One Last Shorty

[Steggy]

I had the same issue with a machine that I painted with Rustoleum. I followed the directions to the letter and it still happened. I went to the ACE brand of paint, and everything went perfectly. Since Rustoleum changed their formula, I have had nothing but problems with it. My use of that brand has ended.

Interesting you mention that. I’ve run into identical problems. I discontinued using Rustoleum’s primers years ago when I found the Ace Hardware primers to be as good as or better, plus requiring less time to flash and be ready for the top coat. I’ve also gotten better results with Ace’s top coats, especially in not running into the orange-peel problem like what Carl experienced. Plus the Ace paints seem to not be as fussy about ambient temperature when spraying. Lastly, Ace’s spray paints are a bit less expensive for a given sized can than Rustoleum.

Today’s version of Rustoleum is definitely not your grandpa’s version. They messed up what probably used to be the best paint available.

[ccvstmr]

Ody, Harold V and rrnut-2...

All I can say, misery loves company! Glad I'm not the only one that's run into those kinds of paint "issues"...(but would rather not). In all fairness, formulation or not, this has never happened to me with other Rustoleum paints...happened with the Hunter Green only. And after a few years in this hobby, have a vast collection of paint and primer rattle cans.

Found the best way to store them was in plastic milk crates. Can stand (20) cans upright and still have 4 or 5 cans laying flat across the top...and still able to stack the crates. Thank you all for sharing. Carl B.

[ccvstmr]

SPLASH OF COLOR - Part 3

Was bound and determined to NOT let another paint problem ruin my efforts. The next time around, would take my time and SLOWLY apply the paint application. Started on the top half of the car side making sure all surfaces to the sides and undersides were adequately coated...without runs, drips or errors.

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Would later paint the lower car side spraying from one direction. Taking a break. And then spraying from the other direction.

So, how did the "do-over" paint job turn out? See for yourself...much better. Would have been nicer without the additional work or aggravation.

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And how about the area between the (2) pairs of round top windows? Was good enough when dry to strip the making tape and paper off and move forward. Still amazed how shop lighting, camera angle, and other...can affect the appearance of the paint finish.

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Now I'm not an expert when it comes to all things painting related, but with any spray application, the droplets won't "bridge" on any surface and form a continuous coating until there's enough paint on that surface. And this is where the problem sometimes arises. Many of us are guilty of..."Oh, one more spray application and that should do it." And that's when disaster strikes. The first culprit is sometimes a paint run. Later on, maybe a crackle finish.

One of the parameters out of our control is the propellant pressure in the rattle can to force the paint out thru the nozzle. Peaseleecreek provided and idea a few years ago...heat the can! As long as I had a 500 watt halogen work lamp in the shop, used the lamp shining on the can a few inches away to elevate the can temperature and thereby increase the propellant pressure. Would monitor can temperature with a handheld IR gun. Was looking to get the can temperature up to 110 to 120 deg. F. The result, a finer paint mist...which meant finer paint droplets.

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On the other side of the room, was the roof. By this time, the roof ventilators had been installed...and the roof got another spray application of satin canyon black (I go thru a lot of satin black paint). The clerestory window openings were masked to keep the black paint out of the roof interior.

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Back before any of the exterior painting was started, painted the interior of the car. At first I used a light gray, but then figured this was the RR presidents car and some other color should be used (remember, in practice, this is a utility car to carry a remote brake system and other "training" supplies). Decided then to use a gloss almond for the interior...certainly not as dismal looking as the gray. By painting the interior first, didn't have to be concerned about getting almond colored paint on the exterior car walls.

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With the successful completion of the painting, can now move along. What's coming up, will be an effort to describe details made for car #7...many of which were made before and during the car and roof construction. So, the photos used to illustrate the detail work may at times appear to be out of sequence (sorry). But this is where some of the real fun starts! Stick around for some surprises. Carl B.

[ccvstmr]

DETAILS - Corner Steps

Back to the show. The car body has been primed and painted. The roof has been fabricated, covered with denim and painted as well. Time to start describing the construction/fabrication of the many car details (and yes, there were a lot). This is where the project got interesting!

When work was winding down on the other passenger cars including Honest Dave's (2) Central Pacific passenger cars, had already received a set of Oakley Little's passenger car truck castings for another shorty. When realized a 3rd shorty car was in the future, construction/fabrication/assembly of those trucks got underway. At the same time, made sure detail parts needed for the 3rd shorty would be ready in time. During car body and roof construction, detail preparation work was well already underway.

For the 1st detail, will start with the corner steps. On too many cases, have seen builders construct great looking wooden corner steps. However, when loading/unloading, this is usually the first place helpful guys will grab at the hoist...and end up with a handful of corner step. NOT COOL! Wasn't going to let that happen with these passenger cars. As such, a welded steel step assembly was believed to be the better solution here.

The corner steps are made from 2 pieces of 1.5" angle, 3 pieces of 1" angle (2 of these to be shown later) and some 2" wide x 1/8" steel flat stock. In the next photo, you'll see the clamping fixture Honest Dave made to hold the machined step pieces in position for TIG tack welding.

From left to right, these pieces are: the machined 1" angle top step so the inside height is 1/2", the 1.5" angles for the middle and bottom steps are machined to be 1.4" deep x 1.125" high and the 2" wide top plate. All pieces machined to be 3.125" wide.

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The clamping fixture is a gangly looking widget, with steps and recesses as needed to allow clamps to be used while allowing access for TIG welding.

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The step side plates were made from 2" wide steel flat stock. Final length for these was approx. 5". Metal stock was cut about 5.5" long and welded in groups of 4 pieces. Had a template made (long time ago) with the step side plate profile. Scribed around the template on each group of side pieces and used a band saw to cut away the unwanted material...leaving the welds in place until as many of the contoured surfaces could be belt sanded. THEN...the welds were cut off and the final belt sanding and edge deburring completed.

The finished step side plates could then be clamped across the tack welded steps to be tack welded. Once all the pieces were held in place, the clamps were removed and the final TIG welding performed.

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In time, mounting holes for the each step would be located and drilled. As the various parts of the step assembly were clamped to the corners of the plywood car floor, tap sized holes for a 10-32 screw would be transferred. Only the welded step assembly would be tapped. The other pieces would eventually be opened for a 10-32 clearance hole. When all the pieces for each corner step were prepared, would number stamp the back side...so after sand blasting and painting...the step sets could still be organized.

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Eventually, the (3) holes in the top step (which is not really the top step) will be countersunk for the 10-32 stainless socket flat head screws. When the wood platform decking is fabricated, the wood decking covers up most of that angle and hides the screw heads...but the thickness of the deck wood planking would end up matching the step height of the middle and lower steps.

In the next photo, you'll see how the top step angle is used with the step assembly to "sandwich" the plywood car floor. During the step assembly process, those (3) drill holes were transferred to the plywood. Have used this method of attaching corner steps now for (2) cabeese and (5) passenger cars. Haven't had anybody accidentally remove a corner step (yet).

The square flat located under/behind the step is the final piece of the corner step assembly "puzzle". There's one of these for each corner step assembly...fabricated in left hand and right hand versions. The 1/8" thick flat is TIG welded to the end of a piece of 1" angle. The holes in these angles were match drilled with the rest of the corner step hardware. The primary purpose of this piece is to provide a place to anchor the safety chain eye bolts...AND...also provides a mounting point for the end beam assembly.

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Next photo is from the car #6 (coach) archives that shows the attachment of the step assembly with the safety chain hook brackets waiting to be attached using (3) nylok nuts each. The safety chain hook holes were drilled/tapped 1/4-20 for the eye bolts.

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As I like to say...Built Strong to Last Long! Go ahead...grab hold and push/pull the car around by the steps! With the steps done, will move along to another detail part next time. Carl B.

[DRS_RR]

Carl, sure enjoy the build, and the trials and tribulations that come with it. the Step fixture is clever.

Dave

[ccvstmr]

Carl, sure enjoy the build, and the trials and tribulations that come with it. the Step fixture is clever.

Dave

Thanks Dave...and as you can imagine, sometimes, have to take 2 steps back to go 3 steps forward (no pun intended). The step fixture? Have to give credit to Honest Dave for that. He figured out what was needed to get the TIG welding tip into tight corners.

Built a Wabash caboose for a friend , had to make a new clamping fixture since caboose steps are typically steeper than passenger car steps. Thanx for your post. Stay tuned in. There's to come. Carl B.

[ccvstmr]

DETAILS - End beams & Railings

Since the discussion regarding the corner steps was just completed, figured the next logical details to describe would be the end beams and railings.

For consistency, the end beams for car #7 would follow the same design as the end beams made for cars #5 and #6. For that matter, Honest Dave's Central Pacific #1 and #2 were built following the #5 and #6 end beams. Why reinvent the wheel? Design work and machining were already done.

Originally, made (9) end beams...but only used (8). Would need an additional end beam for car #7 using the same dimensions as the original beams.

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Beams were "machined" from white oak material. After planing the material to height and width, cut the boards to length. Then, headed for the mill to cut the tapered bottom edges and the recessed face surfaces on the beam ends. The final end rounding was done with a belt sander

The back side of the end beams was machined to make a recess for the coupler end plate. Will see this again shortly.

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The idea for the tapered end railing posts came from my cupola caboose rebuild effort in '15 based on the Rutland RR post practice. Those posts were made by cutting a series of shoulders and then using a file to shave off those shoulders. Honest Dave would do no such thing. He had a taper attachment for his lathe. So, let Dave make the tapered railing post. If I remember, used 3/8" diameter steel round stock for the posts. This would provide a nice sized stanchion base. The base was drilled/tapped for 10-32 screws. Machined a nice "foot" on the post and tapered the rest. The top end of the post was drill/tapped for a 2-56 screw to hold the handrail. Needed a longer stanchion to make the end post as these would be wrapped around a piece of round stock (1.5" diam?) to make the curved end. Wasn't until later when Dave realized the original (4) cars would need a total of 48 posts! He thought this was turning into a "production job"....well, it was...kind of.

For car #7, would need another (6) posts. What? Why only (6)? Had something else in mind for #7's rear railing. Turned the post fabrication back over to Honest Dave to drill, tap and taper the needed posts.

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Then, Honest Dave made a small fixture to be held in a vise while the end of the long posts could be heated and wrapped around the round stock. A small shoulder was turned on the end as this would interlock with a slot on the end of a 1/8" x 1/4" flat steel bar for the railing. An unused end beam was used as a mock up to hold all the railing parts 'n pieces. 2-56 studs were screwed into the tops of the short posts. The railing, already cut to length and drilled for the post studs, was set on top and be held in place with some 2-56 square nuts. Then, the railing joint could be silver soldered.

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After the silver soldered joint was completed, the joint was dressed with a file or other to smooth off any burrs. A piece of brass plated clock chain was used to "close" the railing gap. Eventually, the railing pieces were sand blasted prior to painting.

The next photo is a good view of the beam back side showing the coupler plate mounted in the rear beam recess. Coupler plate mounting holes were drill and countersunk for (4) 10-32 stainless socket flat head screws. This left a flush surface for mounting the end beam assembly on the end of the car. Safety chain eye bolt holes were located and drill with a #7 drill.

Once positioned on the car end and clamped, would drill thru the brackets under the corner steps with the same #7 drill...and then tap those brackets 1/4-20. Holes in the end beam coupler plate would be opened to 1/4". While the end beam is held in place with the safety chain eye bolts, those eye bolts are secured to the car thru the corner step assembly. Haven't pulled anything out of place yet.

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On the face side of the end beam assembly, a piece of 1/2" steel angle was TIG welded to the coupler plate under the coupler shank opening. This is more decorative than anything else, but does provide additional support for the coupler.

The (4) flat head screws inserted from the back of the beam, are held in place with sand blasted stainless #10 flat washers AND #8 stainless square nuts that were drilled/tapped with 10-32 thread. Why? This way, the square nut wouldn't look excessively large. Used this method of drilling/tapping smaller threaded square nut holes MANY times for all the passenger cars built and the trucks they ride on.

At the time the next photo was taken, only thing left to do was give the end beam assembly a couple coatings of satin black spray paint.

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So that's how the end beams were made and at least (1) of the railings fabricated and mounted. Won't get to the other railing for a while. Next time, will look at the end platform preparations. Carl B.

[ccvstmr]

DETAILS - End Platforms

Moving along again, if you thought the end beams were kind of dull, you'll most likely think the end platform work will be boring. But hey, not all subjects can be really exciting!

For this explanation, will dig back and pull up a few photos from the combine car #5 as these show the work needed to fit the planks in place. Once again, used white oak wood to make the end platform planks for car #7. Material was cut/planed to 5/8" thick by 3/4" wide.

As seen in the next photo, cut were needed to clear the corner step hardware on the plywood floor AND the corner step side plates that were higher than the plywood floor. In the case of car #7, there were a couple carriage bolt heats that the end platform planks had to clear. Those bolts attached the center sill to the underside of the plywood floor.

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The table saw was used to cut the various shoulders to the proper height or width. This was an exercise in cut-fit-cut-fit-cut some more- fit once again. And yes, I can still count to 10 on my fingers! Started the blade shallow and raised the blade until enough material was removed to clear any of the obstructions.

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One more photo from car #5...was the recess cut on the ends of the platform planks to simulate the overhang created with the steel corner step angle irons. After all, this didn't have to be steel...as long as it looked like the steel

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The next photo is the back end of car #7. All the planks have been cut and fitted across the platform. The planks are numbered/identified so when it was time to install these, they go back in the same order.

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Work on the observation deck end of car #7 followed the same idea. Needed several longer planks that spanned the width of the observation deck...and cleared any carriage bolt heads. Here, a platform member was needed to hide the end of the plywood floor board. Another plank was cut that was higher/thicker than the other floor planks by the floor thickness...of 1/2".

In addition, this plank needed the bottom cut out to span the plywood floor board in the center. If I recall, had to remove a piece of the plywood floor to allow installation of this one platform plank. Once the trim on the side wing walls was made and installed, couldn't slide this plank in from the top...nor could I slide the plank across the plywood floor. Figured out a way to slip this special plank in by tilting the plank upward, threading the plank across the deck before tilting the plank back down and sliding the plank sideways across the plywood to it's final position.

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Here's one last photo of the observation deck with the corner stairs in place and the wing wall end trim (held in place with masking tape).

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The planks were painted satin black...on the top, sides and ends. The bottom was masked off as the placement identification was needed to set the planks down in order. One hole was drilled off center on each plank. Why? There was a steel center sill on the underside of the plywood floor that had to be avoided. Ran (2) beads of Elmer's Max glue from the end wall to the end of the plywood. Set the planks down in order and drove the one 1" long finish nail home. Set the nail heads below the floor surface and would come back later with some paint to touch up the nail head.

Next time, we'll look at another one of the many details that had to be made. Carl B.

[ccvstmr]

DETAILS - End Doors, Part 1

Have another subject here regarding wood working. Think you'll agree as I get into this...this would turn in to something special.

Doors for the previous passenger cars built were fabricated from 1/4" thick aluminum plate with machined window openings. Peasleecreek once again suggested I look at some Jatoba or Brazilian Cherry wood. Peasleecreek had sufficient experience making caboose interior furniture using cherry wood. Decided to bite the bullet here and try something different. For car #7, aluminum end doors were not going to do.

Found someone on line selling 1/4" thick Jatoba wood planks that were 24" x 3" wide. Cost wasn't going to break the bank either. For something special like this...almost any amount would be worth the investment. Ordered a pair of boards and waited for delivery. When the box finally arrived and looked at the wood...and that's when disappointment hit. Here's what I received...

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This was NOT acceptable. The upper board had "snipe" on the right end (where the board wasn't secured when getting planed...produced a washboard type surface) and the lower board had a crack down the middle. How could someone even think to ship out something like this? Contacted the supplier and shared the same photo with them. He made good on the order and shipped out (2) "good" pieces of wood that he personally inspected. Asked if he wanted the damaged wood stock back? The response..."Not worth it. Keep 'em!" Okay then, but being the impatient person that I can be sometimes, there was still usable material that could use to get the doors started.

Would eventually need some door knobs for the end doors. Have been finding decorative door hardware at Hobby Lobby for previous passenger cars. Purchased another set of door hardware, but this time, opted to paint the knobs silver. Why? Well, as built, the Rutland had stainless steel boiler bands. Other parts of the loco were also made of stainless. One of the benefits when the original builder worked for Nabisco! Wanted to continue the silver-ish appearance to back of the train and use the same type of finish. Tried metallic aluminum at first. Nope, that was "dirty looking". Found where Rustoleum sells a "chrome" spray paint. Wasn't sure about a shiny, metallic, paint finish from a spray can, but...I'm a believer now.

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And then, the 1st set back was encountered...the door openings as framed in the car ends were NOT wide enough! Needed door opening almost 3.875" wide. With the walls skinned and planked...now what? Pried the planks on either side of the original door opening off the plywood. Then, out came the multi-function vibrating tool with a saw blade cutter. Took out a piece of steel and clamped that to the car end on top...and made sure the steel couldn't slide sideways at the bottom with a block of wood. Used the steel as a guide to cut as straight a line as possible.

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When the doorway "surgery" was completed, the wall frame "stud" was narrower, but still plenty of material remained to support the wall and enclose the doorway. In the next photo, can look thru the doorway and see the far end of the car with the doorway material left in the wall.

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Got door openings, now it was time to fill those openings. Next problem...the Jatoba cherry boards were only 3" wide...and the doors would need something almost 4" wide. Using the "good" Jatoba material on hand, cut (2) pieces of wood slightly longer than the door height. Will trim to length later. From the cracked board, cut several strips of cherry wood to attach to the sides of the main door panel. Crossed my fingers the wood grain could be somewhat matched and the wood joints wouldn't be so noticeable. Did the best I could

Once again, Peaseleecreek came to the rescue and noted 5-minute epoxy can be used for gluing up the door pieces. Okay, I've got tubes of 5-minute epoxy from Harbor Freight. Used that stuff previously to secure clutch lining material to brake shoes for trucks...the passenger car trucks included. AND...to fill gaps, Jatoba saw dust can be mixed into the epoxy to make a "wood putty" as needed. This works with most woods...but not necessarily most glues. Elmer's glues are sometimes a plastic based glue. As such, the glued joints won't take stain like the wood if staining is going to be the ultimate wood finish.

The main of cherry wood was flanked by (2) narrower strips of Jatoba and clamped using some small Micro-Mark clamps purchased years ago. These came in handy...despite the fact you can't torque the tightening screw without flexing the clamp beam. Two pieces of 1" square steel were set on top of the glued joints and then a 20# lead weight was set on top of that. Hopefully, all in time before the epoxy really set up.

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Even though the epoxy was rated as 5-minute cure material...decided to let the glued door assembly sit for an hour before the weights and clamps were removed. When the glue process was completed, had (2) pieces of Jatoba wood stock large enough to make the end doors.

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Stick around...the doors are about to take shape. Carl B.

[ccvstmr]

DETAILS - End Doors, Part 2

Following the last entry, the door panels were glued up and clamped to create a piece of material long enough and wide enough to fit the door way. Was time to make the door panel look like a door.

First step was to sand the door panel, front and back. Remembered that friend, Chris, purchased a Microlux drum sander from MicroMark years ago. He forgot he had this...but was able to extract the machine from the cold, dark corner of a cabinet in his shop. For a little machine, this thing was heavy! Worse yet, checked prices on this machine today. Retails for $600+. MicroMark sale price is like $400. Still seems high for a small machine. Borrowing for a few days was the best option.

This drum sander is NOT an industrial grade piece of machinery, but if someone is looking for a machine for hobby wood work, this is a nice little gadget. Was lucky to remove a few thousandths material for each pass. Try to take too big a bite off the wood...and the built in circuit breaker will trip. Material feed is by hand...feed speed is somewhat regulated by the heavy roller on the infeed. To adjust the thickness...there's a thumb screw under the infeed plate and two knobs on the sides to secure the infeed plate position. Still, this was the right machine for this operation.

You'll notice a lot of saw dust on the table surface. Didn't hook up the shop vac on the back side of the sander...but all that fine saw dust on the table was collected in an empty medication bottle in case I needed to make a "wood putty" mix.

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After sanding both front and back of the two door panels, had a nice, flat surface across the board. The ends were eventually cut to fit the door openings leaving a small space at the bottom for a threshold.

Looking at the door panels now, you might think the grain matching on the side strips was "pretty good". In some places...yes. But the real test will come later on when the doors get some clear coating. Clear coating will highlight the grain. Then again, most of those side strips will be covered/hidden by the door frames. Wasn't worth losing any sleep.

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Next, over to the mill. Here's the rear cabin door for car #7. Removed the wood for the lower opening which would get a piece of scribed cherry wood...but not the Jatoba. Wanted a different kind of cherry wood to add some contrast. After the lower panel opening was cut, went back with a quarter rounding cutter to "soften" the panel opening edges. When the lower door opening was completed, would machine a double-hung window for the top of the door.

Jatoba cherry is a dense wood material. Machined nicely and would be followed with some light, fine sanding.

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After the (2) doors were machined, here's how the exterior faces looked...

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On the back side, machined a recess on top for some acrylic glazing. The bottom would get scribed cherry wood insert panels.

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Once again, curiosity got the best of me...had to see how the observation deck door, with an almost full length window opening was going to look. Set the door in the opening and stood back. Yes, think the RR prez would approve!

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Other than drilling holes for the door knobs and making backing boards for the glazing and scribed wood panels, some surface finish would complete the doors. What's next? Need some door frames. Will cover that next. Carl B.

[ccvstmr]

DETAILS - Door frames, Part 3

As more details are described, readers will note the inspiration for many aspects came from photos of real RR practices. Not only from Sierra RR cars #5 and #6, but other railroad equipment as well. Would use some of those elements for car #7's such as door frames. For now, here's the end door from the seating end of combine #5. How do I know which end? The baggage area end door had no windows.

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What caught my eye was the half-round door frame and rounded corners at the top of the doorway. Decided to try and recreate that for #7.

So, back to my supply of Jatoba, 1/4" thick cherry wood. Would laminate (2) pieces to create a door frame that would end up being 1/2" x 1/2". Would make the crossover at the top of the door frame wider (higher) and remove material on the inside curves later on until the top was also 1/2" x 1/2". Tried to laminate all the wood pieces so there was a sufficient lap joint to provide strength for the joints. Once again, 5-minute epoxy would be used to glue the surfaces and ends of the wood pieces.

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When the frames were glued together, went back to the mill and roughed out the inside radii. After the bulk of the material was removed, went back with a regular end mill and "climb cut" the rest of the door frame profile. The outside curves would be "carefully" shaped on a disk sander.

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The side door frames worked out well. Problems came up with the crossover. Why? The wood grain was still running vertically thru the door frame crossover section. Not exactly the strongest part of the wood with vertical grain. On several occasions, the crossover piece would crack/break at a lap joint or along the wood grain elsewhere. Epoxy was used to glue the breaks together. When sufficiently cured, sanded off the excess epoxy "ooze" and TRIED to be more careful when handling the door frames.

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In time, ended up with (2) 1/2" x 1/2" square-ish door frames. But wait...there's still work to be done.

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The next step was to round over both inside and outside door frame edges. Pulled out my electric hand trimmer (smaller version of a router) and installed a 1/4" rounding cutter with a ball bearing on the end. Made several test cuts to adjust the cutter depth. As long as the door frames were shaped to dimension, the cutter bearing would maintain the cutter the same distance from the cherry.

Still had my crude door frame fixture leftover from cars #5 and #6 for this. Made some modifications that would allow inside and outside edge trimming. The door frame needed spacers underneath for cutter bearing clearance. A parallel clamp was used to hold the door frame in the fixture. Plywood filler pieces on the sides and top would allow the hand trimmer to remain square and vertical while the frame sections were rounded over.

In the following photo, there's a plywood spacer (with green tape down the sides) in the center of the door frame that allowed me to push the hand trimmer up against the door frame outer edges without distorting (ie..breaking) the frame. Would run up one side and across the top and down the other side as far as possible. Move the clamp and finish the rounded the outer door frame edge. Another part of the fixture board would set the door frame "inside" plywood supports to allow the hand trimmer to push OUT while supporting the outside of the door frame to round over the inside door frame edges.

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When the rounding over operation was completed, had (2) door frames almost ready for installation. Next entry, will look at the door and frame loose fit and cut the scribed cherry panels for the lower door sections. We're getting closer to getting some finish on the doors and mounting. Carl B.

[NP317]

So much work!
RussN