Percy’s New Frame Is Ready to Print

Percy’s new gearbox required extensive modifications to the frame. Fortunately, these were all 3D printed parts, and so, the changes were a simple matter of drawing. I decided to replace the rather nondescript motor cover with something a little more representative of the real engine’s frame. The ghost of Percy’s original frame is still present, […]

Coal Car Brakes

The brake systems on hopper cars are often tight for space. So, it’s useful to be able to check clearances before construction. In the case of the coal cars, I found the train line was a little too close to truck bolster for my liking, and so, I raised it a scale inch or two. […]

FeatureScript Changes the Game

Speaking of flat cars, what about their loads? Most of the time, these cars would have carried lumber or logs. Without a sawmill on the line, it is unlikely they carried logs in my town, but there is a photo of a flat car of lumber in Pembroke. I’d always imagined I would create lumber […]

Standard Parts

As I’m working on a 3D model of a freight car, there are some parts that lend themselves to reuse. Brakes, stake pockets and pipe fittings are natural candidates for standardization. So, I’ve established an OnShape document of some standard parts that I can import and use on any other car I might design. John […]

Coal Car Progress

For one reason or another, I’ve been absent from the railroad room quite a bit these past few months. This makes progress on physical projects difficult, but virtual projects can continue. The coal car, which I’m almost ashamed to say has been on my desktop for a year, is nearing completion. In thirty years of […]

Refined Switch Lock Design

I’ve never had a ton of luck with Assembly views in OnShape. Until now. As I was idly rotating the design, as I so often do after building a 3D model, I started to wonder if the key will actually turn past the end of the lever, or if it will jam. And anyway, how […]

Percy and the Broken Promise

When I started this project, the great thing about Percy was that I could work on the engine without being tempted to turn it into a Canada Atlantic prototype. Well, now that I have a working engine, it seems a shame not to put it to work! But, even I can’t imagine Percy banging Troublesome […]

Deconstructing Percy

I was a bit worried, as I offered the Phillips-head screwdriver up to the three screws on Percy’s coverplate, that I would find the two axles were driven by a gear train, the connecting rods coming along just for show. That would defeat the exercise, or at least require further testing to ensure Percy could […]

Re-drafting the taper course ends in a draw

I first noticed the crack in 622’s taper course when I was putting together the slides for my recent clinic on modern tools. Just before going to prime all the parts, I decided there was no point in seeing if it was serious enough to fix. I made the original taper course from .010″ styrene, […]

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 […]