Okay, so, I have a number of coaches (they are Mantua Classics) that have RP-25 wheels with metal axles, that I wouldn't mind replacing with metal wheels (Maybe something from Bachmann) but I keep seeing measurements that I don't quite understand... Though I'm probably better off with the wheels I have, I have also been thinking of putting lights inside a few of the coaches (Easy Peasy's shortest lights are 5 ½ inches in length for the "N" scale, which, you would THINK are short enough for an HO scale carriage car, but, they are a little over an inch too long. Classic carriages in HO are 4 ¼ inches in length at the top) which will, of course, require metal wheels at some point, as plastic is a LOUSY conductor!
So, my question is, is what size should I be looking for?
What style is best suited for that Old West look?
I have six cars I want to upgrade... I really want these cars to wow me. (though I do enjoy "wowing" others, my biggest love of this hobby is "wowing" myself with a bit of detail that I may otherwise have ignored)
Also... unrelated (maybe) is there a lighting kit out there that is simple, but will fit a 4 ¼ inch car? (I know I asked in another thread, but never did get a positive yes or no answer)
Step #1: digital calipers are your friend. You can get a good one for under $20 online or in your local Home Depot / Lowes / Harbor Freight / etc. These will help you with a multitude of measuring tasks....
Step #2: There are two possible measurements that come to mind for replacement wheelsets: 1) wheel diameter, 2) axle length. General rule of thumb is that scale 33" diameter wheels go on cars that have a capacity of 70tons or less, 36" wheels go on 100ton cars and passenger cars, 38" wheels are for 125+ ton cars, and 28" are for autoracks, certain intermodal equipment, and 40ton or under freight cars. Axle lengths can vary from one model manufacturer to the next, so a wheelset that is just right for Brand X could be too long or too short to fit in Brand K's trucks.
Step #3: Therefore, use the digital calipers to measure the original axle length and to calculate the scale diameter of the original wheels (over the face, not the flange), and use those dimensions to identify the best possible replacement wheelsets for the car in question.
Lighting....
The Streamlined Backshop - http://www.sbs4dcc.com - makes a Z-scale passenger car board that might work. Another option, if you are handy, is to pickup LEDs and other components and build a lighting circuit yourself. With a micro or magnetic switch and a button battery, you could have lights that independent of track power. The homemade route would also give you the most choices when it comes to placement, color, and brightness.
I hope some of that is of help to you.
~AJ Kleipass
That all helps quite a bit! Thanks!
(so, digital calipers are next on the shopping list! Heh... seems I'm buying more things to work on trains, than trains lately! I better go buy some more trains, and make up for it!)
The next thing you know, you're going to need a storage shed. ;D
You can never have TO MANY tools.
Ton
to dutchbuilder : But you can run out of space to house them . John2.
Warflight,
Check out this site, http://voltscooter.com/. They make an excellent LED circuit board lighting kit that can be cut down as small as 4". They use super caps for keep alive and the brightness is adjustable. I've used them to light up 4 old time Roundhouse coaches and at least 8 different cabooses so far. They are a little pricey, but you get what you pay for.
Rod in PA
Under the layout!
Once I have a layout, I plan to build drawers into it, for tool storage! I shall run out of room, the day the layout is finished, and we all know a layout is NEVER finished!
Quote from: Rod in PA on March 22, 2017, 06:28:55 PM
Check out this site, http://voltscooter.com/. They make an excellent LED circuit board lighting kit that can be cut down as small as 4". They use super caps for keep alive and the brightness is adjustable. I've used them to light up 4 old time Roundhouse coaches and at least 8 different cabooses so far. They are a little pricey, but you get what you pay for.
Ooh... I like it! Though, the capacitors might get in the way of the windows on one end, but I might be able to use them for the combines. I wonder if there is a way to have them battery powered, however? I'll have to shoot them a message and find out!
Quote from: Warflight on March 22, 2017, 06:32:51 PM
Quote from: Rod in PA on March 22, 2017, 06:28:55 PM
Check out this site, http://voltscooter.com/. They make an excellent LED circuit board lighting kit that can be cut down as small as 4". They use super caps for keep alive and the brightness is adjustable. I've used them to light up 4 old time Roundhouse coaches and at least 8 different cabooses so far. They are a little pricey, but you get what you pay for.
Ooh... I like it! Though, the capacitors might get in the way of the windows on one end, but I might be able to use them for the combines. I wonder if there is a way to have them battery powered, however? I'll have to shoot them a message and find out!
Wire them to a 9 volt battery, lay it on the car floor. The LEDs only want about 3v, the built in resistors on that board will lower the voltage appropriately
Quote from: Geared Steam on March 22, 2017, 11:37:05 PM
Wire them to a 9 volt battery, lay it on the car floor. The LEDs only want about 3v, the built in resistors on that board will lower the voltage appropriately
I have considered that at one point, however, then there is the issue of turning it on and off, as well as the lights being only a piece of my plan for the cars. I also want to put in seats, and passengers, and a 9v on the floor would hinder that.
It's a great idea, if I wasn't doing seats and passengers as well. There is another company that does battery operated, with the magnetic wand (fox... something) that I just sent an e-mail to... the reviews say theirs are shorter, but I can't find any dimensions anywhere, so I sent them an e-mail to inquire. One of the reviews says they can be cut down about an inch, so if that's what I have to do, that wouldn't be too big an issue for me.
Quote from: Warflight on March 22, 2017, 01:17:32 PM... seems I'm buying more things to work on trains, than trains lately!
Yes, you do reach a point sometimes when you need to add to the workbench in order to add to the fleet. Some of those things are cheap, others not so much so. It comes down to having the right tool for the right job.
Yeah, lately I've been using a few of my gunsmithing tools for my trains... but it looks like I'm going to need a few more things for the work bench.
Well, considering you are looking at models of 19th century cars, then I would say you are looking at 33-inch diameter wheels. A good way to check--if you have any equipment by anyone else--say an old Athearn blue box car--would be to pull a set from the Athearn car, or from the Mantua car, and compare both axle length and wheel diameter. If it matches the Athearn car in diameter, you have your wheel size, and if it matches the axle length, you have that, too.
You might also want to look at this chart by a company called Reboxx, which offers 33 and 36 inch wheelsets in varying axle lengths; this is the 33-inch chart.
http://www.reboxx.com/Documents/Wheelsets/33%20Application%20Chart.pdf
Here is the home page.
http://www.reboxx.com/
One other thing to keep in mind is that you will likely have to make up some sort of wipers for your trucks. As I recall, they are plastic, and you'll need a way to get power from the wheels to the inside of the car.
Here is one possible way to do that, using the common Kadee coupler centering spring:
http://www.55n3.org/cars/tender_wipers/
Hope this helps out.
THAT helps tremendously! Thank you very much!
Warflight,
I put together a short video of my old time passenger train showing the before and after adding passengers and interior lighting. Notice, you can't even see the capacitors. I mounted the PCB to the under side of the roof and there's still plenty of room for the passengers. DCC power is picked up through the trucks using a simple wiper made of bronze wire. https://youtu.be/v4rmXW_UDQg
Rod in PA
Quote from: Rod in PA on March 28, 2017, 09:40:13 PM
I put together a short video of my old time passenger train showing the before and after adding passengers and interior lighting. Notice, you can't even see the capacitors. I mounted the PCB to the under side of the roof and there's still plenty of room for the passengers. DCC power is picked up through the trucks using a simple wiper made of bronze wire. https://youtu.be/v4rmXW_UDQg
Well, damn... now I want new cars... looking at those beauties, I don't know if lights will even do justice to mine. The tops of mine are a separate piece, with plastic under, so lighting would only light the windows, and not the tops, and the windows on my cars are small by comparison.
These are just the combines (but the passenger cars have the same construction, and windows... just a few more of them is all)
(http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m122/Warflight/IMG_9919.jpg)
Warflight, I think Rod's cars are former Model Die Casting-Roundhouse cars that are loosely based on Sierra Railroad's cars 5 and 6 (a combine and a coach) that were assigned to the Angels Branch. Those particular cars were shorter than most at the time in deference to the curves on that line; in fact, that branch was originally the domain of Shay geared engines, and yes, the Shays did pull those cars.
Don't lose hope. Those cars originally were empty (no interiors, no passengers) like your own; what you see inside is what Rod did. You can do the same, though your cars, with bodies that are based on older prototypes, may have smaller windows.
Don't be too intimidated--that's the way all passenger cars used to be, and some weren't even that easy to work with. Flat kits and models that seemed to consist of sticks used to be the norm!
By the way, Sierra's 5 and 6 are still around. You may have even seen them in movie and television work. No. 5, for instance, was the one-car train that accompanied locomotive No. 3 in the TV series "Petticoat Junction."
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/sierra5.jpg
http://www.railtown1897.org/images/SRYC-5Combine5a-Website.jpg
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/srr6.jpg
http://www.railtown1897.org/images/SRYC-6coach6-Website.jpg
You may already know this, but, the engine from Petticoat Junction was also used in Back to the Future III! (or at least that's what they said on set)
Oh my, it's hard to list all the movies and TV programs Sierra 3 and other Sierra equipment have been in. . ."High Noon" with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly; "Unforgiven" with Clint Eastwood; "Rage at Dawn," "Kansas Pacific," episodes of "Little House on the Prairie," disguised as a German locomotive in the movie version of "The Twilight Zone," and of course the "Back to the Future" movie, and who knows how many others.
One "Sierra" movie I recommend if you haven't seen it is "Bound for Glory," about Woody Guthrie, although being set in the 1930s, Sierra 3 isn't in it (though it does show up in the background of one shot). Some great double-headed steam footage with other Sierra steamers, though!
The trailer, which happens to have another steam star from the movie, McCloud River No. 25:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNled6wh18c
When we went out to California one year on vacation, one of my goals was see Number 3 in person so to speak. When we got there, they had her all in pieces while they were refurbishing her. It was such a disappointment for me. I got to see all the pieces but it wasn't the same. I did get to see the Sierra cars.
Those cars look great Rod.
Terry, you'll be glad to know she's been back together for a while--here she is at Jamestown last July:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEFxoZOMfII
And in movie work from earlier this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsPYZrKss4Q
And from her return to service in 2010:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMkry_61u0U
Wow! She sure looks good. Thanks for the videos.
That is one amazing little engine!