Coaches for the Kotanga Tramway.

[Annie]

Due to this illness I have I'm going to need to keep my model making as simple as possible so that means that I will be using a lot of cardboard and various sizes of coffee stirrers and lolly sticks to build models and avoiding anything which needs complicated cutting out.
When I was still working in 0 gauge I made up various litho coach sides to both restore badly faded and scratched tinplate coaches to usefulness again as well as build new coaching stock.  So I thought I'd use litho techniques to build myself a couple of tramway coaches for the Kotanga Tramway.

I like the look of the Buderim Tramway coaches so I've decided to use them as the basis for building tramway coaches for the Kotanga line.  Any Ozzies reading this please don't be offended by a Kiwi stealing away Australian coaches to be used on a New Zealand tramway.  Take it as a compliment as to the usefulness of the Buderim design.



(Original artwork not by me. I've only modified it a little)


The Innisfail Tramway coaches are similar and very nice, but I decided to go with the Buderim coaches after a little humming and haring.   Most classic steam era coaches built here in NZ were verandah end types though for some odd reason it appealed to me to have centre door non-gangwayed  coaches on the Kotanga line

Normally I build coaches and even litho coaches in wood, but this time around I'm going to use heavy cardboard in an effort to make things a bit easier on myself.

[tuppenced]

Annie,

That's a good choice of material.

More and more modellers are using card-making / scrap-booking cutting machines. Capability varies between machines - and performance depends on a supply of sharp blades - but results compare well with laser-cuts from the same card.

1/2mm thin cereal packet card works well, and is the top limit for some machines. Although others can cut thicker board - up to 1mm - the cut is necessarily cruder because these machines work by dragging an angled knife through the material.

Rivals include the light and economical Silhouette Portrait, the Cricut Explore and the Klic-n-Kut Zing. Some machines will also score lines in card, and all of them will take a pen to draw lines on the surface.

I know you're not in a position to shell out on machinery, but perhaps you might be able to borrow one or use one at a Maker-Space club.
Of course if you have access to a Maker-Space, they'll likely have a small laser cutter, for which card is the perfect material - better than laser-ply or MDF in some ways. Put it this way, you don't get much laser ply for a thousand dollars.

David

[Annie]

Hi David.

I can still manage using a straight edge and craft knife on cardboard, but plywood is out. Cereal boxes are my main source of card, but I do sometimes buy high quality art cardboard if I'm after a particularly fine finish.
It was about a year ago now that I looked at a cutting machine the local stationers was selling at a discount and I almost ruined my household budget and bought it, only I didn't fancy sharing the cat's cat biscuits with him for month

When I sell off the last of my tinplate train stuff I should have enough to buy a cutting machine though so I should really seriously think about doing that.

[sstjc]

What about plasticard. Just score and Snape.
Barry

[Annie]

It's the glues and solvent Barry. They make me feel ill

[tuppenced]

If one can score Plastikard in the right places, one can also cut card :-)

Although card - especially good quality white card - is harder on blades, at least scalpels are massively cheaper than cutting-machine swivel-knives.

The most useful tool I've ever had for cutting either material was a pair of steel rulers glued together at right angles. I made the join near the ends, like an engineer's square rather than a Tee square, but lined up each inner edge with a convenient graduation on the other rule so that I could read measurements directly from the square. Because metal rules are about the same thickness as modelling card, the square lay directly on the cutting mat, which a conventional square doesn't.

David
(Can't send a picture.)

[Andrew]

Characterful carriages, they'll look great. There's a hint of Ashover about them...

Looking forward to seeing the models.

Andrew.

[GTB]

Any Ozzies reading this please don't be offended by a Kiwi stealing away Australian coaches to be used on a New Zealand tramway.  Take it as a compliment as to the usefulness of the Buderim design.

It's a colonial design in any case.......

There was some interchange between the Aust. and NZ timber industries. The Powelltown tramway had a Kiwi manager at one time, who introduced some NZ practices, like board brakes and Maori jacks.

The card kit designs on Lynn Zelmer's website are from articles on card modelling using computer graphics to generate coloured skins for models. This series of articles have been published in Narrow Gauge Down Under (NGDU) recently. I haven't seen the actual models, but they look reasonable in photos.

If cutting ply is becoming an issue, consider using balsa for reinforcing the card, especially corners, cantrails and underframes. It's cheaper than ply and softer than card to cut. The open grain won't be a problem if it is being overlayed with card.

Card isn't my first choice of modelling materials, but I have used it for things like pass car interiors when I worked in HO. I used to print the parts out with the inkjet printer and simply cut them out with a scalpel and steel ruler.

Any printer with a reasonably straight manual paper path can handle card up to 0.5mm without problems. Every printer I've ever owned can print images as square as I can cut them.

Regards,
Graeme

[Annie]

Thanks for the suggestions Graeme

[Annie]

I worked up a possible brake van design for the Kotanga tramway yesterday shamelessly using Lynn Zelmer's drawings as a basis.  In the world where the Kotanga Tramway exists the tramway management were always a forward thinking lot with slight pretensions of grandeur despite not having quite the bank balance needed to go with their ambitions.  Overcoming all financial obstacles by creative means  the tramway was built beginning at Kotanga and its important interchange with river traffic and runs deep into the Kotanga Valley serving the small towns, mines and industries which dot the valley.  The line is well known for steep grades and breathtaking wooden viaducts and it is said that intending passengers should not be of a nervous disposition.
Which brings me back to the brake van design I've worked up for Kotanga Tramway brake van No:1




The end door is normally partly covered by a hinged fall plate by the way so it's not as dangerous as it looks.  I just haven't drawn it in as I know wot I mean and how I'm going to do it.

Here in New Zealand the nice long thin coffee stirrers you more fortunate folk have access too are virtually unknown.  Here a 'coffee stirrer' is no more than the humble ice lolly stick in disguise.  So this means that matchboarded type rolling stock so beloved of us colonials might be out of the question for me until I can find an alternative supply.  To this end brake van No:1 is going to be sheathed in 'wriggly tin' as an experiment and if I like it I'll try out the method on a coach (if it doesn't work out so well it can be a workmans coach, if it's really terrible it might become a wharf shed!).
There will be a brake van No:2 by the way and it will have a sliding door on the side just to be different.  Both vans are to be fitted with the 'Zach Bond patent momentum mechanism'.

Edit: Oops, I meant to mention that the gauge measurement in the drawing isn't correct btw. I was getting tired when I did that bit.

[tuppenced]

And in case it helps with the detailing, here's one of the little 7' long crummies Jim based his drawing on:



This photo is new to me, from the University of Newcastle, Australia, who have put about 1 600 scans on Flickr a couple of months ago.

David

[Annie]

Wow, thanks David That photo is going be a big help.

When I moved to where I'm living now I had a whole bunch of photocopies I'd been given of rolling stock plans from the Cape Foulwind Railway and other minor lines here in New Zealand. I also had copies of the original drawings for most of the Price bush tram locos built by A&G Price. These were very kindly sent to me by A&G Price when I enquired about details of their bush locos and the copies of the older drawings on linen are beautiful. But do you think I can find any of those drawing copies, - Oh dear me no I hope they didn't get lost in transit (sigh).....

[tuppenced]

You might find this useful too, Annie.

They are Innisfail vehicles, and there are a few more pictures in print in books about that tramway.

I have always assumed that the end window shown on the photo below was reflected symmetrically on the hidden side of the brake van, but now I see the "new" photo I posted yesterday, I realise it wasn't symmetrical after all !

General thoughts about Jim's drawings: the pencil sketches are only aproximate but have the benefit of measurements. The prettied-up PDF versions are usually LESS accurate than the sketches. Nevertheless Jim's field work is absolutely invaluable because the termites have long since eaten these delightful vehicles, and photos are few.

[Annie]

Wonderful, thanks again David.

[GTB]

Here a 'coffee stirrer' is no more than the humble ice lolly stick in disguise.  So this means that matchboarded type rolling stock so beloved of us colonials might be out of the question for me until I can find an alternative supply.

Can't recall the last time I was given any sort of wooden stick for stirring tea/coffee. Around here it seems to be little plastic sticks in paper packets.......

Never been a fan of board on board construction and even bush carpenters generally made a better job than you get with stirrers. The meat van on the Powelltown tram was built by the mill carpenter. The board width varied noticeably, but they were still straight and flush when it was withdrawn.

Card scribes nicely if you use a blunt point and drag it backwards over the sheet. I use an old pocket scriber for making fold lines on card. It would work for making matchboard siding over a wood frame. Classic card modelling, scribe the card, then give it a coat of shellac to seal the surface.

When working with ply for wooden wagons, I've scribed boards with a blunt knife and then raked out the line with a razor saw to give a nice sharp line. It works best with birch ply from the model aircraft shop, otherwise the knife and saw can wander off line in curly grain.

Australia is the spiritual home of corrugated iron engineering, but I've never seen it used for anything on rolling stock except the roof.

Regards,
Graeme

[Annie]

Well perhaps the idea of making corrugated iron coaches was a bit extreme. I've seen old photos of bush railcars done with corrugated iron, but using it on the 'varnish' (coaches for fare paying passengers) would likely raise some protests from the local populace.

I have built some plank on plank tramway rolling stock already, though I freely admit that care does need to be taken over making sure each 'plank' does fit properly against its neighbour to end up with a good result. The rolling stock you build is beautiful Graeme so I can't help but take note of your greater skill and experience.

[Annie]

Quite a while ago I started to build a tramway coach in 7/8th scale and it's been hanging around unfinished for ages. So I thought I would cut it down to suit the scale I'm presently working in.

The coach being built in 7/8ths



So far I've cut down the sides and narrowed the chassis and it's looking promising. I'm presently working on making new ends which is a slow process, but we're getting there. The bogies in the picture are 1&1/2 inch gauge from some cheap no brand toy trainset I picked up cheap and are actually faithful copies of a particular variety of narrow gauge bogie I saw in an old photo once upon a time. I have no idea of the maker, - either the prototype or the toy ones, - but I'm planning on taking a mould of the side frames so I can cast them in bog (car body filler) so I can make more just like them.

[IrishPeter]

The only corrugated iron bodied passenger vehicle I ever came across was in a Railway Magazine c. May 1978 or 1980 where they had a feature on the turf railways in Co. Donegal. One of them - 2' gauge not the usual 3' - had a Paddy Car that consisted of a wooden framed corrugated box with openings at the top for light and to let the ciggy smoke out, but it had a touch of class in that it had an arc roof. The whole contraption was built on a turf cage underframe.

Cheers,
Peter in AZ

[tuppenced]

Here's a couple of nice thoughts from Jarrahdale bush railway in Western Australia, 3' 6" gauge:





I believe they are what the Americans call a Combine :-)

Might have a go myself.

David

[Annie]

Now that's an interesting piece of rolling stock David.
Thanks for posting the pictures.

Peter, after quite a bit of my own research I haven't found anything of significance either so apart from the odd corrugated iron roof on a van or a workman's coach I'm going to forget all about it.