San Diego Siemens S70 running in Multiple Unit

All 3 cars build are running now in California! Thanks to Darrell Clarke and Dand D. Sparks for the videos.

A 3 car train of Volkmar Meier's 3D printed SD70s running on the SCTC layout at this weekends NMRA train meet at South Coast Botanic Gardens in Palos Verdes, CA. Good stuff! Yes sir! Good stuff indeed!
Posté par Dan D. Sparks sur samedi 24 octobre 2015

San Diego Trolley Siemens S70, latest add-ons

There is a driver behind the Windshield

Circuit board

Circuit board over the Bowser drive

View over the B-unit and C-unit

C-unit and A-unit

Couplers, approaching

Couplers, connected

San Diego Trolley Siemens S70 multiple unit

Siemens S70 two car Multiple Unit Train

Multiple Unit two car train on my "torture track". Each car has one motor truck with a Bowser drive.

Siemens S70 test run with Bowser drive

Siemens S70 Light Rail Vehicle, HO scale model, new 3D printed raw body, unpainted, with single Bowser drive in the rear. First test run on 185 mm radius (7.25"). This vehicle will be available for both Halling and Bowser drives, with option for a single motor or for two motors - or even as a dummy car. And exceptionally a selfie :

Indiana Service Corp. #323 Lightweight Combine

ISC #323

Indiana Service Corporation Combine #323-326, one manned. This is my interpretation of ISC colors, yet without striping and lettering.

IHP Brill "Bullet"

I am not only building my own 3D models. This is a Brill Bullet from Imperial Hobby Productions IHP printed by Shapeways with a Bowser drive.

The color scheme is freelance, inspired by the special orange and cream livery of the first Bullet car for display at the 1931 Electric Railway Convention in Atlantic City.

The Commonwealth truck frames are for the photo session only, awaiting the Brill 89E trucks finished. Handrails and glazing will be added also.

Kitchen layout with IHP Septa Kawasaki motorized by Bowser

I trimmed an IHP Septa Kawasaki to negotiate ultra sharp 5.5" curves (140 mm). How it was done I will tell later. The car is still a little bit noisy, but this merits a glass of wine ...

Indiana Service Corp. Lightweight Interurban Combine

(Update with a new render view, 2014, 01 20)

About 1928, Master Mechanic Arthur Reddersson from Indiana Service Corporation transformed the four ISC Lightweight Combines to one man operation by reversing the car, the former rear end becoming the front end. A folding passenger door was installed on the right, and a drivers cab window on the left. 

This 3D printed model is ready to receive a Bowser Drive with 28" wheels.
Before the first test print, some last details will be fixed.

The colors shown here are probably not prototypical and are subject of further research. Under Indiana Railroad management the cars were "painted traction orange" and altered again a little, dashlights were added, the air horn and the front light modified.

Engineers dream (2) - the test of truth

For "Engineers dream, Vol 1", see here

Yesterday, I received the first beta print of the Fort Wayne - Lima Traction Lightweight Combine.

The first and biggest surprise was the pilot, 3D printed in brass. The quality of this print done by i.materialise in Belgium is amazing! The pilot bars are only 0.5 mm thick.

This means that in the future, ANY detail of a car could be reproduced within 3D technology, and that even a second rated craftsman like me could build a first class H0 model ...

The only shadow: brass printing is expensive, with high fix costs. But a whole car kit (without motor) will remain in a reasonable prize range.

The second surprise was that I am not so bad as an engineer. All comes together: car body, frame, truck frames...

Cannibalizing a Bowser PCC, this car is mounted in less than one hour. There are just some holes who must be widened, I will perhaps fix some issues in the final version.

You can even reuse the Bowser circuit board and lighting. The car is running smooth, even through curves with a radius of 16 centimeters.

The third surprise is that I have lost the riveting when exporting the file for printing. But there are just  some parameters to change, and the hard weeklong riveting work will reappear

Checking clearances of the Bowser drive

Ft Wayne - Lima Interurban with Bowser drive

To check the clearances of the Bowser Drive, I modelized the essential parts in "full scale". The blue parts are the original Bowser parts who will be translated onto the custom made floor of the Fort Wayne - Lima combine.

Obviously, the free view accross the passenger compartment is lost. This may be achieved later with an Hollywood drive.

Motorisation of the Ft Wayne - Lima Combine

Engineering of the floor plate is under way, in its first version for the Bowser drive. Later I will try a Hollywood Foundry "high end" motorisation.

With a Bowser drive, the car could look like this. Bogie rotation, currently about 16°, may be improved up to a maximum of 20°.