622 virtually roughed in

I’m starting to think seriously about the drive train for 622. On #10, I built my own gear box, which enabled me to model the full backhead and floor of the cab. That’s all very nice when you take the roof off, but most of the time you can’t see it. For 622, I’m considering […]

622 suffers do-overs in CAD too

If you’ve been reading my blog for any time at all, you know that I throw out about half the things I make. The first version is never good enough, but it does teach me how to make one that is. So, it should come as no surprise that I just deleted almost the whole CAD model […]

Getting sources organized for 622

For my drawing efforts thus far, I’ve been considering the erecting card and the associated specification for the locomotive as gospel. I mean, these were the resources that the boys at Baldwin would have used to put 622 and 621 together, and so they should be right. Unfortunately, unexpectedly, inexplicably, they don’t agree! The drawing […]

Figuring out OnShape connectors

After watching the tutorial again, and sinking another night into learning OnShape, I’m not only in danger of dying prematurely because my body didn’t break down enough sugars and triglycerides, but I’m also in danger of becoming effective at creating Assemblies. Perhaps I should explain for those SketchUp users out there. OnShape (and FreeCad) work on the basis […]

622 drawing progresses in OnShape

I’m starting to get the hang of parameterized CAD with OnShape. Tonight, I managed to get a pretty good sketch of the locomotive frame, and extruded it to make the outside layers. I also discovered a handy feature called a variable, which enables you to label a dimension, such as the standard thickness of metal, […]

4-4-0 Engine truck designs

You can tell I’m getting excited about a project when I start planning for it before the previous project is even complete. Oh, this will make it difficult to keep momentum on the turntable. This weekend we were over to Nanaimo for dinner with family, and so, I couldn’t really make progress on the turntable […]

Blackout Modelling

We had a good old blow this evening, which made cycling across the Lions Gate Bridge very interesting indeed and also knocked the power out. My Christmas project, which is consuming most of my spare time these days and seriously hampering progress on the layout, requires a computer and Internet. So, I took some […]