The Carolina Sandhills Lines in HO Scale

[davefoxx]

Not so much.  I still maintain that she enjoyed model and prototype trains to spend time with Daddy.  She’s thirteen now and has interests of her own, e.g., cheerleading.  That said, she did insist on a train under the Christmas tree again this year, and, just the other day, she was talking about her N scale layout (which is currently packed away).

DFF

[EJN]

Well, I’ll be damned.  That actually worked!  I noticed that trains made a good bit of racket and the wheels were really hopping through the frog of the new curved turnout.  Typical wheel drop.  While watching a Danny Harmon video today, I realized that I could try to make a flange bearing frog, not unlike the flange bearing crossing that he described in his video.  I tried 0.010” styrene as a test piece, and it wasn’t thick enough.  I then tried 0.020”, which worked much better.

You may notice a faint line on the white styrene where the flanges are riding it.  I did go back with a needle file and ease the entry/exit points of that styrene piece.  I also noticed that the closure rails did not meet up well with the frog, so I filed those areas, too.  Much better, and wheels are not hopping through the frog anything like they used to.



DFF

That is brilliant. I have some Peco turnouts (HO code 100 insulfrog) which caused wheel bounce. After seeing this, I installed 0.037" thick fillers (thicker than yours due to code 100) and now cars roll through the frogs perfectly smoothly.

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[davefoxx]

@EJN:

I’m glad that worked for you!  While most of my fleet runs fine through the turnouts on my layout, I do have several Front Runner intermodal cars.  These are those four-wheeled spine cars, and they like to drop in just about every frog. I’m inspired to do a few more frog fixes, to see if I can get even these cars running smoothly.

DFF

[davefoxx]

Tangent Scale Models came through with the firecracker antenna that I needed for the U18B.  Since it’s metal (brass, I think), it’s waaaaaay more durable than plastic antennae.  Conveniently, it fits into the hole in the cab roof left by the relocating the horn back onto the long hood, as the proto SCL No. 324 had.  It’s not glued in yet, because it obviously needs paint.  On the to-do list!



DFF

[davefoxx]

In trying to figure out how to hang the hood that guides the wood chips into the hoppers, I knew I needed some pulleys.  Having nothing like that, I scratchbuilt a few.  A close look will find that the pulleys don’t actually have a groove for the cable.  Eh, hopefully, most people won’t notice.



When the liquid plastic cement dried, I glued the pulleys to the bottom of the crosswise girder.  I started by winding the Tamiya cable around the driveshaft that hangs under the girders a few times and through each pulley to a corner of the hood.  That was about as enjoyable as threading a needle and similar in task.  I would have liked the cable to have been more taut, but this is a fragile styrene structure that won’t take a lot of stress, and it’s easy to break the glue joints of those pulleys, if too much force is applied.  This will have to be good enough.  I also set the height of the hood at just above the tallest car load that I have, because, obviously, this one doesn’t actually operate. 



DFF

[Philip H]

Pretty good solution to a tough problem.

[davefoxx]

Pretty good solution to a tough problem.

Thanks, Philip!  I don’t claim to be a great modeler, so sometimes “good enough” has to be just that. 

DFF

[John]

Thanks, Philip!  I don’t claim to be a great modeler, so sometimes “good enough” has to be just that. 

DFF

And the price was right .. figure $10 bucks?

[davefoxx]

And the price was right .. figure $10 bucks?

@John:

Actually, I splurged.  I ended up purchasing parts, i.e., anything on the model that isn’t raw white styrene.  I just didn’t have a thing to fab the handrails or ladders.  Then, I came across the Tamiya cable.  I have about $35 in it.  So much for building on the cheap, but I have tons of new fodder for the scrap box from the two kits that I bought for the ladders and handrails.

Thanks,
DFF

[davefoxx]

It may not look like much, but I painted the new track to the wood chip loader, sprayed a coat of Tamiya white primer on the loader, installed an under-the-table Bullfrog Switch Machine with a throw through the fascia, and even began ballasting around the turnout.



DFF

[John]

That's looking real good .. I might be tempted to put some plexi by the loader for protection

[davefoxx]

That's looking real good .. I might be tempted to put some plexi by the loader for protection

I think it’s okay without protection, because I’m a lone operator and my layout is tall.  The rails are approximately 52-53” off the deck, so it’s unlikely that I’ll crush it.  I’m only 5’9” tall.

Thanks!
DFF

[davefoxx]

A coat of flat black paint brings this project into the homestretch:



DFF

[wazzou]

Really nice modeling Dave.
You sell your self short.
Most of the time, out West anyway, there seems to be a general Sawmill Green.
Lighter than OD Green but certainly a typical green, found on chip bunkers, and associated mill equipment such as this.

[davefoxx]

Really nice modeling Dave.
You sell your self short.
Most of the time, out West anyway, there seems to be a general Sawmill Green.
Lighter than OD Green but certainly a typical green, found on chip bunkers, and associated mill equipment such as this.

Ha!  I knew it!  When I showed my wife pictures of the loader I used as inspiration, she said it was black. But, colorblind me knew I’d seen green loaders somewhere.  I have a spray can of Hunter Green that might could have worked, but I already used that on a warehouse in Southern Pines and its company truck.  They’re just a few feet away from the wood chip loader.  So, I went with my wife’s suggestion, and flat black it is.  Truthfully, it’ll showing rusting effects and weathering better than the green.

Thanks,
DFF