12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

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.

Moderators: Glenn Brooks, Harold_V

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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.
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Glenn Brooks
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Location: Woodinville, Washington

Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by Glenn Brooks »

Very nice work on the shiplap. curious what wood you choose for the decking? i made up a flat car couple of years ago with some recycled old growth fir, shiplapped per the original. I should have used hardwood, such as oak, teak or sapele for the end caps, as a particularly heavy load dropped to hard on the end and shattered one of the end pieces... oh well, something else to do for the back shop crew. They are not busy at all, always looking for work. hahaha. Not!

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....
0351
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Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by 0351 »

Lol! Keep that crew busy!
I’m using oak. Had some left over oak lumber laying around the shop, and used it to build the under frame a deck boards. It will need to be sealed and painted to weather proof.
“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
Posts: 1730
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 10:33 am
Location: Wa State

Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by rkcarguy »

Curtis, your progress looks good, keep going!
I think the oak will serve you well. I would recommend a "polymerizing" product, then paint over it with an oil based paint.
I recently acquired an extra tall steel bucket with a lid that a bunch of bolts came in, which will allow me to totally submerge my ties and strips of wood for my flat cars in my linseed oil, deck stain, and rustoleum paint blend. I figure I'll put the lid on and just let the wood soak it up until it sinks.
0351
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Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by 0351 »

Trash-gons draft gear/bolsters are finished. Had to route a relief in the two center sills to allow for the welds along the side of the coupler tube. Bolsters will have a 1”center pin, and will be bolted to the frame with through bolts, counter sunk from the top side of the sills. Also got all the queen post made up. They are cut from a piece of 1.5”aluminum rail.
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“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)
Glenn Brooks
Posts: 2929
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2014 1:39 pm
Location: Woodinville, Washington

Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by Glenn Brooks »

I like the way you bolt the bolsters to the frame, rather weld. That is prototypical, and for very good reason. Easy to maintain and replace in case you need to go into the frame for repairs...

Great work!


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....
0351
Posts: 153
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:08 pm
Location: Behind enemy lines

Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by 0351 »

I may use this same design of the frame and bolster for the other freight cars as well. It will allow for ease of fabrication and repair. One charge of the boater design I’m considering, is to replace the 1/4” plate bolster with 1.5”x 3” rectangle tubing, notched into the sills. This would allow the entire weight of a load to be transferred on th the bolster instead of the wooden car frame carrying most of the weight.
Hillcrest uses this style of setup. (3rd pic below)
Although on the two highside gons I may add an extra drop extension near the ends of them two the center sills to keep the same coupler height but allow the highside gon to ride higher like the prototype. They kinda sit high on their tiptoes.
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“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
Posts: 153
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:08 pm
Location: Behind enemy lines

Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by 0351 »

A Christmas package of parts arrived from Creative Trains!
I had ran into a problems when bending up drop grabs out of 1/4” round steel. Didn’t like the looks of the drop returns, and it took a lot of work flattening the ends. After some thought I hit up on the idea of cutting out small tabs to braze to the grabs. Creative Trains was willing to get these small parts CNC cut for me. Came out great with very minimal clean up.
Also had the flat part of the freight car cut lever brackets made.
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“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
Posts: 153
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:08 pm
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Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by 0351 »

Bolsters, and couplers are mounted to the gon’s frame.
Now for the queen post, truss rods, and turn buckles.
Waiting on a left thread 5/16” die to arrive so I can get both truss rod ends threaded.
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“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
Posts: 1730
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 10:33 am
Location: Wa State

Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by rkcarguy »

Looking really good Curtiss. You going to have it rolling soon? Honestly I was thinking about modeling the same era D&RGW diesels when I started my backyard RR build, just for the fact the wood rolling stock would be so much faster and easier to build than steel. The nearly constant rain here in the PNW would have required almost constant upkeep on the wood though, so I scrapped that idea for that reason.
0351
Posts: 153
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:08 pm
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Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by 0351 »

It’s gonna be awhile yet before she’s rolling.
Still got to get axles made and trucks finished up.
Not much in the last couple weeks. Been trying to survive Covid round two. That knock me down for awhile. Last several days ive been feeling great!
I managed to get the truss rods bent, threaded, and assembled with the turn buckles. Had to abbreviate the angled section of the truss rods to clear the wheels. Still, it doesn't look to off, and captures the look.
Tonight, I shot a coat of enamel paint on the underside. Ready to flip over, and get started on the deck, and side boards.

I first coated the wood with a waterproofing sealer/solid base stain. Then let it dry for several weeks, before spraying a coat of enamel paint. I’m hoping that keeps the wood from deteriorating over time.
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“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
Posts: 1730
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 10:33 am
Location: Wa State

Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by rkcarguy »

Covid is no fun, we went through that mid-November through the first week of December. Hopefully round two wasn't as bad as round one?
Your progress looks great, can't wait to see it rolling.
rkcarguy
Posts: 1730
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2017 10:33 am
Location: Wa State

Re: 12” gauge DRGW Inspired RR

Post by rkcarguy »

Question for you. Did you end up drilling clearance holes through your flat bar bolsters?
I was looking at my 2-hole bearing housings, and it appears there is enough room for a flanged bolster pin, or maybe a button head bolt with the head turned down a little, if you installed the bolt first and then bolted the bearing to the bolster. Then you could escape drilling this big through hole in your bolster bars.
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