I'm building toys for my grandson and having a hoot. This is the start of the railbus. The engine compartment is just paper, I wanted to see if the proportions are good. Need to make the engine housing smaller and make the passenger compartment taller. This is fun! Oh, it started with a New Bright 2-6-2 and a passenger car.
OOPS, the donor locomotive was a Scientific Toys unit. Nice gearbox that allows use of 1 or 2 or 3 axles. (two can be driven)
A little progress today. The look is settling out. I like it! Here's the chassis as it sits now. I have to make the mount for the cow catcher and front truck. And here is the current status. I need to get some plastic sheet to make the engine cover from.
Very whimsical. Modelers in both HOn30 and On30 scales would really appreciate your efforts with this project.
The front truck and cow catcher are now mounted and the engine cover is made. The cover is made from a scrap of PVC rain gutter. This stuff works really nice. The next part will be tough. That door on the front of the cabin has to go, there needs to be 3 windows on the front and two doors on the side. :wideeyes:
Some progress... a caboose donated it's front and rear doors and a boxcar donated it's sliding cargo doors. I've fitted part of those and trimmed the engine cover. More doors and more windows to go. The caboose also donated 3 windows that will become the front windows on the bus.
The 'windshield' is now in place as well as the driver's area and cargo area floor. What was formerly the end panel and door from the passenger car is now the bulkhead between the cargo area and the passenger compartment. It will be ready for paint soon I hope.
Wow. That's pretty cool. I'm in N scale, but it gives me ideas... I hope your grandson appreciates what you're doing for him there...
Yes, the steps are from the caboose. I cut the whole platform off of the caboose deck and used the rear one as a complete assembly. The front one was trimmed and glued io the loco chassis.
oops... the steps are not off of the caboose, they are off of the original chassis for the passenger car. I got quite a bit done today, some painting and made a dashboard for the operator. No pics yet, but it is getting closer by the day. Oh... I got the motor wired in and the forward/reverse switch working. The forward/neutral/reverse will be operated by pushing down on one of the (yet to be built) ventilators in the roof. There's also a power tap for the lights.
I love vehicles like this. Fairly small and independant running the rails by itself. My Dad has a Galloping Goose (I think that's the name) on his line and it is one of my favorites. Also a smaller maintenance unit that reminds me of a golf cart on rails and has a small open car behind it. Very nice work on yours. Rick H.
Thank you! I too like these little rigs. I'm planning a cargo 'trailer' for it too. This is the main transport for the miners and loggers in my scenerio. They use it to go to town and to get supplies. So, here's the current status... I did a bit of painting in areas that won't interfere with painting the main 'house'. The operator station is roughed out. I've been saving those plastic 'keys' from motel stays and they come in handy. The Operator Station and seat are made from one card. The dash is wood, painted. The seat back is a piece of plastic from one of those pill card containers. I got the gauges on the dash from a Google search. I found a Mack fire engine gauge set. Only the speedometer and instrument cluster were used. They were printed on a laserjet and then cut out and glued onto the dash. Still need to find a steering wheel (it is actually the main brake wheel) and make the clutch (it has a 4 speed transmission) and gas pedal and gear shift lever. The operator is my train engineer right now. My wife is starting to make the figures for this model. Gauges... And a final view... The motor has been wired to the switch and tested. All works great. The forward/neutral/reverse switch will be actuated via a 'push button' on the roof. It will be one of the 'ventilators' that are yet to be built.
I had some fun today playing with polymer clay. Sculpy is the stuff I'm using. I made some accessories for the railbus, including a couple of headlights, a bell and a lantern. What a hoot! This stuff is easy to work with, easy to paint and it looks like you can make any little part you need to model with it. My wife is making figures with it too. I'll soon have a driver for the bus. Here he is in his alien glory, sitting on the driver's station as it is now. This is a sample headlight. I formed it, baked it, painted it and drilled a hole in it for mounting. I have a real Frisco Railroad Lantern and wanted at least one for this bus.
A bit of progress... the headlight is mounted and the roof and body painted. The body mounts need to be fabbed and installed as well as the rest of the detailing.
Looks good. Any progress lately? I like the idea of that polymer clay though I'm more likely to make a mess than anything else. As I said before I really like units like this. Rick H.
That's a really good job. Looks better then the rail bus I got of Ebay. I got a one of a kind do it your self rebuild opportunity. Nice job!
