6ft 3" scale Gondola with side doors

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Harlock
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Re: 6ft 3" scale Gondola with side doors

Post by Harlock »

Spent a few days working on improving the double-door latching mechanism. Using brass round found in the shop and a piece of 3/4 aluminum angle from home depot, added a cane bolt to one door of each side and made eight tabs for stops and support. A 4-40 bolt in the cane between the two tabs prevents one from pulling it out entirely. Now one door is braced so you can't push on both at the same time, which bends the sliding latch in the top. Now more like a set of double doors in a house.

I want to paint all the non-moving hardware black and convert the round head screws in the top latch bodies to countersunk brass, and add a little strike plate for the floor hole. Then I'll call it done. Works much better now. The gon has also now been lettered, but I'm waiting till its out at the track to get good pictures of that. Garage is too full to get a clean background right now.

After this is done, the main thing left is the seats, which will be another weekend project.

P.S. the brass was bent in a microlux universal metal bender. I did it cold and it actually worked fine. At the upper limits of what the bender will handle, but no problem since it's so soft. The bender nominally only supports 5/16.
Attachments
Some of the hardware, there are four rest / stop tabs missing from this photo that I made afterwards.
Some of the hardware, there are four rest / stop tabs missing from this photo that I made afterwards.
Door in closed position with cane bolt in the car floor and top latch engaged.
Door in closed position with cane bolt in the car floor and top latch engaged.
Door in open position with top latch pulled against stop and cane bolt sitting on rest tab.
Door in open position with top latch pulled against stop and cane bolt sitting on rest tab.
18-07-03_6ft-gon-door-hardware-0119.jpg
Live Steam Photography and more - gallery.mikemassee.com
Product Development and E-Commerce, Allen Models of Nevada
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Harlock
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Re: 6ft 3" scale Gondola with side doors

Post by Harlock »

I had the gon out at Bitter Creek over the weekend, where I took some good shots of the Livery.

The Boulder Creek & Pescadero Railroad existed on paper as a continuation of the Dougherty Extension Railroad out of Boulder Creek, CA. Many, many proposals were made to connect the Pescadero watershed with a common carrier railroad but none ever came to fruition. The speculation was serious enough however that at one point their sole locomotive came back from the shop lettered for B.C.& P.R.R.

That locomotive was the Dinky, which was the former "Felton" from the Santa Cruz & Felton Railroad, the engine mine is named after. So I thought it would be fun to letter a car for the BC&P.

The car is named the H.W. Fabing after my wonderful live steam friend who passed away earlier this year. he was a font of knowledge for local railroading, and literally wrote the book on the Pajaro Valley Consolidated together with Rick Hamman. (Steinbeck Country Narrow Gauge)
Attachments
18-07-07_Bitter-Creek-0519.jpg
18-07-07_Bitter-Creek-0520.jpg
18-07-07_Bitter-Creek-0525.jpg
18-07-07_Bitter-Creek-0527.jpg
18-07-07_Bitter-Creek-0529.jpg
Live Steam Photography and more - gallery.mikemassee.com
Product Development and E-Commerce, Allen Models of Nevada
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Harlock
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Re: 6ft 3" scale Gondola with side doors

Post by Harlock »

And although I did not bring the rest of my train, I lent the use of the car to fellow MEG owner Jim sabin, who at one point had a good crowd of kids in it.
Attachments
18-07-07_Bitter-Creek-9913.jpg
18-07-07_Bitter-Creek-9909.jpg
Live Steam Photography and more - gallery.mikemassee.com
Product Development and E-Commerce, Allen Models of Nevada
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