AEFRE 49 - #4E The Flat Car with Decking

To improve the coupler height a piece of 0.020" styrene is installed and tested vs. the Kadee coupler height tool. The styrene worked.  The coupler was at the  correct height.

Before we go further with the coupler and building the draft gear, some pieces of styrene are to be added to the frame on the sides near the ends. You'll have to check the photos of the side of the prototype's frame for sizes. This photo shows the additional styrene on the bottom sides of the frame.

The balance of the design and building of the couplers' draft gear will be a photo essay with drawings, photos and short explanations. Here are the drawings made for engineering the coupler pocket. Note the piece of plastic tubing next to the draft gear for the air brake casting.

Here are photos of the building of the coupler pocket/draft gear.

As you are looking at this series of photos note what has been added as the coupler pocket is being installed and finished.

As the coupler pocket was added, additional styrene was added to the bottom end of the frame to enclose the bottom end of the brass frame. At the trail truck end of the frame, the body bolster was glued to the frame with ACC.

Next queenpost are added. These are the shortest queenpost PSC makes.

Number 49 was made by passing long steel rods through the framing and securing the rods with nuts and washers. Check the photos of the prototype as to the location of the rods. The location of the rods has to be marked on the side of the frame prior to drilling any holes. 

When I go to drill the holes and install the nut and washer castings, my  line of nuts with washers often weaves up and down. From experience I've learned to drill the holes oversize, Then when the nut-washer castings are installed, they can be positioned in a straight line. 

More styrene pieces have to be added to the frame at the trail truck end.

There is always more to come,
Ed

AEFRE 49 - #4D The Flat Car with Decking

First, attach a second piece of styrene to each end of the frame to bring the end pieces of styrene up to a scale 9" thickness. When the glue has dried sand and/or dress-up the ends to make all the edges square. Remember the end pieces have to look like 2 separate pieces of lumber.

The car frame at this time with its perimeter covered with styrene is fragile. The styrene is held in place with ACC. While it's not likely to happen, the ACC brass to styrene bond can be broken. Both the brass and styrene are non-porous, very smooth surface materials. This makes the bond between the ACC and the brass or styrene less than optimal. Pressure from the side can break this bond.

Between now and when the brass car frame ends are covered in styrene handle the car frame carefully.

With the car frame in its current form, it's time to see which coupler can be used. Kadee makes a coupler with a short draft gear #806. This is the coupler of choice as the model is a small freight locomotive used to move 1-2 freight cars at a time.

The power truck was attached and car frame placed upside down on a flat surface. The draft gear from the Kadee #806 was held in place while the power truck was rotated. The draft gear prevented the power truck from being rotated more than a few degrees. The Kadee #806 flunked as the wheel flanges touched the draft gear! 

We have to go "shopping" for an appropriate coupler which will fit. After looking in the PSC catalogue,  #41237 O-On3 AAR Sharron type, standard knuckle with full working coupler looked like it would work. The hole in the coupler shank, if at a correct distance from the coupler should work out well.

These are PSC #41227 parts when the package is opened. It is a working coupler so the knuckles, lift pins and a piece of wire to hold the knuckle in place are included. Very little work is required to remove excess brass. DO NOT REMOVE BRASS FROM THE BODY OF THE LIFT PIN - ONLY REMOVE THE SPRUE.

Part of the clean-up process of a is to assemble the coupler to see if the knuckle moves plus seeing the lift pin working. If the lift pin does not fall out the bottom of the coupler there will be less problems using the coupler. If the lift pin does fall out the bottom of the coupler, when installed, a wire or chain to pull the lift pin up has to be used to hold the pin in place. I found my lift pin had to be installed from the bottom of the coupler body.


When a coupler is placed on the car frame, it looks like the coupler can be installed on the brass part of the frame. A 1-72 screw will be used to hold the coupler to the frame. This is a photo with the coupler holes drilled and tapped.

From the photo you can tell the needle beams have been glued in place.


The hole in coupler shank is too large in diameter for a 1-72 screw. Brass tubing is used to fill in the hole. The tubing is soldered in place.

After filing the couplers looked like this.

Now it's time to find out if the coupler is at the correct height. But 1st the car frame has to sit on a piece of track at the correct height. The car bolster which came with the trucks had to be shimmed with styrene.

Plus, a thin piece of brass had to be used between the truck and the body bolster.

With both trucks in place and a coupler screwed to the car frame, the coupler height can be tested vs. a Kadee coupler height gauge. The brass coupler matches up and couples to the Kadee coupler.

The coupler is slightly too high. The center line of the brass coupler should be at the same height as the center line of the Kadee coupler. Something has to be done to correct this.

Cheers,
Ed

AEFRE 49 - #4C The Flat Car with Decking

It's time to get back to the AE&FRE #49. As the construction is covered, an explanation of what caused the delay will be explained.

In earlier post, the need to find and understand photos, drawings, etc. of the model you wish to build was explained.

From the book of "I should Have Looked Better at the Big Blue Binder Given to Me" comes the following. About 2 or so years ago someone gave me a large blue 3-ring binder containing many 8x10" photos of the Chicago Aurora & Elgin cars. I briefly looked through the photos and then placed the binder on the shelf.

If you recall, you may have to read prior post on the on the construction of 49, I and others have only been able to locate photos of the AE&FRE 49 which are of the motorman's side. I called these "west side" photos. As far as I knew no photos of the other side of the locomotive existed. A few days ago I picked-up the blue binder to look at the photos. The second to the last photo was the only non-CA&E photo in the binder. It was a photo of the non-motorman's or "east side" of 49! I was floored!

I do not recall who gave me the blue binder with the photos. Also, the photo is not marked as to whom took the photo of the east side of 49. The discovery of this photo came after my model of the 49 was completed. The effects of finding the photo after the completion of the 49 will come up in later posts.

This is a copy of the photo recently discovered.

The construction covered in this post was completed many months ago. This means the information is not as fresh in my mind as needed. As work was done photos were taken. The photos are used to show you the construction as well as to refresh my memory.

Styrene will be applied to sides, ends, top, and part of the bottom end of the brass frame. When this styrene application is completed the styrene will enclose the ends of the frame. The reason for this is to prevent the brass frame from coming loose from the styrene frame and body. 

Remember to work on either wax paper or "Saran Wrap". This way the ACC will not get on and/or attach the frame to your work bench. You can place the frame on the wax paper as a way to keep everything level. 

Before cutting any styrene take a long look at the photos of the side of the car's deck from the truck center to the end of the car. You should note the side of the deck frame members are higher from the body bolster to the end of the car.

Also when looking at the side of the deck at the ends of the car, the end of the deck is made up of 2 different pieces of lumber. Two pieces of styrene of appropriate dimensions will be used on each end.  They will be added to the ends of the frame in different steps. 

For the sides, cut styrene of appropriate dimensional size and length. Attach to the sides of the brass frame with ACC. After the ACC has set, the ends may have to be sanded if the styrene was cut too long. 

Remember a scale 9" have to be added to each end of the car's deck for clearance of the truck frames. The brass frame as it is currently is the actual length of the real #49. From the photo the 9" will be made up of 2 pieces at each end. 

Cut 2 pieces of styrene for the end pieces. They should make up only 1/2 of the 9" end piece. More will appear on this later. Attach them to the end of the frame with ACC. Allow the frame to "cure" for up to 12 hours.

After the 12 hours apply plastic glue to any styrene to styrene joints. But none where ACC was used. Allow the plastic glue to completely set.

The following photo requires a few explanations.

The 2 pieces of styrene in the center of the frame were made to space the beams of the frame. The brass and styrene side pieces may have a slight warp and/or may not be exactly spaced. These 2 styrene pieces will help when the decking is glued in place.

The top piece of the 2 spacers will be used as the needle beams. The needle beams along with the 5 pieces of styrene attached will eventually be glued in place.

The end styrene pieces were cut longer than required. They will be sanded to length once the glue used for the styrene to styrene joint has completely cured.

There is a lot more to come.

Cheers,
Ed

The AE&C Florence part 3

More Exterior Details and Painting
As many exterior details were added to the model as possible. The finished 314 and photos of the Florence were consulted to see which details would be best to add for the AE&C era. The same underbody for the 300-308 series of cars was installed.

After detail were added, the body shell was painted in the same manner as the 314. The following photo shows additional details being added after painting. Note the required CRT rear-end red lamp on the door. Thread was used to tie the wire for the bulb in the markers together. The wire was installed using the same hole to hold the marker lamp.  Tying the wire to itself guarantees the wire will not pull out of the bulb plus the size of the loops can be made the  same. It looks like some re-touching is required.

The markers will be added last. After the markers are glued on, the lenses will be added to them and the rear-end red lamp.


Roof
Another tip - when you have a model built for yourself by someone else. If the roof has a clerestory know what you are going to get. The roof can be either solid or made in a way in which the clerestory is open. You'll have to fill in the glazing of the windows.

The other part of this is if the roof of the prototype had a clerestory with glazing, how are you going to glaze the solid roof. Once again,  be very specific when talking to the individual who you expect to make the model for you. The more specific you are the more satisfied you will be with the model. It is difficult to go back after the fact to have misunderstandings, or better yet, lack of instructions corrected.

My model came with an open clerestory to be glazed by me. Many years ago I prepared a sheet of clear plastic as green-white milk glass. It was so long ago the exact sequence of how it was made is long forgotten. I think the sheet was given a thin wash of a wavy refrigerator white. When the white was dry a thin spray of a medium green was applied over the white. When looked at from the shiny plastic side, the sheet looks like old milk glass.

With age this sheet of plastic has become brittle and must be carefully cut with a sharp blade. Much to my surprise the sheet of plastic has also become slightly "wrinkly" making it look much more like green-white milk glass then when it was made.

The model came with a tight fitting roof. For this reason there was no reason to use any screws, bolts, etc. to hold the roof in place. 

Wiring and lighting was installed in the roof. This photo shows the finished interior of the roof.

The green plastic strips in the clerestory was attached only between the window openings. The 2 small connectors (at the ends of the black wire) are the connections to 1) bring the track voltage to the Dallee constant voltage unit from the trolley poles, and 2) bring the constant lighting voltage from the Dallee unit to the lights.

Finally, the red wire is to connect with the other car, 314, for track voltage. The bulbs off to the side of the light stick are in the aisle between the parlor and dining sections. 

This photo while it shows the above mentioned red wire is included to show the bulbs. The bulb on the left is in the passenger section of the car. The bulb on the right is in the vestibule. The vestibule bulb has less bulb shown to control and lessen the amount of light given off.

You can also see the wires from the vestibule light to the light stick. BTW - the interior of the roof was painted a gloss white.


Interior
The model came with a floor and walls for a lavatory and buffet on the side where the 2 oval windows are located. I had Jim Osborn add the partitions approximately where a single stack is shown in an exterior photo Florence. Which walled off area is the lavatory or the buffet is unknown. One of these walled off area will be where the Dallee adjustable constant power supply will be stored.

The interior was built up on the floor. Passengers and trainmen are from various vendors which had the appropiate figures for the era. The dining car seats were old Walthers castings. The "wicker" seats are available from Ed Skuchas.

 
The car was completely assembled and photos taken from the exterior. The end of the car with markers at night time.

The interior at night time is next. The vases and tumblers on the tables are bead items from Michaels Crafts.

The Florance as it sat on a siding.

The Florance and 314 together in a train.

Finally, Greg King from Australia identified one of the passengers in the parlor section of the Florance as Alfred Hitchcock.

Cheers,
Ed
 

The AE&C Florence part 2

When the model was received from Jim Osborn, a separate interior floor with the partitions for the lavatory and buffet was included with the model. Unfortunately a photo of the styrene model was not taken. 


To give you an idea as to what the body shell might look like, this is a CA&E 700 series car body. The model is bare without handrails and other details. The roof has been primered plus the model has been mounted on trucks by me..

This body shell came with the steps. Most of the time the modeler has to add the steps  The center line of the floor is marked on the underside. Depending upon the model the truck centers may be marked. If the model has a rounded  anticlimber, the center of the radius is marked.

ELECTRICAL

The best place to start is with an electrical diagram of the model. These are the given constraints: 1) the model is a trailer although the prototype is a powered car, 2) there are trolley poles which can be used to pick-up electrical current although this model will receive track voltage from the lead car, 3) a Dallee adjustable power supply will be used to control the 1.5 v bulbs, and 4) besides interior lighting the model will have a pair of rear-end marker lamps plus the standard MET rear-end red lamp.

Some of the constraints require explanation. The model of the Florence needs a jack for the 12-18 v pigtail from the lead car to plug into.  As an aside, any CA&E models which are to be run together need to have a method to buss the trolley current between them. Only the trolley pole on the lead car is to be up when multiple cars are run in a train.

Although the Dallee adjustable units are expensive 2 units are being install - 1 in 314 car and 1 in the Florence.  One Dallee unit should be able to handle all the bulbs in both cars. The Florence may not always be trained with the 314. It's better if the Florence can be run with other  models and still be able to have constant voltage lighting. Also, the Florence can be on a siding by itself and "plugged" into track voltage with the lights on for display purposes.

The rear-end markers will be PSC brass castings. The standard MET required rear-end red lamp will be scratch-built.

This is the electrical diagram for the Florence. Please excuse my rough drawing.

TRUCKS

The trucks are PSC Baldwin 7830 with NWSL wheels and Q-Car Co. CA&E 3rd rail beams were glued on using ACC.

DETAILS

Now is the time to add details to the model. The MET required rear-end red lamp was a special lamp to be displayed on the rear on trains on the Garfield Park Division of the MET from sun set to sun rise. Since the AE&C and later the CA&E when operating on the "L" operated by the same rules as the MET. the AE&C had to have the same type of red lamp.

Today these red lamps are extremely rare. To get an idea how one of these lamp looked like take a look at the photo of a MET rear-end red lamp on page 79 in The Shore Line Interurban Historical Society "Dispatch Number 1, Cooperation Moves the Public". The red lens is a big as the width of the lamp housing. The lens is also bigger than the lens on a marker lamp.

This is another photo of the same lamp. Bruce Moffat has had the lamp mounted for furniture top use. Notice the "D" rings on the bottom of the lamp base. These make the lamp a CRT rear-end red lamp. The CRT had this type of lamp as well as the CA&E. If you read "Cooperation Moves the Public" you will under stand the reason for the lamp.

The CA&E lamps were able to mount on the rear door of the train in the same location and style as the headlight on the front of the train. The CRT didn't always have a flat panel door on to which the rear-end red lamp could be installed. Instead the CRT cars had chains. To secure the lamp and to prevent the lamp from swinging to and fro, the top chain was placed through the handle of the lamp while springs from the "D" rings to the lowers chain hooks were used to secure the lamp in place.

To make the housing a piece of square styrene tubing was used. It was cut longer than required. A hole was made in one side of the square tubing. Then a piece of short round tubing of the same size was glued over the hole. The round tubing was filed down to about the size of the red lens holder on the lamp. A twist drill was manually twisted into the round tubing to make it look more like the size and shape of the  red lens holder.

Next the square tube was filed short on the bottom and top. Top and bottom styrene pieces were attached. Finally to make the chimney part of the lamp the top of a brass marker light was used.

The light bulb and red lens will not be added until the lamp is painted and attached to the model.

The balance of the exterior details were prepared and installed on the model.

There is always more to come!

Cheers,
Ed

The 2013 East Penn Traction Meet

This year's East Penn Traction Meet was a success. There were a large number of vendors as well as attendees. Some may complain of the show next door to the EPTC Meet or of low attendance.

The Meet was held in a large building called the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center. The "locals" say it's a misnomer to call it that. Since the location is so near to Valley Forge maybe it should be the Valley Forge Expo Center. The building reminds me of a building supply/lumber yard business which had gone out of business.

The EPTC has no control over to whom the other parts of the building are rented on a weekend. The weekend of the Traction Meet we counted at least 4 other events booked into the same building. The building is huge!

Since the area the traction Meet was in proportion to how large the total space of the building is, on Friday vendors were setting up plus individuals like us who were from out of town and nothing else to do were at the Meet. Far more attendees were at the Meet on Saturday. 

If you want to get business done with a particular vendor Friday is the day to do it. I had to talk with Jim Osborn about a number of items so Friday was a "God send". Jim and I were able to catch-up on old personal stuff plus some new business.

The secret to having a good experience is finding out how to get to the Expo Center from your hotel/motel. We always turn southwest at the "fireless cooker" on the corner of Egypt Rd. and Station Ave.; Oaks, PA. There's also railroad station on the corner. I have no idea what the area was a one time but you'll notice railway track and at least 4 very small locomotives on the track to the west of Station Ave as you drive to the Expo.

Since the Expo building is very large drive around it at least once to find the correct entrance for the EPTC Meet along with parking. Many of us have commented to the EPTC about the lack of appropriate signage once the turn at Egypt Rd. and Station Ave. is made. For at least the last 2 years the area around Egypt and Station has been under construction!

Back to the Meet, EPTC is both O scale and HO scale with appropriate portable layouts made up of modules. Since I'm interested in O scale that is what I'll write about. EPTC had both the regular, older form of DC control layout and a new DCC layout.

This was the central control module for the regular control layout. From it cars/trains can be sent into one of 3 different routes. Cars/trains can be stored in the yard behind and next to the station.

The street scene is one of the 3 legs into which cars can be routed.

This is a different routing into which cars can be placed. If you can count the number modules and multiply by 2 feet (Modules can vary in length. The 2 feet was arbitrarily picked by me.) you can get an idea as to how long the leg is.

Multiple cars were running without problems. A form of block control is used to prevent accidents.

On the DCC control modular layout this was the central control module. There were either straight through, around the curve, or turn back, around the monument, running.

These are 2 of the more unusual modules.

One of the more creative displays by Curt Seeliger of a vendor was -

Finally I'm an EPTC member and I live in the Chicago area about 700-800 miles from the East Penn area. You should also be a member. You might say I don't live anywhere near East Penn. The membership dues are not that big. Even if you may not like their newsletter or can't make local meetings, the traction community needs to keep the EPTC alive. Check out their website http://www.eastpenn.org/ . Where else can you find as much up-to-date information about traction? Where else can you find information about modules and module standards which work?  What about keeping the EPTC operating if only for them to put on the bi-annual EPTC Meet?

Here is an application. Fill it out today and mail it! Tell them Ed sent you!
 

Cheers,
Ed