Prototype

Heavy weight steel coaches built by SIG  in 1929-31.

Model

© drawing removed to prevent unauthorized use any question contact webmaster

Construction

Since I did some kitbashing in HOm I was looking at different possibilities in IIm i.e. a solid box construction that could serve as the starting basis. This was in the “good old days” when many dealers where flogging LGB items that obviously didn’t move all that well at great discount prices. Case in point LGB 30260 (D&RGW open sight-seeing car).

Sturdy design and passenger trucks which are passable - even if not the RhB type.

Six of those resulted in four basic boxes. And then they sat and sat and sat ..... I really wasn’t looking forward to milling all the sides. They still sat when a laser machine took up residence in our shop. Now that was a different proposition; the CAD drawings were ready and after converting them into COREL Draw format the fun could begin.

The lasered sidewalls

The next step is milling the clearances in the LGB walls; one window at a time while moving the wood spacers along to prevent ripping and chatter. 

Clearance milling of the LGB walls

2014/12/01

And that’s where the project stopped for a considerable time. All the work on the layout in the garden and the surrounding are took up a lot of time.

In the meantime the CNC Laser got company: a CNC Router. The perfect machine for wood and plastics. There was just one “minor problem”; acquiring the necessary 3D design skills was really intimidating. Naturally it ended up quite far down the “to do” list.

However since the Heavy Weight roofs require a compound curve shape at the end that needed to happen sooner or later. “SketchUp” is often mentioned as software that is easy to learn. “Easy” compared to what?

It “only” took a full week to get the desired result on the monitor.

Are 2-D CAD skills an advantage? Yes, but only a very marginal one, the rest is completely new territory which requires a different thought process.

To be continued