I have been looking for drawings of the General Steel Casting (GSC) 6 axle flat, I may have stumbled upon it at an historical site. Attached is also a PDF file, it is a bit clearer to look at. This is a start anyway. Maybe if we can get enough info we can get somebody to 3D print one in brass. There were many popular RR's that had these GSC cars. I you have further info please post. Thank you very much, please carry on my friends. From the Frisco.org Archives Attached Files: GSC Drop deck 6 axle flat.pdf File size: 127 KB Views: 3
it should be very easy to do .. I did an 1890's era truss rod flat in PLA material ...I used Cura to do the printing itself ..
I can turn on and off my laptop, that is about it for me as far as PC skills. I wouldnt even know where to begin LOL. I think we need a sectional drawing of the cast steel underframe for this too. man that thing was built to last huh? Those are huge beams.
I can’t see the photos. All I see is the IMG box. When I click on the PDF it says I need to log in, and since I am not a member of the historical society, I can’t see it. That might be the problem with the images too; that they are restricted access. Would it just have basic Frisco freight car decals? Those would be relatively easy to find. The hard part might be getting the data correct, since the car probably has such a high capacity and weight.
No idea what happened here. I will look a reposting when I get home. They must have gotten corrupted somehow.
HHMM. I am looking on my laptop and the images are just like they are supposed to be. But on my Android phone they cant be seen. I dont know what to do now. Decals are not an issue at all, its the building of the car itself. The pictures are posted from Microstf picture manager.
Yessir that is exactly the one. I have a drawing too. I think MT has one in N scale but I dont know how accurate it is.
The trucks are going to have to be made too, unless somebody can find a model of them. They aren’t really Buckeye trucks in the strict sense; they look more like a bottom equalized heavyweight truck. I was thinking about modifying some walthers ones, but all of theirs have leaf instead of exclusively coil springs, which kind of negates that solution.
I have some overland trucks I can use just mill off the plain bearings, and glue on roller bearing caps, unless the trucks can be made. The thing that is interesting is how beefy the tops of those cast steel beams are compared to the bottom a cross sectional look it would be similar to a "T". GSC over made about everything they produced. You couldnt hurt the thing, but its LT WT at 130,000 and LD LMT of 265,000ish, leaving 130 ton payload, thats about what a modern 4 axle cars capacity is.
Mr. Trainiac has some experience with 3D printing and has posted some nice results here, so I suspect his PM will be informative on the subject. Bottom line is, you will need a solid (3D) CAD model that can be converted into files (usually .STL) that a 3D printer can read. This would be developed from a set of drawings.
This is a pretty straightforward model in my opinion. The hardest part will be the trucks, which look like a unique bottom equalized model. There are two ways to get around that: 1. Modify a passenger truck 2. 3D print an accurate one I am worried about the holes for grab irons and such not printing, and I can see problems drilling them in a brass print. I’m not sure how hard a cured-resin print is, but those are generally crisp and softer than brass (i.e. easier to drill). The top decks over the trucks are wood, so this could easily be a multimedia kit too with balsa or something. If it ends up being a plastic print, weight could be hidden under the loading deck. If you could find one, there is an HO brass model https://www.brasstrains.com/Classic...l-Ind-58-D-C-Flat-Car-B-O-LV-MKT-MP-SLSF-ATSF I could probably build one out of styrene too. Other than the side profiles and top deck, there isn’t much on this car. There aren’t even any stiffeners or braces on the side sill, something that cars like the PRR F29 have. The brake equipment is under the deck, and could be omitted for the sake of more hidden weight.
Yessir, Been looking at trucks for days. Still looking for a good image of the TSP trucks. Those Walthers trucks look interesting. Printing on brass was desired for the weight not too many grabs on it. I been waiting for 5+ years for one to show up at brass trains lol. Stem winder brake on each end, an interesting car.
I found this eBay listing for the three axle trucks:https://www.ebay.com/itm/TRAIN-STAT...419616?hash=item33ead8f6e0:g:RggAAOSwrjZa~tyE It has a decent photo, but the trucks will still need some work. There are the two small springs molded on the sideframe and another larger one on each of the two the swing hanger detail parts. It might be possible to cut out the spring detail from an old freight car truck, or just live with the two different sized springs. They have a few different versions of the 62-UDO truck TSP #124 is the UP version TSP #125 is the UP in silver TSP #126 is the ATSF version I don’t really see the difference between them
here's a link to a 450 tonne / 16 axle depressed center flatcar .. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:460346 Would work for those just wanting a large flatcar, an actual copy of the prototype would be easier to do from scratch ..imo
If 3D printing is the way you want to go with this, I can try to get Inventor fired up, or I might get sidetracked today and do something else, who knows. What I might do is make the bolster a separate piece, that way the truck spacing can be worked out after is printed. A lot of 3 axle trucks have that offset screw hole to avoid the middle axle, but since we haven’t picked out the right truck, I don’t know what the correct offset is, since it probably varies by truck or manufacturer. A glue-on bolster will allow you or whoever prints these to pick their own trucks. After I get the actual car done, I might come back and try to design the trucks too. Since dedicated drawings for the trucks probably no longer exist, the they might have to be eyeballed a bit. I have the wheelbase and the approximate height, but that is it.
Here is what I have so far: Now there are a few different routes to take. The loading deck surface is based off of that brass model, so I hope that it is prototypical. Otherwise, the top decks are blank. They should be wood surfaced, so what I’m asking is, did you want 3D printed wood or did you want to use a laser cut flatcar deck material instead? If you want to install an aftermarket deck, I can leave it how it is. Did you want holes drilled for grab irons? I’m not sure how well they would print, but I can try to do them. Otherwise I can do some drill starter holes/marks. Those might print better since they are low relief. There are also some other details like the trainline air hose that I have not drawn out. Do you want that to be part of the body, or would you rather use brass wire? Are you planning on on having coupler cut levers? I can add the hangers for those, or I think Plano makes a fold-up etch version as an option too. This is basically your model, so I want it to meet your specs. Just think of it as picking out the options on your new car.
WOW!!! HOLY SMOKES!! That looks sweet Yessir I would like to add the wood decking myself. Yes, I would like the starter holes for the grab irons. I was thinking about the train line as well. Would it look better if I added it? What is your opinion? Yessir I will bend some cut levers so the hangars would be nice. I'm thinking 58 couplers and boxes? Oh yea, I got the TSP UP 3 axle trucks on the way. And some Hi-Tec air hoses, going all-in on this one. The 30" wheels are just gonna have to be 33" I found some NWSL 30"ers but they had blunt ends. You even have the poling pockets! Man that drawing looks great. You got it right on. WOW! THANK YOU!!
