Monday, January 16, 2012

Starting and Finishing....stuff

Hi Everybody,

I've been tinkering with a few projects at the same time. One project that I started is the conversion of my Lionel B&M PS-1 boxcar to P48. The car is in the blue and black paint with the big BM on the black side to the right of the door. I'm adding roller bearing trucks as the number series on the car were delivered with RB's. Lionel you say. You bet. Lionel has a series of cars that they produced to 1/48 scale. The only problem are the trucks and underside of the car.

I had an idea of making a new bolsters for the car and mounting a pair of converted Atlas roller bearing trucks. The results were....lets say it didn't work the way I hoped it would. So I got out my 21st edition of the "Car Builders' Cyclopedia".



Inside are a nice set of drawings of the PS-1 in the 40 & 50 ft size. So it has been decided that a new under frame and extras is needed. When I was modeling in On2, I did a lot of making patterns and making molds and casting parts that I knew where going to be needed on every car. As there will be a few PS-1's on the railroad, patterns for a new underside will be made for molds and I will cast the new parts needed. Then I will use the Protocrafts roller bearing trucks instead of trying to make silk out of burlap.

I finally finished the switch for the sidings today. I made some boo-boos on it, nothing that can't be covered over and lessons learned for the rest of the railroad. There's one more code 100 switch to build and it's the one  that leads to the coal trestle at the top of the grade.


The only thing left is to install the switch motor and there are a few wear plates still to be spiked in. I used Rail Brown on the rails. I thought I mite have a problem painting the tie plates without painting the ties at the same time. But my hands remained calm (they shake sometimes) and I developed a technique to do the rail sides and the plate without getting any on the ties. There'll be more weathering after the ballast is in place. Oh yeah, the points have their own power leads as I left them to float against the closure rails. They move real nice.


I've also started painting the rest of the rail too.

I now have to put up a bench in the room so I can get all the building material off the frame work. Once I start building the rest of the railroad, there won't be any room for all this stuff plus the risers and roadbed.

See ya next time.