S.A.& A.P. Maintenance of Way builds

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

S.A. & A.P. PD01 is coming along very nicely. The flat car is pretty much finished. I need to get some grab irons for the ends of the car. The decking is almost complete. You can see the cleats cut from 1x4 styrene. Of course, NBW's will be added after painting.

The car varies a little from standard flat cars as it has only one set of stake pockets up front. These are centering stakes that keep the boom centered on the car in transit.

The underside is standard in compliance of the era the car was made. Four queen-posts on two needle-beams, four truss rods. There will be some steel reinforcements added to the sides.

The rollers are not yet added to the decking. They will be added once the painting and weathering is completed. Same with the handbrake wheel assembly.

Markings are very limited and unique. I will be using Clover House Dry Transfers onto decal paper, then applied like standard decals.

Once I get this finished, I will move onto the sub-frame for the hoist rigging. This is a lot of cutting and bracing. I have the winch kit to go along with this so construction on that will begin shortly also.

Here are some updated pictures...

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Starting work on the operator's deck. Lots of precise cutting, individual boards, angles and details. I don't know how far I'll get tonight, but I will certainly post up some pics. Stay tuned.

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Thanks Jim. Everything is done by my own eyes. I don't own an Optivisor yet, but I'm going to get one because my eyes are starting to feel the strain to see the lines, little bits, etc. I'm not going to continue to strain my eyes. This operators' deck is working my eye's overtime. Measurements, keeping everything square; ugh! It drives my eyes' batty.

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Here is the operator's deck with the underside framing completed. Everything came out in scale, to the dimension and fits beautifully on the flat car. It was a job to keep this square. I think my eyes are playing tricks on me because it looks a little off, but not by much. Everything measures out and it matches the HO Scale template used to position everything.

Now I have to add the decking on the top. Once that is done, it is painting time. This is such a fun kit. Kudos to Rio Grande Western HO Scale products. This is a blast to build.

Here are the pics...

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Calling it a night. I'll pick up in the morning and finish the decking. I'm beat.

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

The decking is complete. Everything came out exactly according to the diagram. This was not difficult to do, but requires meticulous attention to detail. I'm real pleased at the progress so far. Now with the decking done, there are just a few more details to add to it that are the same color. Then it's off to the paint shop where she'll get her color. Then, I have a whole bunch of metal castings to clean up and paint. Plus, I have the winch to build, and the hoist house, which will require all interior framing. For anyone who wants a unique piece of equipment on their road, and easily converted from HOn3 to HO, this is the ticket! Check out Rio Grande Models web site: Rio Grande Models

More to come today. Stay tuned for more details from your favorite modeling channel! LOL...

Manny

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Rio Grande Models? Darn, I thought they were no longer around. Like Jim said, a ton of neat stuff.

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Got a little work done tonight. I got sick this afternoon. Something really upset my stomach and gave me a really bad headache, so I spent most of the day resting.

I finished the decking on the operator's platform, and added the two tie off hooks along the side. I also added the skids underneath that help keep the platform in balance. The hoists distribution pulley assembly was also installed in the forward deck area.

Along the front side, two large pieces of steel are used for reinforcement of the front frame. I cut those pieces and they are ready for the paint shop.

I worked on the tower this evening. This is a difficult item to do, especially since you are dealing with very small, thin, delicate, white metal castings. Each casting must be straight and true for everything to line up. I got my pieces the best I could. I was afraid of damaging a part. I still need to add NBW's to the sides, but I'm not feeling well enough to do those right now. I'm having a little difficulty focusing.

I checked the alignment of the two beams against the ram and it slides up and down perfectly.

Here are the pics for today. Tomorrow there will be some painting and a little more construction. Some of the wooden parts for the cab were damaged. I need to call RGM and get replacements.

More shortly. Night y'all,

Manny

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Hey Y'all,

Today I painted the operator's deck and weathered it. I also added the steel plating side braces on the nose of the deck which bears the brunt of the pressures and impacts created by the pile driver head.

The deck was painted Boxcar Red, with DRG Cream as the deck. Then I started out weathering with Instant Age, Oily Crud, Muddy River, Pond Scum, Weathered Rust, Rust, and a little more IA, and Oily Crud. The only aspect to be completed is when all the decking pieces are added. There will be more Oily Crud and Rust added due to all the metal brackets, stays, hinges, etc.

The boom was painted as well, and will receive a heavy oily coat inside the rails, along with mud, rust, dust, and crud. So far, everything is looking good.

The real pile drivers for the S.A. & A.P., between 1884 and 1918 got a good work-out. Besides all the bridges that the SAP built, the pile drivers were loaned to the S.A.F & N., to which 23 trestles were built, the longest being 842 feet. That's a lot of pile driving.

More tomorrow as I'll be working on painting the deck components. I may be able to start putting them on either late tomorrow, or Wednesday morning.

For the flat car, I'm waiting on some cut levers, otherwise, she's ready to paint.

Thanks for looking.

Manny

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Alrighty! Lots to catch up on. Here it is 4AM in the morning and I've been working on the pile driver all night. Seems like I do better during the night than the day. Anyhow...

This weekend, I will be giving a clinic at the San Antonio Model Railroaders Associations train show at Live Oak Civic Center here in San Antonio. The club asked me to do a clinic on how I weather my flat cars, so.... I had to get Pile Driver No. 1 ready for the show. That's what I've been working on.

The first thing I'd like to share with you is Marty. Marty is a gentleman I met on eBay. Now before you roll your eyes, take a look at these cut levers. Marty built a jig and bends these identically over and over again. He sits down, watches TV and drinks a cold one of his favorite beverage and just bends cut levers. These particular levers are made from .015 music wire, so they are stout and will not lose their shape. He can do them in any reasonable thickness, like .020 or .012(5). The cut levers come standard with three bends on the handle, forming a "]" facing the car. I cut the lower bend off and make it a straight handle since that is what existed for TOC. For you more modern guys, these fit right in. As you can see in the pictures, they fit Detail Associates 2222 Eye Loops perfectly. "0.015 is the max thickness for these loops. They allow just enough play that if your alignment is a touch off, you can straighten it out. The centering aspect over the knuckles are perfect! So is the length; just short of the pimple representing the cut lever stanchion on the knuckle. The lever ends up just inside the outer edge of the car. Perfect.



If anyone is interested in getting these from Marty, please PM me and I'll give you the particulars. You won't be disappointed and they are a great addition to any car!

Once the cut levers were installed, and I installed the Tichy Hand Brake Assembly, it was time to paint. I masked off the top and shot the car Polly S Boxcar Red. I'm really getting frustrated with Polly S and my Paasche. I guess I need to thin it more because almost through the process it jammed up on me and I had to clear it. I have to say, the paint came a tad heavy and I"m not happy 'bout it. But I'll disguise some of that with dry brush weathering.

I added the Kadee Whisker knuckles and the 501 Arch Bar Trucks, and last, I assembled the pile drivers ring gear. This required centering the platform inside the ring perfectly and then measuring six (6) brass .015 rods, and cutting exactly the same and bending exactly the same to make the spokes. No an easy task, but when taking time, it all worked out. The ring is perfectly centered on the flat car, and perfectly centered as a mechanism. If I'm off, it's by 1000'ths of an inch.

Once painted and dried, I installed the ring on the steel plate in the middle of the car, and then touched up some paint. Phosphorus Bronze doesn't take paint well, especially metallic paint.

Here are some pics...




Last, I applied Clover House Dry Transfers to decal paper in preparation of decals tomorrow.

That's all for now. See you later today, in the afternoon.

Thanks,

Manny

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Those are a nice touch... Something normally not found on most models.

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Pics in a few of the flat finished and ready for weathering. Stay tuned...Working on the NBW's...

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Nothing like four hours of sleep and a little Gorilla Glue in the morning!

Here she is all decked out and ready for weathering which will be done at the train show clinic today. Pics when I return for the weathering job.

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

S.A.A.P. PILE DRIVER No. 1's flat car is completed. She entered service in 1886 and ran faithfully until the early 1920's when she was retired. By 1916 she was heavily worn from not only use on the S.A. & A.P., but also the 23 trestles built on the S.A. F & N. Here she is without her body assembly on her. No work tonight. I'm beat.

 

Re: Next project: S.A. & A.P. Pile Driver No. 1 - MOW

Thanks Jim. I will be working on the operator's deck tomorrow and the rest of the week. I will start cleaning up the hoist/winch and build it. More smaller details, and then building S.A.A.P. PD1A idler flat will complete this project. The other MOW cars will arrive by end of next week. Then it's time to start building the whole MOW train. Those cars will be yellow, with the BCR roofs. More on those later. Right now, time to finish PD No. 1.

Off to bed. Night y'all.