More chassis details for 622

The weather this weekend was definitely conducive to model railroading. This was fortunate because the Virtual Display Room at the Railway Modellers’ Meet is already starting to fill up. I’m planning to get 622 assembled for some photos so I can present her next Thursday. The major engineering and electrical work is hopefully complete, and […]

Handrails for 622

All I can say is at least it is straight across the front. Most North American steamers that I’m familiar with keep their handrails chastely separate on either side of the boiler. If there was a handrail across the front of the smoke box, it was another piece, disjoint from the side rails. Sadly, 622 […]

Start of chassis details for 622

The hardest part about scratchbuilding is that there are no instructions. Usually that simply means I’m on my own to solve every problem – territory so familiar, I don’t know I could actually follow someone else’s planned sequence of steps. This time, the piece of instructions I am missing is the map of the etch […]

Smokebox front

622’s smokebox front is another 3D-printed part. Like the domes and stack, it fit astonishingly well into the boiler. It was actually a nice press-fit. Interestingly, either the boiler jacket is slightly thicker than .020″ (would that happen as it curled?) or there is some inaccuracy in the 3D print. In either case, the smokebox […]

622 gets a stack and domes

That big package from Shapeways contained domes, and I’m impressed enough by the quality of the print, that I don’t think I can improve on them. A coat of primer will tell for certain, but if any sanding is required, it is minimal. Astonishingly, they fit onto the boiler perfectly! I’m still trying to move […]

Boiler saddle

When I mated the boiler and the etched frame for the first time, they produced a dead short. Somehow, I had reversed the framigami pattern so the left side ended up on the top rather than on the bottom as planned. Fortunately I noticed before bringing any destructive electrons to the party. The situation remained […]

Better tapered boiler courses

So far, 622’s boiler remains a pair of nicely formed cylindrical sections, joined by a skanky tapered section that is more putty than substance. All that sanding gave me loads of time to think, and to lament the fact that OnShape’s Sheet Metal Model feature doesn’t extend to cones. As I was shaping, and wondering […]

Boiler wrapped

I designed the boiler weight undersized to allow for the tolerance of Shapeways stainless steel printing. As with my own girth, I figured it would be easier to shim than to trim the weight. However, even with the additional tolerance, while the barrel allows for slightly more than a .020″ styrene wrapper, the wagon top […]

Only the tour’s off

Last week we announced that the Railway Modellers’ Meet will take a different format this year. Encouraged to keep our distance and “be kind, be calm and be safe” by that delightful fascist, Dr Bonnie Henry, we won’t be meeting in person at SFU this year. Instead, we’ll be hosting a reduced program via Zoom. […]

Styrene tubes for 622’s boiler

One of the supposed benefits of writing and blogging about my projects is that I can go back and repeat a technique that was successful, and sometimes avoid the ones that weren’t. Unfortunately, when it comes to how to roll the plastic sheathing for the boiler, the book on #10 is like a nude by […]