Finescale has plans in the Dec issue for free download. It's all good, but you only need part 4 to get the plan.
Skeleton Log Car Ideas?
- Thread starter Lighthorseman
- Start date
Nice!
Thanks, Shamus! Those new Bachmann ones are beauts. As my current project has fallen to the back burner, and the Canadian dollar is doing so well of late, there are likely a few of those fellas in my layout's future.
Thanks for the picture.
Thanks, Shamus! Those new Bachmann ones are beauts. As my current project has fallen to the back burner, and the Canadian dollar is doing so well of late, there are likely a few of those fellas in my layout's future.
Thanks for the picture.
Have you thought of patterning your cars after the Climax log cars? There are some great photos, plans , and dimensions in Oso Publishing Co.'s recent release "The Climax Locomotive" by Dennis Blake Thompson, et al . I started out a number of years ago with MDC's log cars, just like so many others. Then I got talking to the fellows from the West Side Lumber Co., a modular/display layout group out of Minneapolis-St. Paul. They ran and recommended to me Keystone Locomotive Works' HO scale Climax cars. I love them! One essential tool in building them is a (battery-powered) Dremel tool because each one needs about seventeen hole drilled. That is A LOT of holes to drill by hand. I particularly like them beause the bunk and bunk strap detail is so well done. That is perhaps the most visible part of a log car. And, the cast metal ends provide enough weight to track reliably. On the protoype narrow gauge version of the cars, the bunks were 8 x 10 on the minimum length (20' 4") car. The bunks on this version were 8' wide. I hope this helps somewhat. Good luck with the project!
The company is gone now but I am sure you can still find them on a discount. But I found some really nice O scale skeleton log 3 car sets made by Industrial Rail. They are made for lionel type 3 rail track but they could be converted easily. The trucks are not really right but the detail on the cars is very nice.
i dont htink your going to get a response dawg,if you look at the dates its 2 years old most of the members in it have left.--josh
more like 3 years short :sign1: but im sure someone else on here can give you ideas on where to start if you ask.--josh
Well Dawg, I was not part of this conspiricy about log cars the first time around but I'll try to help you.
Perhaps wood will work fine in O scale -- I can tell you it's not so hot in HO. I built 20 HO skeleton cars out of mostly basswood, they had brass bunker supports & straps & cheese blocks, but the main ingrediant was wood.
They ended up looking super , but you can't run a string of them empty if there is any curve in your trackto speak of. they will pull right off the track & form a straight line .
I had to run them always full & with weighted logs at that, I was using licorish root logs & had to drill them & put some lead in. Learned real quick that NMRA has weight standards for cars for a VERY GOOD REASON ---- soon as I got them about as heavy as standards call for they were fine.
By the way , if you do build them , when you weather & paint them , a bit of cigarette tobaco ( little tiny flakes) secured to the bunks or main beam with a fix of diluted white glue does a Great job of looking like little bits of bark residue left on the car. I've never seen a real log car but I just know that some bark has to get scraped off & left behind.
Perhaps wood will work fine in O scale -- I can tell you it's not so hot in HO. I built 20 HO skeleton cars out of mostly basswood, they had brass bunker supports & straps & cheese blocks, but the main ingrediant was wood.
They ended up looking super , but you can't run a string of them empty if there is any curve in your trackto speak of. they will pull right off the track & form a straight line .
I had to run them always full & with weighted logs at that, I was using licorish root logs & had to drill them & put some lead in. Learned real quick that NMRA has weight standards for cars for a VERY GOOD REASON ---- soon as I got them about as heavy as standards call for they were fine.
By the way , if you do build them , when you weather & paint them , a bit of cigarette tobaco ( little tiny flakes) secured to the bunks or main beam with a fix of diluted white glue does a Great job of looking like little bits of bark residue left on the car. I've never seen a real log car but I just know that some bark has to get scraped off & left behind.
OK IT WORKED!! I'm not very good at computering -- not near as good as I am at soldering!
Here are a few more pics , hope they help. These could be made from brass just as easy & would weigh more that way. Notice how the tobbaco bits look a bit like little chunks of bark . ( I think)
I made some with Link & pin & some with KaDees couplers, they all had chains but some have been lost.
Here are a few more pics , hope they help. These could be made from brass just as easy & would weigh more that way. Notice how the tobbaco bits look a bit like little chunks of bark . ( I think)
I made some with Link & pin & some with KaDees couplers, they all had chains but some have been lost.
