Go, whoa, reverse, ring and whistle controls

Each evening and some time on weekends I sneak back out to the shop to work on my personal project - the little rail truck for the Persnickety and Doodle Railway. Progress has been rapid of late but there's a whole lot of pieces to fabricate and then weld in place. Cables need to be hooked up and tested, fastened permanently in place and then adjusted to work perfectly.

There have been a LOT of pieces of sheet metal and plate to cut for this project. In the picture below there are more than seventy different plasma cut pieces of steel visible. There are hundreds more custom designed pieces in the vehicle. The MultiCam CNC plasma machine has been getting a good workout!

In the first shot below I have hooked up the throttle. It was the last of the controls to be done. In the picture the throttle is the lever nearest to the pickup box. The large ratcheted handle on the running board is the Johnson bar. This controls the variable speed transmission. Pushing the bar forward moves the truck in that direction and pulling it back reverses the vehicle. The top forward lever is the brake control, complete with ratchet and T handle. Pushing it forward activates the disc brake on the rear axle. If I leave the ratchet engaged it acts as a hand brake.

On the other side of the driver's cab is the sidecar where my little passengers will ride. Between the cockpits are two noise levers which can be easily reached by either occupant. The rear handle operates the bell. Simply pushing and pulling it swivels the bell and the more vigorously it is pumped the louder and more frequent the noise. I suspect this is going to be very popular with the little ones. The forward lever is a little harder to reach (by design). Pulling it back controls the whistle lever and activates the antique brass whistle which is powered by compressed air. The five gallon compressed air tank resides under the truck seat. It is VERY LOUD! 

With the controls now all installed and functioning it is time to design, fabricate and install the brackets for the gauges and the whistle. Stay tuned...

What can't you do?

Even though our shop has limited metal working tools there is little we can't accomplish with a little head scratching and ingenuity. I had great fun figuring out how to design, cut and fit the many pieces together to craft the little passenger rail car. In this case I didn't even need a sketch but instead designed as I went, imagining how it would all fit together. Once the vector drawings were done I sent the files to the MultiCam for cutting. The lower sections were cut from 1/4" steel plate and the top seat riser was done from 1/10" thick steel plate.

To keep things simple I used a 1/4 section of 6" steel pipe for the back corners of the seat. It was much easier to weld those pieces in than bend up that tight a radius by far. I bent and welded a piece of 5/8" steel rod along the top to provide strength and provide a rounded edge to make it safer. I have a few more welds and a little grinding to finish this thing off. Then it is time for a test run!

Re-thinking the passenger car

With the little rail truck now substantially complete and running it is time to turn my attention to other pieces of the railroad. The truck has room for a driver and one small passenger but when we have company that is not nearly enough capacity. The truck needed to pull a vehicle that could carry more passengers.

We had previously built an ore car which seated four passengers but this was long before we had our MultiCam CNC plasma cutter. Although very functional, it looked very boxy and plain compared to the truck. It was time to rethink the whole deal.

I decided to do a total redesign. I removed the wheel sets from the ore car, took careful measurements and then drew up a whole new concept. I decided two passengers was big enough and they needed to face forward. An air tank was also necessary as the truck will soon sport a whistle which will operate on compressed air. And it needed to be completely different and act as a trailer to the little rail truck. After trying a number of ideas I settled on a tandem trailer. It would sport a swivel axle to avoid the problems I encountered with the double axle truck.

With the concept as reference I drew up the vectors for all of the components in EnRoute. There were lots of pieces! Once I had the files in hand it was a simple matter to load the step onto the machine and watch it cut the pieces perfectly.

I then did a little grinding to clean up the edges before fitting the pieces together and welding them up. The work was done in small assemblies. It looks complex but things actually went together pretty quickly. The springs, swing arms and axle hubs are non -functioning and are just for looks. working with small assemblies  made handling the pieces a whole lot easier.

Once all of the assemblies were done I fit them together and did the last welding. There's a lot of steel in this piece and I needed the forklift to take it from the welding table and around to the track. Next up is the frame and then the body for the car. Stay tuned...

Leverage

Now that the little trail truck is running and the bulk of the big fabricating is behind us it is time to begin all of the fun small stuff. I'm currently working on the levers which will control the functions of the vehicle. The Johnson bar which is bolted to the running board controls the forward and reverse of the variable speed hydrostatic transmission. To operate it you pull the safety back and then move the lever forward and reverse. The disc brake is controlled by the new lever addition - just above it. To operate the brake you push on the lever. This controls has a safety which will lock the lever in position to act as a parking brake. I still have to fabricate the throttle which will be located just behind the brake.

Each lever is to be slightly different and all will have a steampunk flavour - just for fun.

All of the cutting files were designed in EnRoute and then cut on the MultiCam plasma.
 

This morning I got an idea for the other side of the cab. The previous controls were mounted on the opposite side to keep them out of reach of the kids - for safety reasons. But those little ones will want to do much more than just ride. So I am going to add two more levers between the cab of the truck and the sidecar. I sketched out the ideas before starting the designs in EnRoute. These two levers will be hooked to cables which will be connected to the whistle and bell. The kids will be able to control both functions while still fitted safely in the sidecar. That's bound to entertain them endlessly and our neighbours too!  :)

Rail truck test run video

The little rail truck is still a work in progress but it is gratifying to at last do a successful test run. Here's the video of the first test run.

Today it was back in the shop for the little truck for some tweaks, adjustments and additions. I installed new heavy duty cable controls which made everything fool proof and much smoother. I also designed all of the brackets for a hand brake. I'll throw some steel plate on the MultiCam plasma cutter tomorrow and cut them out. Then it will be time for a little grinding and welding before I bolt it into place. It won't be long until it is time for some painting and aging. 

Success!

This morning I cut the a last few pieces of steel on our MultiCam Plasma cutter, then welded them into place. Then I hooked up the throttle cable and took a link out of the chain. I welded up the bell mount as well. I then fired the truck up and carefully powered it out of the shop to position it on the track. I shot a few pictures and then called Phoebe over for a test drive. She was a little apprehensive after last week's failed attempt but game to go. I fired up the engine and together we made a couple of trips up and down the four hundred and fifty feet of track. All went well. 

Then it was Phoebe's chance to take it for a spin while I took some pictures and video. (I'll post the video tomorrow) Phoebe gingerly eased the Johnson bar forward and she was off. She went up and down a few time and after twelve years waiting was pleased with her first powered ride!

This afternoon I went back to the parts store for a few more pieces to do some tweaks. A bigger pulley on the engine will give us a slightly higher top speed. A heavy duty throttle cable and a second heavy duty control cable for the Johnson bar controls will make them fool proof - especially in a sudden stop. I also sourced a disc brake caliber of the correct size to give our rig some stopping power. I'll have to design, cut, fabricate and install a hand control lever for that system tomorrow as well. So tomorrow I'll put the little rig back in the shop for a little more work. 

Back to the shop

I've been busy on weekends and an hour or two on weeknights working on my personal project - the little rail truck. Last week it was at long last ready for a test drive. I called Phoebe, my grand daughter, who has been waiting twelve long years for a test drive. 

The throttle was still jury rigged, the drive train chain was not yet tightened, and a few other things yet to be done but I was confident the little rig would power it's way down the track without difficulty. I jumped into the cab and Phoebe into the sidecar. The vehicle was stable - despite Phoebe now being almost adult size and weight. The goal was to do a couple test runs un and down the completed track and then do a video pass - which I would post to the blog for all to see. 

Things did not go quite as planned. The drive chain was far too loose and jumped the sprockets continually. Then as we approached the first corner things went awry. The tandem rear wheels bound badly as the front of the car negotiated the corner. My design simply wasn't going to work. Phoebe took it all in stride for she knew I would come up with a solution.

As we used the rig back towards the shop I puzzled how to do a fix. By supper time I had the solution.

The answer was to pull one of the axles in the rear. It didn't take long. Once the axles were pulled I cut off the bolts and welded in a new set. The single axle was then bolted into place, entered under the fender. I was almost happy but thought things looked a little sparse. It was time to do a little research...

I decided I would add a single spring to the back axle and a arch bar suspension to the front truck. Using some historical pics from the web I designed the steel components in EnRoute. The pieces would be cut from 3/8" and 1/8" plate steel. The screen grab below shows the file for one side of the truck. It took a couple of hours to assemble, weld and grind each piece.

As I worked I was amazed at how fast and efficient the Plasma cutter made the operation. Everything fit perfectly and little grinding as necessary. This little all steel vehicle has been in progress for twelve years and much of it was done without the benefit of our MultiCam CNC plasma. Things are much better now!

The springs and archer setups are actually non-functioning as the axles are supported by pillow block bearings off the frame. The spring assemblies look massive and fill in the fender space nicely. Visually and in actuality they add weight  to the lower half of the chassis. 

There are still a few more details to add to the chassis of the rail truck but I am pleased with the result. It should function a whole lot better on the rails. In the next couple of days I'll put it back on the track and call Phoebe for another test drive. Hopefully all goes well. Stay tuned...

Tailgate party

It was time to fire up the MultiCam CNC plasma once more for the next stage of the little rail truck. I needed to build a functional tailgate. The truck will be powered with a four stroke gas engine which needs lots of air flow. When the weather is warm or I need to work on the drive train I can drop the tailgate. For normal operation there should be plenty of airflow with the open bed and top as well as through the logo which I cut into the tailgate.

The logo is to identify the pike's name... Persnickety & Doodle Railroad. 'Persnickety' is a nod to Janis, my loving wife of 43 years. She has an eye for detail (and accuracy) which she regularly employs. Janis is in charge of quality control. The 'Doodle' part references my drawing - which is one of my passions.

The files for the many pieces of the tailgate were created in EnRoute. They were cut from 3/16" and 1/18" thick steel plate which makes the tailgate sturdy enough to handle anything that might be thrown at it! With the tailgate on it was time to celebrate with a tailgate party.

Pickup artist.

Each time I can spare a few minutes of my free time I head out to the shop to work on the rail pickup. In those minutes I build a file, fire up the plasma cutter to cut some pieces or do a little welding. Those minutes add up and I am making real progress. The pickup bed is now largely complete and the four fenders are fabricated and welded into place. The transmission is in place and will soon be mated to the motor. A test drive isn't far away. This is fun!

Metalwork fun

More than a dozen years ago we decided to build a fifteen inch gauge railroad around our yard. Every grampa should have a model train to share with their grand kids... and mine would be big enough to ride in. I started work on the project before our fist grandchild was born. There was a small engine, some railcars and an inspection vehicle. This little vehicle would be gas powered.

I designed up the car which resembled a narrow model T with a side car. I wanted something really different and so it had only three wheels - which seemed like a great idea at the time. The truth is I actually outsmarted myself. When I finally got it rolling and tested it on the track which we had laid down the driveway  it worked great - until we came to the first corner. Then it derailed. It was time to go back to the drawing board! The project languished for many years as we tackled a thousand other projects.

This year I am determined to get the train going at long last. Phoebe, our first grand child is now twelve years old, Juniper, is one and a half and another is on the way soon.

So I built a new frame - this time with four wheels. I cut the old truck apart and welded it to the new frame. Once I had a good idea of how it would look I started work on the design of all the details.

I decided it would have fenders and a box this time around - complete with working tailgate to allow access to the motor. The motor is actually to be in the truck bed and so I am going to enclose the hood sides. This will allow me to open up the firewall to give me a little more leg room inside the cab. This evening I spent a little time in EnRoute designing the cutting files for all of the remaining metal work. It is going to be all welded steel with no bondo. We'll let it rust naturally and perhaps add a little weathered paint for a splash of color.

Trains!

I've loved steam trains for as long as I can remember. They just have a magic about them. I've panted a bunch of historical murals that featured them and have studied endless historical photos to get the details just right. Instead of building small scale model railroads I have fun building larger scale trains in a cartoon style.

The first train I built was about thirteen years ago. It was for Giggle Ridge Adventure Golf. The train was largely built from welded steel and was a static display and sign.

Nine years ago I started work on the next train - one that would travel around our property. It is dubbed the 'grampa train'. It's not quite done yet, put off by the construction of our new house, but one day soon we'll be riding in style!

Just after we purchased our MultiCam six years ago it was time for another train. This one was for a display piece and sign for an Adventure Golf. The golf was at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The special challenge this time was to build a train that looked like many tons of steel but actually lightweight materials because it was to be part of the golf on the third floor.  Much of the train would be routed from Precision Board.

The pieces are glued up over a welded steel frame. Many HDU components were substituted for the real thing, all routed in detail by the MultiCam. It only looked heavy.

 Certain parts were steel but they were light gauge. As we worked I painted the parts with an iron paint and then sprayed them with an oxidizer creating instant rust.

Hundreds of parts were designed in EnRoute and cut on the MultiCam from 30 lb Precision Board. This made everything still very strong but lightweight.

Amazingly, with the help of EnRoute and our MultiCam this project went from design to ready to ship in only ten days!

Today I started design work on yet another train. It also will be a static display and sign for another Adventure Golf. The theme will be logging once more. I first dug into the local history and found that in the early days of this community they used a Shay Locomotive to haul the logs out of the woods. This would be the starting point.

Like the others, the train we would build this time would be about half scale vertically but drastically shortened horizontally to give it a quaint cartoon style. I quickly drew out my ideas in my sketch book and then scanned it into my computer to do the final rendering. I used my Wacom digital drawing pad to draw freehand, using my initial sketches as a guide. In a couple of hours I had the plan in hand. Like the train for Mall of America, we'll route many of the detailed components on our MultiCam from Precision Board. All of the files will be built using EnRoute of course. It will be a while before we physically start the project but you can bet you will be able to follow it step by step here.

Stay tuned...

-dan