North Pole Square of The Polar Express

[PRR Modeler]

Beautiful modeling Carl.

[craftsmankits]

It's looking great.  Can't wait to see it all come together.  Great modeling!  Always following along.  Mark

[bparrish]

Carl.....

Looks great...............
Regarding couplers......   Kadee makes an extender pocket that I think they intended for passenger but it works great for trolleys.   It is self centering and puts the swing out at about three quarters of an inch with as standard M-5 coupler.   Their part number is 451.... you will probably need to call them directly.  I doubt if any hobby shops keep them.

I asked Rick Steele at Labelle and he had never heard of them.    Well guarded secret I suppose.

If you consider powering it you can easily get NWSL Stanton drives to go in there or watch on e-bay for Tenshodo spud drives.  They still show up from time to time.

I have also successfully grafted Bowser trolley drives into them.  You will need to call them also as their page shows almost nothing of their trolley products any longer.  They do offer a drive kit that has the geared truck and idler trailing truck.  You can hit it with any can motor out there.

Most of my box motors have Proto 2000 SW 1500 switcher drives in them.  It's a little work but it is a really dependable drive.   Shown below..





Again............ very cool.

Thanx
Bob

[postalkarl]

Hey Carl:

Thanks and more great pics. Love your color scheme.

Karl

[carl b]

John, Curt, Mark, Bob and Karl thank you very much!

Bob- I appreciate your impressive knowledge concerning these coaches,
        unfortunately this will be a lonely static model on a stand alone diorama.
        I certainly know who to ask for more information!

[tom.boyd.125]

Carl,
Just reviewed this thread...what a massive project !
The modeling info you shared on the photos of this build has several neat tips in it too.
Trolley car came out great...but that lighted structure makes the holiday season look very bright.
Tommy

[carl b]

Thanks very much Tom! I appreciate your interest.

I firmly believe sharing "how-to" info is the best way to increase overall interest in any hobby.

[postalkarl]

Hey Carl:

You are quite welcome.

Karl

[GPdemayo]

Good work on the trolley Carl.....well done. 

[ACL1504]

Carl,

Fantastic build all the way. Now I need to go back and watch the movie, again, Seems like I watch it at least three times every December.

Tom 

[carl b]

Thanks Greg and Tom!

Greg-I have my own DVD copy!

[deemery]

THis month's RMC has a nice spread of (O scale) trolley models by Tom Picirillo. 


dave

[carl b]

The diorama base is two 24" x 12" sheets of 1/4" birch plywood. I rounded and sanded the corners. They will be separated by a set of spacers to allow for wiring underneath. Man, lumber prices are whacked....



The spacers are 3/16" X 5/16" balsa.



I glued those down to the "bottom" piece about 3" apart.



The "top" piece was covered with a 1/8" thick coat of joint compound to depict large curved rectangular stone pavers. I'll be scribing the expansion joint lines in this later. I previously glued down two code 83 rails for the coach car to sit on. They are nearly buried in the lower left. Expectedly, this will shrink and crack and require a 2nd very thin top coat to finish.



2nd thin top coat of JC added, then sanded down smooth. Dark beige for a paint primer/sealer, and makes it a lot easier to see what I'll be scribing.



Such a large expanse of masonry requires some character. I quickly made two crude trammels of basswood, one for marking the perimeter circles and another for the individual vertical joints. I experimented on paper with varying sizes until it seemed plausible. It's just a semicircle wrapped around the front steps to the building.



Marked off the lines on the joint compound, and began scribing using a dental pick, first the outer circles.....



Then the connecting lateral joints...very slow going...



Till next time....

[PRR Modeler]

All I can say is WOW. This just keeps getting better.

[carl b]

Thanks for the compliment Curt.

I appreciate your interest.