I thought that I would post some pictures of some passenger trains that I have constructed. They are from Garden Railways Plan #55 and the trucks are from G/R Plan #53. The coach is from the plans as published and the combine and observation cars are modifications from the plans.
Enjoy
Beautiful work. Can you describe the process you used?
Rex
Rene Schweitzer
Classic Toy Trains/Garden Railways/Model Railroader
Great work! congratulations on a job well done.
Walt
Tom Trigg
Thank-you for all the kind comments.
Rex, the cars are built of 1/8" Baltic Birch plywood, 3 ply cardstock around the windows, and a combination of balsa wood and basswood for the roof and trim. Not to promote another forum but if you go to LSC under rolling stock there is a complete build thread from start to finish.
Ron
Nice work. I did just one of those years ago. I started with a clear plastic box I glued up. Then glued all the wood to it, around the windows/etc. Some pix on my web site, look under the 'Rolling Stock'.
Jerry
web site:
http://thescrr.com/
Is there a way to get/purchase plan #55. The pull out plans on the site only go back to #72 :( TY F/ SP
SP Trains
I purchased my plan from Sidestreet Bannerworks but I checked their website and they show it no longer available. It was free with the April 02 G/R and checking for back issues the website shows it still available, so, just order the back issue from G/R and you will have it.
TYVM I will check it out.
Ordered the issue with the plans and have studied them. Had some questions in your experience.
What material did u use for the roofing?
Did you use screws to hold the body to the frame as the instructions suggest or did you have a better way?
Would love to hear ty. F/SP
I am more than happy to answer any questions that you have.
When I build the roof, I used balsa wood on the sides from the clerestory windows out. The top of the clerestory is bass wood, just because it is a little harder. I then covered the entire roof with aluminum foil tape, the kind that is used to seal furnace and dryer ducts, available at almost any building supply or hardware store. The stuff is super sticky and extremely soft. I found it almost impossible to apply without some marks and dings, but since roofs would rarely be pristine consider it character. After the tape is all down wipe away all fingerprints and dust with a paper towel or kleenex dipped in alchohol and after this do not touch with bare hands. I then gave it two coats of Tremclad Red Oxide Primer followed by two coats of Tremclad Flat Black. As long as you wiped it carefully and avoided handling it with bare hands the paint will stick just fine. No sanding between coats and allow to dry 24 hours between coats.
On the first car I built, one before the three shown above I used the screws from the side like the plans show but it does look a little tacky. On the cars above, I put the screws from the bottom up into the wood that is on the bottom edge of the end panels. Requires them to be small, I used #2 x1/2" and the holes have to be carefully drilled. As an aside, I always lift the cars from the bottom, not by the roofs.
have fun, Ron
Thanks for the compliment Gundy. I never really thought of building for others but I suppose if someone was seriously interested and willing to pay the price I might consider it. I usually build for myself for two reasons. First, this is the part of the hobby that I really enjoy, creating something from nothing. Second, I am incredibly cheap and refuse to pay the prices of a lot of the stuff that is out there, not that it is not worth it, just that I am cheap.
There are some really remarkable models available and if I were to figure my time mine probably cost almost as much, but for me it is a labour of love.
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