I would like to share a new project with you: the TACL rail tractor. I built it in between, while I was waiting for the buckets and the chain links for my bucket chain excavator.
(Picture from https://www.westonlangford.com/images/photo/127799/ (https://www.westonlangford.com/images/photo/127799/))
The Prototype
Manufacturer | Tractor Appliance Company Limited (TACL) |
Year of construction | 1928 |
Drive | Originally Fordson T, today Fordson N |
Drive power | 20 hp |
Track gauge | 2' 6" |
Weight | 4 t |
Today's location | Puffing Billy Museum in Menzies Creek, Victoria, Australien |
The rail tractor was used on the Tyers Valley Tramway in Gippsland Victoria to transport timber from the branch lines to Tyers Junction. From there the timber was hauled by steam locomotive out to the Collins Siding transfer point. When the steam locomotive broke down, the TACL rail tractor took over the job. Since it apparently proved itself, a second engine was purchased in May 1928.
More information can be found at https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/54360bb62162f10ae0b49c35 (https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/54360bb62162f10ae0b49c35), from where the picture below was taken.
The last surviving rail tractor was carefully restored around 2006 and converted to a Fordson N. It is now ready for operation.
Here you can see it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78ICw61rO_g (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78ICw61rO_g)
The model
There are only a few pictures and other data available for the rail tractor. I have therefore e-mailed the Puffing Billy Museum in Australia with the request for more information. After a short time Ben V., a volunteer, contacted me and offered his support. His many detailed photos, the measurements and an unfinished CAD model were very helpful to me.
Many thanks again to Ben. With his information I was able to create a set of drawings for the model.
More about the building of the model will follow soon.
Bernhard
Well, this should be fun. -- Russ
Very cool!
Love it!
So let's start building the frame.
First the 37 individual parts must be prepared.
Then the lower part of the frame can be soldered together.
That's looking good.
The upper part of the frame is created in a similar way.
The two frame parts are placed on top of each other. However, they are not yet soldered together because this is the only way to install the tractor.
Next, the guides for the axle boxes are prepared.
The guides for the front axle are soldered to the lower part of the frame.
These parts also belong to the frame. But they are only mounted when the chassis is installed.
The two cast buffer plates with the raised inscriptions are real gems. They are 3D printed in plastic and they are really perfect.
Now the frame is ready for the assembly of the chassis. But first a few more parts have to be made.
(TACL 018 by Ben V.)
Bernhard
I love the soldering fixtures. Can you post a picture of the clamps showing how the end fits into the pad?
I don't think we've ever had a forum member show us in such detail how to solder together small parts. Thank you. And who did the 3-D printing for you? -- Russ
Nice work, and that printed piece is amazing!
Wonderful so far.
Thank you guys for your interest.
Lawton, you can see the clamps at the bottom. In Europe, you can buy them here: https://www.fohrmann.com/de/loethaken.html (https://www.fohrmann.com/de/loethaken.html)
The adjustable stops, which are also very useful, I made myself.
Russ, I had the buffer plates printed up at Shapeways. The material is Fine Detail Plastic. I also thought about having them printed/cast in brass. But I'm afraid that the font would have been less good. The font is 1 mm high and 0.3 mm thick.
Bernard
Thanks for the link. The site has a lot of goodies which will make modeling easier. Now I just need to speak the language before filling my toy box with new toys.
Keep calm, Lawton. I translatet everything for you :D:
https://www.fohrmann.com/en/soldering-hook.html (https://www.fohrmann.com/en/soldering-hook.html)
Lawton.
Top of the page right is a language symbol click on it for the English version most pages these days come with language selection.
Sorry, Bernard.
Great work.
When I open it I get a warning that the website has been compromised.
The tractor is looking Good - excellent workmanship with quality
Barney
Thanks to all, now this is going to hurt my budget.
Let's continue with the running gear of the rail tractor.
The wheel bearings of the prototype are cast.
(Photo by Ben V.)
Since I can't mill the form this way, I make the wheel bearings from two parts, which are soldered together.
As always with such parts, I first mill a profile with the appropriate cross-section.
Then the hole for the axle is drilled ...
... and finally the wheel bearing is cut off with the circular saw blade like a sausage slice.
The four complete wheel bearings are then assembled from the individual parts.
The wheel bearings can slide in the guides just like the prototype.
In my leftover box I found suitable springs and shortened them to the right length. The ends are grinded, then I made them glowing with the soldering torch and put them cleanly on the last coil.
Now, with the help of a jig, the three axles are mounted on the frame at the correct distance and exactly parallel to each other.
And then the vehicle stands on its own wheels for the first time.
The rail tractor has an interesting drive concept:
Two chains lead from the rear axle of the Fordson to an intermediate shaft. From there the drive is transmitted to the rear axle either via two sprockets or via a chain. A clutch can thus be used to switch from forward to reverse drive.
The rear axle then drives the front axle via another chain.
Unfortunately, there are no working scale roller chains for 1:35th scale. Therefore I had the chains etched. Three plates per chain are glued together.
The hubs of the sprockets are mounted as separate turned parts.
And this is what the finished drive looks like from below.
The chain guard boxes are still missing. For weight reasons, these are not made of brass, but of plastic.
The outer form is milled on the rotary table.
Bernhard
The axles and the drive mechanism are very well made and look good too.
I am still reeling in stunned disbelief at the perfection of the fabrication and assembly just as I have been after reading all previous posts. Most satisfactory. -- Russ
Bernard.
All that work will be worth it it should run perfectly
cheers
Marvelous work! I really like your solution for the chains. They look great!
From the clutch for switching between forward and reverse driving I have no pictures of the prototype. So I improvised a little bit at this point.
The clutch is turned, drilled and two pins are inserted.
The lever for operating the clutch is soldered together from a few parts.
I wanted to etch the shifting gate for the clutch lever as well. But somehow the part disappeared from the etching template. In my material box I found a blank for a clock board, from which I can mill the part.
On the rotary table, the part is first milled to thickness, drilled, and finally separated from the blank.
And there's the cute part.
Now only the mount has to be soldered to the shifting gate.
Bernhard
Satisfactory. -- Russ
This is like watching someone build a wristwatch!
The next sub-assembly is the brake. Since it is relatively simple, it is designed to be functional.
First, the pressure levers that press the brake pads onto the wheels are soldered together.
The brake pads are made of plastic so that no short circuit occurs when the wheels come into contact.
The guide plate for the brake lever consists of two etched parts. At the top of the parts there is a toothing in which the pawl of the brake lever engages.
The outer plate gets two feet and one "eye".
The pawl of the brake lever is again a good example for the soldering of small parts.
First a bracket is bent, drilled and then soldered to the handle.
Then the handle is cut to length and bent...
... and finally screwed to the brake lever with a M0.6 screw.
The finished brake lever. The pawl really engages the teeth on the guide plates and locks the brake lever.
Now I have to make the traverse on which the two brake pads are mounted.
Now all parts of this sub-assembly are ready for assembly.
Bernhard
Is anybody else here reeling in stunned disbelief like I am? -- Russ
Quote from: finescalerr on July 23, 2020, 12:27:11 PM
Is anybody else here reeling in stunned disbelief like I am? -- Russ
Yes indeed! It's like seeing a Swiss watch being made.
Quote from: Bernhard on June 06, 2020, 02:54:56 AM
Thank you guys for your interest.
Lawton, you can see the clamps at the bottom. In Europe, you can buy them here: https://www.fohrmann.com/de/loethaken.html (https://www.fohrmann.com/de/loethaken.html)
The adjustable stops, which are also very useful, I made myself.
Russ, I had the buffer plates printed up at Shapeways. The material is Fine Detail Plastic. I also thought about having them printed/cast in brass. But I'm afraid that the font would have been less good. The font is 1 mm high and 0.3 mm thick.
Bernard
Bernhard, that with the adjustable stops is also a good tip, so I still have to build. Very interesting to follow your construction technique.
Excellent. In all modesty, I believe I could probably model the matchstick about as well,
but that's as far as it goes. :)
I think Im going to take up those match-stick kits you can buy they do trams and tractor things !
But Bernhard do you burn your fingers with all this miniature welding !!
Barney
Beautiful work Bernhard! Very impressive.
Thanks for your interest and your comments.
Chuck, you have to be strong now. I'm about to show my slightly simpler version of a Fordson tractor.
I used the resin kit from plusmodel again.
Unfortunately I had to realize that the quality of the kit is not always the same. The parts are obviously sometimes cast in older, slightly damaged moulds. The casts must then be repaired and reworked. Also the gas tank is always sitting slightly slanted on the drive block. This can only be hidden by mounting the rear axle at a slight angle.
Despite everything, for the 1/35th scale the model is not too bad.
Now the model can finally be painted and assembled.
Let's start with the primer.
Originally the rail tractor was painted orange, possibly because that was the standard color of Fordson tractors at that time. During the restoration the tractor and the chassis were then painted green.
After the painting work the first thing to do is to build the running gear into the lower part of the frame.
The chains look even more realistic because of the paintwork.
Now the first parts of the brake system are installed.
Then the roof is mounted on the upper part of the frame.
The tractor will also be painted...
...and then everything can be provisionally stacked.
Cover boards are mounted on both sides.
Furthermore the two builder plates are still missing.
The largely finished model seen from below.
The last detail: the extension for the starter crank.
I had to build the universal joint twice, because the first version was a bit too big.
And so the work is done.
The tractor sits slightly off-center in the frame. This is also the case with the prototype.
...
...
The brake lever seems a little oversized. But that also corresponds to the prototype.
And this is where the finished rail tractor stands on the layout, together with the motorized equipment trolley that serves as his drive unit.
But this is not the end of the story. The rail tractor was used to transport sawn timber from a sawmill. For this purpose, the appropriate timber bogies are still needed.
So stay tuned.
Bernhard
Your shop crew seems to keep its tractors cleaner than Chuck's. I hope you pay them a bonus.
You make neat and clean construction of small delicate models look easy.
Russ
Very nice - another exceptional model to join the fleet - nice colour to
Barney
Well done!
Beautiful work Bernhard!
What does TACL stand for?
Edit: Never mind, I found it back at the beginning of this thread.
So let's get back to the Timber Bogies. You can find more information about the model at https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/543618a22162f10ae0b5113b (https://victoriancollections.net.au/items/543618a22162f10ae0b5113b). This is also where the second picture comes from.
The drawing is quickly created.
The frame is made of lime wood.
The axleboxes are made in a simplified form from tube and strip.
They are mounted on the frames using a jig.
The couplings with the drawbar are still missing, ...
... then the lower part can be mounted.
The characteristic wide spoked wheels can of course not be bought anywhere. So I had them 3D printed in Versatile Plastic.
The parts for the belt-type brake follow:
The brake levers, ...
... the linkage ...
... and the brake shoes made of wood.
This can be used to complete the bogies.
Finally the drawbars have to be made.
Ben told me that the short drawbar between the rail tractor and the first bogie was probably made of steel. So I redesigned it.
With the load of 70 sawn lime wood planks, ...
... the timber bogies are ready now.
However, Ben had the following to say: "The weathering on the timber jinka's is probably a bit much as well as we know they are weathered now but they are 60 years old, back in the operational days they were made at the timber mill as the iron was purchased as a kit and the mill would make them from timber they cut so they would most likely looked quite new in operation".
I have modeled the rail tractor and the timber bogies in the condition they are in today. But in that case I will build two more bogies in a newer condition sometime.
Bernhard
Now that I see how quick and easy it was to build the bogie, I think I'll crank out a dozen of them this afternoon. Most satisfactory. -- Russ
Excellent work! Very well done. I love how simple those log cars are -- nothing on them is more complicated or expensive than it needed to be.
Just excellent Bernhard!
Great Bernard the look is excellent.
Quote from: finescalerr on September 27, 2020, 12:32:37 PM
Now that I see how quick and easy it was to build the bogie, I think I'll crank out a dozen of them this afternoon. Most satisfactory. -- Russ
c
Have you finished them yet ?
I actually built two dozen and they turned out so beautifully I didn't want to post photos and embarrass Bernard with my artistry and skill.... -- ssuR
Congratulations Russ, and thanks for sparing me this démotivation.
Bernhard
Beautiful work as always!
But why are two of the planks on the wagon pointing into the air?
It also took me some time to understand it. But in the picture TACL114 you can see that the chains are tensioned with it.
Bernhard
Quote from: Bernhard on September 29, 2020, 11:13:30 PM
It also took me some time to understand it. But in the picture TACL114 you can see that the chains are tensioned with it.
Bernhard
Thanks! Would never have guessed that.
You have solved the problem for me on how to make those axle bearings - no one seems to offer this type of bearing to purchase in the smaller scales and has always caused a problem to make something that is usable - Very nice modelling and unusual
Barney
In many parts o the American logging industry those draw bars were called roosters, and if some of the logging roads in West Virginia were the norm rather then the exception almost anything which was strong enough was used to connect cars. I've even seen short lengths of old rail used.
Lawton, I can well imagine that both variants were used. However, I have also modeler both.
Bernhard
What one used to connect the cars is what the US Army calls "field expedient" or to the rest of us "whatever works". Roosters of specific lengths are also used between disconnect logging trucks to make sure the log load didn't come apart while moving. Many logging outfits which used knuckle couplers had holes and notches in the couplers to be able to use the spacers when carrying over-length loads.
Bernhard,
great what you show here - I like to watch!
Frithjof