3/4" Scale Box Cars

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steamingdon
Posts: 604
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:21 pm
Location: massachusetts,usa

Re: 3/4" Scale Box Cars

Post by steamingdon »

Larry does not have time to fool with box cars, we have to get the Consolidation ready for the spring meet @ NJLS. DMS has plenty of projects this winter. :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :wink:
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Steve Bratina
Posts: 1061
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:39 pm
Location: Cambridge Ontario

Re: 3/4" Scale Box Cars

Post by Steve Bratina »

Your right Don! Many people, (the NJLS members especially) don't realize that their spring meet is supposed to be a Tinkerbell highline blowout of biblical proportions. I told Murray about the special meet. All he said was what type of special meat are they going to serve? Wholly Cow!
We could have quite a gathering of plastic cars from Canada if things go right. Stay tuned for any late breaking developments.
Last edited by Steve Bratina on Mon Nov 02, 2015 2:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
john_sommer
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:54 pm
Location: Central NJ (Exit 9)

Re: 3/4" Scale Box Cars

Post by john_sommer »

Oh man- I may need to go over my 2-6-2 for this.
John Sommer
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Benjamin Maggi
Posts: 1409
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:38 pm
Location: Albany, NY

Re: 3/4" Scale Box Cars

Post by Benjamin Maggi »

Any long-term status updates on these cars to report? It sounded like an interesting experiment.
"One cannot learn to swim without getting his feet wet." - Benjamin Maggi
- Building: 7.25" gauge "Sweet Pea" named "Catherine"
Steve Bratina
Posts: 1061
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:39 pm
Location: Cambridge Ontario

Re: 3/4" Scale Box Cars

Post by Steve Bratina »

I am making a box car side mold with rivet detail, door and door hardware to pour out of plastic to reduce fabrication time. It will mount on a wood backing for support. The side ladders will still need to be added to the side as a separate piece. I have the pattern ready to pour for gondola ends and need to fabricate the side so I can make a mold. I have received twenty 3/4" box car decal sets from petescustomdecals. I highly recommend this guy for decals. Check out his web site. He does HO but will do our size on order. So far 12 cars are built and I want 18 more but the time for these cars will have to be done as a fill in as I really need to finish my home track THIS YEAR. Probably a winter project to do car parts then paint them in the spring.
I have a kinniption to try a plastic 1 1/2" box car just to see what the limits are for this stuff but that may be a project in my next life. That is about it for now.
As a side note, they have a plastic mold material that can withstand molten lead. I used this to make a mold of a 3/4" air compressor. The lead was car tire weights from the scrap yard and I have made several compressors for home projects. Check out reynoldsam.com. I'm surprised these ga 1 guys haven't got into this.
steamingdon
Posts: 604
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:21 pm
Location: massachusetts,usa

Re: 3/4" Scale Box Cars

Post by steamingdon »

Oh My! not that track completion thing AGAIN! If I had a beer for every time I`ve heard this, I`d be corked for sure. Hope to see you in August @ PVLS. I have a pile of stuff for you and a lost but not forgotten Cap.
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Mr Ron
Posts: 2126
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:36 pm
Location: Vancleave, Mississippi

Re: 3/4" Scale Box Cars

Post by Mr Ron »

Steve Bratina wrote: Wed Jul 22, 2015 6:55 pm Here is a project that I have been working on between locomotive projects. I want to build at least 20 box cars for a 30 car train I have planned. I had 4 box cars built originally but this new series has better detail and I have all the parts made and ready to go.
I had alot of trouble getting wheels CNC'd and I don't want to stand by the lathe for hours on end turning up wheels, so for this project, I am trying something new. Casting plastic in rubber molds. The car you see here is the first of the prototype and is under test right now. The ends of the car, the doors, the running boards, the center frame and coupler pockets, the truck bolster, journal boxes and wheels are all made out of plastic. Patterns were used to make the rubber molds and two types of plastic were used. The wheels, bolsters and journal boxes are Smooth Cast Onyx Slow and the rest of the parts are Smooth Cast 305. I went to some private classes to learn about moulds and pouring plastic and what type of plastics to try for my needs. So far I am quite pleased with the end results and hopefully the car will stand up to the use. Not including the cost of the mould rubber, the price for all the cast parts works out to about $50.00 per car.
The side frames were laser cut at a local shop and cost $4.00 per side. The couplers are 1:20 G scale couplers. They are slightly undersized but you cant beat the price. They are metal and open too. I tried to get some decals cut at the sign shop but they were too busy so I bought some letters at the hobby shop and lettered it for a famous Live Steam Line located in the far reaches of the country. I hope the President of that line doesn't mind!
Once the steaming season is done, I will try to do a blurb on the builders log. For now, here are some pictures of the finished car.
If you go on the Smooth On web site, they have a lot of info on their product that may inspire you to try a car or two.
I build in 3/4 scale engines of electric prototypes and have used Smooth On products, namely mold max 30 and epoxycast 655. I cast engine drive wheels 3/8" thick x 4-1/2" dia, so I used epoxycast for it's higher durometer of 90D. My engines are for display, but can run on track. I don't intend to ride them, but I plan to add remote control to the battery powered engines. My engines are unique in that I make the chassis from metals and the bodies from wood and plastic with metal thrown in where needed. I chose 3/4 scale because it is large enough to be powered by small electric motors and storage batteries and parts like gears, sprockets, etc are commercially available everywhere Your boxcars are a beautiful job and I know they will hold up for years. I also use G scale couplers; they are surprisingly quite strong and serve non riding trains perfectly. You are the first person who I have found who works as I do. It would be nice if others will pick up on this unconventional way of building trains and we could be considered "pioneers"
Mr.Ron from South Mississippi
Steve Bratina
Posts: 1061
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:39 pm
Location: Cambridge Ontario

Re: 3/4" Scale Box Cars

Post by Steve Bratina »

Hello Don,
The truck from the metal supply place has just dropped off $1300 worth of steel to finish the remaining bridgework. I probably should have forgotten about building track and just stuck with plastic cars. I may end up just having a point to point track to run the cars on ( and off of)
As for being a pioneer, I used to fall asleep in history class when we talked about pioneers. Now it seems when I talk, people fall asleep. Yup, I'm a pioneer.
steamingdon
Posts: 604
Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:21 pm
Location: massachusetts,usa

Re: 3/4" Scale Box Cars

Post by steamingdon »

:D You are mixed-up the guy`s name is MR.RON not Don as in steamingdon. :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:
steamer
Steve Bratina
Posts: 1061
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:39 pm
Location: Cambridge Ontario

Re: 3/4" Scale Box Cars

Post by Steve Bratina »

Reminds me of the motto of the short line I work for.
"WHO CARES!"
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