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HOn3 Articulated Skeleton Log cars
HOn3 Articulated Skeleton Log cars
As I have gotten more and more involved with modeling HOn3 narrow gauge, I have run up against a problem no doubt encountered by many HOn3 modelers (and modelers of other less-popular scales): how to source equipment. Much of the current commercially available HOn3 locomotives and rolling stock is very expensive, and feels very "clinical" to me, lacking real charm and personality. Old brass and wood models occasionally come up for sale, and so do other scratch-built pieces; I have been fortunate to come across some wonderful equipment this way, and meet some wonderful railway modelers. A prevailing theme in the hobby is to build your own equipment, something I am comfortable with and enjoy. However, kits are not always available, and plans for scratch building rarely available as well.
I set out to design a skeleton log car for my HOn3 lumber railway. I set myself the following parameters: the car had to be repeatable (able to be replicated again and again accurately and without too much fiddling around in order to make a good sized fleet), the materials had to be readily available and as common as possible, the model needed to be attractive, and the car needed to be able to negotiate any realistic track curve radius. In this spirit, I chose readily available pre-thicknessed basswood strips as the building material, Kadee HOn3 coupler box sets, Grandt Line arch bar trucks (although any matching pair of HOn3 trucks will do), and Kadee brake wheels. The screws needed come with the Kadee coupler sets.
The design I came up with facilitates any track curve radius by making the frame of the skeleton car articulated, rather than relying on the swiveling of the trucks. In order to allow the trucks enough room to swivel when installed normally on a piece of rolling stock, there is a good deal of clearance required. For a center-spar designed car, this means the spar must be elevated above the tops of the wheel sets so they can swing, or the spar must be made very thin so as it sits between the wheels themselves, the whole truck frame has enough room to swing without the wheel flanges rubbing on the spar. In my case, I wanted the spar/spine of the car as low down as possible. Rather than having the trucks themselves swivel on their mounting screws, I attached them rigid onto two small spars, and then joined these two small spars (similar to logging disconnects) together with a central spar/spine, attached by pivots.
Below are some pictures of the assembly process, as well as the finished cars at work. The design is robust and repeatable, and tracks very well. I have clear and labeled plans with measurements for making these cars available (as well as disconnect cars), please contact me for more information.
As I have gotten more and more involved with modeling HOn3 narrow gauge, I have run up against a problem no doubt encountered by many HOn3 modelers (and modelers of other less-popular scales): how to source equipment. Much of the current commercially available HOn3 locomotives and rolling stock is very expensive, and feels very "clinical" to me, lacking real charm and personality. Old brass and wood models occasionally come up for sale, and so do other scratch-built pieces; I have been fortunate to come across some wonderful equipment this way, and meet some wonderful railway modelers. A prevailing theme in the hobby is to build your own equipment, something I am comfortable with and enjoy. However, kits are not always available, and plans for scratch building rarely available as well.
I set out to design a skeleton log car for my HOn3 lumber railway. I set myself the following parameters: the car had to be repeatable (able to be replicated again and again accurately and without too much fiddling around in order to make a good sized fleet), the materials had to be readily available and as common as possible, the model needed to be attractive, and the car needed to be able to negotiate any realistic track curve radius. In this spirit, I chose readily available pre-thicknessed basswood strips as the building material, Kadee HOn3 coupler box sets, Grandt Line arch bar trucks (although any matching pair of HOn3 trucks will do), and Kadee brake wheels. The screws needed come with the Kadee coupler sets.
The design I came up with facilitates any track curve radius by making the frame of the skeleton car articulated, rather than relying on the swiveling of the trucks. In order to allow the trucks enough room to swivel when installed normally on a piece of rolling stock, there is a good deal of clearance required. For a center-spar designed car, this means the spar must be elevated above the tops of the wheel sets so they can swing, or the spar must be made very thin so as it sits between the wheels themselves, the whole truck frame has enough room to swing without the wheel flanges rubbing on the spar. In my case, I wanted the spar/spine of the car as low down as possible. Rather than having the trucks themselves swivel on their mounting screws, I attached them rigid onto two small spars, and then joined these two small spars (similar to logging disconnects) together with a central spar/spine, attached by pivots.
Below are some pictures of the assembly process, as well as the finished cars at work. The design is robust and repeatable, and tracks very well. I have clear and labeled plans with measurements for making these cars available (as well as disconnect cars), please contact me for more information.
Click picture for more detail
Click picture for more detail
A short video of the the log cars in action, loaded up with sections of "giant redwood" tree trunk:
A short video of the the log cars in action, loaded up with sections of "giant redwood" tree trunk: