2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

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Pipescs
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Location: Lester Alabama

Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by Pipescs »

Back again,

All the usual life delays have been in the way, New Grandson, moving daughter and son-in-law to NC. and work.

By the way I retire in December,

Picked up the wheels that had been in storage with Steve in Maryland while on vacation.

I chucked up the first of a run of 40 wheels that should give me enough to do the five cars I am planning in retirement.
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DSC_5442.jpg
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


Current Projects:

Scratch Built 3 3/4 scale 0-4-4 Forney
Little Engines American
20 Ton Shay (Castings and Plans Purchased for future)
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makinsmoke
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Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by makinsmoke »

Get everything done you can before you pull the pin in December Charlie.

I can’t seem to find time to get anything finished now that I’ve retired. I’m busy all the time but nothing ever seems to get completed.

I have no idea how I accomplished all I did working full time.

Brian
Jerry_H
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Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by Jerry_H »

YOU ARE SO RIGHT !!!!
www.chaski.com
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Pipescs
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Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by Pipescs »

Hey,

I am going to do the wheels as a batch so the painting has begun.

I did pull two wheels out of the stack to machine them for a look see. They ran fine.
DSC_5467.jpg
DSC_5468.jpg
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


Current Projects:

Scratch Built 3 3/4 scale 0-4-4 Forney
Little Engines American
20 Ton Shay (Castings and Plans Purchased for future)
Glenn Brooks
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Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by Glenn Brooks »

Charlie, man those are superb looking wheels.

Any chance you would consider letting me cast up a batch using your patterns? Iam dabbling in 15” Gauge and need to make up some trucks for rollingnstock.

Glenn
Moderator - Grand Scale Forum

Motive power : 1902 A.S.Campbell 4-4-0 American - 12 5/8" gauge, 1955 Ottaway 4-4-0 American 12" gauge

Ahaha, Retirement: the good life - drifting endlessly on a Sea of projects....
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Fender
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Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by Fender »

Charlie,
I bet the “bolster ring” top and bottom pieces would perform well enough as printed plastic parts, without being made into metal castings. If needed, you could put a thin ptfe “washer” between them for lubrication. Did you upload these to Shapeways?
Dan Watson
Chattanooga, TN
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Pipescs
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Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by Pipescs »

Retirement is 5 working days away. The actual date is Dec 31 but I will be burning off a lot of leave.

As I only have between five and ten projects going, I have decided to attack them one at a time and get in the habit of only having one project open at a time. As those that know me will state, This will be the greatest accomplishment in my life.

Starting last month the project to finish is these arch bar trucks for the five cars. Idea being that when I start cutting wood for the cars I will have the rolling gear to sit them on.

Last month I picked up the Wheel Castings and machined them all to size.
DSC_5486.jpg
The size by the way is of a 24 inch wheel. The pattern drawings for a 26 inch wheel is complete and as soon as the QA department approves the final cut I will send it off to Shapeways for printing.

This month I have been working on the forty journal boxes and lids. I will say the drilling and fitting of the lids is the most tedious thing I run across in a while. Not hard, just tedious.
DSC_5492.jpg
The rest of today will be fitting and drilling the journal boxes for the lids.

The next forty items to machine are the Brake Hanger Columns.
DSC_5485.jpg
DSC_5494.jpg
One note to anyone ever having custom castings done. Order extras as this happens more often than you would think. Cattail will of course give you credit for it should you send it back, but that, to me, is more trouble than it is worth. Easier to just have a few extra in case. At a dollar a pound plus molding fees this particular part is around $3.00.


Enough resting. Back to fitting lids to boxes.
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


Current Projects:

Scratch Built 3 3/4 scale 0-4-4 Forney
Little Engines American
20 Ton Shay (Castings and Plans Purchased for future)
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NP317
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Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by NP317 »

Casting flaws? J.B. Weld.
RN
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Pipescs
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Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by Pipescs »

With this one, I will be able to use J.B. Weld. I had one other void in the brake hanger area which weakened it to the point it broke off when I was machining it.

I did get all the lids drilled today and half are mounted to the journal boxes. I needed a break at lunch and my time is not as free in retirement as I had hoped. But I believe you guys told me that already.
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


Current Projects:

Scratch Built 3 3/4 scale 0-4-4 Forney
Little Engines American
20 Ton Shay (Castings and Plans Purchased for future)
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Pipescs
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Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by Pipescs »

Tom Artzberger has the parts from the wheels up !!!!
So at this point I am curious about the above input.

How does one locate Tom?
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


Current Projects:

Scratch Built 3 3/4 scale 0-4-4 Forney
Little Engines American
20 Ton Shay (Castings and Plans Purchased for future)
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Fender
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Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by Fender »

Pipescs wrote: Tue Nov 12, 2019 6:39 pm
Tom Artzberger has the parts from the wheels up !!!!
So at this point I am curious about the above input.

How does one locate Tom?
Tom Arzberger = Hartford Shops = www.tacllc.biz
Dan Watson
Chattanooga, TN
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Pipescs
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Re: 2.5 Inch Scale Boxcar From the Wheels up

Post by Pipescs »

Thanks Dan,

I like his trucks, but for the price of $1000.00 each he must have access to better equipment and bulk purchases that help control his cost.

Two years ago I might have thought this was a high price. Now I will tell you there is no way I could sell them for that.

Having not really been religious on tracking my time on each of the components, I can say that a set of arch bar trucks takes some time to make all the parts.

Wheels alone took me an average of 55 minutes each to machine. This with two 14 inch lathes set up strictly for the wheels so that I could machine them 40 at a time.

Journal boxes not so bad, maybe 20 min each once I was on a roll. But drilling and fitting the lids almost as bad. Then there is bending all the bars and drilling them.

Casting cost, Shipping cost for the castings, bar stock and shipping, Lids, Bearings, bolts and hardware, all add up quickly

These babies are quite tedious on some of the operations. I need to do a parts count. This by the way does not include the brakes

Good thing this is a hobby and the hours don't count.
Charlie Pipes
Mid-South Live Steamers


Current Projects:

Scratch Built 3 3/4 scale 0-4-4 Forney
Little Engines American
20 Ton Shay (Castings and Plans Purchased for future)
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