A used, neglected and lonely flatcar from the back room of the hobby shop caught my attention Today. CMC needs a special loads car so I'll send it to the workshop for an overhaul.
Trucks were riveted on so they had to go. The rivets, not the trucks.
And into the heavy duty oven cleaner overnight to remove whatever is removable before priming.
The first special load I will make for the flatcar is a fuel tank. I happen to have an HO tank car all ready for primer. HO tank cars should look good as O fuel tanks.
Flat car is complete. Six repurposed HO tank cars were converted by F.E. Orr & Sons scrap metal company into industrial fuel and chemical tanks. Shipping crates will be made next.
very nice!
Dave
It's a TOY, A child's PLAYTHING!!! (Woody from Toy Story)
LL675 very nice!
Thank you Dave. I sure do like rescuing cars nobody wants.
Tested the flatcar at the hobby shop this morning. Only change required was to put some sticky tack under the black wooden screw hole covers I made to keep them from lifting when the car rounds corners. My scrap metal car is coupled to it.
Weighted shipping crate to load industrial tanks onto the flatbed is under development. All birch wood for the crate is from my Victoria Harbour property. Modifications to the tank are also under way. My daughter's border collie is sleeping over with my husky and beagle tonight - going to be a three dog night!
Birch shipping crate nearing completion. Will develop a quick connect/disconnect system to hold it in place or remove it, respectively.
Just woke up to let one of the dogs out and restock the woodstove when BAM, it hit me! I know how to merge my love for my HO trains with my new interest in O gauge. This flatcar was the inspiration I needed.
I think I am going to build a factory that converts HO gauge tank cars into O gauge fuel and chemical tanks. One side of the factory will be HO scale and that is where surplus HO tank cars are received. Everything on that side of the factory is HO scale including people, scenery, etc. The other side of the factory is entirely O scale and receives the tank sections of the tank cars through the HO-O portal (mid-scale door in the wall) and converts them to O scale fuel/chemical tanks. Then the completed HO-to-O tanks are loaded on O guage flatbed cars to be used on the O side of the two-scale layout.
When I wake up in 5 hours, I'll revisit this idea for real, because I might just be dreaming right now ...
That's a great dream !
My dream layout has been in the back of my mind for some time now.
It would be a multi scale, multi gauge affair.
Because I like 'me all !
We may be moving this year, I guess we'll see if I have any room to work with.
Paul
Postwar Paul That's a great dream ! My dream layout has been in the back of my mind for some time now. It would be a multi scale, multi gauge affair. Because I like 'me all ! We may be moving this year, I guess we'll see if I have any room to work with. Paul
I like them all too Paul. Even bought N scale track and trains last week.
Sent my ideas to the old-school plans and drafting department (they don't use CAD programs) and they started working on them starting at 5:00 am. Within an hour, and with a pot of freshly-brewed coffee, the HO side of the plant was flushed out. Here is their preliminary sketch.
From the bottom of the page to the top we have a service track for HO tank cars to fill three storage tanks with various cleaning fluids. The cleaning fluids are pumped into the wash shed as needed. Surplus cars enter the wash shed on a separate track for cleaning and flushing. The waste materials are pumped into tanker trucks and hauled away by road.
Once cleaned, the surplus tank car is pulled from the wash shed and pushed into the main building. The building is big enough to accommodate two tank cars on the same track. The top of the tank on the tank car is cut from the bottom and lifted by an overhead crane. A second cleaning takes place and the waste is pumped back to the wash shed and then into the trucks for disposal.
The bottom of the tank is removed from the rail trucks and the trucks pushed back outside and loaded onto a flatbed car by crane to take to other locations.
While the tank is separated in two, repairs and modifications are made as needed. The tank is then reassembled, lowered onto a cradle on wheels, then pushed through the door portal to the big people on the O side of the plant.
I absolutely love the look of it, I can't wait to see the finished building(s).
Will there be a seperate layout of HO trains or will it just be a small section with the plant for conversions? And remember, you can always have N scale as 7.5 Inch gauge conpaired to O gauge :)
-Eastrail
~Eastrail
Eastrail11 I absolutely love the look of it, I can't wait to see the finished building(s). Will there be a seperate layout of HO trains or will it just be a small section with the plant for conversions? And remember, you can always have N scale as 7.5 Inch gauge conpaired to O gauge :) -Eastrail
Full HO layout based on mining in Nova Scotia. Full O, also based on mining in this province.
O scale side of the H2O factory has been developed. When a fuel/chemical tank arrives through the HO-O portal, it is painted in the O paint shop. Another overhead crane lifts the tank onto an O guage flatbed that can be moved in and out of the building.
Picked up a used gondola with matching colour today. It's carrying used rail. The flatcar is finished. Will run the flatcar on the track at the hobby shop tomorrow.
OldSchoolScratchbuilderrucks were riveted on so they had to go
Just wondering, how do you reattach the trucks without a rivit tool?
BigAl 956 Just wondering, how do you reattach the trucks without a rivit tool?
Here is a component to a complex chemical facility in O scale using the HO tanks.
I like the creativity you used on this project. Dilly-dilly.
fifedog I like the creativity you used on this project. Dilly-dilly.
Thank you.
Tested my completed roster of four industrial freight cars at the hobby shop in Halifax today. Cars run well,nice and smooth.
As a storm approaches Dartmouth, I am relaxing while working on the HO wash shed for the HO to O conversion facility. Drawings are in full size.
Another locomotive.
Scratch - your facility needs to have a bright light/flash fire off every so often to accompany the conversions - something like all the movies where some kind of contraption shrinks someone/something - with electric arc sound effects!
Regards, Roy
wrmcclellan Scratch - your facility needs to have a bright light/flash fire off every so often to accompany the conversions - something like all the movies where some kind of contraption shrinks someone/something - with electric arc sound effects!
Indeed! I was thinking flashing LEDs around the portal door connecting the two gauges, but sound is a great idea.
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