I have six of the HO Overton 34 ft (I think) passenger cars that are missing the 'hand rails' on each end of the car. They're also missing the brake wheels but I did find those at Athearns. My only options are to buy junkers, if they could be found, and salvage the railings or make them. Does anyone know of a good source for a suitable sized wire that is fairly easy to work with? I have "music wire", I think it's sometimes called, but that is hard to bend and a little oversized for the holes in the cars. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Jarrell
I use a lot of the phosphor bronze wire that Tichy sells:
https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/tabid/91/c/ho_wire/Default.aspx
It comes in a lot of different diameters and is easy to work with. I use a primer on it before I paint it for the best paint adhesion.
Hope this helps
Jeff White
Alma IL
JWhite I use a lot of the phosphor bronze wire that Tichy sells: https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/tabid/91/c/ho_wire/Default.aspx It comes in a lot of different diameters and is easy to work with. I use a primer on it before I paint it for the best paint adhesion. Hope this helps Jeff White Alma IL
Thanks Jeff. I'll try and measure, diameter wise, a hand rail from a Roundhouse passenger train that I have and order some.
Steel "music wire" will give you a good strong railing that will withstand handling. Brass wire is awfully soft and handling will bend it. These are open vestibul passenger cars? I would expect the handrails to be wood, and perhaps 3 inches thick. Scale that down by 87 and you get 0.034" wire. I think you can get music wire as thin as 0.020". Drill the holes out to accept the wire if necessary. Use CA superglue to secure the wire handrails.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
In making a detailed undercarriage for some reefers, I went to the florist at my nearby Kroger and got some soft copper wire. I've also got music wire and have found it to be about impossible to work with. I'd suggest using soft wire and placing a sign on the wall that states, "Anyone bending wire on trains will go to heaven eventually because I'm going to beat the hell out of you."
If you get soft wire, it will often be bent. Straighten it out as much as possible then roll a flat piece of wood over it for a few moments and that will straighten it out very nicely.
Jock Ellis Cumming, GA US of A Georgia Association of Railroad Passengers
Thank you Jock and David. I appreciate your suggestions!
I have the longer version of those same cars, and used .015" brass wire from Detail Associates for the end rails. This is fairly soft wire (not as soft as floral wire, though), but it's sturdy enough when on the car ends. The softness allowed me to form the curve on the lower outside portions of those uprights: I drew the outline of each end handrail (all four on each car are the same) on a piece of .060" sheet styrene, then cut it out and formed the handrail's shape around the styrene. After drilling out the end beams, the inverted "U"s were installed, then an extra stanchion, bent from the same wire and with a slightly-flattened upper end, was added and soldered to the main railing. There's also a length of chain, on soldered-on hooks, between the two sections of railing.The upside-down "L"-shaped handrails on the cars' ends are stainless steel pre-formed caboose grabs from Detail Associates, as are the curved grabs on the sides at all ends. The straight vertical grabirons at the side doors were formed from .012" stainless steel wire, from Detail Associates, while the metal steps under those doors were made from .010"x.030" flat brass bar, also from Detail Associates.The drop-style grabirons on the endsills are pre-made ones, in phosphor bronze, from Tichy, while the truss rods are .015" monofilament fishing line - it stays taut better than thread, and there's no fuzz. As an added bonus, if you're careful when painting, the portion in the centre of each turnbuckle can be left unpainted (clear) and give the prototypical appearance of that area being open.
This just-taken photo better shows the end railings:
Phosphor bronze wire wire is available in various sizes from TICHY
...while Detail Associates has soft brass wire, stainless steel wire, and flat brass bars in various sizes. I can't find a website specifically for them, but their products are available through Walthers, Bowser, etc.
You can find music wire at any decent hobbyshop or hardware store, and likely at music shops, too.
As for the sizes (thicknesses) needed, 1" in HO scale is roughly equal to .011" in real sizes.
Wayne
I use K&S Enginering wire and tubing. They are out of Chicago. It can be found at hardware stores around where I live. They have a good selection of diameters and shapes. It has worked well for any project I Try.
Phil, CEO, Eastern Sierra Pacific Railroad. We know where you are going, before you do!
doctorwayne and Phil, thank you for the answers and doctorwayne thanks for the details, it helps.
Gee... I think a bent paperclip should work.
LION
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
BroadwayLion Gee... I think a bent paperclip should work. LION
Hmmm.... maybe the larger variety. :)
I will add my in support of phosphor bronze wire from Tichy. It is quite firm but also easy to bend, and it will easily withstand normal handling. Tichy offers a variety of sizes including 0.0125" (item #1106) which, as Wayne mentioned, is close to an inch in HO.
A little while ago I detailed a fleet of cabooses using 0.015" for the hand rails. You can see from the pictures that the 0.0125" wire would have looked more accurate. I followed Wayne's lead by making up styrene jigs so I could get the pattern consistent for all the cabooses.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Good-looking cabooses, Dave. Your choice of colours gives those ex-AT&SF cabooses a CPR look, and the plated-over windows help, too.
I still have several Athearn cabooses on the layout...
...but these were sold some time ago....
...in sets with these...
The only one modified to any degree is this bay window version. I re-worked the roof to get rid of the diagonal panels, replacing them with straight ones formed with .015" sheet styrene. The grabs on the sides and ends are from Detail Associates, I think, but the end railings and ladders were all done with various pieces of brass wire and flat brass bar-stock:
I segmented the floor so that the platforms and ladders are part of the body, while the centre section remains removeable, should I need to repair any window glass or if I want to add an interior. The screen doors are two pieces of .005" sheet styrene sandwiching a piece of silk screening material.
I do have plans to scratchbuild a dozen-or-so wood cabooses, though, and in two or three different styles that will better-suit my late-'30s era layout.I always keep a good supply of wire of all types and in all sizes on-hand, along with flat bar material and various thicknesses of brass sheet.
Thanks Wayne!
Coming from a modeller with your level of skill, that is quite rewarding.
Ms were some beautiful models. Speaking of the plastic patterns, in violin making, luthiers make only one half of a side then turn it over so that the other half will be EXACTLY the same. Do you do that?
I ran across this video on handrails. It's engine handrails but the same techniques should apply if the OP hasn't solved his problem by now.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley