Messages

16

Museum Discussion / Re: Got SNOW?

« on: February 17, 2015, 01:35:03 AM »

Unfortunately, those plans were used to light the fire to heat the Rowmow MFG shop. So, I was tasked this weekend to come up with an idea. I have a year to figure something out and do it. It won't be a rotary...but some modifications to current equipment may be a possibility..

That will be the guarantee that you won't see any snow for years ! 

Andre

17

Work and Events / Re: Kubota Excavator - Official Work Thread

« on: January 30, 2015, 02:40:06 PM »

Wow ROW MOW is at it again. 

Andre

18

Maine Narrow Gauge RR Co. & Museum / Re: Relocating update to Gray?

« on: January 12, 2015, 11:00:33 PM »

And from what I've heard, track layers will be hired. But I'm sure me or Bill would let you know when they're ready!

We'll be happy to quote them a fair price.
-John

I think that would be a win win situation, the WW&F makes a little money and they get track.

Andre

19

General Discussion / Re: Brecon Mtn Ry video

« on: January 12, 2015, 10:57:57 PM »

I notice that they are building a copy of the SR&RL's #10 and #23. The #2 looks to be about the same size as the bigger 2-6-2's.

Andre

20

Other Narrow Gauge / Re: Building a 15" gauge Mason Bogie

« on: December 08, 2014, 03:21:07 AM »

CHEAT 

Andre

21

General Discussion / Re: Reproduction Builder/Number Plates - Materials, etc.

« on: November 17, 2014, 03:18:04 AM »

Allen,

I really like the pin and belt buckle idea, both of these items fall well into the spur of the moment purchase.

Andre

22

General Discussion / Re: Reproduction Builder/Number Plates - Materials, etc.

« on: November 16, 2014, 08:09:47 PM »

Steve,

I work in a large hobby shop and I can tell you I sell many more items if I have it already on the shelf, the minute that I tell some one that they will have to wait 95%, especially of expensive items. Many say no thanks, because at that moment buyers remorse has already set in. If they have it in hand they will walk up to the cash registrar and pull out their wallet and pay for it, but if they have to think about it that usually kills the deal. The owner of the store that explains it quite well, " You can't sell from an empty cart! ". And the other saying that you have to remember is that "It takes money to make money!".

Two other things to remember is: The first ting is that the average customer that walks through the door is not one of us, meaning that they are not fanatics which to some degree we all are. By this I mean that they don't volunteer their time, they don't donate money (they feel that the money that they paid for the ride is enough), They probably don't have a library of railroad books at home, they don't read message board like we do, they are not modelers, all they are looking for a nice experience, a nice day out with the family and afterwards as they go through the gift shop they are looking for something that they can remember the experience with. The second is that online, or mail order are a completely different kind of customer, they have already thought about this item as either a gift for some one else or a decoration for their own home at this point they know what they want and where to get it.

Now if you are going to make resin castings those can be done in house for very little money. Make the original and mount it on a smooth surface, build temporary dams around the master so the cast rubber that makes the mold will not run every where. Pour in the mold rubber and let cure. Remove the the rubber mold and turn over and let it cure for 24hrs then cast your first resin casting, and to make it look like bronze you can add a bronze metal powder to the resin before you cast the part. Now you let the resin cure and then remove from the mold. You can also use a layer of paint as a mold release, you paint the mold before you pour the casting resin in and when the resin cures it attaches to the paint which will come out of the mold easily. This method has the advantage that the resin attaches much more firmly to the paint than the paint will attach to the resin, you also don't have to wash the release agent off of the casting.

If you use a two part mold IE one with a back you could cast the railroads name in to along with the information that it is a reproduction. It could say something like this "This Reproduction was made by the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum, Alna Maine". As to aluminum or bronze you might be able to get a local trade High School to make them for you, when I went through High School in the metal shop was the capability to sand cast both bronze and aluminum. If you do some thing like this all you would have to pay for is the materials that the class use. Most of these type of programs are looking for something like this so that they can teach the whole casting process and as long as it goes to a museum they don't have any problems with it.

Andre

23

General Discussion / Re: Reproduction Builder/Number Plates - Materials, etc.

« on: November 16, 2014, 03:16:45 PM »

I have to agree with Win, most of what you are selling is impulse buys and if they have to wait they will probably not buy the item.

Andre

24

General Discussion / Re: 2-foot Equipment for use on G-gauge Track (and scale vs. gauge discussion)

« on: November 10, 2014, 04:41:20 PM »

John,

Large scale is one LARGE can of worms. 

Andre

25

General Discussion / 2-foot Equipment for use on G-gauge Track (and scale vs. gauge discussion)

« on: November 09, 2014, 05:49:44 PM »

I wonder if it would be worth the time and effort to work with a G scale producer and have a dedicated "WW&F" run of stuff that could be sold through the gift shop?  I would want it scaled so that it could use standard G scale track as the 2 foot gauge.  I know that I would buy it, but would others?  Comments welcomed.......

The problem with "G" scale is that it does not exist, "G" gauge does. Remember that scale and gauge are not the same thing, one refers to distance between the rails(gauge) and the other refers to the proportion of the model to the real thing(scale). there are about seven different scales that exist in the large scale world, 1:13 = 2' gauge, 1:19 = 2' gauge on O scale track (32mm), 1:20.3 = 3' gauge, 1:22.5 = meter gauge (European narrow gauge), 1:24 = half inch to the foot, 1:29 = Quasi Standard gauge, 1:32 Standard gauge, (#1), all of these are running on G or #1 gauge track which has a track gauge of 45mm.

So the first decision that would have to be made is this locomotive going to be a scale model or something that just kinda of looks like something. LGB made a 2-4-4 Forney of no known scale and the later ones of some questionable quality and Bachmann made a 2-4-4 Forney with both inside and out side frames in 1:20.3 scale so it was a 3' gauge locomotive that was a fine model but of the wrong gauge. The MSR on this locomotive was about 1,400 and sold usally for about $800.

1:24 was started by Delton Locomotive Works as a way to build American narrow gauge, unfortunately this resulted in a track gauge of 3'6" (42") and the narrow gauge modelers coming from the smaller scales would not accept this compromise for 3' gauge models but the Garden Railroaders would so a lot of different rolling stock was made. Then USA Trains decided to do some standard gauge models and choose 1:29 because the visual bulk of the cars matched the 1:24 which they already had a bunch of and again the garden railroader liked it and it took off and 1:32 was left to the "Fine" scale modelers who ran live steam models.

Accucraft may not be making any more electric models as they have not sold any where near as well as the live steam models. Accucraft makes a nice little Forney all ready but it gauged for 3' rather than 2' which will not work for this application and they have not made a 1:13 model of a Forney yet, the other problem is that there is no rolling stock or very little available in this scale, Nick Schade who is a member would be able to tell you more about what is available in 1:13.

Round House out of England make a SR&RL 2-6-2 that is convertible from 45mm to 32mm in 1:19 scale, on 45mm track it is a 3' engine and on 32mm it is a  2' gauge engine.

The cost of making a set of injection molds for a locomotive would probably be around $350,000 to $500,000 and you would have to plan on selling at least 2000 models to get the costs down to where you could sell them. At 2000 models you would probably have a mold cost of $250.00 per unit sold.

Andre Anderson

26

General Discussion / Re: Rhode Island and South Eastern Massachusetts coal

« on: November 04, 2014, 08:59:44 AM »

There are coal mines in just about every state, the problem is that most of it is of such pore quality that it is not worth digging out of the ground. Here in Oregon there were several coal mines down by Coos Bay Oregon, they even had a narrow gauge railway to get it to the port in Coos Bay, but figured out that they would make more money hauling wood than selling coal because of the poor quality. Black Diamond Washington got its name from coal and at the bottom of Lake Washington there is a complete narrow gauge train, it got there when the barge that it was on sank.

Andre

27

Work and Events / Re: Car Barn - Official Work Thread

« on: October 31, 2014, 07:27:32 PM »

Ed,

If it was me I would leave 3 or 4 feet between the end of the track and the wall so if some gets carried away (and they will) they won't shove a car through the back wall. that would leave room for the door to open and still be able to walk around the cars.

Andre

28

Museum Discussion / Re: The roundhouse floor

« on: October 22, 2014, 06:45:07 PM »

Cut the blocks you have to 4x4 or just don't worry about it and use them the way they are.

Andre

29

Work and Events / Re: Car Barn - Official Work Thread

« on: October 22, 2014, 06:43:03 PM »

I continue to be amazed by the scope of the work accomplished in such a short time! Great pictures!
I can't resist asking: would a discussion about stub switches be considered pointless?

Groan   

YES

Andre

30

Museum Discussion / Re: Music Festival?

« on: October 02, 2014, 07:17:12 PM »

Greetings,

As a lurker in the weeds from the west coast, my suggestion for this kind of event, is look into buying a tent that can be set up. Kind of like the ones that you would see at an outdoor wedding. Have some one or a group of some ones build a temporary stage that can be set up or stored as needed, strike that idea, figure out where you can put a flat car and build a removable set of back and side walls with a canvas awning on top. This would do several things at once, give you a railroad theme, a wood floored stage, and wind protection for the musicians. The getting of a tent would still be a good idea as when you have a function it can be set up so the public has some place to get out of the rain and if the tent has sides the wind also.

Out here in the Great Pacific North Wet we have several small music events that are well attended and looked forward to each year, defiantly this is a good idea. May look into partnering up with a local town's chamber of commerce or similar organization to help spread out the work of organizing something like this, because if this takes off other local bossiness such as restaurants, bed and breakfast's and so on will benefit also from it.

I don't know what kind of road access there is up the line but trying to move a lot of people back and forth on the railroad might try or over whelm the capacity of the railroad and if that happens and people can not get to the event or more importantly home from the event they will not come back, so try to find a place where they can park close to the event. In fact now that I think about this parking might be the biggest problem. Is there a church close by that you can use their parking lot and then use school buses to move people to the event is one idea that might be worth looking into.

Alright that is my two cents worth well maybe three cents worth, you can now get out the forks and knives and dice me up for my crazy ideas! 
Andre
Portland Oregon