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Re: Reducing 1/48 drawing to 1/87

Dick Harley
 

On Thu Aug 19, 2010 Richard Townsend wrote :

>>Multiply the 1/48 dimension by 0.55 is how I do it.
>>You seem to have very high standards and may want to multiply by
0.55109.

Actually, if you want exact HO scale (3.5 mm. = 1 foot) from exact O
scale (0.25 in. = 1 foot), you would multiply the O scale dimension
by 0.5511811
(That's 3.5 mm/ft divided by 25.4 mm/in divided by 0.25 in/ft.)

HO scale is really 1/87.085714 scale ratio. Some folks use 1/87,
and some use 1/87.1, but if you want to be accurate ....

Yours for accuracy where you can find it,
Dick Harley
Laguna Beach, CA
Train of Thought- Sanding resin flash, or: avoiding bloody finger tips.

Denny Anspach <danspach@...>
 

Friends, I am once again engaging in my usual summer push-on-the-porch to build at least several fine kits, some really challenging, and others merely enjoyable. I have no grand plan or scheme, but simply choose those projects that catch my fancy and interest.

One of my current projects is a thoroughly delightful Westerfield Milwaukee Road 36' drop-door stock car kit, and as one might expect, the exquisite flat sides with their myriads of slats and fine bracing are all laid out in high relief on a relatively thick tough slab of resin. Now, the entire project depends upon cleaning out all flash between these fine slats and braces without collateral damage, the produced spaces to be squarely and smoothly cleared. In this regard, all know what to do: sand the backs of these sides until the flash between the slats becomes so thin that it can be easily cleaned out with the hosts of various sharp instruments that are right at hand (none of which really fit, or do the job!).

So the sanding of these large pieces begin: a segment of 220 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper is laid out flat; the side is placed on its back; and with fingers spread-eagled the length and width of the slide, the side is moved back and forth with sufficient pressure to engage the cutting sand paper granules, but not enough to grab the sandpaper and bunch it up with the creases that will only cause future problems.

Well, after a considerable length of time (I count to 100 slowly, with about three swipes per count per bout of sanding), I take a look and- I find that the flash is indeed minutely being removed, but primarily only under the tips of my "light" fingers. I change the position of my fingers, but I do not get very far because the sand paper is now loading up. I wash the sandpaper with a drop of detergent, dry it on a tea towel, and then get back to sanding. I rotate the side; I try to flatten my finger tips; I change my finger positions; I load up again; I wash again, and so on. Finally, I detect that the the bloom is off the rose on this once-fresh sandpaper (resin must be harder than I would imagine), and new sand paper is called for.

Now, I steal the small broiler pan out of the toaster over, fill it with detergent water, submerge the sandpaper, and commence sanding again, this time underwater. Things move faster (the paper is now self cleaning), and at least an elapsed 1/2 hour each after starting, finally the sides are becoming thin enough so that the flash between the slats and braces is thin enough to attack with my sharp sticks. However, at the same time, the sides are also becoming thin enough to become somewhat delicate to the handling that is still necessary.

But wait! The much thinned flash must still be removed so that the slats and braces have clean sharp edges, both in fact and in perception. This is undertaken with my principal sharp stick: a #11 Xacto blade whose point has been specially honed on an Arkansas stone, and whose "square" backside has also been flat-sharpened- i.e. the 90º corners are also made as sharp as possible so that with only only the slightest tip, the backside will cut -actually scrape- just about as well as the knife edge on the other side. With this wonder tool, and a variety of stiff brushes, pokers, etc. and about an expended time of @hour, at last the exquisite, now fully-fenestrated sides are ready for their ends to be mitered to fit the car ends (also mitered).

I write this all up so that I can learn from others how THEY handle this relatively common but time consuming and tedious situation. My finger prints have probably been erased from my fingers during previous bouts of such resin flash sanding with much smaller pieces, the skin of the fingers being freshly sanded -bloody even- along with the target resin part.

I will say that demanding kits like this make me realize once again what a fulfilling delightful hobby this is!

Denny










H-mmm.
Denny S. Anspach, MD
Okoboji, Iowa
Re: Hutchins Roofs

Richard Hendrickson
 

On Aug 19, 2010, at 1:32 PM, Bill Welch wrote:

I agree with Ed that the minor rib on Hutchins roofs are often
exaggerated. Another point to remember is that on FGE./WFE/BRE cars
rebuilt with this roof there is no such rib or really crease. My
theory is that they purchased Hutchins parts but supplied their own
steel panels. For those of you building the modernized Westerfield
model of the ex-PRR R7 reefers, you need to remove the rib cast into
the middle of the roof panels.
Bill, as I think I have pointed out in a previous post, the Hutchins
information in the Car Builders' Cyclopedias is ambiguous. In the
illustration in the 1931 CBCyc, the shallow intermediate ribs between
the seam caps are shown, but in the drawing that accompanies it (and
also appears in the 1937 CBCyc) they are not. So IMHO a more likely
explanation than your speculation above is that at some point in the
late 1920s Hutchins stopped putting the shallow ribs on the roof
sheets, and they were no longer present by the time FGEX began
applying Hutchins roofs.

Richard Hendrickson
Re: Reefer brake question

rwitt_2000
 

Richard Hendrickson wrote:

On Aug 19, 2010, at 6:05 AM, Clark and Eileen wrote:

An acquaintance asked me this question. I thought it might be good
to get a definitive answer for this group. Thanks for any
comments : ))
Clark Propst
Mason City Iowa

"Forgive me if I've asked about this before. The brake gear on
both the Accurail and the Branchline all-wood reefers is of the
"brake staff" type, with the wheel positioned above the roof. By
the middle to late 50's, would this style have been replaced (on
all-wood cars that survived, which I'm led to believe some did) by
the more modern "flush" brake wheel positioning on the end, or by a
brake lever system? Or, would some have had the old-style staff-and-
wheel into this period?"
Clark, freight cars of any type - not just reefers but box cars,
hoppers, etc. - which were originally equipped with vertical staff
brakes often kept their original hand brakes through the period
covered by this list and into the 1960s. While some car owners (e.g.
the Santa Fe) made a practice of replacing vertical staff brakes with
geared hand brakes (Ajax, Miner, etc.) after World War II when cars
came through the shops for major repairs, many cars built in the
1920s and early 1930s with vertical staff brakes kept them until they
were retired. I have abundant photographic evidence for this.
I agree with Richard. The B&O sent all their M-26, M-26a, M-26b and all
their N-12 twin hoppers to retirement with their original vertical staff
brakes with horizontal brake wheels. The M-26s lasted into the 1960s.
Some hopper cars received power hand brakes during various re-buildings
including their USRA twin hoppers, class N-17 and their class W-1b a
quad hoppers that were based upon the PRR H21. There are photos to
verify this.

Bob Witt
Re: Reducing 1/48 drawing to 1/87

Anthony Thompson <thompson@...>
 

Nolan Hinshaw wrote:
I was so much older then; I'm younger than that now.
Great insight, Nolan. Me too <g>.

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@signaturepress.com
Publishers of books on railroad history
Re: New Paint Schemes for Atlas 11,000 Gal.

Tim O'Connor
 

I suspect the designation only will be applied to OBVIOUSLY
fantastic paint schemes. Athearn has done the same thing and
has clearly sold models as "fantasy" paint schemes. They did
this with the Santa Fe 50 foot ice reefers for example.

As Tom noted, you shoot yourself in the foot if you label cars
too accurately. Imagine Microsoft trying to market Windows by
saying "It's not Linux, but it's almost as good!"

Tim O'Connor

I've seen the prior discussions here about MTH, and I have no idea what their definition of 'accurate' is.

But in their catalogs (I'm assuming it will also be on the packaging) they have a an orange "I" that indicates the car is not prototypical. Here's their description:

While we take pride in the prototype accuracy of most of our
HO products, you will find items in this and future catalogs
bearing an designation (and item numbers with an "81"
prefix) that may feature imaginary graphics or stray from historical
accuracy. These products are exciting and
enjoyable for railroaders who like to use their imagination
and just have some fun.

Randy Hammill
http://newbritainstation.com
Re: Reducing 1/48 drawing to 1/87

Richard Townsend
 

Multiply the 1/48 dimension by 0.55 is how I do it. You seem to have very high standards and may want to multiply by 0.55109.


Richard Townsend
Lincoln City, Oregon

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Welch <fgexbill@tampabay.rr.com>
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, Aug 19, 2010 3:47 pm
Subject: [STMFC] Reducing 1/48 drawing to 1/87




I am somewhat embarrassed to admit I am drawing a blank on how to
calculate the % for reducing a drawing done in 1/48 to 1/87. While I
am getting over having to ask, can someone help me out?!

I was much better at geometry and trigonometry.

Bill Welch
Re: Reducing 1/48 drawing to 1/87

Nolan Hinshaw
 

On Aug 19, 2010, at 3:47 PM, Bill Welch wrote:

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit I am drawing a blank on how to
calculate the % for reducing a drawing done in 1/48 to 1/87. While I
am getting over having to ask, can someone help me out?!
You want to make the output smaller than the input, so it's
48/87.1 and some Robert's a sibling to one of your parents.
The key is to determine whether you want to enlarge or reduce.
One bite makes you larger, the other makes you small . . .

A sneaky way is to use a scanner and a program that'll allow
you to change the print size of an image; an even sneakier
way is to use a scanner and a CAD tool to digitize the source
image into a vector file and then just use the re-scale function
in the CAD tool.

I was much better at geometry and trigonometry.

I was so much older then; I'm younger than that now.
--
Nolan Hinshaw, native Californian since 1944
"Every freight train has at least one NP box car"
the Brock Corollary to the GN hypothesis
Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses

Jim Pickett
 

Does anybody know if Hi-Tech Details has plans to make air and signal hoses and appliances for passenger cars? I have tried to contact then several times and they don't answer.


Jim Pickett

--- On Thu, 8/19/10, cobrapsl@aol.com <cobrapsl@aol.com> wrote:


From: cobrapsl@aol.com <cobrapsl@aol.com>
Subject: Re: [STMFC] Hi-Tech Details air hoses
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, August 19, 2010, 2:44 PM


 




Pierre

I use the Hi-Tech hoses exclusively. Depending on the prototype, I use #6038 with the PSC casting, or #6040. I like brass bracket for rigidity. I have never used #6039.

Paul Lyons

-----Original Message-----
From: Pierre <pierre.oliver@start.ca>
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, Aug 19, 2010 10:35 am
Subject: [STMFC] Hi-Tech Details air hoses

I'ce been using Kadee air hoses for sometime now, but am giving serious consideration to switching over to the rubber items from Hi-Tech Details.
The big question for me seems to be whether to use the #6039 with molded on bracket, or the #6040 with the seperate brass bracket. Cost aside I'd like to hear feedback from fellows who have used these items and their preferences.
Thanks,
Pierre Oliver
www.elgincarshops.com
Reducing 1/48 drawing to 1/87

Bill Welch
 

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit I am drawing a blank on how to calculate the % for reducing a drawing done in 1/48 to 1/87. While I am getting over having to ask, can someone help me out?!

I was much better at geometry and trigonometry.

Bill Welch
Re: New Paint Schemes for Atlas 11,000 Gal.

Randy Hammill
 

I've seen the prior discussions here about MTH, and I have no idea what their definition of 'accurate' is.

But in their catalogs (I'm assuming it will also be on the packaging) they have a an orange "I" that indicates the car is not prototypical. Here's their description:

While we take pride in the prototype accuracy of most of our
HO products, you will find items in this and future catalogs
bearing an designation (and item numbers with an "81"
prefix) that may feature imaginary graphics or stray from historical
accuracy. These products are exciting and
enjoyable for railroaders who like to use their imagination
and just have some fun.

Randy Hammill
http://newbritainstation.com

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "pullmanboss" <tcmadden@...> wrote:

As has been discussed here often, the bogus paint schemes help pay for models we might not otherwise get. I wish the label would include a mention of accurate or not lettering as a caution to those few of us who care. Until then I am very grateful for this group which always seems to have someone who can provide accurate information about nearly anything freight-car-wise.

Thank you all,
Gene Green
No mfgr is in a hurry to dip his toe in that particular pool, Gene. Rapido's Jason Shron explained it very nicely on Trainorders.com the other day in the following exchange regarding fantasy paint schemes on his steam generator car:

BEGIN QUOTED TEXT
As much as I respect Jason S. at Rapido. They do
have a penchant for "fantasy" paint schemes. Don't
get me wrong, I TOTALLY understand the whys as to
why they do it. There are times when I wish they
would label them for what they are "fantasy
schemes".
When it comes to motive power, we will indeed do that, even if it means we will lose some sales.

But for rolling stock, we simply can't afford to be the first ones to do it. Here's a story I was told by a hobby shop owner in the Toronto area. A customer came in and picked up a gorgeous P2K gondola painted in CN colours. There was a note on the box, put on by the folks at Hobbycraft in deference to expert advice, that said it was not 100% prototypical for CN. The customer frowned, put it down, and picked up an Athearn RTR gondola painted in CN colours instead. It was just as wrong. He looked for the disclaimer, didn't find it, and bought it instead. He left the store a happy customer.

If the NMRA made it a RP for all manufacturers to put "this is bogus" disclaimers on packaging and all manufacturers agreed to do it, we would be on board. But until that happens, we can't afford to be the model that the potential customer puts down, especially in this still painful economy.
END QUOTED TEXT

Tom Madden
Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses

Randy Hammill
 

I've just used the rubber ones without the bracket, cut off the rubber "pipe" at the angle cock, and after drilling a small starter hole I replace it with brass wire.

I can make a firm connection with the brass wire, with whatever bracket is appropriate, and can set the rotational angle as well.

Randy Hammill
http://newbritainstation.com

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "pullmanboss" <tcmadden@...> wrote:

Pierre, I've bought some of each but prefer the ones with the separate brass bracket because you can position the air hose at the proper rotational angle. (The all-in-one parts have the angle cock straight up and down.) Perhaps if we hadn't had the recent discussion here enlightening us about rotational angle I'd feel differently, but.....

I also have some of the hoses without brackets, for those applications calling for formed steel plate rather than cast mounts.

Tom Madden

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "Pierre" <pierre.oliver@> wrote:

I'ce been using Kadee air hoses for sometime now, but am giving serious consideration to switching over to the rubber items from Hi-Tech Details.
The big question for me seems to be whether to use the #6039 with molded on bracket, or the #6040 with the seperate brass bracket. Cost aside I'd like to hear feedback from fellows who have used these items and their preferences.
Thanks,
Pierre Oliver
www.elgincarshops.com
Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses

Aley, Jeff A
 

Paul,

Great! Thanks for your efforts!

Regards,

-Jeff


From: STMFC@yahoogroups.com [mailto:STMFC@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of cobrapsl@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 1:39 PM
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [STMFC] Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses



Jeff,

After Dr. Denny brought this to the groups attention, I went back to my friend, Jim Booth (Hi-Tech Details) and ask him if he could/would make the steam/diesel transistion era ones. I am happy to say, he accommodated our wishes. #6038, #6039 and #6040 are all the correct AAR 22" length. Once you try them you will never use anything else!

Paul Lyons

-----Original Message-----
From: Aley, Jeff A <Jeff.A.Aley@intel.com<mailto:Jeff.A.Aley%40intel.com>>
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com<mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com> <STMFC@yahoogroups.com<mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com>>
Sent: Thu, Aug 19, 2010 1:10 pm
Subject: RE: [STMFC] Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses

I thought that the Hi-Tech Details hoses were too long for our freight cars. Is there now a shorter (era-appropriate) version?

Thanks,

-Jeff

From: STMFC@yahoogroups.com<mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:STMFC@yahoogroups.com<mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com>] On Behalf Of pullmanboss
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 11:52 AM
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com<mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [STMFC] Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses

Pierre, I've bought some of each but prefer the ones with the separate brass bracket because you can position the air hose at the proper rotational angle. (The all-in-one parts have the angle cock straight up and down.) Perhaps if we hadn't had the recent discussion here enlightening us about rotational angle I'd feel differently, but.....

I also have some of the hoses without brackets, for those applications calling for formed steel plate rather than cast mounts.

Tom Madden

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com<mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com><mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com>;, "Pierre" <pierre.oliver@...> wrote:

I'ce been using Kadee air hoses for sometime now, but am giving serious consideration to switching over to the rubber items from Hi-Tech Details.
The big question for me seems to be whether to use the #6039 with molded on bracket, or the #6040 with the seperate brass bracket. Cost aside I'd like to hear feedback from fellows who have used these items and their preferences.
Thanks,
Pierre Oliver
www.elgincarshops.com
Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses

Paul Lyons
 

Jeff,

After Dr. Denny brought this to the groups attention, I went back to my friend, Jim Booth (Hi-Tech Details) and ask him if he could/would make the steam/diesel transistion era ones. I am happy to say, he accommodated our wishes. #6038, #6039 and #6040 are all the correct AAR 22" length. Once you try them you will never use anything else!

Paul Lyons

-----Original Message-----
From: Aley, Jeff A <Jeff.A.Aley@intel.com>
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com <STMFC@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thu, Aug 19, 2010 1:10 pm
Subject: RE: [STMFC] Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses




I thought that the Hi-Tech Details hoses were too long for our freight cars. Is there now a shorter (era-appropriate) version?

Thanks,

-Jeff

From: STMFC@yahoogroups.com [mailto:STMFC@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of pullmanboss
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 11:52 AM
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [STMFC] Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses

Pierre, I've bought some of each but prefer the ones with the separate brass bracket because you can position the air hose at the proper rotational angle. (The all-in-one parts have the angle cock straight up and down.) Perhaps if we hadn't had the recent discussion here enlightening us about rotational angle I'd feel differently, but.....

I also have some of the hoses without brackets, for those applications calling for formed steel plate rather than cast mounts.

Tom Madden

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com<mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com>;, "Pierre" <pierre.oliver@...> wrote:

I'ce been using Kadee air hoses for sometime now, but am giving serious consideration to switching over to the rubber items from Hi-Tech Details.
The big question for me seems to be whether to use the #6039 with molded on bracket, or the #6040 with the seperate brass bracket. Cost aside I'd like to hear feedback from fellows who have used these items and their preferences.
Thanks,
Pierre Oliver
www.elgincarshops.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Hutchins Roofs

Bill Welch
 

I agree with Ed that the minor rib on Hutchins roofs are often exaggerated. Another point to remember is that on FGE./WFE/BRE cars rebuilt with this roof there is no such rib or really crease. My theory is that they purchased Hutchins parts but supplied their own steel panels. For those of you building the modernized Westerfield model of the ex-PRR R7 reefers, you need to remove the rib cast into the middle of the roof panels.

Bill Welch
Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses

Aley, Jeff A
 

I thought that the Hi-Tech Details hoses were too long for our freight cars. Is there now a shorter (era-appropriate) version?

Thanks,

-Jeff


From: STMFC@yahoogroups.com [mailto:STMFC@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of pullmanboss
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 11:52 AM
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [STMFC] Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses



Pierre, I've bought some of each but prefer the ones with the separate brass bracket because you can position the air hose at the proper rotational angle. (The all-in-one parts have the angle cock straight up and down.) Perhaps if we hadn't had the recent discussion here enlightening us about rotational angle I'd feel differently, but.....

I also have some of the hoses without brackets, for those applications calling for formed steel plate rather than cast mounts.

Tom Madden

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com<mailto:STMFC%40yahoogroups.com>, "Pierre" <pierre.oliver@...> wrote:

I'ce been using Kadee air hoses for sometime now, but am giving serious consideration to switching over to the rubber items from Hi-Tech Details.
The big question for me seems to be whether to use the #6039 with molded on bracket, or the #6040 with the seperate brass bracket. Cost aside I'd like to hear feedback from fellows who have used these items and their preferences.
Thanks,
Pierre Oliver
www.elgincarshops.com
Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses

pullmanboss <tcmadden@...>
 

Pierre, I've bought some of each but prefer the ones with the separate brass bracket because you can position the air hose at the proper rotational angle. (The all-in-one parts have the angle cock straight up and down.) Perhaps if we hadn't had the recent discussion here enlightening us about rotational angle I'd feel differently, but.....

I also have some of the hoses without brackets, for those applications calling for formed steel plate rather than cast mounts.

Tom Madden

--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "Pierre" <pierre.oliver@...> wrote:

I'ce been using Kadee air hoses for sometime now, but am giving serious consideration to switching over to the rubber items from Hi-Tech Details.
The big question for me seems to be whether to use the #6039 with molded on bracket, or the #6040 with the seperate brass bracket. Cost aside I'd like to hear feedback from fellows who have used these items and their preferences.
Thanks,
Pierre Oliver
www.elgincarshops.com
Re: Erie radial roof

ed_mines
 

DEnnis Storzak wrote - Yes, that's true; I hadn't thought of it that way. Just file all the detail off and have the basic shape. On the plus side, the CV stockcar is about a scale foot too wide, so likely the radial roof is wide enough to fit AAR steel cars. They can be narrowed by cutting a sliver out at the centerline and joining the halves back together.

The roof on the Erie cars in much less curved (i.e. is much closer to being flat) than the Central Valley roof.
Re: Hi-Tech Details air hoses

Paul Lyons
 

Pierre

I use the Hi-Tech hoses exclusively. Depending on the prototype, I use #6038 with the PSC casting, or #6040. I like brass bracket for rigidity. I have never used #6039.

Paul Lyons

-----Original Message-----
From: Pierre <pierre.oliver@start.ca>
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thu, Aug 19, 2010 10:35 am
Subject: [STMFC] Hi-Tech Details air hoses




I'ce been using Kadee air hoses for sometime now, but am giving serious consideration to switching over to the rubber items from Hi-Tech Details.
The big question for me seems to be whether to use the #6039 with molded on bracket, or the #6040 with the seperate brass bracket. Cost aside I'd like to hear feedback from fellows who have used these items and their preferences.
Thanks,
Pierre Oliver
www.elgincarshops.com







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: Reefer brake question

Andy Sperandeo <asperandeo@...>
 

Yes Tim,

That looks like the car I remember, minus the football decal.

So long,

Andy

Andy Sperandeo
Executive Editor
Model Railroader magazine
asperandeo@mrmag.com
262-796-8776, ext. 461
FAX 262-796-1142
100241 - 100260 of 192655