Wheels of Time PC-90 Piggy-Packer question

[rsn48]

Has anyone else had problems with the arms coming open when handling trailers with the PC-90 Piggy-Packer?
Mine don't seem to want to remain closed while holding a trailer.

[tehachapifan]

Yeah...mine has dropped the trailer a few times when I bumped the benchwork. Nothing there to really hold pressure to keep the arms in place against and under the trailer. Not sure what could be done to improve this, short of maybe some double sided tape on the hands/claws/feet...whatever those are called. Those things sure look nice though!

[rsn48]

They look fantastic, wish there was a way to get the lights functional.

[peteski]

They look fantastic, wish there was a way to get the lights functional.

If you are crazy enough and are willing to make them slightly oversize, you could make working lights with 0402 size white LEDs. 

[rsn48]

Pete, I'm moving towards that crazy but not quite there yet.  Still working up the courage to begin building modern high rises for my city part of the layout from scratch.  Don't know if you read the latest MR but Rod Stewart used MDF as the basic mould some of his taller high rises, then covered it with whatever.  He says some of his high rises are extremely heavy.

Looking at this site for buildings:

http://www.quinntopia.com/p/buildings.html

I don't know if you own one of the Piggy-Packers but the light modification looks to me like it would be extremely difficult, but always happy to be proven wrong.

Thought I should suppy a link to the Piggy-Packer:

http://www.wheelsotime.com/pc-90-piggy-packer/

[wazzou]

I wish they would produce the Lumberjack version for log loading and/or unloading.

[nkalanaga]

I'll second the log loader.  The Piggypacker is nice to have, but my railroad doesn't "need" one.  I could use at least three log loaders, and a fleet of late 60s/early 70s long-nose Kenworth log trucks to go with them.

[railnerd]

Nilmadic kit bashed one in this thread: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=28990.0

[rsn48]

Pete, I'm moving towards that crazy but not quite there yet.  Still working up the courage to begin building modern high rises for my city part of the layout from scratch.  Don't know if you read the latest MR but Rod Stewart used MDF as the basic mold some of his taller high rises, then covered it with whatever.  He says some of his high rises are extremely heavy.

Looking at this site for buildings:

http://www.quinntopia.com/p/buildings.html

I don't know if you own one of the Piggy-Packers but the light modification looks to me like it would be extremely difficult, but always happy to be proven wrong.

Thought I should suppy a link to the Piggy-Packer:

http://www.wheelsotime.com/pc-90-piggy-packer/

[wazzou]

Nilmadic kit bashed one in this thread: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=28990.0

I saw his and I am capable of doing that, however I need more than one and I am pretty certain that there is a market for them to others, also.

[nkalanaga]

Bryan:  The same here.  I COULD do it, but WOT would probably do a better job, and since I can use more than one, it would be cheaper in the long run to buy them.  As popular as logging-related industries are they should sell well. 

In my case I need two for loading sites and one for the mill.  There aren't a lot of models can be used at both ends of the haul equally well.

[peteski]

Pete, I'm moving towards that crazy but not quite there yet.  Still working up the courage to begin building modern high rises for my city part of the layout from scratch.  Don't know if you read the latest MR but Rod Stewart used MDF as the basic mould some of his taller high rises, then covered it with whatever.  He says some of his high rises are extremely heavy.

Looking at this site for buildings:

http://www.quinntopia.com/p/buildings.html

I don't know if you own one of the Piggy-Packers but the light modification looks to me like it would be extremely difficult, but always happy to be proven wrong.

Thought I should suppy a link to the Piggy-Packer:

http://www.wheelsotime.com/pc-90-piggy-packer/

I looked at this model at a frend's layout last Thursday.  I agree that the install would be difficult. The lights on this Piggy-Packer seem to be smaller than the ones in the NSN kit version.  Still, 0402 LEDs are scale 6.4" by 3.2".  That is pretty small (but rectangular in shape)!  Illuminating the amber beacon should be much easier.

Going way on the tangent, but following your lead, I'm really surprised that Rod uses a wood product for structural support of his large building models.  Especially if they are clad in plastic or maybe plaster walls.  To me MDF (or any wood product) is not dimensionally stable enough.  If I was going to do this, I would use either clear acrylic (Plexiglas), or extruded PVC sheets. That to me just makes more sense.

I have used acrylic as a core of a building in this scratch-built power plant.

[rsn48]

My layout is all MDF except for my nolix area; if there is any area I worry about shrinking or expanding its my nolix.  Once MDF gets to a certain thickness, it doesn't have the droopies.  And MDF isn't affected by humidity etc as its mostly glue, the glue adds the stability to humidity that wood by itself doesn't have.  BUT, on my layout my MDF is one inch thick with an oak veneer.  A contractor bought a large stock of this thick veneered MDF and then walked away from it, so the retailer practically gave it away to me.

The MDF is so heavy I've never bothered to screw and clue it down to its supports, also MDF, kind of like a floating floor.  I've had the MDF benchwork portion of the layout all MDF, the nolix just built last year is mostly all plywood.

Below is my MDF base covered with Fraser River silt and painted with Woodland Scenic's Earth tone.



And here is bare MDF not covered yet:



The road bed is AMI that needs to be trimmed in the bottom picture.

[jnevis]

Since we're drifting some...

These guys make acrylic and MDF buildings, primarily 1/285th, but some in 10MM (N Scale).  They're pretty plain but could be detailed out fairly easily.  I asked if they were going to expand the N stuff to include the Best Buy and such but haven't heard back yet.

http://store.gcmshop.com/c/157/10mm-city-buildings

...the roads have possibilities too.

There are plenty of 10MM buildings for Civil War era but they are resin. 

[peteski]

My layout is all MDF except for my nolix area; if there is any area I worry about shrinking or expanding its my nolix.  Once MDF gets to a certain thickness, it doesn't have the droopies.  And MDF isn't affected by humidity etc as its mostly glue, the glue adds the stability to humidity that wood by itself doesn't have.  BUT, on my layout my MDF is one inch thick with an oak veneer.  A contractor bought a large stock of this thick veneered MDF and then walked away from it, so the retailer practically gave it away to me.

The MDF is so heavy I've never bothered to screw and clue it down to its supports, also MDF, kind of like a floating floor.  I've had the MDF benchwork portion of the layout all MDF, the nolix just built last year is mostly all plywood.

I still wouldn't use if for a core of a building. The weight is also a negative factor (at lest IMO).  But maybe Rod does that to make them more stable during earthquakes... 

The stability probably depends on the ambient temps and humidity.  Some areas have temperate climate while others have large temperature and humidity swings.  I've seen layouts (not specifically made with MDF, but with some other wood product) develop cracks or having track pop up, after many years if existence.

I guess in the end it is my personal preference not to use MDF as a core for a model building.