Many of the old gypsum cars are here. I took lots of pics today, with emphasis on the brake equipment.
I also took pictures of the hilly terrain around Windsor, NS. This hill by the highway is made of gypsum as you can see. I will build a hill like this on Block 4 (B4).
I will use the same numbering scheme for the BOKX ore cars starting at 352901.
Here is the 10x12 brake cylinder.
The auxiliary reservoir. I'll add gypsum like this.
Control valve etc.
Neat stuff! I enjoy following along. I'm looking forward to the crane!
For small tapered wooden parts like barrels and reservoirs I'll use pencils and my old school sharpener.
Two truncated pencil cones and an old metal washer make one non-plastic reservoir.
Some quick dry wood glue and a c-clamp should do it. So much more rewarding!
To make my brake work more visible, I will paint the main components hull red. All mounting brackets will be made from zinc. All the brake lines will be made from the stiff-wire antennas of the toy RC vehicles I have been tearing apart.
Although pencils may have their modelling applications, dowels are easier to attach brake lines to and they sharpen just as easily in my old school Boston sharpener. Also, the sawdust from the sharpener is 100% wood, thus, modelling material.
Mounting brackets for the reservoir and cylinder made from zinc. Holes drilled in the bottom of the brackets match the manufacurer's holes in the under frame in diameter. All parts painted black (the hull red made the reservoir look like a wooden barrel). Valve, brake lever and the brake lines will be made next.
Yesterday was winter hiking day in the Windsor Group geology areas of interest for the BOKR. Today I work on Block 4 (B4) and ore car brake systems.
Many ideas for lettering my ore cars are shown in my go-to book entitled "Illustrated Treasury of Modern Freight Cars of North America," James W. Kerr (DPA-LTA Enterprises Inc., Lewiston, NY, 2006). Lettering for ore, air side dump, hopper, and covered hopper cars on pages 52-85 provide lots of useful examples.
Making technical drawings for brake component design and installation.
Now that I worked out the equations and numbers for the frustum of a cone, I can reproduce identical reservoirs easily and quickly.
In the 25 minutes since my last post I cut enough wood for reservoirs for all my ore cars.
Today I will standardize the design and installation of a reservoir mounting frame. I will begin trying my favorite material, zinc.
Zinc reservoir mount complete with centre hole to attach to the underframe.
This is where the auxiliary reservoir will go when completed with brake lines and paint.
Electrical wire soldered to the mount through the bottom hole. Stained glass flux, solder and black patina used to age the zinc mount.
Reservoir mount installed and looks aged. Brake hoses will be wire and black heat shrink. Painting the reservoir (I like it much better than the plastic one).
These Roundhouse ore cars do not come with brake wheels. I started collecting HO scale wheels from cars I disassembled for parts last year, however, I didn't like these plastic pieces much. I found a metal alternative that I like much better. Small parts from fabric snaps are the same diameter and look great painted and installed on cars. The snaps in this picture will be primed and painted for the ore cars.
All painted and drying. From local fabric store to the model railroad - everything and anything!
After a few days of intense music activities, it's back to some modelling time. Working on the ore car's control valve, cylinder and associated brake lines today.
The cylinder will be a modified electrical diode that I removed from one of the RC vehicles. Surface coating has been scraped off to prepare for paint and one end has been tapered using a drill and hard grinding bit.
The BOKR will be submitted to Railroad Model Craftsman for publication, Hopefully.