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Tender trucks

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:00 pm
by hoppercar
Does anyone know of the availability of 1 1/2 scale ..6 wheel commonwealth tender truck castings?.....seems like when I was at mill creek a few years ago, there was a vendor, who had made patterns for them ?...searching thru my records, so far I can't come up with a name , for who has them ??

Re: Tender trucks

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 8:43 pm
by Berkman
I think Little engines offers them.

Re: Tender trucks

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2021 9:03 pm
by Peter Crisler
hoppercar wrote: Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:00 pm Does anyone know of the availability of 1 1/2 scale ..6 wheel commonwealth tender truck castings?.....seems like when I was at mill creek a few years ago, there was a vendor, who had made patterns for them ?...searching thru my records, so far I can't come up with a name , for who has them ??
I got mine from Dave Bortz. He's on the forum.

Re: Tender trucks

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 8:04 am
by Berkman
There's someone else who I've seen referenced the sells the side frames as well, but don't remember the name.

I don't think Dave's, LE or the 3rd source offer drawings etc for truck mounted airbrakes, but I might be mistaken.

Re: Tender trucks

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 8:11 pm
by Highiron
There are basic drawings on the Little Engines Commonwealth tender truck blueprints for brakes they require some tweaking but they are there

Re: Tender trucks

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 1:09 pm
by RONALD
I cast my own.

The photos below are of the styrofoam pattern I made and then of the cast truck, done in A356 aluminum.

It requires making a foam pattern for every part needed including the iron wheels, the white stuff on the right is yet to be poured journal boxes.

Got the drawings from the N&W Historical Society: https://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/rolling ... Type=Steam

Lost Foam044.jpg
DSCN8235.JPG

Re: Tender trucks

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 1:20 pm
by Berkman
There were different styles of commonwealth trucks, I don't know them all. but that I think is a later version than what was commonly seen on earlier steam. Also, some were built to different wheelbase lengths.

Re: Tender trucks

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:44 pm
by hoppercar
Wow, that's interesting. I have made many traditional wood patterns over the years, but have never tried the styrofoam technique. What happens to the surface finish of the casting, when the pour burns out the styrofoam ??

Re: Tender trucks

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2021 7:55 am
by Fender
Usually, the styrofoam pattern is coated with a plaster or ceramic “slurry” that is then allowed to set. The coating prevents the mold from collapsing when the styrofoam burns out.

Re: Tender trucks

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2021 9:44 pm
by RONALD
When I cast those tender truck, the tender waterbed, and other parts from foam patterns, I used a lot of Sodium Silicate treated sand.

The flask was entirely filled with that sand.

Of course, as an amateur, I had no why to recover that sand, it was worth the price!

I have used ceramic slurry also, as seen in the second photo, but it is a rather complicated procedure.