This thread not in the top 10? Sheesh! Ok, I'm bumping it just to mention that "Lady Grandure" and I will be packing up and shipping off the chassis Friday morning. Any last thoughts?
Nothing else I can think of. So that ought to get here Tuesday or Wednesday. Excellent! :tb-biggrin: Now, for a little progress report: I dug the caboose idea so much (and I had a spare one that I had just finished stripping!) that I've adjusted my plan. Here it is with the cupola cut out and the roof cut short on the ends. Roof details are just sitting there for placement purposes. I'll have to tweak the radiators to match the new roof arch and stuff but I think this is going to work out quite nicely. What to do about the hole in the roof? I first thought I'd use the roof ends to patch it, but when one snapped in my fingers (they're kinda fragile down at the ends), I decided to glue two pieces of styrene (one on top of the other) then cut it to fit, file it so it would be snug, then carefully work it down to the same arch as the roof. Here's how that came out (hard to see the detail in this shot, but it fits like a glove): Now this photo does show that it's sitting a little low. Part of that is because it's on the dummy chassis I built, but it's also going to have a just shy of 2mm extension to the frame underneath the body that will be made with c channel (or an I-beam cut down to a channel). This will bring it up a bit and will look more like the prototype. This photo also shows the progress on the idler car (didn't take all of the paint off since it'll just be painted dark blue in the end anyway) and the float bridge (made from two Atlas girder bridges... thanks again for the spare, MC!). Next steps include measuring and remeasuring the caboose body and deciding where to cut it to shorten the whole thing by about 5mm (and yes, I know I'll need to shorten the roof, too, but that's fine since I wanted some practice shaping that roof section anyway).
OK, I'm really liking the caboose shell boxcab. Today I cut out 4mm of length to it's proper 51mms. Also completed: - Both end doors have been carefully cut out. - One of the two end doors has been filled in with some styrene. - The filler piece I cut for the roof has been resized and glued into place. - A new side window has been cut towards the one end to match the other side. - One of the four new front cab windows has been cut, others to follow shortly. - The roof, including the new patch, has been sanded so the joints are smooth. - Started work on filling the roof-walk holes. - Sanded the bottom of the body flat. Can't wait for the critter to get here!
It's looking real good! Almost makes me want to get off my duff & think about starting to contemplate about moving toward beginning the project Is it the camera angle or is it a little squat? Looks cool, either way, just wondering in relation to the prototype. Rock on!
It's a little squat as-is. Needs the bottom part as seen here: Notice below the main body there's an I-beam running the length of the unit? I'm picking up some Evergreen I-beams shortly and will use that to bring it up to proper height. Also, this is sitting on top of my mock critter (made from an old caboose chassis) so it's not sitting where it will be on the actual critter. Should be pretty decent looking once it's riding higher. Also found an old HO scale air reservoir to use for a fuel tank, with a few mods anyway. We've all got our best tractors at the sandbox. Mrs. MC, can MC come out and play?
Very nice! You're on a roll now! And a reacher car and a float bridge too? Now you're just showing off! I think that C-channel piece will really anchor the body down to the chassis (in more ways than one). On mine you can see the electrical wipers under the body. They'll be hidden by the C-channel. I found a web page that said that the MT #1128 (short) and MT #1129 (longer) coupler conversions will fit the Kato 11-105 chassis. I just ordered two pairs of each, just to see which ones I like better. I'm still on the fence over which mechanism to use. Regardless, the Rapido couplers have got to go. And speaking of hurricanes ("Who said anything about hurricanes?"), I finally got my power back on! Woo Hoo!
Thank ya... thank ya very much. The reacher car looked neat and the float bridge was something that would have to be done eventually. And since MC sent me a grab-bag of code 80 track that happened to include another Atlas girder bridge, how could I not build it?! Yeah. I'm going to use I-beams with the backs cut out (the leftover I-beams will be more useful to me than c-channel) but after much measuring and mockup editing in Gimp image editor, it's clear that that part will be the icing on the cake. I was originally going to order the longer one, but after seeing how this body will sit on the critter, I'm going to try the shorter one first. I think I have a few leftover sets here anyway. I'll let you know how it works out. Yay! Now you can use the Dremel again... :tb-tongue:
Alright, dude. I got a 44T & some MT905s on the way. Still going to wait to see what kind of passenger / caboose shells I can find at the Great Train Expo later this month before figuring out what kind of boxcab I'm doing. Part of me wants the nifty riveted diesel-electric, while another wants Toby the Woodside Wonder. Well see. Back to procrastinating.
"Procrastination": Why do today if you can put it off until tomorrow? My mantra. It always get done... just at the last possible moment!
Excellent (slacker!). Now if I hadn't just sold this one caboose to someone else here on the board, it'd make a great toby-type boxcab. Could probably make that krazy W&OD cab outta that. Oh well, back to the caboxcab: Got the doors in, filled in the roof walk holes, smoothed out the roof, started scraping off the curved caboose grab irons and filed the bottom flat in preparation for the I-beams. Also, here's how it looks on my mock critter: I left it perched up on top of the chassis floor to give a rough idea of what it'll look like with the I-beam frame on it. Much better! Oh, and I got a little more done on the idler/reach gondola: Got the angled side braces on. A few are a little bit crooked, but thankfully, that appears to be the same on the prototype. Also installed the ladders (from the caboose I'm using as the boxcab) and started working on the grabs (from wire in an HO craftsman kit that I'm cannibalizing). Further research shows that the actual idler/reach gondola used at Bush Terminal was a high-sided gondola that was cut down for use as the idler/reach gondola, just like mine! I'm so prototypical I didn't even know it!
My "progress" so far consists of gathering supplies: a Kato NW2 and decoder for the mechanism, Plastruct channel for the frame, sheet brass for the body, brass rod for the air tanks. Needless to say, Irv and Glenn at the LHS were happy to see me. They didn't have the Archer rivets so I ordered those direct. The scrap box will (I hope) provide the rest.
Good News / Bad News Um, er, well, ya see, it's like this. I was on my way to, never mind that, the stuff never made the post office on Friday. Good news: I do have quite a few spare cabooses / beeses / bises. Want one?
OK, now who's going to model N scale poling pockets on their boxcab? And of course you just have to know that Atlas or Bachmann or Kato will announce a new Boxcab loco on the Monday after Thanksgiving! "Kato is pleased to announce production of a new N scale Boxcab oil-electric locomotive, available in several road names. Based on the 11-105 mechanism, this smooth running model will..." or "Bachmann today announced a new member to it's N scale diesel locomotive fleet by introducing the new ALGEIR Boxcab. This new locomotive features DCC and uses the same tried and true drive found in their 44 ton diesels..." What are the odds?
Funny you should say that. http://www.katomodels.com/product/nmi/ed16.shtml I was looking up some specs on the critters and noticed this in the "New Model Information" section of their Japanese site. Not an American boxcab, but sure is purdy!
By "never made it", do you mean "some rabid N-scaler held me up at gunpoint and the models will never be seen again"? Or "they'll get to the post office after the holiday"? Not that I'm in a rush or anything, just curious...
Don't sweat it, just wanted to make sure you didn't leave it on the roof of your car or something. As for the caboose, nahh. We've got two good ones left now for the PW&NJ and they should work just fine. But thanks fer offerin'!
< bemused but friendly grin > You can be sure I'll never leave it on the roof of my car as I'm legally blind but the world is full of "or somethings".
Really? Never knew it. My old pianist/keyboardist in the band was completely blind (had cancer of the retina as a child and lost both eyes). We used to joke around about visiting the salt flats one day and letting him drive my Checker Cab. He was also a train nut and enjoyed checking out the details on the small models. I only found out recently that he had model trains as a kid. Nevertheless, I can certainly relate to a world full of "or somethings". (usually played by one or more of my kids!)
