My friend Dean Daughenbaugh (who founded New Rail Models with me) is always coming to me with little projects for custom loads. The most recent project is a flatcar with concrete ties. This is actually a pretty cool project. You can see some prototype photos here:
http://abpr.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi?february06/02-24-06/UP-MOW-05_Feb22-2006_Ontario.Calif.jpg
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=58559
The first link is photo he sent me when he asked me to do this project, and the flatcar is a UP flatcar. The second photo provides more details and is on a BNSF flatcar, showing that these flatcars and loads are used by multiple railroads.
This project will require two molds. The first mold will be for the concrete tie loads, and the second version will be for the metal brackets that help keep the ties in place (I’m assuming).
I started by creating a 3-D model of one layer of the ties:
The idea is to make these as a single injection-molded piece and then stack them, like this:
I’ve started to cut the mold for these, and we’ll see how these turn out. Next up will be creating the molds for the metal brackets that will be glued to the flatcar.
Hello, those look great, very nice work! Any chance you might have some parts available to purchase?
ReplyDeleteI'm actually interested in using these to try to build some track with code 40 rail. I have experimented with the milled PCB ties from the 2mm association, but your parts look so much better! Here is a link showing some of my work:
http://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=31877.msg356307#msg356307
Cheers,
Ed Nadolski
Hey John
ReplyDeleteI guess it has been a while since your last model making post. It would sure be interesting to know what train project you have been up to lately. What happened to the molds on this tie project, I have never seen this make the market at least not yet?
Joe Warren