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Rick's '89-'94 Highlands Workbench - FPA Container Flats


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https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/UKRailRollingstock/T/TTA-2-axle-tank-wagons/

 

Funny how opinions differ, I always thought the 3 piece Bachmann tank moulding was realistic when weathered, as the real thing seems to be in 3 pieces!

 

Mike.

 

Edited by Enterprisingwestern
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2 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/UKRailRollingstock/T/TTA-2-axle-tank-wagons/

 

Funny how opinions differ, I always thought the 3 piece Bachmann tank moulding was realistic when weathered, as the real thing seems to be in 3 pieces!

 

Mike.

 

I don’t think there was any dispute around there being a joint/line on the base prototype but all the ones I have had the ridge seems to vary round the barrel so if your ever trying to remove it for a flush tank you really struggle to get rid completely.

 

Not very well executed rather than badly thought out although I wonder whether a one piece barrel with separate end mouldings from design may have allowed a longer term plan for other variants.

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  • Rick_Skateboard changed the title to Rick's '89-'94 Highlands Workbench - LPG TTAs
21 hours ago, Ramblin Rich said:

I can't find anyone with stock of the Electrotren wagon in the UK :( - now keeping an eye open for one....

 

9 hours ago, Wummyock said:

I love this thread Ive managed to buy 3 of the Electrotren Polybulks in the last week on Ebay from out of Europe(best done before Brexit kicks in proper haha) They are very far and few between though. Some in the states but they want a lot of money for them.

 

I got mine on eBay, from a shop in Germany.  It was €25, and €14.80 postage, which works out about £35 all in.  Model numbers 5600, 5601, 5602, and 5603 all seem to be the same wagon just in different liveries. 

 

Hope that is of some use.

 

Rick

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8 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

Funny how opinions differ, I always thought the 3 piece Bachmann tank moulding was realistic when weathered, as the real thing seems to be in 3 pieces!

 

Mike.

 

 

5 hours ago, SHerr said:

I don’t think there was any dispute around there being a joint/line on the base prototype but all the ones I have had the ridge seems to vary round the barrel so if your ever trying to remove it for a flush tank you really struggle to get rid completely.

 

Not very well executed rather than badly thought out although I wonder whether a one piece barrel with separate end mouldings from design may have allowed a longer term plan for other variants.

 

Perhaps it is a case of badly executed rather than badly designed, as SHerr says, the three pieces aren't very well lined up/put together, and it makes it look bad, and very difficult to flush off it that's what you're trying to do.  The one I started with seemed particularly bad, with a yawning gap between two of the sections.  I think a one-piece moulding with a fine raised weld seam detail on it would have been better, although perhaps more difficult and expensive to produce.


Cheers

 

Rick

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14 minutes ago, Rick_Skateboard said:

 

 

I got mine on eBay, from a shop in Germany.  It was €25, and €14.80 postage, which works out about £35 all in.  Model numbers 5600, 5601, 5602, and 5603 all seem to be the same wagon just in different liveries. 

 

Hope that is of some use.

 

Rick

One was from a German seller(possibly the same one you bought from) and the other two from a seller in France. How hard are they to take apart? Im thinking of doing Grainflow version though I noticed the ends are different so may have to have a think about the rebuild. 

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2 hours ago, Wummyock said:

One was from a German seller(possibly the same one you bought from) and the other two from a seller in France. How hard are they to take apart? Im thinking of doing Grainflow version though I noticed the ends are different so may have to have a think about the rebuild. 

I think they are one of those things where you have to be patient as they don’t come up that often, I seem to recall I got one then had 2 wait about 2 or 3 years to find another then a third came up a few weeks later. 
 

From memory searching eBay with ‘electrotren 56xx’ using the codes above is the best way of flushing them out. Normal descriptions around Electrotren HO, grain, pokybulk etc often seemed to draw blanks. 

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33 minutes ago, SHerr said:

I think they are one of those things where you have to be patient as they don’t come up that often, I seem to recall I got one then had 2 wait about 2 or 3 years to find another then a third came up a few weeks later. 
 

From memory searching eBay with ‘electrotren 56xx’ using the codes above is the best way of flushing them out. Normal descriptions around Electrotren HO, grain, pokybulk etc often seemed to draw blanks. 

Silo wagen works as well. If Hornby had any sense they could possibly do well if they reproduced these wagons even unpainted.

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9 hours ago, Rick_Skateboard said:

Remember the Electrotren model is only suitable for the Scottish Malt Distillers Polybulk, not the Grainflow one. Those are a different shape.

 

 

Those links may be useful?

 

Cheers

 

Rick

 

I just had a look at Paul Bartletts site and I see they are  a bit different in profile. Never knew that tbh, I thought it was just the ends, now the question is do I make the ends look right and just accept the body shape wont be spot on? Painted and transfers applied will it be noticeable?

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With regard to the seamless TTA conversion etc, are there domes and tubes of the correct diameter in the acrylic section of the Plastruct range?,  a route I was considering going down when considering gas wagons, although in the roundtuit pile at the moment!

I thought it a possibly easier route to a smooth sided wagon.

 

Mike.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 17/11/2020 at 00:31, Rick_Skateboard said:

That's an interesting idea, and would possibly be an easier route to a flush tank, but one of the nicer bits of the Bachmann tank moulding is the riveted angle iron supports at the bottom - and you'd lose them! 

 

No easy answer, I fear.

 

Rick

Hi Rick

 

You can get then flush. Glue together, milliput and sand away.  Awaiting the mojo to hash together an etch for the doors - these have been a EIP for a while. M

20201126_204813.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

FPA update.

 

I've fitted the 3D printed FPAs with bearings, disc braked wheels, and turned metal buffer heads.  

20201220_225701.jpg.e6f3f38d8ab081dfdde0a451ef7887ed.jpg 

I turned my attention to couplings next, I've got a height gauge for NEM pockets and I used this to offer a Bachmann coupler pocket and holder up to the bufferbeam of the wagon.  Then I filed the top off it until it sat under the wagon frame, and glued it in position.  Last job was gluing the disc brake calipers on, they still need painting, and then the wagons are pretty much finished. 

 

20201230_172442.jpg.1082b45e7008df45b6aa1b89c653e03d.jpgNEM coupler pocket height gauge.

 

20201230_172602.jpg.19284100715834bc99cecf41b78ba389.jpgThe gauge just sits on the rail.

 

20201230_173627.jpg.091d0ce70f39fdbf7ed3eb3458383185.jpgBachmann coupler arrangement sat on the jig.  These were pinched from some wagons I fitted with three link couplings, so I've got a box full of them.

 

20201230_175205.jpg.dd15c6cb53ff46f0bafbd9951e680808.jpgCoupler filed down ready to be glued under the wagon frame.

 

20201230_181455.jpg.2f19981e7af9dde6d87ba7875ddc8b35.jpgHere's the filed down one and an unmodified one to show how much material needs removing.

 

20201230_185907.jpg.a82dc96313ab46954410667122c37a4f.jpgThe brake calipers are very fragile, but once they're glued in they shouldn't get touched again.  A cocktail stick was conveniently the right size to hold them while the glue dried.

 

20201230_191233.jpg.9bbc74299e51d0ac7c911fc183268926.jpgRoco couplings on the FPA and a Bachmann TTA.  I'm aiming to use Roco couplings on all the fixed rakes on the layout because they pull up tight with no slack, and using a combination of the longer and shorter type you can usually get a nice distance between vehichle buffers.  

 

At some point I'm going to have to make coal containers to go on these, and that will be the obvious place to put some weight, because they're very light at the moment.

 

That's it for now.  Happy New Year to those reading this, hopefully 2021 will be better!

 

Rick

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  • Rick_Skateboard changed the title to Rick's '89-'94 Highlands Workbench - FPA Container Flats

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