Phase II - Benchwork

At the Springfield train show I picked up my custom benchwork. It was very cold (I think around 10 degrees) and I had to walk out to Model Railroad Benchwork's truck to get it, and then walk it back to the bus. Thankfully, the owners helped me move it but I wish I had thought to bring gloves.

The benchwork looks great and I received several compliments about it already. But, because it is fabricated from ripped plywood some of the edges had started to splinter. That is easy to fix with a sander, but because of the weather I had to wait before I could take it outside. I don't want sawdust in the basement if I don't have to. The sides will later be hidden with a fascia so no one will ever see them.

The joints are screwed together, but it doesn't look like glue was used. Since my benchwork will be pushed around on casters in the basement I want it as strong as possible, and I don't want to disassemble it to add glue to the joints. So, I added braces to the corners. But, because of the odd angles I went with a universal corner brace: a round wood dowel. I bought some 1/2" diameter wood dowels and cut them to about 3" long. Then, they were glued into the joints with wood glue. Is it overkill? Perhaps, but it was easy enough to do. 

I had to set the benchwork sections such that the glue joints were always down, which meant that it took four different set-ups to glue all of the joints. 

After that, I used my flat workbench to attach pairs of corner sections together into 180-degree units. And it was here I ran into a little problem. When set on a flat surface, the tops of the sections touched before the bottoms did. And if I pushed the bottoms together, the sections lifted off of the flat table a little. Though the bottom corner joints were dead 90-degrees, apparently there was a little bit of variance.

So, I spread a thick layer of glue on one piece and then clamped a pair together on the flat surface with multiple clamps. I couldn't fit C-clamps into the bottom joint so I had to resort to heavy-duty spring clamps. Then, I used a countersunk bit to drill holes for some 1.5" drywall screws. These were used to further hold the two pieces together. The bottom screws had to go in at angles for lack of clearance for the drill. In the end, I don't think it will be a problem.

Finally, the weather improved and they were hauled outside and sanded to remove splinters or sharp edges. Some 120 grit stuff in my palm sander made quick work of the problem areas.

I use a pair of 5/16" bolts to connect the end sections to the middle sections of the benchwork. Before drilling the 5/16" holes, I glued on pads of 2" square, 5mm thick plywood to the areas where the holes would be. This reinforces the area for when the layout is rolled around.

During this process, my assistant Harrison rolled through on his own freight train.

The legs on my Phase I middle sections are "H" shaped, but these legs for the ends are "L" shaped. The round ends obviously need to be supported, but fitting H-shaped ones would be impossible because there aren't two parallel braces. I still wanted them to have casters, though, so I used pieces of 2x4 lumber cut into blocks and glued on the bottoms. They were predrilled for screws matching my Harbor Freight 2" casters.

The legs were also taken outside and sanded them to remove any rough edges, then painted with several coats of satin "Tricorn Black" (HGSW6258). I used a roller to obtain a good finish. 

The casters I use are from Harbor Freight and cost about $3 each. They have a 2" rubber wheel and are only rated for 75 pounds each, but that is just fine for my purposes. I'm not crawling on top of my layout.

I used 1" silver screws provided with the legs to mount them on. I used a square to try and keep them perpendicular. 

Finally, after having moved some spring clamps within easy reach, I held up one of the benchwork ends in position and temporarily clamped it in place. I then added the black C-clamp just in case Harrison came downstairs and started touching stuff. 

It was at this point that I thought perhaps the outer legs had a little too much wobble where they attached to the benchwork. I could glue them on which would make the joint super strong, but then removing them would be impossible. And keeping everything sectional was an objective for this layout. So, instead I took a block of 1/2" square wood and simply screwed it in place firmly against the leg with long deck screws. It securely sandwiches the leg.

I drilled and bolted up the ends to the rest of the benchwork with bolts, fender washers, and wing nuts. I also drilled some holes (backed with wood) to provide for wiring conduits.

Even though it doesn't look like much, I was incredibly excided about how things were progressing. You can see how the back portion is only 2' deep, but that will be enough for a small staging yard or perhaps a narrow scene of the railroad cutting through the woods over a bridge or something. 

And, it fit perfectly into the basement where I wanted it to without having to angle it at all, as I had originally planned. There is enough clearance on the right between the layout and the stairs to maneuver laundry baskets and such. (Buried behind the layout is the remaining section of my HO layout, but it won't remain there forever).

Next to come will be the plywood and foam.

Article Published - Upgrading RMT woodchip hoppers

I have another article in this month's O Gauge Railroading magazine involving upgrading new-tooling woodchip hoppers just released last year by Ready Made Trains (RMT). I ordered them in early 2022, and being new to O scale had no idea that waiting four years wasn't normal. But, RMT wanted to make sure the cars came out right and that meant working with the factory to revise the trucks which initially had issues.

The cars are nice, but lacking a few details that I prefer such as lower corner stirrup steps. To enable bent metal ones to be added, I had to modify the frames of the cars to prevent the trucks from swinging too much (which would have allowed the truck-mounted couplers to knock off the stirrups). The plastic load that came free with the car also left something to be desired to I upgraded it with real chainsaw woodchips. Weathering finished up the cars. 

For $30 a car, they are pretty nice models and will work well for my New England themed layout. It was a fun project and I hope it inspired modelers who also purchased these cars to spend a couple of minutes making them appear more realistic. 

Batten Kill Railroad "Limited" excursion train (part 2)

This project is still ongoing but I ran into a snag that put it on hold. Here is what I have accomplished:

The passenger cars had incorrect window locations which I decided to ignore. However, the same could not be said for the frame skirts along the bottom of the coaches. The prototype cars had their skirting removed for easier maintenance, and I liked the flat line across the bottom of the car. However, I left the skirting on the very ends of the car because it hid the oversize couplers. 

I considered using a Dremel and files, but a friend had a milling machine and he offered to help. We tried several techniques but what worked best was to come at it from the side and remove most of the material, and then take light finishing cuts along the bottom edge of the skirting to smooth it over. Some file work removed any remaining burrs.

The end result is below. I am very pleased with the visual transformation.

At this point I was trying to decide how to redesign the cars so that I could permanently attach the body and two ends together to make a solid unit for painting and still have a way to easily install the floor/underframe. The frames are supposed to slide into the cars, and then the ends are attached, but I was concerned that painting the ends separately would lead to unsightly gaps. 

My first idea was to fill the frame channels with styrene strips that were 3/8" wide and 0.055" thick (0.040" + 0.015" glued together) using superglue gel. It worked, but I decided to take another approach so I later trimmed them off.

Instead, I laminated two pieces of 1/4" square styrene to make sections 1/4" x 1/2". These were epoxied inside the car above the channels to form a shelf to support the underframe. Extra pieces were added to create areas for the frame to screw into.

It turns out that the metal coach frames, once trimmed along the sides to remove the bent flanges, drop onto the styrene pads at the perfect height. I used a bandsaw to remove the flanges.

Turning my attention to the ends of the coaches, the non-vestibule ends had a large gap in the bulkhead doorway and it was possible to look inside the coach. This would result in seeing a whole lot of nothing. So, I had to fill the interior bulkhead with doors even if they weren't prototypically accurate. I wasn't in the mood to scratchbuild them, so I looked at some of the parts I had left over. 

The extra vestibule end casting had a middle door that was cut out and then glued to a backer piece of styrene (with a hole cut in it for the window. I cut up the non-fitting Lionel end casting as well for the other door. 

Then the new end door pieces were glued into the openings. 

I also added some crossbracing as I noticed the sides were slowly bowing in at the ends. Normally the end castings would hold them in position, but the modified ones I was using weren't up to the task. Some 1/4" square styrene did the job.

I marked out eight holes per frame where I wanted the mounting screws to go and I drilled them out in my drill press. Then, I set the frame on the body and marked the center of the holes which were drilled through with a #43 bit. They were later tapped for 4-40 screws.

I reattached the trucks to the frames, which were now quite flimsy because the stiffening flanges on the edges had been removed. I also used blue tape on the inside to cover up all of the holes that weren't reused. This doesn't really do anything but it helped me keep track of the holes I still needed.

To complete the underframe I reattached some of the casting pieces that were originally installed on them. They slotted in on one end, and a single screw held it in place on the other end. The underframe casting does hide a few of the screws that attach the frame to the body so I will need to remove the underframe again for final installation.

Then, I washed the bodies with soap and water and sent them off to the painter. I used the same person who painted my RS3 so that the colors would match. He did a great job on them, but I ran into a snag with the tinted windows that has help this project up. More in the future.

Kitbashing a Bangor & Aroostook caboose

I like fun modeling projects, and when I switched to O scale a couple of years ago I thought it might be nice to have my first real "kitbash" project be a Bangor & Aroostook Railroad caboose. In real like, the BAR purchased a bunch of old troop sleeper cars after WWII for a good price and then converted them to cabooses. They were not well liked by crews because the rode poorly. The BAR had at least 16 of them on their roster, and it seems that no two were alike. There are still a few existing today, including caboose C-87 at the Frenchville Historical Society. I based my model on that caboose.

Here is the finished model:

I started with a decorated Atlas a 2-rail model, which meant I not only had to modify the body but I also had to switch out the trucks for 3-rail items. And finding those replacement trucks was the hardest part of the project.

The project involved a lot of cutting, filing, modifying, sanding, and fabricating. But, I knew going in that it would and I had a real blast doing the work. I picked this project because I like working in styrene and realized that for an O scale caboose everything would be large enough to easily see and work on.

I wrote an article about its construction for a magazine and it might be published in the future, so I won't want to get into its construction here on the blog. But, it proved to be a really fun project. The toughest part was sourcing 3-rail trucks as Atlas was out of stock for several years. But, they recently announced a new run of these cars which hopefully means that spare trucks will be available.  

Brian Inch's compact O scale layout at Springfield show

While at the recent Springfield train show last month, I made sure to stop by Brian Inch's booth in the Mallary building (Section 122). I visited his workshop in Maine in 2021 and was impressed with the amount of "New England" scenery he could fit into a small space. That isn't to say that he doesn't build larger layouts, or layout in different scales with different themes altogether. But as someone who wants a simple, oval type layout with minimal switching with the focus on realistic New England scenery, he is a good resource. 

He brought a layout for sale, and I head him say that it was built in about 2 weeks. Not bad! Even though the curves at the ends were tight, it still allowed 4-axle diesel locomotives and 40-foot freight cars to operate reliably. My layout will have 0-52 curves, so I can get away with more. 

Sadly, I left my camera on the bus and was too lazy to go back and get it so the only photos I had were taken by my wife. Still, I am grateful she did. In the middle of the layout was a sprawling farm scene complete with cows.

Since my layout will feature a farm area, I found it really useful to see what can be done in a small amount of space. 

I believe that the grain elevator is a repainted venerable Lionel 027 kit (#6-12726).

One side featured a nice bridge with the track cutting through a forest.

Is it a simple layout? It certainly is. But I found it very enjoyable to watch a train trundle around it, loop after loop. Sometimes that is all you want in life.

O scale rolling stock storage

Like every model railroader, I have more rolling stock then I can fit on my layout. Since my layout is currently only 12 feet long that isn't saying much. I enjoy modifying and weathering freight cars (I spend 10x more time doing that then actually running them) so I purchase them at train shows and online during sales. But unlike my collection of HO scale equipment which I keep in pizza boxes lined with felt, and my N scale equipment which fits in shoe boxes nicely, I needed a better method of organizing my O scale stuff.

Most of my locomotives were purchased new in boxes, and I keep those boxes to protect the expensive engines. If I need to mail them out for repair it will make the process easier. But for freight cars, I usually just rip the ends off the boxes (the ends contain information like manufacturer numbers and road numbers) and then recycle the rest. 

I found that $10 plastic storage boxes from Target (66 Quart, interior dimensions 12.5"H x 13.5"W x 19.75"L) are perfect for the job. They are clear and easy to see into, stack well, aren't very heavy, and are priced right. See here.

To keep the train cars safe, I discovered that "Savoritz" cracker boxes from Aldis are just the right length for large 60' long freight cars. Every couple of months I go to the store and pick up an empty cracker box (and sometimes load it with groceries I am actually buying), and when I get home I use a large metal yardstick and box knife to cut it down to exactly 4" tall all around. That allows me to stack three flats of freight cars in one tote.

To go between the cars, I use pieces of fluted polypropylene which looks like corrugated cardboard but is made of plastic. It can be had in 4'x8' sheets from Home Depot for about $35, but if you wait until after election day you can sometimes find it in the form of discarded and abandoned political signs by the side of the road...

That too is cut into strips about 4" tall, and then I glue cheap felt to both sides. They fit between the cars and not only cushion them but also support the next flat of cars above them. Finally, I print a contents description on a piece of paper and laminate it and slide it inside the end of the box. I sometimes write notes in Sharpie on the label, and over time if I need to change it I just print and laminate another sheet. It's very simple.

For some cars that are safe to stack, I leave the cracker box full height. 

For inexpensive 027 cars, I can fit more into the boxes and I don't bother to separate them with anything. They don't really move around anyway, and after 40-50 years they already show signs of wear.

It takes a little time to do, but I find the system works for me. My O scale collector friends have basements filled with Lionel boxes of train cars, which preserves the "collector value" but makes it impossible to see what's inside. Others have walls of train storage shelves which look gorgeous but are way out of my price range. I am happy with my approach.

Sick

I think I caught something at the train show a couple of weeks ago, and it took a while to set in. I am feeling better, but I haven't made much progress on my layout.