Okay, I have always loved the "Galloping Geese" railcars. Any type, size, color, narrow gauge, standard gauge, you get the idea. Anyway I was unsupervised on ebay the other day and found this Tomytec chassis here in the US, so shipping wasn't monstrous and I bought it. Had an old Bachmann Old Timer Combine and ordered some N scale resin cars and buses. So tried fitting everything together and it was very close. Cut out the end of the combine and chopped a resin police car right behind the front doors. When you are cutting resin, wear a mask as the dust is not good for lungs. Test fit all the time. Discovered that the frame fit right against the bottom of the windows, and just needed some plastic glued to the sides of the frame, a piece of sheet under the front of the car front holds the frame secure and will allow me to add a cowcatcher later. The Tomytec does have a piece that would allow putting a Rapido on the back, still debating about that as it runs well right now. It is a bit louder than expected, but runs really well.
Well, letting the parts dry from the first coat of paint. Going to find some air tanks, etc to glue on the side panels just for esthetics.
Welp, guess I'm gonna have to really start carving on the Goose. It is about an 1/8th of an inch too high compared to it's original donor passenger car. In N scale it is enough to look "off". I can shave enough off for the body, but am concerned about the auto front half.
Okay, lowered the body about an 1/8", so it is the same height as it's regular OT passenger car siblings. Now gotta figure out how to add something under the car part to make it look better. A large cow catcher maybe? And it runs well, too. Much quieter now with the body shell on.
Perhaps, if possible' you should have used the shorter version of the Combine. If made in N, is there one with 5 side windows and shorter in the freight section. Mine are in HO. The short one is the older one without the celestial roof windows. What ya think?
The problem is the height of the chassis. I have got the body sitting as low as it can got have a bus that might be able to be made to fit and cover a bit more of the lower chassis, but I am not sure if it would leave the sides of the bus too fragile. That is why I am wondering if a cow catcher or snow plow might help with the looks.
The problem is the choice of power chassis. 100_0019-2 by John Moore posted Oct 30, 2022 at 8:24 PM I also use a 34 foot Overton body for the passenger compartment. On this particular model I used an HON30 truck cab with some parts from the kit to make the operators cab and engine compartment. 100_0020-3 by John Moore posted Oct 30, 2022 at 8:24 PM That is a Kato power chassis underneath the shell. An old Detail associates metal steam pilot is grafted on the front. The Overton shell was milled out to accept the Kato power chassis.
You are dead on. I do have a Kato chassis coming, and it looks like the proper size to build one that WILL look right. Wonder what I can do to further modify this one to get some use out of it?
Not under the current body. it would be too short of a wheelbase unless you shorten the body. That power chassis is made to go under something like this or a short Pocket Line Car. 100_1615-5 by John Moore posted Feb 3, 2022 at 7:00 PM
The key thing to remember when designing a railbus is the have the dimensions in hand of the donor body in Metric MM. Most of the power chassis are measured in mm. Japan is probably the best source of both donor bodies and mechanisms. 100_0021-1 by John Moore posted Oct 31, 2022 at 6:48 AM Both of these cars came with mechanisms and in several styles. I managed to fry the motor in one style that had just the radiator on the front not a hood. The one on the left was matched up to the new power chassis by TomyTec and it received a hood from a small scrap truck that was a 1920s-30s vintage. TGW makes powered bodies in several styles, They also make trailer cars that are unpowered which are shown in back. Both the powered and unpowered cars are 23 N scale feet long and the short hood versions are about 26 feet long. It was easy to Americanize these by the addition of high headlights, single chime air horn, and a steam loco bell.
John, those look great! Your advice is proving invaluable. Looking at ways to use the current chassis, it may get a boxcar grafted onto the back end so I can lower the mechanism so it doesn't look like the double-decker bus in Harry Potter. Since the passenger shell has been carved extensively, this is now a test-bed for this part of the project. The Kato power chassis are on their way from Japan, supposed to be here in early December.
You are welcome. I have built about maybe a dozen or more critters over the years. I have pretty much settled on the Kato 105 and 106 as my preferred power chassis and then fitting the body around those.
Well, this little beastie is now the "Galloping Moose". It has grown a boxcar extension off the back end, so that I could lower the entire body further onto the chassis. This chassis is way too long for this purpose, but I am bull-headed and determined to make something work out of it. However it does clear all the clearances on the layout, I'm gonna be looking for a four wheel pilot to go under the car end. Doesn't need it for running, just aesthetics.
I was looking at this little beast the other day and wondered how it would work with a car hood and the roof cleaned off.
I do not believe it would be a good candidate. Rail busses typically have all wheels showing and range from a two or three axle to sometimes 4 axles. I have seen them with sometimes two small wheeled axles up front and with a single axle large wheelset in back.
Thank you Sir! Even with the headaches of the Moose, this has been a lot of fun. I may still lower the boxcar end on the Moose just for fun.
