Black operations

No, this is not a funeral car.

This is only the Winona Windsplitter wearing a very first black primer coat.

My layout

Some asked me about my layout. It is a small layout, 200 cm long, 60 cm deep. It is built into a Ikea book rack, the four black rectangular holes visible above are the cutouts for the rack mounts (one Ikea rack is 80 cm wide and 30 cm deep). The street trackage is build with Luna-Tillig tracks. This trackwork is expensive, but it could be considered as the only "ready to run" H0 street trackage available worldwide with complex turnouts and crossings. Luna track needs an absolutely perfect base, so the structure is made of 1 cm Forex plates (PVC) and aluminium profiles, no wooden parts. The layout is made of 4 parts who are re-assembled in the rack. The view shows the layout before assembling in the rack, the paving not totally finished. The paving outside the trackage is made of 2 mm cork and 2 mm grey foam rubber.

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 ...

A little journey into a fictional past

Contemplating the finished street track paving on my HO scale layout.

Economy is booming, a second boxcar was needed

More and more goods are shipped on my Traction Line, so a second boxcar was really needed. It is a again an Interurban CERA standard trailer with rounded ends. Both cars lo nearly identical, but they aren't.

Printed grabs (left) , wire grabs (right)

The newest car, the red one, was printed with solid handrails. The green car has hand mounted grab irons made of 0.3 mm wire.

Floor, with printed truss rods

Printed brake wheel and grabs. 

But as I am a little bit lazy, I tried to print the grabs with the body, in Shapeway's material "Frosted Detail".

The result is not so bad. Level of detail is the equivalent of 1970 plastic models. The handmade grab irons are a little more realistic, but the difference is hard to see, for my aging eyes ....

This means that the goal of a "ready to mount" 3D model is nearly achieved. All you need is to mount a pair of Kadee trucks, screw the furnished drawbars and clip the couplers. A coat of primer, and some paint, and the boxcar is ready to roll.

But now a box motor is badly needed.