Test track

Before launching this latest project I did some tests, laying down On2 track. The rail is Micro Engineering code 70 and the spikes are long O Scale spikes from the Proto:87 Stores. As you may have noticed in the real world photos in the previous post, this track does not make use of any tie plates. Wich makes life easier for the modeler. 😏

This is how the test turned out.

And with an O Scale man to give a sense of size.

Lime quarry and lime works rail line in On2 scale

I am starting a new project. Once again in American O scale (1:48) but this time based on a Swedish narrow gauge prototype, namely the old 600 mm gauge rail line at the Bläse lime quarry and lime works. Bläse is located on the Swedish island of Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. The lime stone operation is long since discontinued but the site still exists today, as a museum. The museum includes the restored rail line between the quarry and the lime works, and is run as a tourist line.

Here are some pictures:

My intention is not to model the whole setup or rail line. I am just doing a small part of it as a vignette or diorama. All the same, I would like to make the (future) rolling stock movable and self propelled.

As said, the track is 600 mm gauge, but since that is just 9 mm shy of 2 feet I will be doing the track in On2 scale (2 ft gauge track in 1:48 scale). Hopefully that will make it a little easier to find some ready to run or "kitbashable" rolling stock. And it makes track laying tools such as track gauges readily available.

So far I have cut a piece of foam and covered it with 2 mm cork. This will the be the combined dioarama base and subroad bed. I have also laid out a first version track plan using paper templates. The plan covers the area where the tourist train loads and unloads and where the engine house is located.

Dismantled

Due to an upcoming move this O scale shelf layout has been dismantled. 😢

Below, on its way to destruction...

Apart from the rolling stock, I saved two items. The old barn and the turnout that started it all.

Better dandelions

My last post showed how I created some dandelions, and it ended with me saying that I was quite satisfied with the result. Apparently that was not true, 'cause I could not stop thinking about how to do them better.

The problem was that the actual flowers were too large. The blobs of sawdust and glue that was the base for the yellow chalk powder where simply too big. And they were difficult to form and handle. I needed a better base for the chalk. This is what I did.

I cut off the old flowers, and also generally shortened the stems, since the plants were too high as well. I then cut short pieces of green wire insulation and slid on to the top of the stems, secured by CA. Once the CA had set I cut the insulation pieces even shorter, like this:

Then I dabbed some more CA on the top of the insulation pieces and dipped them in the yellow chalk. The result was this:

In the picture they look rather similar to the ones I did yesterday, and they are, but they are actually not that high and the flowers are considerably smaller. Overall, a much better O scale dandelion "impersonation".

An SD-40 and its Wheels

I have got myself a loco for the layout. It was one of the guys over at the Railwire that offered to sell me an undecorated Atlas O SD-40. I took the opportunity to get an engine at a nice price and here it is, devoid of all possible detailing:

The previous owner converted the wheels of the SD-40 to P48 standards, meaning the wheel profile is prototypical. That was good for me, since that looks better and I want it that way, but also since my (only) turnout has flange ways etc that are more P48 than standard O. The loco axle length had also been adjusted to a more narrow and prototypical track gauge. This was not equally good for me, since my track gauge is standard O.  Don't ask why. It's just is. This meant my new loco would not run on my track, unless I did something about the wheels, or rather their spacing.

So I have done some experimenting with one of the wheel sets. The conventional O scale gauge is 60 scale inches, which equals 1.25" or 31.75 mm but Proto:48 uses the prototypically accurate 56.5 scale inches which is 1,17" or 29.90 mm. That is not a very large difference, and the loco, as arrived, could actually sit tight on my track. It even powers up, and makes all sorts of sounds. But when I throttle up it immediately derails.

Since we are only talking about 2 mm, I simply separated the wheels on one of the axles by that amount. The axle is a little to short for that and I am not sure that the wheels will stay put in the long run. However, there want be much stress on the wheels on this little layout, and it might be enough to secure the wheels with a little Loctite. Another solution would be to buy new axles from NWSL. Fitting axles seems to be readily available for $1.25 each, so that is might be worth the trouble. The picture below shows separated wheels on the axle uppermost in the picture. You can see that the wheels sit tighter on the lower axle, P48 style.

Another problem is that although the gearbox of the truck is originally done for the longer axle, the original wheels were much wider. With the narrower wheels separated further apart there is a risk that the wheel with the gear slides that far out so that the gears lose contact with each other. To fix that problem I inserted a spacer between the the opposite wheel and the gearbox. The next picture shows the left wheel, with the gears, at its outermost position. It still contacts the rest of the gear assembly, even if it is a close call.

The non-geared wheel is electrically isolated from the axle, and uses a sprung pin sitting in the gear box to make electrical contact with the motor. You can see the pin in the lower right of this photo.

If the isolated wheel slides to far out from the gearbox, the pin will no longer contact the back of the wheel, and the electrical pickup is broken. To avoid that I put a spacer on the geared wheel side also. So now the isolated wheel cannot go any further out than this picture shows.

Even if I decide to buy new axles, I will probably start by just separating the wheels on the existing axles. Just to be able to see the loco run.

The O scale turnout gets company

I could not resist the urge to see some rolling stock accompany the newly built O scale turnout. So I ordered an Atlas Master series PS-4427 low side hopper which arrived today. O scale really is  impressive!

Click to get a closer view

As expected, the gauge is "correct", in the sense that the car and the track "agree" on it, but the car cannot negotiate the guard rails. Also as expected, since the guard rails are more on Proto:48 distance from the stock rail. I want to keep it that way since it looks a lot better. As a consequence, if I am serious about getting the car to roll through the turnout, the next step is to order some replacement wheel sets.

But the bearing caps are actually rotating! Cool!

An O Scale Turnout

My modeling efforts have been scarce these days, and not consistent when it comes to scale. My last contribution to the hobby is a turnout in O scale!

Click to get a closer view.

How come? Well, it started when I happened to run into Mike Cougill's book Detailing Track. Since I have always been more or less a nerd when it comes to realistically modeled track, this book really got me hooked. I just had to try this for myself! So I decided to build an O scale turnout, using the techniques outlined in Mike's book, and with the hardware details he recommended.

This is my parts list:

To use pine for the ties was not a very good idea. The pine is to hard to allow the spikes to be just pushed down. Instead I had to pre-drill every spike hole. Not very funny! Basswood is not readily available here in Sweden., but in retrospect I now know it would have been worth the effort to order it from overseas.

 

Some more photos:

Thanks for looking.