12" working railroad

Discuss park gauge trains and large scale miniature railways having track gauges from 8" to 24" gauge and designed at scales of 2" to the foot or greater - whether modeled for personal use, or purpose built for amusement park operation or private railroading.

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Topics may include: antique park gauge train restoration, preservation, and history; building new grand scale equipment from scratch; large scale miniature railway construction, maintenance, and safe operation; fallen flags; track, gauge, and equipment standards; grand scale vendor offerings; and, compiling an on-line motive power roster.
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

brakeparts.jpg
Here's a picture of the brake shoe parts. These are like backwards drum brakes, where they will lie in pairs between the wheels and ride on slices of 4" pipe I welded behind one wheel on each axle. The convex parts of the back of the shoes will rub on the bolster and acts as stops when the brakes are released. The notches at the top are where I'll weld in some 3/8 round stock and spacers/retainers for whatever springs I end up running. Finally, the tabs at the top will get holes drilled through them from the side for the brake cable. The large holes in the center will allow me to compress the shoes with a pair of channel locks so I can install the assembly between the wheels/drums.

I went ahead and had enough parts cut for 4 pieces of rolling stock so I have extra's.
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

The riding car wheel sets are ready for final turning. I drew up a quick set of parts for a truing stand that I had laser cut with my brake parts, it worked good getting the side to side wobble down to .010" or less. Not acceptable for a locomotive, but for rolling stock it will do.
When and if you weld/tack the wheels to the axles, the weld will shrink and always pull the wheel a little bit. I used this to my advantage and tack welded the "wide side" first with a heavier tack, and it pulled out some of the side-to-side run-out. I can't even see any concentric run-out by eye so I'm thinking it's really close, but I still have all the tapers to turn anyway.
wheelsets.jpg
truingstand1.jpg
truingstand2.jpg
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

I got my building permit so I am going to be changing gears on this build. I'm hoping to finish up these wheel sets and get the riding car rolling, and then I will be transitioning into site work and grading my ROW as extra dozer time and weather allows....maybe laying some track and my first turnout. When the weather is a no-go, I'll continue working on the hopper sides for the riding car and the locomotive.
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

mufflerairtankinstalled.jpg
The muffler and air tanks fit nicely.
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by 0351 »

Looking great! I’m curious to see how well the mufflers will sound. If it would be quite enough to run a sound system? Also what is the scale width of your locomotive’s walkways? The full size has 2’ walkways I think.
Somehow they look really narrow in that
picture ?
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rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

I know the Athearn model is a bit wider in scale than the prototype and that is what I have copied. Despite that, I'm glad I did because of the offset of the crankshaft exiting the GX390 mounted sideways in the end of the cab, the hydraulic pump wouldn't have cleared the right side of the body.
If I remember right I think the hood is about an inch wider than it was supposed to be. The angle I had to take this photo at also make them look much narrower than they are.
I have high hopes that the muffler will be nice and quiet. Where the exhaust exits the muffler, I'm planning to fabricate a 4" pipe resonator of sorts with a rain baffle inside, to deepen the tone of any remaining noise. I'm not really interested in a sound system and just want to eliminate any lawn mower like noise from the engine. The deeper any remaining exhaust tones, the better(larger diameter, longer pipes).
I am hoping to mount the engine and make the connecting header in the not-so-distant future, so I can see how she sounds.
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

I have a large batch of parts going through the laser today. Truck side frames, slide(roller in my case) bearing brackets, and plate gussets for my two bulkhead flat car builds. I also welded up the end sills to the coupler pocket tubes and safety chain/air fitting plates, generally sub-assembling all the parts and then will layout and weld-out both the frames in one shot. I'll be copying this bulkhead flat car in the picture, roughly. The bulkheads will be removable as least at one end so I can haul longer items laid across/along both flat cars.....like the beams for my future trestle:)
The width and design of the bulkheads will also allow them to act as my go/no-go gauge for firewood. If it doesn't fit between the ends side-to-side, it's too long for the Stove.
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Steggy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by Steggy »

rkcarguy wrote: Sat Jun 22, 2019 2:55 pmI'm not really interested in a sound system and just want to eliminate any lawn mower like noise from the engine.
Yes, but what do you intend to do about the prime mover's mechanical noises? The GX390 clatters like a bucket full of marbles, which is where quite a bit of the lawnmower sound emanates.
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rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

I've planned on putting some sound deadening around the engine, other than that I'm not sure if I can do much. On a more humorous note if you watch the S12 cab rides online their supercharged diesels sort of sound like a box of rocks so maybe I'm not too far out of line.
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLyhCe_2t-M

Here's a link to the S12 video on youtube.
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Steggy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by Steggy »

rkcarguy wrote: Sat Jul 06, 2019 2:39 am https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLyhCe_2t-M

Here's a link to the S12 video on youtube.
Sounds like a tired S12 Diesel engine under load. :D No resemblance whatsoever to a one cylinder, air-cooled engine with a sloppy valve train. :roll:

BTW, I like that flip-down cover they have on the old S12's exhaust stack.
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rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

It's a tall order making it sound decent. I know on my kart engine I ran the valve lash at zero (cold). When warm the lash opens up a little, but it made the clatter go away 95% and also gets every .001" of lift in the game.
I was looking at the specs on the V-twins and they are more "cube" shaped and have the crank centered, would still fit inside my cab. So it's possible to stuff one of those in there in the future.
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