Building a Locomotive on Flat car Load


D&J RailRoad said:
I've been using the quick set CA glue, but it still takes 20 to half hour to set up enough to support itself. By that I mean for the 1" of chain to stay attached with its own weight. If I touch it to my finger though, it sets up immediately.
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That's the problem with CA, it's set's nearly instantly when under pressure, which is great, but usually means it's stuck to your finger too. :D

I've found JB Weld works well, but takes at least 24 hrs to set hard enough to be able to be handled, (despite what the instruction say). I usually leave it for 4 or 5 days before handling anything I've used it on
 
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I have made a little hook and chain from clips to close carbadge sacks. Strip the plastic and you have a perfect wire to make a chain. For the hook I used a thicker clip form cookie packages. You might use brass wire.
Make a second hook and leave a longer piece at the end. When you glue a piece of wood to the car, this can be the base of the chain. I reckon they did that and do that still. An old flat for this purpose used only. It depends on your choice to have the load permanent attached to the car or not. The first way is easier, glue everything in place. The non-permanent way needs some kind of solution to unchain the load. No idea how to do it... Not yet.
chain and hook.JPG
 

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You folks made my day. My eyes are still good enough to make these little things. I try to make these things myself, not so much for the money spend, but its challenging to try. A company-chain is far more even though.
Show us when its ready pls. Great project.
 
The threads one uses to stitch i mean. (sorry). when you paint them they should look ok. We have some thicker ones like you have on a jeans. The tecture is like the one on heavier steel cables. Never tried this myself but it could work. In the link above you can see a cable like that used to fasten the load.
 
D&J RailRoad said:
Those pictures are very low quality. I can't make out the tie-downs.
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Looks like the thick sewing thread you see on denim jeans, personally I'd stick with actual chain.

But I do like that idea if you wanted steel cables, which you could use instead of chains, but not proto-typical as far as I know.

Having said that, if you make two loops either end, attach one end to the loco body and the other to a ratchet, and then the ratchet to the car, that could work, but very fiddly to do.
 
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