Wood box cars Scratch building and trick shots

Started by bparrish, July 26, 2020, 05:53:13 PM

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postalkarl

This should be a reall cool build. Will be following along.

Karl

bparrish

#16
Karl.....


That little edge gluing trick works on structures also. 




See ya.
Bob
Did you ever notice how many towns are named after their water towers ! ?

bparrish

The next step is to set the weight of the car.  I throw on most everything that a car will have:  wood panels, side and top, trucks, brake stuff and couplers.

There is a point of diminishing returns here.  There is this instinct that if a car wants to fall off the rails to add weight.  That creates problems as there is an escalation of weight.  The NMRA set standards but they are a bit quiet on cars under forty feet.  I set a minimum of 4 ounces and follow the rules thereafter of an additional half ounce for every inch over a scale 40 feet.

This is REALLY important for me as my trolley division has 11 inch radius curves.  That makes shoving cars very interesting and shows up this escalation problem very quickly.  Thus I set the minimum at 4 ounces.  I don't allow any cars over 38 scale feet into that division.  It solves a lot of stuff.  My car card switching system allows for such rules when matching up a car for a shipper - consignee order,




A million years ago I obtained two boxes or 1000 quarter twenty and quarter twenty eight nuts.  I will NEVER use that many so the go in for weights.  I glue them in with contact cement and spread the weight out both width and length.

More later


Did you ever notice how many towns are named after their water towers ! ?

bparrish

Now for the roof sheathing.

Plot a pencil line down the middle of the car.  This is important because the scribed wood might try and "float" on the glue when first put down.   I use yellow Franklin glue and put on only the thinnest of a pull over the core box on one side only.  Then set the scribe strip on the core and hold it for a moment. This lets the glue soak into the scribed wood and minimize the float.  Then press a clamp block and clamp with C clamps or spring clips.  Watch carefully for the wood to be edged up to the pencil line.



Once clamped, wait about three to five minutes and then take a really sharp straight screw driver and go around all edges looking for glue that has pressed out.   The glue goes into a doughy period where it will scoop up really easily without smearing soft fresh glue into the grain of the wood.  This causes the finished paint to look different on the finished model. AP judges look for this.




Set aside to dry for at least several hours.

More later
Did you ever notice how many towns are named after their water towers ! ?

deemery

2 questions on bolsters:
  1.  how did you set the centerline for the bolster from the car end?

  2.  what are you using for bolsters?  Making some from wood parts, or a casting?

dave
Modeling the Northeast in the 1890s - because the little voices told me to

bparrish

Dave....

I chose five and one half scale feet. 


In the book by John H White.....  The American Railroad Freight Car, he shows a lot of drawings.  They were rather all over the place.

The early link and pin cars were close coupled and were set mostly at five feet to the bolster.  They were rather unforgiving in tight curves and the kick off off of the end of the car pulled sideways significantly on the draw box in a mixed freight train.  After the 1890's and the standardizing of the Janey coupler, there was more flexibility.  Moving the bolster in from the end took weight off of the center that had to be supported by the truss rods.

I also chose five and one half as it just looks right in HO.  It also gives me space for ladder stirrups that won't interfere with the trucks.


Regarding the bolsters.....  I got a bunch of plastic castings from Tichy when I ordered the brake kits.  The appearance is right and it is easy.

Thanx for looking in.

Bob
Did you ever notice how many towns are named after their water towers ! ?

deemery

The rule of thumb someone gave me was that bolster spacing = truck wheelbase.  So a 5 1/2' truck would have bolsters spaced 5 1/2' from the end of the car. 

5' trucks would probably look better, but 5 1/2 would work for a somewhat heavier car capacity.

On my "bulk build" of 28' cars, I found some cast metal bolsters (possibly old Colonial Castings products.)  Bitter Creek has similar metal bolsters, that I'd use for another batch of 28' or new 34' (proposed but no design work yet) cars. 

dave
Modeling the Northeast in the 1890s - because the little voices told me to

WigWag Workshop

Coming along nicely! Appreciate the tips.


-Steven
A BIG Thanks to all the folks who share their knowledge, and for giving me the inspiration to push the limits in this great hobby!

bparrish

OK....

Here is a trick shot that is not in any instruction swindle sheet.

How to stiffen the roof end overhangs. Although these will be shortened a bunch, they are super fragile as the grain runs with the car end and will break off several times before you are ready to set the final length.

Here is a view from the under side of the overhang.


There is also a gap that needs to be closed and reinforced also.  This will be hidden under the roof walk but needs to be closed before painting.



Now for the trick.  Stiffen the wood with super glue.  Put on only a small amount and do NOT kick it off with an accelerant.  It needs time to soak into the wood to work well.  Try not to get any on the scribed wood as it is hard to hide later.



Then here is the best part of this....... take a sharp, square edged screw driver and pull the glue toward the center from both sides.  This will squeegee the glue out on the wood, make a small anchor to the car end and fill the center gap.  Wipe the screwdriver clean each pass.  Take off as much glue that will come with the screwdriver.  This prevents a lump that must be filed or sanded off later.  I will be putting header boards on the car end so it needs to be flat.




Set aside to cure  up slowly.

More later
Did you ever notice how many towns are named after their water towers ! ?

ACL1504

Bob,

I'm enjoying the thread very much. Great stuff here for sure.

Tom ;D
"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson

Tom Langford
telsr1@aol.com

PRR Modeler

Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

S&S RR

Bob


Great thread. I'm just getting caught up.
John Siekirk
Superior & Seattle Railroad

NKP768

Some great tips Bob....I have an ancient Wabash Valley Models truss rod horse and mule car that I have put off building but your build  has spurred me on to tackle it. Thanks
Doug

bparrish

So I'm going on another side trip here....

I have shown solid floors which are OK for cars just knocking round my railroad............. but............ What about building a car for AP points?   So I'm going to make up one floor with the various details so that it would score well enough for a merit award towards the cars certificate.

So let's start here.  You will need a prototype to work from and suitable dimensions.  This floor will yield a 38 foot car at eight and a half feet wide.

Cut the main beams and end beams accordingly.    Often the two center beams were taller than the two or three on each side of center.  I am doing that with this floor structure.


I use a machinist's square clamped to the edge of my bench to get everything square.



Here you have a choice ..... You can hand lay each board that will show to the bottom or use scribed siding facing down as I did here.  I used the edge gluing procedure that I noted earlier in this thread to get a seamless row of boards.   The height up into the car here is un important.  If this were a flat car this would be much different.




The scribed siding will be cut off and sanded to the dimensions of the beams.

Did you ever notice how many towns are named after their water towers ! ?

bparrish

To continue with the under floor.    I am working from a Great Northern 1883 plan which has a great detail that was common practice among car builders.   So here is an end view drawing.  It shows the transverse truss rods that went from side to side over the bolster and center beams.  I run the wires out the top as it is a box car and what is inside goes un-seen.  If this were a flat car this would need to be done before the deck boards were put on.
This is a usually forgotten piece of building freight cars of this period but when going for AP............  Arguably judges will not look for this and won't ding you for leaving it out.   Judges are to look at what you present them and how well you did it rather than what THEY think ought to be there.  So when making up the paperwork, the noting of this detail will add numerous points for conformity and detail.



I am building the bolster with NBW (nut-bolt-washer )castings from Grandt Line and .014" brass wire. 


This shows the drilled holes that go through the bolster, second beam and come out above the deck over the center beam for that side.   I don't glue them in as yet due to the space that the NBW will take up and the wire looks like it is in line with the NBW.



A side view of the NBW in the bolster ends.


Looking in from the end you can see the truss wires and how they align with the NBW's.


This shows the wires installed by before the NBW's are installed.


More later
Did you ever notice how many towns are named after their water towers ! ?

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