With sermon prep occupying more of my time, I simply don't have the time to put together How-Tos anymore but I thought there might be some interest in my holiday projects.
I mounted Kadees on two Tyco tankers that just had to be upgraded for operational and sentimental reasons. They featured Talgo style six wheel trucks that were sweet looking, whether they were prototypical I couldn't say. With the Talgo mount, Tyco did not provide for an end beam and truck mounted couplers are out of the question so I came up with a compromise. I removed 3/16" from the bolsters of each car and made ersatz end platforms for them out of styrene sheet. While not airy like real tankers, they have proved sturdy and, once painted, hardly noticeable. A .030" styrene shim put the couplers at just the right height. I put new cast metal bolsters on from the scrap box with a pair of Central Valley trucks, also from the scrap box. I then formed safety rails from brass wire, soldering the joints and mounting them from platform to platform. They simply await paint and a couple HAZMAT placards to finish them up.
The flat was a simple clip/screw and go conversion for the couplers with Atlas wheelsets being placed in the Tyco trucks. The load was the fun project and was wrapped up just about when Boise crossed the goal line with that sweet trick in overtime to beat the Sooners.:thumb: It's two toy truck shocks painted oxide primer red to look like one serious load. I crated a pair in scrap stripwood and finished it off with fastener detail made with a very sharp pencil. It awaits proper chaining to the flat to finish what I thought was a fairly different flatcar load. I was going to make two but figured one was enough, guess I'll find a factory model that "manufactures" these puppies now.
I mounted Kadees on two Tyco tankers that just had to be upgraded for operational and sentimental reasons. They featured Talgo style six wheel trucks that were sweet looking, whether they were prototypical I couldn't say. With the Talgo mount, Tyco did not provide for an end beam and truck mounted couplers are out of the question so I came up with a compromise. I removed 3/16" from the bolsters of each car and made ersatz end platforms for them out of styrene sheet. While not airy like real tankers, they have proved sturdy and, once painted, hardly noticeable. A .030" styrene shim put the couplers at just the right height. I put new cast metal bolsters on from the scrap box with a pair of Central Valley trucks, also from the scrap box. I then formed safety rails from brass wire, soldering the joints and mounting them from platform to platform. They simply await paint and a couple HAZMAT placards to finish them up.
The flat was a simple clip/screw and go conversion for the couplers with Atlas wheelsets being placed in the Tyco trucks. The load was the fun project and was wrapped up just about when Boise crossed the goal line with that sweet trick in overtime to beat the Sooners.:thumb: It's two toy truck shocks painted oxide primer red to look like one serious load. I crated a pair in scrap stripwood and finished it off with fastener detail made with a very sharp pencil. It awaits proper chaining to the flat to finish what I thought was a fairly different flatcar load. I was going to make two but figured one was enough, guess I'll find a factory model that "manufactures" these puppies now.
