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 »

I finished the last riding car wheelset last night. Had a little excitement when the lathe got noisy and then the belt came off, turned out the pulley on the motor came loose and walked outward on the shaft oops.
I have some shorter bolts on the way for the bearings but they aren't coming until next week. All I have to do is loosen up 6 more bearings with the flap wheel over the long weekend, so it's probably time to transition back to the mini dozer.
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Steggy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by Steggy »

rkcarguy wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 10:26 amI disassemble the pillow block and flap wheel the bore of the self aligning portion a little so they move easier, but if you have more weight it may not be needed.
Pedantic note: What you are calling a "pillow block" is actually a "flange block." A pillow block is a base-mounted bearing unit. If you were to go to a power transmission distributor and request a pillow block you would not get what you think you want. :D

Regarding flapping the spherical bore, I didn't do that because I expected that motion under load would quickly wear in the mating surfaces. I installed the flange blocks as is, and just squirted in some grease. The bearing cartridges are now free-moving in the flange bore, but without any slop.
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Music isn’t at all difficult.  All you gotta do is play the right notes at the right time!  :D
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

BigDumbDinosaur wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 2:42 pm
rkcarguy wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 10:26 amI disassemble the pillow block and flap wheel the bore of the self aligning portion a little so they move easier, but if you have more weight it may not be needed.
Pedantic note: What you are calling a "pillow block" is actually a "flange block." A pillow block is a base-mounted bearing unit. If you were to go to a power transmission distributor and request a pillow block you would not get what you think you want. :D

Regarding flapping the spherical bore, I didn't do that because I expected that motion under load would quickly wear in the mating surfaces. I installed the flange blocks as is, and just squirted in some grease. The bearing cartridges are now free-moving in the flange bore, but without any slop.
I understand that, I actually have a chart on my wall with the types and number/letter designations so I can search them by part #. I don't expect most people here to know what a UCT206-20 is though, for example.
The bearings I have are pretty tight, and even lubed up the trucks had a lot of resistance to swiveling. Likewise the flange blocks I'm using on my axles were tight and I designed them to be able to twist a little and wanted the blocks to be looser. It takes about a minute of running a fairly worn out flap wheel around the bore to get the fit I want and also takes all the sharp edges off that were left by the Chinamen.
0351
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by 0351 »

Well, I ordered a couple of 2-bolt flange bearings with 1” bore for the body bolster center pin to sit in. The housing width is 2.756”, so it should fit nicely on my 3” with bolster. Guess I’ll see in how tight the bearings are and then decide whether or not to flap wheel them. Now to start working on the side bearing setup.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
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Steggy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by Steggy »

0351 wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 11:12 pm Well, I ordered a couple of 2-bolt flange bearings with 1” bore for the body bolster center pin to sit in.
Almost strong enough for a full-sized car. :D
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Music isn’t at all difficult.  All you gotta do is play the right notes at the right time!  :D
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

0351 wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 11:12 pm Well, I ordered a couple of 2-bolt flange bearings with 1” bore for the body bolster center pin to sit in. The housing width is 2.756”, so it should fit nicely on my 3” with bolster. Guess I’ll see in how tight the bearings are and then decide whether or not to flap wheel them. Now to start working on the side bearing setup.
Certainly should be big enough.
On my riding car the places where I put the side bearing support interferes with the linkage between the brake pads, so you may want to figure that part out together. In my case it's not the end of the world and the workaround will just leave the brake shoe springs and linkage off center, but I'm picky and I don't like that.
0351
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by 0351 »

BigDumbDinosaur wrote: Sat May 23, 2020 3:59 pm
0351 wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 11:12 pm Well, I ordered a couple of 2-bolt flange bearings with 1” bore for the body bolster center pin to sit in.
Almost strong enough for a full-sized car. :D
Lol! Maybe so! My cars are fairly big at 28”x96”.
had talked with Todd Swan about the bolster setup he uses on his 16” gauge trains and he uses 1.25” pins.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
John 14:6 (KJV)
0351
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by 0351 »

rkcarguy wrote: Sat May 23, 2020 6:52 pm
0351 wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 11:12 pm Well, I ordered a couple of 2-bolt flange bearings with 1” bore for the body bolster center pin to sit in. The housing width is 2.756”, so it should fit nicely on my 3” with bolster. Guess I’ll see in how tight the bearings are and then decide whether or not to flap wheel them. Now to start working on the side bearing setup.
Certainly should be big enough.
On my riding car the places where I put the side bearing support interferes with the linkage between the brake pads, so you may want to figure that part out together. In my case it's not the end of the world and the workaround will just leave the brake shoe springs and linkage off center, but I'm picky and I don't like that.
Regarding brakes, I’m actually thinking of drilling new holes so that the brake arms will pivot on the top of the sideframes instead of pivoting on the bottom. That way the brake rigging for a clippard pneumatic cylinders can be used.
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
John 14:6 (KJV)
rkcarguy
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Location: Wa State

Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

0351 wrote: Sat May 23, 2020 11:25 pm
rkcarguy wrote: Sat May 23, 2020 6:52 pm
0351 wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 11:12 pm Well, I ordered a couple of 2-bolt flange bearings with 1” bore for the body bolster center pin to sit in. The housing width is 2.756”, so it should fit nicely on my 3” with bolster. Guess I’ll see in how tight the bearings are and then decide whether or not to flap wheel them. Now to start working on the side bearing setup.
Certainly should be big enough.
On my riding car the places where I put the side bearing support interferes with the linkage between the brake pads, so you may want to figure that part out together. In my case it's not the end of the world and the workaround will just leave the brake shoe springs and linkage off center, but I'm picky and I don't like that.
Regarding brakes, I’m actually thinking of drilling new holes so that the brake arms will pivot on the top of the sideframes instead of pivoting on the bottom. That way the brake rigging for a clippard pneumatic cylinders can be used.
I thought of arranging things that way, there is certainly more room below where the bolsters aren't in the way. In my circumstances though I'm looking to operate in all weather conditions and want to keep the cylinders and plumbing up out of the way.
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

One truck assembled...and I have some pics that posted upside down for some reason.
Still waiting on the button head bolts for the flange bearings so just two installed finger tight for now.
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rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

0351 wrote: Sat May 23, 2020 10:57 pm
BigDumbDinosaur wrote: Sat May 23, 2020 3:59 pm
0351 wrote: Fri May 22, 2020 11:12 pm Well, I ordered a couple of 2-bolt flange bearings with 1” bore for the body bolster center pin to sit in.
Almost strong enough for a full-sized car. :D
Lol! Maybe so! My cars are fairly big at 28”x96”.
had talked with Todd Swan about the bolster setup he uses on his 16” gauge trains and he uses 1.25” pins.
There is a tendency to scale things up proportionately, when in models we'll never be loading 10 tons on a 1/4 scale flat car and strength increases by the square at the same time. Shear strength on a 1" bolt is enormous and the cost increase for 1" flanged bearings compared to 5/8 or 3/4 is pennies especially if you can source the bolts or pins cheaply/free/used. I use a long structural bolt and run a nut all the way down the threaded portion and Loctite it so the bolster is captive on the bolt. Then the frame can be lowered onto it and a nut and lock washer applied to the bolt end sticking up through the frame. On my bulkhead flats there will be no access from the top of the frame though, so I'm kicking around welding a nut into the frame and then leaving a spot so I can cotter pin the bolster bolts.
rkcarguy
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Re: 12" working railroad

Post by rkcarguy »

I was able to get a leftover chunk of FRP grating for the deck of my riding car. It does not extend to the ends because I want the frame ends exposed under the hopper for the proper appearance. This stuff is great, no corrosion or rot, and warranted for 20 years against UV fading. It has a medium grit on top for nonslip.
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