Model Railroading > A scratchbuilding diversion

My friend is building some HO modules, and asked me if I could create something similar to the "compact covered-hopper loader", from the November 1999 Model Railroader article by Harold Russell. Apart from the two vertical X wires, I built it from various bits and shapes of styrene. The loading tube was originally straight, but I immersed it in lots of boiling water to gently change the shape to a snaky "S". I'll also be adding some chain around the pipe.

It'll have to be test-planted before any more work can be done, but it was an enjoyable wee project that took two evenings. The concrete platform for the truck and the fencing will complete the bill. The first snap is of Mr Russell's picture in MR.

Just the thing to have in a siding on a prairie railroad.

Brian Moore
Plymouth, UK

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Looks really good!

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

That is some sharp work. Might I suggest Polly S "Gravel Grey"? I just used it on a project, very happy with the color.

Nicely Done!!!

Maybe a piece of heat shrink tubing as a boot on the down pipe? Nice project.

Beautiful work! You're a perfectionist.

Looks great! Can you tell us any more about the process of bending the plastic in water? I've never heard of such a thing, but can definitely see its perks.

- Jeff

That is really some fine work! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the kind words and suggestions, people.

Jeff - I slowly poured water straight from a fully-loaded boiled kettle over the styrene where the bend was to be made, until the whole lot had gone. Best to do it by placing the styrene suspended over the sink. You'll find that it becomes pliable, and can be slowly bent. You have to be careful not to do it too quickly (it snaps), or make the bend too severe (ditto), and it may need several kettle applications. Once it's reshaped, try and clamp/tie it to keep in the 90 degree curve, and immerse it in very cold water for a while. Trial and error, but it worked for me, and the proof is in the picture.

Brian

Really excellent bit of modeling Brian. Thank you for sharing the "raw naked" version.

Elizabeth

Very nice!!!

The British always seem to be good at scratchbuilding.

Brian, about the prototype; how or what means was the grain loaded? I presume this is by air but was there a conveyor or Auger that transported the grain to a hopper before being blown up the "S" curve ducting that you've shown here.

Interesting and I might actually have to find this article.

Rick

Thanks again.

Rick - a truck dumps its load through an opening in the ground, and a conveyor is built inside the ducting (which travels downward, below ground) - it carries the material up, out and over, then empties it down the tube. A winch is used to pull the car along the track, so that the different hatches can be individually filled.

Brian

Great job. Looks like a lot of work.

Thomas G

That is one detailed elevator! It appears that trucks unload right next to the track?

As an add to the discussion of using boiling water to warp, bend, or distort styrene, the technique I have used was to dunk the part into "near" boiling water, as in it wasn't boiling but almost. Holding it in the pot for 30-60 seconds seemed to work well, however different shapes and thickness or if the part is hollow versus solid would require different dunk times to allow for the plastic to soften. Also the exact plastic will behave differently - in my experience a freight car body with injection modeled plastic required more time than a plain piece of Evergreen styrene. To create the distortion, I either stressed the part before going in the pot to have the stress relieved in the water, or after it softened distorted it right in the water or quickly pulled it out and added the distortion on the countertop.

Jeff Eggert

i guess a portable propane torch is out of the question :-P

Very nice fabrication!

Very nicely done. Good modeling tip on the hot/warm water.

Thank you.

Joe