill the seams with CA or I also use Tamiya putty.

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    I'm happy with the results to this point but this is a big build with some long print times if you are going to have a number of bays.

    I still need to finish the roof sections over the end walls and also the floors for the end wall sections and beams to hold the roof up. I'll post more when those are finished and as I paint and assemble sections. I'm waiting to put the files up on thingiverse.com until I have all the prints done and tested to some degree.

    Here is a link to the build on my web site if you also want to follow along there .....

    http://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/Roundhouse/Roundhouse-Index.html


    Sumner
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2020
  11. Randy Stahl

    Randy Stahl TrainBoard Supporter

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    I like it. Remember that each 5 or so bays were separated by fire walls and fire doors.
     
  12. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks, I'll keep that in mind if I later try and detail the interior,

    Sumner
     
  13. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Looking good so far.
     
  14. Randy Stahl

    Randy Stahl TrainBoard Supporter

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    The firewalls extended above the roofline.
     
    Sumner likes this.
  15. S t e f a n

    S t e f a n TrainBoard Member

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    I'm sure you checked it, but your 10 degree choice for roundhouse stall width has to match your turntable spacing. For example, my Fleischmann turntable has 48 track slots, one every 7.5 degrees.
     
  16. Sumner

    Sumner TrainBoard Member

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    Yep, I'll be making the turntable and it will index on 10 degrees. Thanks for the input,

    Sumner
     
    BNSF FAN likes this.
  17. Charlie Vlk

    Charlie Vlk February 5, 2023 In Memoriam

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    Most roundhouse had windows lining up with the stall tracks. No support column on the track centerline as the wall had to be designed to blow out when (not if) an engine ran off the end of the stall and over the (normally) ten feet or so of floor and though the window and brick. The roof had to be supported so this could happen without collapsing the structure.
    Charlie Vlk
     
    Kurt Moose and BNSF FAN like this.
  18. Randy Stahl

    Randy Stahl TrainBoard Supporter

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    Seen this happen in Fond Du Lac Wisconsin, might have had something to do with it...
     

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