Wooden Wagon Works

[burgundy]

Over the years, I have built rolling stock in plastic, white metal and brass, sometimes all in the same kit. However, this is the first time that I have built a “wooden” vehicle - using wood.
A change from several decades of work on L.B.& S.C.R. prototypes in EM gauge, to a short diversion into HOb5 (or HOw60 if you insist) in 1860s Georgia has produced a number of interesting, different perspectives. Just for a start, it is sobering to move from a comfort zone in which you not only have a good library, but also, failing that, can contact the experts who have done primary research on the subject. Try moving into a completely new area, in which you have none of the background (nor even cultural understanding), and start from scratch. Then try asking “why” about some of the assumptions that are made in your new area of research, and try reading across some of the experience that you have gained over the years, to see whether it might shed a different light on some of those issues.  
All this is a slightly philosophical way of saying that, going into the water a toe at a time, I have got to the stage of experimenting with some rolling stock that might fit my intended time and place. The choice is actually relatively simple, as there appear to be only two suppliers who deal with this kind of period. One is Alkem (aka Bernard Kempinski of this parish): the other is BTS. Both supply a limited range of items and both use laser cut wood as the main material.
The first photo shows what you get when you open the bag of bits for a flat wagon with side stakes – which appears to have been a rather more common vehicle on early US railroads than in the UK.

The second photo shows the kit of parts for the bogies or trucks.

Construction was remarkably simple (given limited modelling facilities) with the first steps looking something like this.

This stage has been reached with nothing more than a craft knife and a bottle of white glue, which happened to be available at my daughter’s house. Fine sand paper is recommended, but, in its absence, I have not found much need for it. The bogies (trucks) are built from similar materials, but have not been completed as I am still waiting for the wheelsets to arrive. As an aside, I have seen a number of comments on RMWeb about the difficulty of buying from cottage industries in the UK when you live offshore. Can I say that I have become much more sympathetic after trying to buy from US suppliers? I really don’t think that I would have persevered if I had not been able to use my daughter’s address in the US and, on occasions, her credit card when, for example, PayPal insists on the card issuer and the shipping address being in the same continent.
The vehicle below is a Georgia Railroad house car from BTS. The photo shows it at the stage where a wooden carcase has been built and it will be sheathed with planked overlays.

UK vehicles would have had a great deal more visible ironwork, which would have made this method of construction rather less viable. Without any depth of knowledge, I am assuming that the kit manufacturers have done the research and that this is a reasonable replica of the real thing – given the level of historical data available. If this were an LB&SCR prototype, I am pretty sure that I could find drawings from the HMRS or in the NRM: for the comparable period in the US, much less seems to be available and you suddenly realised how spoiled we are in the UK. The trucks for this one will be 3D prints on order from Panamint who sell via Shapeways – another new manufacturing experience for me.  
When it comes to painting, I think I shall livery both these vehicles as Western and Atlantic. My notional location is on the W & A RR and my understanding is that, even in the 1860s, US railroads transhipped freight from one company’s vehicle to another when they interchanged. The idea of through running of vehicles (enabled by the Railway Clearing House in the UK) seems to have come much later in the US and trains would therefore consist uniformly of home company vehicles. I am therefore making an assumption (that I would not make with UK rolling stock) that it will look less wrong to have assorted (but possibly prototypically wrong) vehicles but in a consistent colour scheme.

Best wishes

Eric

Edited October 6, 2014 by burgundy

[burgundy]

This is what the flat car looks like with a coat of paint, although it is still just "plonked" on the trucks. Is there a datum height for link and pin couplers, or some other body feature, that would establish whether there needs to be some packing between the body and the trucks? And does anyone know where you can get link and pin couplers please?

Best wishes

Eric

[Talltim]

Nice looking models. I've found modelling early US stuff a bit of a culture shock as well, although I'm going for 60 years later than you. There is so much literature about the railways of the UK (is there a minor line without at least one book on it?) that just isn't replicated in the US.

If you aren't already, I recommend joining the Early Rail group on Yahoo, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EarlyRail/info

[burgundy]

Tim

Thank you. I subscribe both to the Early Rail and the American Civil War Railroads Groups.

It is all my daughter's fault. She and her husband are currently living just outside Atlanta, in an area that is particularly rich in civil war history. And when you are told that there is no point in trying to represent 5' gauge track (and you are an EM gauge modeller of UK prototypes) it really is the sort of challenge that is impossible to resist.

Best wishes
Eric     

[garethashenden]

Pannamint do 3d printed link and pin coupler boxes but I believe they recommend using brass wire for the actual couplings.

[burgundy]

Gareth

Sorry if I am missing something obvious, but I could not find Panamint link and pin sockets in HO? I do have some trucks from his range for the other vehicles that I am building and they are very nicely detailed.

Best wishes

Eric

[garethashenden]

Ah, right. I haven't actually looked for HO ones but they do them in N and seem to do most of their products in multiple scales, so I assumed they were in HO as well...

 

I'd email him and ask if he could do them in HO.

Edited March 1, 2015 by garethashenden

[2996 Victor]

The first photo shows what you get when you open the bag of bits for a flat wagon with side stakes – which appears to have been a rather more common vehicle on early US railroads than in the UK.

1 flatcar kit.jpg

The second photo shows the kit of parts for the bogies or trucks.

2 kit bogie.jpg

Construction was remarkably simple (given limited modelling facilities) with the first steps looking something like this.

3 flat wagon (1024x381).jpg

This stage has been reached with nothing more than a craft knife and a bottle of white glue

The vehicle below is a Georgia Railroad house car from BTS. The photo shows it at the stage where a wooden carcase has been built and it will be sheathed with planked overlays.

4 house car (1024x497).jpg

UK vehicles would have had a great deal more visible ironwork, which would have made this method of construction rather less viable. Without any depth of knowledge, I am assuming that the kit manufacturers have done the research and that this is a reasonable replica of the real thing – given the level of historical data available. The trucks for this one will be 3D prints on order from Panamint who sell via Shapeways.  

When it comes to painting, I think I shall livery both these vehicles as Western and Atlantic.

 

 

This is what the flat car looks like with a coat of paint, although it is still just "plonked" on the trucks. Is there a datum height for link and pin couplers, or some other body feature, that would establish whether there needs to be some packing between the body and the trucks? And does anyone know where you can get link and pin couplers please?

IMG_1278.JPG

IMG_1280.JPG

Best wishes

Eric

 

Hi Eric,

 

Another bit of thread revival.....

 

Did you ever complete these cars? What did you think of the kits and their method of construction as compared to what we're used to in the UK? Any more photos?

 

Best regards,

 

Mark

[burgundy]

Mark 

The short answer is that there has been no further progress since the last report on this thread. However, the vehicles will form part of the overall Roswell Mill project and the story will carry on on that thread.

Best wishes 

Eric