I took one of the finished flatcars and sanded the sided flat and added a set of gondola sides which I had previously printed. What thins yields is a Pipe Gondola. In this case a 40' pipe length overhung the ends by 5' on each end with an idler flatcar attached between. Now trying to print dedicated one from my C&S Gondola file.
Narrow Gauge rolling stock 3D printing.
- Thread starter 747flier
- Start date
The adventure continues. Latest try air something; printing truss rods. True Rods are a PITA even with printing the pedestals etc. New try, will print pedestals and rods as one piece, complete with turnbuckle and rod ends in the middle. No, though I could make these threaded, scale is too small and limitations of printing not making this worthwhile.
So far this looks to be a reasonable method of construction. The main issue is the supports which require some smoothing, so far I am scraping along the length with a hobby knife blade. A fine sandpaper might be useful. I have used variously brass and steel wire before, the major issue bending accurately.
Snowman
Well-Known Member
You might also consider elastic thread: https://www.amazon.com/Anjiyoyo-0-5...keywords=elastic+thread&qid=1688350075&sr=8-2
I think that stuff (0.5mm) works out to about 1 3/4" in HO.
This is another, aimed more at actual sewing machine use: https://www.amazon.com/Gutermann-El...keywords=elastic+thread&qid=1688350075&sr=8-4
I think that stuff (0.5mm) works out to about 1 3/4" in HO.
This is another, aimed more at actual sewing machine use: https://www.amazon.com/Gutermann-El...keywords=elastic+thread&qid=1688350075&sr=8-4
Snowman
Well-Known Member
Trucks: I can't remember in which thread we talked about using glass bead bearings, but I do intend to try it, at least. So I bought ~6000 #15/0 beads last week, which costs no where near what you might guess it would. ~$10 US, including the four bucks for shipping.
IF it works, that's enough right there for about 750 cars...so next I need to design (ez) and print up some basic truck side frames (N scale) which will hold the beads where I want them. Then try some different music wire axles to see how well various diameters roll...or don't roll enough to continue with the experiment. This is why I will probably want to (carefully)flatten the backside of the trucks, and maybe the inner truck frames as well. The idea is to "trap" the bearing beads between the two frames and with some room to float, if need be, rather than trap them firmly. I can see advantages to both ways, at least enough to try it both ways.
AFAI can tell, 15/0 are considered the smallest beads that are widely available, although I know much smaller and more precise bead bearings ARE available too..but certainly not at such a low price.
Drawings of 100 ton trucks in N show a general "bearing area" about 2mm across, give or take. 15/0 beads are supposed to be 1.5mm in diameter, but some sellers will measure them more vaguely and with a wider tolerance at around 2mm, which would probably make the whole idea unworkable as far as consistency goes.
However, Miyuki beads (bearings) are advertised as being very acurately dimensioned, and from what I've seen in blow up photos and these in the containers I have in hand, they really do look to be very consistent. With the naked eye, they are all ground with a "flat" on the outside, which could be useful for locating them in a fixed position (non-floating) should that work out well enough.
It's claimed the hole size is 0.7mm, and once I thread a bunch of them onto some sewing needles (which I can easily measure with a caliper), I'll know more about which music wire or other wire sizes to try first.
They come in a variety of colors too--I chose flat/matte black: https://www.amazon.com/Miyuki-Round...=1688353316&sprefix=Miyuki+15,aps,123&sr=8-37
That's not where I got them, but I think those are the same beads.
Miyuki 15/0 beads seem to come in 3 shapes: Round, cylindrical, and...perhaps perfectly sized...round, but with a ground flat on the outside. I do think that outside grind does make them very consistent, where the round ones might vary a bit. The cylindrical beads seem to be longer (along the axis) which might be more inconsistent as far as the bearing surface is concerned. I could see that going either way, in terms of rolling resistance.
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So why even bother at all? At some point I'm just curious to find out if they work better than conventional delrin trucks at all. There are a bunch of other possibilities too, but for now I'll leave it at that.
IF it works, that's enough right there for about 750 cars...so next I need to design (ez) and print up some basic truck side frames (N scale) which will hold the beads where I want them. Then try some different music wire axles to see how well various diameters roll...or don't roll enough to continue with the experiment. This is why I will probably want to (carefully)flatten the backside of the trucks, and maybe the inner truck frames as well. The idea is to "trap" the bearing beads between the two frames and with some room to float, if need be, rather than trap them firmly. I can see advantages to both ways, at least enough to try it both ways.
AFAI can tell, 15/0 are considered the smallest beads that are widely available, although I know much smaller and more precise bead bearings ARE available too..but certainly not at such a low price.
Drawings of 100 ton trucks in N show a general "bearing area" about 2mm across, give or take. 15/0 beads are supposed to be 1.5mm in diameter, but some sellers will measure them more vaguely and with a wider tolerance at around 2mm, which would probably make the whole idea unworkable as far as consistency goes.
However, Miyuki beads (bearings) are advertised as being very acurately dimensioned, and from what I've seen in blow up photos and these in the containers I have in hand, they really do look to be very consistent. With the naked eye, they are all ground with a "flat" on the outside, which could be useful for locating them in a fixed position (non-floating) should that work out well enough.
It's claimed the hole size is 0.7mm, and once I thread a bunch of them onto some sewing needles (which I can easily measure with a caliper), I'll know more about which music wire or other wire sizes to try first.
They come in a variety of colors too--I chose flat/matte black: https://www.amazon.com/Miyuki-Round...=1688353316&sprefix=Miyuki+15,aps,123&sr=8-37
That's not where I got them, but I think those are the same beads.
Miyuki 15/0 beads seem to come in 3 shapes: Round, cylindrical, and...perhaps perfectly sized...round, but with a ground flat on the outside. I do think that outside grind does make them very consistent, where the round ones might vary a bit. The cylindrical beads seem to be longer (along the axis) which might be more inconsistent as far as the bearing surface is concerned. I could see that going either way, in terms of rolling resistance.
----------------
So why even bother at all? At some point I'm just curious to find out if they work better than conventional delrin trucks at all. There are a bunch of other possibilities too, but for now I'll leave it at that.
Be interesting to see how that works out! The one's I have with the Kadee wheels are very good rollers. As tested by another, better than the Blackstones. Doing the axels may be interesting. They need to be larger except at the ends to properly mount the wheels. I have successfully printed wheels but the axels remain the hard part there.
Good luck!
As to the printed truss rods, they seem to work OK but are fragile....
Good luck!
As to the printed truss rods, they seem to work OK but are fragile....
Working on the #911 wooden Caboose as used on the WP&YR. Another modeler furnished some info on this car which had a varied history as both a US Army car and later as a WP. It is currently on display near the train station in Skagway. The upper part printed fine but the floor which I printed right on the platen came out as a blob. So attempting to use PC board, which is very rigid, as a floor with printed end platforms and sills. We shall see! The latest iteration of this "boose" was painted in the colorful yellow and green WP colors which would go well with the GE locos.
Tom
Tom
The White Pass version of 911... This Boose started out as a C&S Boxcar and went through several iterations and color schemes. It was the last wooden Boose on the WP and is currently on display near the train station in
Skagway.
Still lacking windows and a few other things, but on her first lap around the layout. Trucks are my production as well.
Tom
Still lacking windows and a few other things, but on her first lap around the layout. Trucks are my production as well.
Tom
Snowman
Well-Known Member
You, sir, are a rockstar. It's gorgeous.
Boose. I'll go with the traditional Caboose...but it begs the question of plurality of same. There's "cabooses" of course, but I liked "cabeese" the first time I heard it and still do.
Which circles back around to the great north. Do you think of more than one of them as Booses, or Beeses?
Bejeezus! What a question, I know. Particularly at this late hour.
I blame this martooni...er...martini.
Repainted the roof in Tru Color D&RGW Frt Car Red, I think it looks good! Rob also tells me the "boose" wore Bettendorf trucks so I'll swap some out till I can make my own trucks. I think the Bettendorf trucks would be easier to construct in 3D than the archbars as they come out a little too flexible and have to be beefed up.
Photo, some day? Cheers: Tom
Photo, some day? Cheers: Tom
Snowman
Well-Known Member
Multiple thumbs up as always.
So here's a question for you: When--what year--did the WP&Y first come up with the speed-lettering? I have always had the idea it was the D&RGW which first applied it, but I might be wrong.
Gut fragen!
I have no idea but I expect the creations were of a similar era. So who designs railroad fonts? The original Whitespeed had a rather different "W" in the "White Pass" with a curved and widened letter. I was able to find this as a scalable font on some website with many rail road fonts. Very helpful as I can just type the desired lettering into the software for my Cameo cutter.
As an aside people often (usually) refer to it as "The Yukon", actually it's just Yukon. Would we call it "The New Jersey"?
I have no idea but I expect the creations were of a similar era. So who designs railroad fonts? The original Whitespeed had a rather different "W" in the "White Pass" with a curved and widened letter. I was able to find this as a scalable font on some website with many rail road fonts. Very helpful as I can just type the desired lettering into the software for my Cameo cutter.
As an aside people often (usually) refer to it as "The Yukon", actually it's just Yukon. Would we call it "The New Jersey"?
zzr1200guy
Well-Known Member
Very nice.
Being part of a Narrow minded group (Narrow Gauge) Someone was looking for a 4 wheel D&RGW Caboose. I asked and someone furnished drawings and a day and a half later, "Viola":
Here she is sitting on a flatcar with a WP&YR Shovelnose streaking past on the main line. The floor is a separate piece. Unusually on top is a light with a Charlie Noble on top for cooling.
