Replacing Stirrup Steps

[B Rutherford]

I am working on tuning up my freight cars. Tonight a boxcar landed on my bench with broken stirrup steps.

I am looking at Tichy replacements. The ones on the model are bottom mount. The Tichy units look like they have a tab that would have a hole drilled to receive it. I cant imagine how / where the holes would be drilled so do those tabs get cut off?

If anyone has a picture or two of how they get installed it would be a huge help. 

Thanks in advance 

[rrebell]

Use metal ones like a-line.

[B Rutherford]

Ok. I like the idea of metal stirrups but same question: how do they install? I just looked at some of the a-line and they also appear to have tabs also

[dstarr]

I bend up my own stirrup steps out of wire.  I drill a pair of holes vertically into the car side to accept the wire step.  Secure the stirrup step with superglue.

[B Rutherford]

Thanks. What diameter wire do you use?

[dehusman]

I use A-Line when I can find them, but if I run out I use regular office staples.  They are cheap, a soft and easily bent metal and have a rectangular cross section.

You either have to drill a hole up into the side of the car from the bottom or glur them to the inside of the side and notch out the frame to fit around them or glue the frame in and then drill between the frame and the car side.

[dstarr]

I cannot remember the wire size.  I believe I was using a #76 drill bit to drill the holes. 

[wp8thsub]

DSC04005

by wp8thsub, on Flickr

I like the A-Line steps too - all of the cars on the near track above have them.  Depending on the car, I either drill directly into the floor, or install a piece of styrene behind the sill and drill mounting holes into that.  The method varies based on how much of the step needs to be visible below the car, and sometimes on the thickness of the sill.

If you have the remains of a plastic step on the car side, just drill right behind where the original step was. You may have to adjust the hole spacing a bit to account for the dimensions of the replacement, or re-bend the A-Line step to change its shape.

["JaBear"]

dehusman

...but if I run out I use regular office staples. 

And here I thought I was being original, and a cheapskate to boot!!

 

Otherwise, I use .020” (1.74”) brass wire, though I’ve just got my hands on a good supply of “Tichy” 0.0125 (1.08”) phosphor bronze wire.

 

Incidentally, the staples I do use are 0.026” x 0.016” (2.26” x 1.4”)

 

Note: I’ve only gone to 2 decimal points on my conversions!

Cheers, the Bear. 

[doctorwayne]

The A-Line steps are available in three styles, and are easy to install.

I use a draughting compass with two points (rather than one point with a piece of pencil-lead in the other), then set it to match the width of the steps which I wish to use.  This allows me to make minute indents to indicate where to drill. I use a #76 drill bit in a pin vise.

Here's a photo with a couple of the sill steps in place (Click on the photos for an enlarged view)...

For cars with thin sides (too thin to easily and accurately drill) I add a piece of sheet styrene of a suitable thickness, cementing it to the inside of the car, as shown below...

...and cut the car's floor to accommodate the extra material...

This car is a chopped-up Athearn boxcar, to which I added inset sills, and because the sills are fairly thin, added a block of strip styrene at the location of each sill step.  (Ignore my method of securing the weights - I didn't want them on the car's floor.)

Here's one of the eight re-worked cars...lowered roof line (by 1 HO scale foot), with new Viking roof, and Tichy 5-5-5 ends...

For baggage cars, I use Detail associates .010"x.030" strip brass to make the stirrup steps at the cars' corners and beneath the side doors...

I use a homemade jig to solder the intermediate steps into place, then they're added to the car in the same manner as the A-Line steps.

(EDIT) Another option for installing the A-Line steps is to bend the round portions of the steps, then drill mounting holes in the car's sidesills, as on this Red Caboose X-29 boxcar...

Wayne

[SeeYou190]

While I was looking for a picture, Dr. Wayne beat me to it!

That is good, his pictures show the A-Line stirrups better than mine does.

-Photograph by Kevin Parson

I can't believe I never got a good picture of the stirrup installation.

-Kevin

[doctorwayne]

SeeYou190

I can't believe I never got a good picture of the stirrup installation.

Actually, it's not all that bad...if you had the camera another inch further away from the car's underbody they probably would have been completely visible.  The nice thing about cars like that are the thicker sides, which make the drilling easier.

Wayne

[gmpullman]

doctorwayne

I use a draughting compass with two points (rather than one point with a piece of pencil-lead in the other),

Precicely why I keep a pair of these handy:

Divider by Edmund, on Flickr

You didn't seem too impressed with them in an earlier reply but they seem to work well for my needs.

Regards, Ed

[rrebell]

I like those, what are they called?

[gmpullman]

rrebell

I like those, what are they called?

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089J6HN8S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

3.5 Inch Adjustable Marking Gauge Mini Edge Press - Pitch Gauge

"Currently unavailable"  

Regards, Ed

 

 

[dknelson]

    

dehusman

...but if I run out I use regular office staples. 

 

 

And here I thought I was being original, and a cheapskate to boot!!

 

Otherwise, I use .020” (1.74”) brass wire, though I’ve just got my hands on a good supply of “Tichy” 0.0125 (1.08”) phosphor bronze wire.

 

Incidentally, the staples I do use are 0.026” x 0.016” (2.26” x 1.4”)

 

Note: I’ve only gone to 2 decimal points on my conversions!

Cheers, the Bear. 

 

And at one time Walthers (when it was still itself a manufacturer) used to sell a plastic bag of replacement stirrup steps which was nothing more than a collection of staples, but in sizes not typical to an office or classroom staple machine or gun.  I still have them and for lesser quality cars I still use one now and then if I don't feel like replacing the originals but need one replacement.  They do have the advantage of being sturdy.  They have the disadvantage of being sufficiently large (unlike A line or the small nubbins on the Tichy plastics) that it is usually not possible to drill a hole in the plastic edge of the car body.  I have to cement a piece of styrene on the back side and often drill my holes where the two plastics meet because that makes for easier drilling.

 

Dave Nelson

[dehusman]

dknelson

They have the disadvantage of being sufficiently large (unlike A line or the small nubbins on the Tichy plastics)

On the other hand they typically have the advantage of being a rectangular cross section, rather than round like wire (real sill steps or stirrup steps are made of flat metal strip, instead of round rod like grab irons.)

[SeeYou190]

gmpullman

"Currently unavailable"

Oooh, I am glad I bought mine when I did.

Thanks again for the tip, and it is a great little tool.

-Kevin

[Pruitt]

I added separate stirrup steps to some Walthers 8000 gallon tank cars years ago. Here's one with the molded-on steps that came on the car:

And here's one with the separately-applied steps (I don't remember who the manufacturer was):

If you look close at the second one, you can also see that I applied additional brake rigging under the car. 

Be careful though - next you'll be adding a train line (for air brakes) and other details to each car. Before you know it you'll be spending 10-20 hours per car enhancing the detail. Looks great, but it sure eats into your available time.

[doctorwayne]

gmpullman

You didn't seem too impressed with them in an earlier reply but they seem to work well for my needs.

My apologies, Ed, but I don't recall seeing that particular item (and I also forgot the correct terminology of "dividers", rather than draughting compass).  I actually have several of them, most of which can use either lead  (for making curved lines) or pointy replacements for fixed measurements.
My father was a draughtsman, and I inherited his draughting tools (along with a lot of other tools).

I recall an incident in my first year of highschool, in draughting class, when the teacher. a crusty Scotsman, instructed us to draw a straight line, using only a pencil - no rulers and no straightedges.  As he walked down the aisles he said little, other than the occasional "not too bad".  When he got to me, he looked at my effort, then slammed his yardstick onto my table, with a loud accompanyment of Scottish and English cuss words.  When he had finished, I drew another line, as straight as the first one..."Verrry gude, lad!", and he walked away.

Wayne

[PennCentral99]

Like some others, staples.....

When painted, hard to tell the difference.....

Terry