There was a link shared this morning on the Steam Era Freight Car Board to a video from 1951 of the Merchant Dispatch Car Shops in East Rochester, NY. I’ve seen this video a few years ago, but it is still enjoyable for any fans of freight cars.
The video documents the work of building freight cars in the early 1950’s. It goes all the way from stamping sheet metal for car sides and ends to the final painting of the cars being built.
Original Atlas O axel assembly and the NWSL Conversion Wheelset
“Drop-In Conversion Parts” that is such a nice phrase. It’s not always a reality.
If you read yesterday’s post you know of my troubles installing the NWSL conversion wheelsets into the Atlas O F3B. To recap the back to back of the ridge on the bushings needed to be at least 0.496″.
The NWSL parts had a back to back measurement of 0.488″ – 0.490″.
I know it’s only 0.006″ – 0.008″ difference but that is the difference of them fitting or not.
Time to disassemble the first axel.
This was the before measurement for the bushing.
This is the bushing’s measurement after it went on a diet.
The new back to back measurement. And the most important thing….. They ACTUALLY were a drop-in fit into the grove on the top cover.
After modifying the two axels that didn’t fit, I had to open up the one truck where the axels did fit. I knew they were a very tight fit and just thought they would benefit from also being modified in the same manor.
I am happy to report that this last photo shows all four axels modified and installed. Next time I work on this model, those side frames need to move a lot closer to the wheels, but that is work for another day.
Truth be told, it took about the same amount of time to write this post as it did modify the bushings to make the axels fit properly. So it really wasn’t a big deal at all.
I’m still bothered that the conversion parts did not fit as delivered from NWSL. I’ve been modeling in Proto48 since the early ’90’s, I know there is no instant gratification in Proto48. We have to actually work on our models.
What if I was a newcomer to Proto48, this experience would have been very discouraging. It could have easily made me question if modeling in Proto48 was worth the extra effort. Sometimes the newcomer to Proto48 needs some simple wins to give them the motivation to keep going and try more difficult projects. This type of Proto48 conversion should be one of those simple wins.
Well it’s nasty outside this morning. Here in New Jersey we are experiencing a nor’easter moving past us just off the coast. They have blizzard conditions down at the shore. Just snowing and high winds here. I’m waiting for the snow to stop to go clear the walks later today. A great time to sit down at the workbench.
I had a friends model in to have the trucks repaired. That is his Pecos River Brass PRR G30 gondola sitting there on the bench. The springs came out of one of the trucks. It just needed to have the springs re-installed. Simple enough fix.
My friend wants to put this model out on the table at the Chicago show this year, so if you are looking for one of these fire off an email and I’ll pass it on to my friend.
Behind the PRR G30, you can see what remains of this week’s small project. I picked up an Atlas O CNJ F3B dummy at the last Strasburg Show. I was able to aquire a drive donor (the CB&Q F3A), the swap of the two drives went easy enough. Only little hick-up was the position of the front step. The hole for the B-unit location needed to be tapped to allow me to mount the step into the position under the door.
Since it was on the workbench still, I pulled out the conversion set I had purchased from North West Short Line for the Atlas O F3. The idea is that they are meant to be a direct replacement for the O Scale wheelsets.
Take off four screws and the cover plate on each axel and replace the wheel set. Simple, Right?
Well it started out that way. You can see the replacement wheels installed on this truck. They were a little tight but I was able to get them into the truck. We won’t talk about the language used to help guide them into the truck.
The second truck was not as simple. The wheels didn’t fit.
Here you can see the axel cover removed from the Atlas truck. The two brass bushing are meant to fit into the grooves on the cover and also on the truck center.
The groove has a back-to-back distance of 0.496″.
But the bushings on the NWSL conversion wheels had a 0.488 back to back spacing. Looks like they are not so “drop-in” a replacement. There is no way these could EVER fit into that truck.
I can pull the non-geared wheel off, which will allow me to remove the bushings from the axel. Then I should be able to mill down the thickness of the bushings to give me the needed clearence. Then I’ll have to reassemble the axels again.
BUT this ALL should not be needed on what is supposed to be a drop in replacement part. At $64.95 USD (plus shipping) per conversion set they should work as a conversion set and NOT be a conversion PROJECT. I’m not a happy NWSL customer at this point.
For those that want to know. I have two sets of the NWSL Altas O F unit replacement wheelsets. Only two out of the eight axels I measured will actually fit into the Atlas O trucks.
Last night I was changing out wheelsets on a Weaver N5c cabin car. In about fifteen minutes, I had the trucks off, the three rail wheelsets out, new axels in place and the trucks re-instaled.
Afterwards, I had the old three rail wheels sitting on the workbench next to a Proto48 truck still on the workbench from working on the turnouts from the earlier posts.
Seeing the SIZE of the wheels next to the Proto48 truck explains it all for me. I know why I model in Proto48.
The funny thing is, most Proto48’ers look down on the truck in the photo. It is a Red Caboose truck with no brake shoes and NWSL Proto48 wheelsets with no back of wheel detail installed. All that being said, the truck still looks great next to the three rail wheels and it rolls almost as good as the expensive trucks with roller-bearings on each axel.
You mileage may vary, and that’s fine. Enjoy the hobby.
I have made some progress building the turnout. My biggest issue so far has been remembering at what angle to drive the spike without moving the rail.
But my check gauge has vanished into the dimension of lost socks. Can’t find that thing anywhere. So I ordered another from Right-O-Way today. I think this project is going to be put on hold until it arrives.
I did notice that Jay at Right-O-Way had posted on Facebook that they have Proto48 Code 125 Non-Weathered Flex-track in stock again. That good news.
And I know it’s Friday, so why the WBW post? I’m thinking it’s about to morph into an any day workbench category.
I brought back one of the five projects that were on the workbench at the same time. It is much easier to work on one project without the other projects competing for attention or space to work.
I thought I’d try to remember how to build a turnout. It’s been way too long since I built my last one. It is amazing how much you forget.
Last Fall, I ordered some turnout blocks from Central & Western HomaRoad Supply. They are nice, dust free and a nice smooth surface to work on. I used one of Jim Cantner’s turnout templates to position the ties. Then I started building….. after a few starts and stops, I began to remember how much I’ve forgotten about building a turnout. Thankfully spikes can be pulled up and rail adjusted.
In the photo you can also see three new Trifecta Proto48 track gauges from Fast Tracks. They are a nice clean machined part and fit the Micro-Engineering railhead very well. I’m using American Switch and Signal castings for a number 8 turnout, which are now available through Right-O-Way and Micro Engineering code 125 rail for this build.
Progress has been much slower on this turnout than I would like. But it has been fun.
I know it’s not Wednesday but The biggest thing I have been working on recently is cleaning the workbench again. It’s taken a couple of weeks, but I finally got it clean. I had at least five projects going on at the same time on the workbook all fighting for space and attention.
But with the start of a new year, I thought it would be good to start the year with a clean workbench. There is snow in the forecast for the morning, so I’m hoping I get a chance to start to clutter it up again real soon.
Reading FT 256 at Tamaqua, PA. Photograph by Donald W. Furler, Center for Railroad Photography and Art.
This morning I was checking my email and looking at the few Facebook Groups I follow. I found an image embedded in a post on the of the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society. The photo that was embedded was part of a discussion about a location of of a different image.
But when I followed the link, I found a wonderful webpage.
The Center for Railroad Photography and Art has a page of 100 images of the Reading Railroad taken by Donald W. Furler. The images cover many different locations on the Reading Railroad from the early 1940’s into the mid-1950’s. A number of the images have appeared in print before in different publications.
Take a look, this is not your typical railman photography. I enjoyed exploring the page this morning. I hope other Reading fans will also.
Reading F3A 261 near Ringtown, PA, April 3, 1949. Photograph by Donald W. Furler, Center for Railroad Photography and Art.
It’s took a while to get some paint of the trucks. Then it took a while longer to get them back in the work line. Some of those freight car projects just go so much faster that it feels like you have actually finished something.
Anyway, these two pair of trucks have had new axels from Protocraft installed. Yes, they are now available from Right-O-Way but I’ve had mine on the shelf since they were a Protocraft product. I also installed ball bearing from Bearing Direct on the axels and also the FineScale 360 Weaver Chain Drive Replacement Kit.
I have to say that these are a pain in the ass to reassemble. Things seem to be moving in so many directions at the same time. It’s difficult to get them all to fit together without something moving. They are taking longer than I thought they would to reassemble.
And for anybody that might be questioning why I have a nice shinny black on the trucks instead of all kinds of weathered blacks/grays/rust. For my modeling period, the Summer of 1952, these units are less than a month old. I don’t think the railroad would have been happy if they had been delivered with well worn trucks.
I am back at work a couple of days a week until the end of the month. This has meant getting out at lunchtime to West Trenton Station. This week I got to see a CSX stack train head North through the station.
Some PRR hopper cars on the workbench getting lettered.
I’ve been working on some PRR GLa’s recently. These four are Precision Scale models imported back the early ’90’s. They are nice cars. I painted them a few years ago, just never got around to decorating the cars.
I’ve run out of the Yoder decals for the GLa’s. They were really nice to work with and I’m glad I saved the leftovers from what I had used in the past. I ended up using a combination of decals on these cars. I tried a Tichy set, and a set from K4 Decals. I can’t say I was excited by either of those sets. But they provided what was missing from my leftover Yoder decals for the GLa’s.
I am also finishing up an Overland PRR H32 Covered Hopper car for a friend. I did use a Tichy set for that car. I had a little trouble using Solvaset on the decals. The decals seemed to lift off the clear carrier film. A little Microscale’s Micro Sol setting solution applied to the letter together with a little pressure was able to get that under control.
An Overland PRR H32 Covered Hopper car making a trip through the Workbench getting some lettering applied for a friend.
