Best Of Scratchbuild Project - Van Iron Woodchip Cars

[BCR 570]

Ends (Part 3)
With the end ribs installed and the top and side edges squared up, it is time to cut away the excess material at the bottom and get the bottom edge squared up.  The excess material is cut away using the Chopper, with the blade aligned along the bottom of the end sill:




After cutting away the excess material, the ends are compared with the relevant sides for height:




The True Sander is used to sand the bottom edge square and then get to the exact height required:




The ends are checked against the sides again until an exact height match is achieved:




With all of the ends now completely squared up, it is time to add additional material for the 'A' ends.  For these ends, the top panel serves as the door header and the five lower panels comprise the dump door.  The top panel had an additional rib which needs to be added above the second rib.  A .020"  x.030" spacer is used to locate the new rib correctly:




There were three hinges for the dump doors.  A scale rule is used to locate these on the appropriate ribs:




Additional parts were added on the top two panels for the hinge hardware.  I am modelling the cars after the hinges were substantially rebuilt.  The actual hinges will be added after the cars are assembled.  Here are the four 'A' ends for the 9501-9690 series cars with the additional parts for the hinge hardware added:




The 9691-9765 series had different dump doors; for my two cars I will use door ends from the CS Models kits.

End grab iron location and drilling is next.


Tim

[ns737]

all the cars you make are gems. you do great work.

[BCR 570]

Thank you very much; these are not built yet but I am seeing the potential for good models when done.

Tim

[jpf94]

With all the amazing work you've done, I'd be afraid to operate the layout.  Afraid I'd derail or otherwise damage some true modeling gems.  Thank you for sharing the process with us.  Amazing work.

[joepri]

Tim, Your work is amazing.  I look forward to see the finished product.

Joe

[BCR 570]

With all the amazing work you've done, I'd be afraid to operate the layout.  Afraid I'd derail or otherwise damage some true modeling gems.  Thank you for sharing the process with us.  Amazing work.

Thank you; i don't think I have had anything damaged during op sessions  to date but you raise an interesting point.  If building models to be operated, they must be robust enough to be handled which sometimes necessitates a few compromises in appearance or choice of size for materials to be used.

Tim, Your work is amazing.  I look forward to see the finished product.

Thank you; if all continues to go well the finished products will appear here in due course. 


Tim

[BCR 570]

Ends (Part 4)
While the ends are still flat on the workbench, now is a good time to drill for grab irons.  At each end there are two grab irons of different lengths on the right hand side.  The lower one is on the end sill and the other one is on the first rib above the end sill.  Interestingly the 'A' end has a longer grab iron below and a shorter one above, while on the 'B' end this is reversed.  Furthermore, as built the 9501-9690 series cars had high ladders on the left hand side at both ends.  When the hinges for the dump door at the 'A' end were rebuilt, it necessitated removal of the ladder at that end and it was replaced with two grab irons.

As before, the Gold Medal Models jigs are used to prick a pre-drill mark.  The upper grab iron is a real challenge to locate and drill because it is located on a strip of styrene only .020" thick, so it must be exactly dead centre.  I started with the four 'A' ends:




The holes are then drilled out with a #80 drill bit.  For the upper rib, great care is taken to ensure that the drill is exactly perpendicular to the rib:




The process was then repeated for the six 'B' ends:






This completes the construction of the end sheets.  As mentioned previously, parts from the CS Models chip car kit will be used for the 'A' end on the two 9691-9765 series cars.  On these ends, the molded grab irons were removed and holes drilled for replacement etched grab irons, and the end sills below the doors were notched for the couplers.  Here are all twelve finished ends which are now ready for installation:




There is one more job to do for the ends.  On each end of the sides there are trim pieces framing the end sheets.  I will return to the sides to install these next.

Tim

[GM50 4164]

Tim, I' really enjoying following along of your woodchip build. I'm learning a lot of useful skills here, thanks for sharing! I am interested in doing something very similar for a C&O car. Are you working off of any plans? Where did you find your info at?

[BCR 570]

Tim, I' really enjoying following along of your woodchip build. I'm learning a lot of useful skills here, thanks for sharing!

Thank you; that is the intent of this thread.

I am interested in doing something very similar for a C&O car. Are you working off of any plans? Where did you find your info at?

Unfortunately I do not have plans for these cars; I am working mostly from photographs.  Basic dimensions are listed in the railway's Revenue Car Catalogue.  General structural arrangement is deduced from photographs; sizing and spacing of structural components is arrived at using the test strips shown in the thread.  I also make my own scale drawings with pencil and paper when needed.  For example, I am presently trying to work out the underframe arrangement and am doing that on paper.

Tim

[BCR 570]

Sides (Part 8 )
To complete the end profile for these cars, I will now return to the parts for the sides to add the vertical trim on either side of the end sheets.  These will need to be added to each end of the sides.  This builders photograph of the 'B' end shows these trim pieces, which are angled at the top and bottom:




These trim pieces will be made from strips of .010" x .040" styrene, so the process begins with cutting those to an appropriate length:




To get the correct angle at the top, the trim piece is aligned against the side and the spacer block for the end ribs is placed below the top rib and across the trim piece.  A #17 blade is used to chop the trim piece, using the corner of the top rib and the spacer block as guides:




At the bottom of the trim piece, it is chopped flush with the bottom of the end sheet:




The bottom end sill is used as a reference for chopping the correct angle at the bottom of the trim piece:




The trim pieces are now ready for installation with the correct angles cut top and bottom:




To install the trim pieces, the sides are placed against a square and the trim piece is lowered into place:




After installation, I wanted to see how these trim pieces looked next to the end sheets, so I set up a dry fit using steel blocks to hold the parts in place.  Here is the 'A' end:




And here is the 'B' end (which will eventually look busier once the brake equipment and ladder are installed):




These two photos provide a hint of what the cars will hopefully look like when assembled.  So for each car, I now have a completed set of ends and sides.  Here are the parts for PGE 9507:




With the ends now complete, I can go back to the floors and trim them to the correct length, so that step will be next.


Tim

[DKS]

Now, this is modeling. Truly outstanding work. And excellent documentation as well. Bravo.

[BCR 570]

Now, this is modeling. Truly outstanding work. And excellent documentation as well. Bravo.

Thank you very much; I am honoured.  I have enjoyed your numerous micro layout builds and I strive to inspire others as you have done.

Tim

[BCR 570]

Floors (Part 2)
With the ends now figured out and built, I am returning to the floors to shorten them to the exact length required to fit inside the ends.  The ends are .050" thick so two .050" shims will be required; these were assembled from .010" + .040" thick strip styrene.  I will also require a longer .040" thick shim with a riser to position it across the floors.  Here are the three shims along with the two squares I will use to trim the floors:




The floor needs to be shortened to a length exactly .100" shorter than the sides.  One of the sides is positioned inside the squares, and the floor is positioned above the side with one of the .050" shims against its left hand end to create the desired inset.  The .040" thick shim with riser is placed across the floor and side at their right hand end.  A steel block keeps everything in place:




A pencil is used to mark the floor against the .040" shim.  My mark should be .050" in from the right hand end:




The floor is then placed on the Chopper and cut to the desired length:




It is then transferred to the True Sander to dress the end just cut:




If my cut has been accurate, when the side is placed inside the squares, the floor should fit between the squares with a .050" shim at either end:




Time for a dry fit of floor, ends and sides!






This side view with one side removed shows the general arrangement inside the car, with the inset ends and floor, weights on top of the floor, and a sub-floor above to conceal the weights and help keep the sides straight:




Looks this might actually work!  Here is a set of complete parts for one car so far, including floor, ends, sides, and top floor:




Now to figure out the underframes . . . . .


Tim

[BCR 570]

Underframes (Part 1)
It is now time to figure out how to build the underframe on the underside of the lower floor parts.  A photograph of a car on its side prior to being scrapped offers a good view of the underframe:




This photo of a 9691-9765 series car shows the general arrangement of the underframe with twin centre sills, tapered bolsters and cross-members, and longitudinal stringers.  It also confirms the location of the various brake appliances which will be useful later on.

I began with a full size N Scale drawing of the underframe to determine sizing and spacing.  (Styrene is cheap, but pencil and paper are even cheaper.)  Here it is:




The truck centre spacing is a known dimension, the centre sills were estimated, and the cross-member spacing matches the spacing of the side posts.  I determined and recorded the various sizes of strip styrene to be used on the drawing for future reference.

Turning to the actual floor part, I marked the centreline, the bolster centres, and the location of the centre cross-member which is in the centre of the car's length:




At the intersection of the centre sills and bolsters, I drilled a #80 pilot hole for the bolster pins:




The centre sills comprises two strips of .040" x .040" styrene either side of the longitudinal centre line, and two flanges made from .020" x .080" on edge.  The tapered cross-members are made from .020" x .080" and tapered down to .030" at their outside ends.  The bolsters comprise two of the tapered cross-members on either side with pieces of .020" x .156" styrene for the bolster crown plates and bolster tapers.  The hole for the bolster pins was opened up to #47 to accept Micro-Trains bolster pins.  I initially assembled a short test section to try out my sizing:




I think this captures the general arrangement of the prototype underframe.  Here it is with a Micro-Trains bolster pin and truck installed:




The truck swivels freely and the floor seems to be at the right height for couplers.  The next step is to attempt a full size test underframe.

Tim

[ksmiley]

Thanks Tim for the tutorial. Lots of notes being taken.