Christmas creep

Scratchbuilt model trains are best started well before Christmas.  I don't quite have all of the framing ready to assemble, but it is coming along.  It is fun and I hope my kids enjoy it!

Christmas prep

Christmas will be here in three months. That means that it's time for me to get busy working on my kids' Christmas gift! Last year, I waited too long to get serious about their Colorado central 23 foot flat car.  Accordingly, I did not get the trucks 3-D printed until New Year's.  So with a more ambitious car planned for this year, I decided that I better get started earlier.  This time it is not a Colorado central or south park car, but if you look at the running gear, you might be able to figure out what it will be.  1:20.3 scale again.

Ultrasonic cleaning

I made the plunge and ordered an ultrasonic cleaner.  Yes, you can clean 3d printed parts without it, but I want to reduce the effort.  I also do not plan on using bedtime...there's a fair bit of confusion that the wax makes the parts translucent and that when they are clean, they are I opaque white.  As an engineer, I am completely comfortable stating that this is only half true...the opaque finish is from the bestine attacking the acrylic...the opaque white is akin to putting a million tiny scratches into acrylic sheet...no thank you.

The ultrasonic cleaner should arrive a couple days before my first sets of or&l freight car hardware arrives from Shapeways.

So what is missing?

I believe there are a few pieces of lettering left to apply...going for early 30s style...

Why the 1116?  Because my daughter and I road in the 1116 on the Georgetown Loop!  Today, she's named "Gray's Peak".

The Blogger iPhone app is great...it's eliminated my least favorite blogging task...the hassling with photos...If only I could find out how to rotate the photo...

Paint shop

Here's my slightly modified San Juan boxcar...tweaked to resemble the 4xxx series.  I haven't bothered with all of the lettering correct, as it will be mostly illegible once the car is lettered up for Navy Yard Pearl Harbor.  This may be the only D&RGW car I ever build.

I'm also working on the c&s reefer.  It's Polly scale armour yellow...with peeling paint.  I had an air brush problem which led to an unusually heavy coat by my standards.  I've given it some peeling paint treatment, but no weathering as of yet.

Oct. 2013 was quite a while ago.  I have been modeling, mostly for 3d printing...but some traditional work as well.   After Christmas, I created 1:20.3 scale Colorado Central trucks,1872 D&RG trucks, and D&RG bobber running gear (a la caboose 49 at CRRM).   I printed two sets of each truck and one of the running gear for my kids...they received a 23' CCRR flatcar as a Christmas gift.  

Most recently, I've been working on wrapping up long delayed projects...the C&S reefer is midway through the painting process...the Carter trucks are finally up on Shapeways for sale, the HO version of the way car rg was finished up during the long drive to Coloado three weeks ago...but needs uploaded now.

Currently, I'm thinking about...and working on test prints of freight car hardware and locomotive parts.

Domes, HOn3, and the Hickory Creek behind 765

First, the South Park Cooke domes...3D printed in O scale:
 
Note that the ball on top of the sand dome is missing. I failed to survive a 7' fall onto a hard surface. Second, the HOn3 items:
 
Carter Bros Truck. It has clearance issues with the large HOn3 flanges. I also need to revise the width in between the journal boxes as it was too tight.
 
Litchfield, DSP&P "Type A" trucks with frame extensions/truck mounted brake beams. Again, I need to increase the clearance in between the journals for the axles. I'll have to print another pair so that I can mount them under a BTS HOn3 boxcar I have.
 
The gorgeous Waycar running gear...I guess I need to build a car to go with these now...

The above are HOn3 version of items I've successfully printed in On3.  The On3 version of the waycar running gear is available through Shapeways:
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/oahurailway
The rest will follow in time...hopefully soon...

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765 pulled her first Wabash Cannonball in more than 20 years yesterday. The train consisted of the 765, an auxiliary tender, the tool car, 5 Norfolk Southern coaches, 6 Mid-America Car leasing cars, two superdomes, a NYC lounge, and the Hickory Creek. 17 cars total and NO diesels. The route was the Wabash main from New Haven, IN (Ft. Wayne) to Lafyette, IN. It was 120 miles each way.  Norfolk Southern is simply a fantastic company.  Every NS employee I had the privilege of speaking with was in good spirits.  They've been working hard to create an excellent work culture and the fruits of this are clear.  This sort of thing could not happen without such a wonderful host railroad.
 
The kids were more excited about the Purdue "train" than the 765 during the layover. This was probably because they've seen 765 many times, but never seen the Purdue "train". The Hickory Creek was the highlight. Her and her sister, Sandy Creek, were the feature tail cars on the 1948 20th Century Limited...the most prestigious car on any train in America. They held this post until the demise of the train in 1967. Afterwards, they went to the Barnum & Bailey Ringling Bros Circus trains. Sandy Creek went on to the American Orient Express and is now in private ownership. Hickory Creek has been fully restored and is available for both charters and for special accommodation on its original route behind Amtrak trains. On October 26, 2013, this 65 year old car with more than 7,000,000 miles, made its first trip behind a steam locomotive.
 
The wife and kids were also on the train

They enjoyed exploring prior to boarding the passengers (they boarded with me). My daughter took her afternoon nap in Bedroom A.
 
We failed to get photos of me with the car except prior to boarding the passengers (I was busy for much of the trip). This is me with the kids on the red couch at the back of the car...the best seat in the best streamlined passenger car in the entire country or world.