April on the Dunsel Line

As predicted, April was a slow one on the Dunsel Line. There were no new purchases even though some were available. A pair of CA&E 450s was out there, but I passed these up. It’s just as well. I’ve already got two North Shore trains to work on in addition to the Skokie Swift pieces. Makes sense to at least try to finish some of this stuff, right?

As planned, I went ahead with more 3D modeling projects for the 3200 series cars. Unfortunately the Form 5 coupler is still not complete. My own attention to detail is really getting the better of me here. At this point I’m primarily stuck on one specific section of this model and lately I haven’t wanted to think about it so I’ve been avoiding it. (Not exactly an attitude that’s conducive for getting things done.)

Another project which I have been modeling is the steps for the 3200s. For whatever reason, when MTH made these cars, they didn’t include the steps. I suppose this stemmed from the same issue with getting the underbody equipment totally wrong. (Thankfully, when they produced the 6200 series, they fixed both of those issues.)

This is actually been a project that I’ve been working on since my last trip to IRM. For such a simple model I’ve really spent far too much time reworking things to get them right. Early on I kept getting holes in the model that refused to be patched and I hadn’t yet discovered the “intersect with selection” method which is necessary for making the angled portions of the side steps.

This method involves drawing a shape (in this case it was a rectangle) shifted to the appropriate angle and then moved to intersect the part of the model that needed to be “cut” at an angle. Once in place, both parts (the shape and the model) were selected and right clicked. This brings up a menu from which intersect is an option. It has two suboptions: “intersect with model” and “intersect with selection.” Intersection basically finds all the points of intersection between the two pieces and draws definitive lines at these points and incorporates them. From here the rest is easy; all that’s left is deleting all the unnecessary parts.

I wasn’t satisfied with how they looked on my computer in Sketchup or in the Shapeways render. They looked too thick to be right. I had to remind myself that the sides came out to be 0.6mm thick, the smallest workable size in Frosted Ultra Detail and this was thin enough to look good on the snowplows. Despite my misgivings I had them printed anyway and they arrived today. I am extremely pleased with how they turned out. This should serve as a reminder that I really should just take a deep breath and relax. (But it won’t.)

Speaking of the snowplows, I have made a discovery: they’re too wide! How frustrating. The angled bars at the top along side of the framing are supposed to fit neatly within the gap under the anticlimber. Unfortunately, the model plows are about 1mm too wide to fit within this space.

Attempting to rescale the snowplows didn’t work either. (Unlike the steps, the snowplows weren’t drawn full size and then scaled down. I mathematically scaled down the dimensions and then rounded these numbers to fit within the Frosted Ultra Detail guidelines.) In order to get them right I’ll have to redraw them. (All dimensions save for the width are correct, so cutting out 1mm from the center won’t work as this will decrease the distance the snowplows protrude from the ends of the frames.)

I’m not looking forward to this, but I’ll make the necessary modifications because it will gnaw on me until it’s right.

Another project I’ve been working on is the full-width cab partition in its closed state. (I’ll also be making one in the open state; that is, one where only the motorman’s position is closed off to the public.) This is nearly ready and is publicly visible in my list of designs on Shapeways. I’m still not satisfied with a few details at the moment. Something looks off about the position of the windows in relation to the “bar” above the cab door. I’m going to take some more measurements before finally sending this one out to be printed.

In addition to checking and/or correcting the window heights, the door handle also has to be finished.

The wheels which I ordered from Northwest Short Line arrived and—as expected—look good. Now I just need to build a pair of trailer trucks for them. But since these have arrived, I found myself wondering about the trucks I ordered for the Skokie Valley train. I placed the order for these in early to mid January and still haven’t received them. Apparently they’re still waiting on parts, but at least the order wasn’t lost!

These aren't 100% correct, but the difference between 30" in 1:48 and 28" in 1:45.2 is so close that getting the commercially available set is close enough.

A side view of the wheels.

March in Review

Let’s get straight to the point; I spent a lot of money this month. Even though I’d planned on spending a good deal of money on models this month, my actual total greatly exceeds my anticipation (and this doesn’t even cover routine things like food and bills). I had a number of other projects (not model related) that also cost more than expected, so April will almost certainly be a very quiet month around here.

With that said, it seems like a good time to stop and reflect on a very expensive (but good) month. March is the month of the Chicago O Scale Meet (also known as the March Meet) and associated open houses at various trolley layouts. Preparation for these two prompted me to get back in gear and begin working on the 3D model of CTA’s form 5 coupler.

Ultimately this design wasn’t finalized in time for the open houses (I was only able to attend one) and the design work is still ongoing. The continuation of this project should be a nice one to carry on into April.

Before the meet I was able to get my hands on a Clouser North Shore steel coach. Although it did not come with trucks, I did get a good deal on it and am very happy with my purchase. The following week was the March Meet and there I bought a brass North Shore 170-182 series coach. Acquisition of this car has enabled me to outline and define my projects for the North Shore Line. I’d already decided on modeling the North Shore circa 1952/1953 (the same years for the CA&E) and the addition of these two older steel cars has led me to separate my efforts into the creation of two trains: Chicago-Milwaukee via Skokie Valley (the combine and upper 700) and a Chicago-Waukegan Shore Line train (the “older” coaches).

I have already ordered a motor truck set that would be applicable to either car on the Skokie Valley train, so I’m waiting for that to arrive. I’ll have to construct a test track pretty soon, which I suppose will be the very beginnings of my layout.

Also at the O Scale Meet I bought a pair of pantographs to turn into sausage. The shoes on these will be cut apart, to produce four “single” pantograph shoes. Each of these will be mounted at the end of a pair of four-spring horizontal trolley poles. I still need to buy a total of eight trolley poles for car 2 (the 1-50) and car 52 (the 5000) to make this. As a result of... overspending... I probably won’t begin this phase of that project in April.

After the March Meet I went back and made complete 3D models of the 3200-series snowplows. After increasing the size of the nuts so that they would register at Shapeways, these were sent off to the printer. They arrived on Monday and I am extremely pleased with the results. I’ve already made these available via the Ravenston Car Company at Shapeways. (Shameless self promotion!)

In continuing work on the 3200s, I ordered a set of wheels from NorthWest Short Line. I had planned on mounting these inside of cheap, temporary trucks (shop trucks) but I’ve abandoned this idea in favor of 3D printing my own set of “test trucks” which will enable me to try a few things out and see how well this will actually work. Unfortunately, 30” wheels are on backorder for about a month, so this particular project will probably have to wait for a while. In the meantime I’ll see if I can gather some pictures of the Duewag trucks with which the cars are equipped.

I know someone who claims (strong emphasis on “claims”) that he has access to equipment to make metal casts and, if all goes well, I should be able to make molds of the 3D prints and produce a series of metal trucks.

Even after the end of the March Meet March continued to be a money spender! I found another brass 1-50 series car and didn’t hesitate to grab it. To model the four basic iterations of Skokie Swift equipment as planned, I need a total of three of these cars: one as for a single-unit 1-50 and two for a double-unit 60. I now have two.

My first 1-50 has a dent on one end which I should be able to hammer and fill back into shape. Regardless of how well this turns out, the original (dented) 1-50 will now be used as part of the 60 pair with the dented face being positioned between the cars to minimize its visibility. The new car will now be the single and will get the CTA designed trolley-pans.

I also started work on a 3D model of the resistor grids for the 3200 series. This model uses measurements taken from the pair of 2400-series cars at the Illinois Railway Museum. There are subtle differences between the 2400 and 3200-series equipment that I have to account for and I’m currently working with the design to get it right.

The benefit of creating this model in full scale and then reducing it is that it can effectively be used to create specific models for the 2400, 2600, and 3200-series cars with only minor variations in each and scaled appropriately to 1:45 for the 3200s and to 1:48 for my planned 2400s and 2600s.

The 2200-series cars (which I have already started designing) used a resistor set that was substantially different than those used on the later cars. During my last trip out to IRM, I didn’t take underbody measurements for the 2200s, so I won’t be able to continue work on that particular set until I make another trip out to Union.

Finally (my wallet has its fingers crossed that this really is finally) I found a power truck set that would be appropriate for either car in the Skokie Valley train. It matches the truck I ordered from NorthWest Short Line, although at present I don’t know if the motors are Magic Carpet IIs or IIIs. The main impetus for getting this truck was the fact that I was able to get it for a substantially lower price than normal.

Moving forward into April my projects are most likely going to be all 3D modeling as this can be done at no cost. I plan to finish the form 5 coupler, work out the kinks with the resistors, and begin creation of an underbody set for a 2400-series pair (since I have photos and measurements on hand for that). I’ll also be continuing to fabricate the replacement car floor for the second 3200-series car.

Back to Business: Snowplows Again

The Dunsel Line shops are predominantly (literally) a virtual operation at this point. Naturally, most work done there is done on the computer.

I’ve decided to take a brief break from designing the Form 5 coupler and go back to an earlier project: the Q scale (1:45) snowplows for the 3200s. Previously I had stated that I would produce the snowplow “blades” from cardstock and glue them to the 3D printed frames I’d produced. I’ve decided to scratch that idea and just have the whole thing printed as a complete piece. This opens up the product for anyone else who would desire to reequip their MTH 3200s and/or 2-rail them.

On Sunday I went back in and added the blades and accompanying parts.

I think they look pretty good. And, better yet, they pass the tests for Frosted Ultra Detail. They’re ready to print!

Not so fast. Wait a minute… Where are the nuts holding the blade to the frame? They’re in my 3D model and they’re of a size that’s printable in FUD.

This is Shapeways' preview image. As you can see, the nuts pictured in the 3D model are not present here.

This is really starting to piss me off. This is the third time parts have gone missing when I've uploaded a model to Shapeways. (I am not blaming Shapeways for this error.) Somewhere in the conversion from the .skp file to .dae (done in Windows via "File" > "Export" > "3D model...") parts go missing and I still can't figure out why.

I'll delay printing until I solve this constant issue.

But in other, non-virtual, news I've begun fabrication of the car floors for the 3200s. I'm using 0.060" Evergreen styrene.

The holes drilled in the floor mark where the trucks will be mounted. If you have a sharp eye you've noticed that one of the holes doesn't line up with the line drawn down the length of the car body. This is not an error. The hole is correct, the line is off on that end by about 1/16". Since I won't be reusing the trucks the cars came with, I'll have to build my own and I'll be purchasing a set of wheels from NorthWest Short Line soon.

The 3200s are equipped with 28 inch wheels. In 1:45 scale, this comes out to a diameter of 0.622 real inches. 30 inches in O scale comes out to 0.625 real inches. The 30 inch wheels will therefore be 0.003 inches too wide, but I'm willing to settle. Once I get the wheels, I'll acquire a pair of cheap trucks for the floors to sit on while work progresses.

The March Meet

This past weekend was the weekend of the O Scale Meet (also known as the March Meet) and I was not going to miss it.

I arrived on Saturday, March 14, about an hour and a half after opening. I was delayed due to celebrating “pi day” by having a slice of pie at 9:26:53 a.m. (3/14/15 9:26:53—or 3.141592653—being the first ten digits of pi.) As always, I was on the hunt for more CA&E, North Shore, and “L” rolling stock and I was armed with a fat wad of twenty dollar bills in my pocket. As such, I was prepared to come and not find anything of particular interest.

Instead, almost immediately I was shown by a member of what my father has dubbed the "Trolley Mafia" to three brass North Shore models by MTS Imports. (I'm terrible with names and I've forgotten his. One of these days this will be the death of me.) Two of the models were early steel coaches from the 1920s with the double-width upper sash windows. As I've decided to model the North Shore circa 1952-1953, these were of no interest. The third was of an appropriate era and I decided to come back to it.

The traction selection was actually quite decent this year, although I did not see any "L" cars for sale. (I later discovered, much to my chagrin, that a pair of 1-50 series cars were sold the previous day—while I was at work.)

I did come across a pair of CA&E 450 series kits, another Clouser coach, and a North Shore wood (one of the ones that made it to the CA&E) but ultimately passed on these as my father already has four (unfinished) 450s and at least one North Shore wood. Instead I returned and purchased the third MTS Imports North Shore coach, a 170-182 series coach.

Still hasn't even been removed from the plastic wrap

I've decided that this car will be paired up with the Clouser coach I acquired last week as part of a Shore Line train. This car may remain unpowered, but whether I power it or not, I'll still have to replace the wheels for 2-rail operation. The Clouser coach and the high 700 will be part of a Skokie Valley train to Milwaukee. I am still waiting for the set of trucks (applicable for both of the latter cars) to arrive.

I also acquired a pair of pantographs for their shoes. And some CA&E trolley beams.

I got quite a bit of griping over the pantograph from my father. Something about "ruining" a pantograph just to get some parts. (For the record, the conscience of Dr. Frankenstein is undisturbed.) Besides, I later discovered that 1) the spring tension is rather weak (which would result in sub par wire contact) and 2) one of the pans is actually broken!

The shoe for this pantograph is a pretty close approximation for the shoes used on the CTA-designed pan-trolleys for the 1-50s and 5000 series assigned to the Skokie Swift. To use it for those two cars, the shoes on both pantographs would need to be removed and then the two halves (visually upper and lower in the image) sawed apart. Thus these two pans would yield the four pantograph shoes required for both models.

After leaving the meet, I attended the open house at Ed Halstead's Chicago & Utopia Railway. I didn't take any pictures, so unfortunately I don't have anything to show from the event. It was still a good time and several interesting models were run including a pair of early St. Petersburg Tram Collection Washington DC pre-PCCs and a South Shore coach. This was my first time seeing a model operating via pans and it helped me to visualize some of the operational differences of model pantographs versus trolley poles.

But enough talk. Time to get back to the shops and start working!

Clouser Coach

Things at home are a bit of a mess at the moment, and this is the primary reason why I didn't add any pictures to the last post. I've done a little cleaning and now have a bit of space to display my most recent acquisition for some photos.

Other than the model itself, this was the only thing in the box. It is a list of changes made to the design of the coach and combine models. The coach I purchased is of the later design, while the combine is of the earlier casts.

The rubber bands are prototypical.

One of the 2-56 screws that holds the floor to the rest of the model. On the older models, a threaded rod connected to the roof penetrated the floor and was held in place by a tiny nut.

The level of detail in the Clouser models is incredible, and the fact that his name is still a byword attests to that. That said I have noticed one error with the coach. There is one stack on the roof which (correct me if I'm wrong) I believe is/was connected to the hot water heating system in the car. From all the pictures I've viewed of the 150-164 and 165-169 series&mdsah;which were virtually identical—the stack on the model is on the opposite side of the roof from those on the prototypes. According to the CERA bulletin (either Interurban to Milwaukee or Route of the Electroliners, I forget which) cars 159, 160, and 164, and cars 165 and 167 were converted to electric heat, so removing the stack all together and modeling one of these five cars would fix that problem.

The stack in question and its (approximate) placement on the prototype.

Another Acquisition

Unfortunately the form 5 coupler mentioned in the previous post will not be ready in time for the O scale meet. There are still some aspects of the design that need to be resolved before I am able to print them. Given the amount of time before the O scale meet and associated open houses, even if the design was finished this very instant, the prototype still wouldn’t arrive in time.

There is, however, some good news to report. I attended a swap meet held at the DuPage County Fair Grounds in Wheaton earlier today. Generally these things don’t yield much (if anything) for O scale traction and I came expecting this. Ten minutes into the show I came across a Clouser North Shore Line coach body and you better believe I didn’t pass it up!

I also came across a pair of Yellow Book MTH 3200 series "L" cars. I’m not a 3-rail collector, although I do have several sets of the MTH 3200 series cars (excluding the pair that I intend to 2-rail). The Yellow Book cars are signed for Midway and this matches my four-car set. I figured that if I’m able to get my hands on a pair of the 3200 “silver” bodies, I wouldn’t need to cut up my current pair and if I got these I’d have the option to run an eight car Midway train with car numbers that aren’t duplicates. So I got these too.

The main victory of the day, though, was that Clouser body. The car represents one of the early steel coaches, either the 150-164 series or the nearly identical 165-169 series. (I haven’t yet decided which series this car will fall into.) Unlike the combine I got from eBay, the coach did not come with any detail parts. Also of not is that the car is one of the later castings of the kit. The roof of the combine is removable via a pair of small nuts that are tightened beneath the floor. The coach has a removable floor which is held in place by eight 2-56 screws. These are much harder to lose and far easier to replace than the tiny nuts on the combine!

Looks like projects are beginning to stack up on the Dunsel Line!

CTA's Form 5

I haven’t fallen off the face of the Earth! (Not yet. Give me time.) There are still a number of issues that continue to plague me with the seats for the 3200 series and I haven’t yet decided on the course of action to take in that direction.

Instead I’ve refocused my efforts into another part of this project which will affect additional projects that I have planned. In CERA Bulletin 115 are plans for the Form 5 coupler. This coupler (with slight modifications) has been used on every series of “L” car from the original 5000 series onward.

Once the grounds at the Illinois Railway Museum open, I’ll make a trip out there to continue gathering measurements for the 2200 series cars. Once I have the appropriate numbers, I’ll finish the 3D model I’ve created and produce a 2200 in true O scale. (Island Model Works produced a rehabbed 2200 series shell that was designed to fit onto the MTH 3200 series chassis. The MTH cars are oversized and are closer to 1:45 scale than 1:48.)

Since the Form 5 is used on both the 3200 series and on the 2200 series, this seemed like a logical place to go.

The MU connections haven’t been added yet, and as you can see, there are other details that haven’t yet been modeled. My goal is to have this printed and in my hands in time for the O Scale Meet (March 14) although I’m beginning to suspect that this might not happen.

The 3D model pictured above represents a departure from my previous models in that it is designed in full scale. This has the advantage of being easier to work with (Sketchup doesn’t like small numbers) and easier to rescale at will. The initial print will be in 1:45 scale so it will be suitable for the MTH 3200s and the Island Model Works 2200s. Once I’m satisfied with that, the plan is to produce a set in 1:48.