New Wholestick Cane Trucks

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Old Man Aaron
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New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by Old Man Aaron » Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:59 am

In late 2020, I was no longer content with my old wholestick cane trucks, a rake of ten I'd built in 2016. They sat too high, their proportions were wrong, among other issues.
In any case, I'd like to model sugar mill operations more realistically - with multiple separate trains dropping empty trucks at the cane farmers' sidings, and picking up loaded trucks on their return trips. Obviously I'll need more than ten - Mills had hundreds, sometimes thousands of trucks, so with the need for me to build more, it was a ripe opportunity for a re-design. I've decided on four batches of thirty trucks, to be built over the next two years. This first batch will actually be fourty trucks, as I'll need another four for the navvies to use, and six damaged trucks out-of-service, to be strewn about the future mill yard and lineside.

01/11/20
A prototype was knocked up from balsa. Based on a Moreton Mill drawing, barely widened for 45mm gauge. Binnie skip axleboxes and 20mm wheels.
The last trucks also used Binnie running gear, which gave no problems, but the Ffestiniog 2-bolt axleboxes were a poor choice, giving the trucks far too high a ride height.
I've found the 16mm scale standard coupling height of 25mm is far too high for a cane tramway - those couplings were (and are still today) mounted very low. I'm slowly working through the fleet, dropping my couplings to 20mm above railhead. At the time of testing the mock-up with other stock, that tender's coupling was still at 25mm.
Image

07/05/2021
With the truck project now come round in the queue, I got stuck in. Unlike the last trucks which were made of expensive pre-milled balsa, I'm ripping down Tasmanian oak boards. This way, the timber in each truck is only about a dollar. Used a 7¼ table saw to rip the 12mm thick boards down into strips, small enough for my 2" Proxxon clone to digest. That saw really isn't up to cutting oak, either. For future batches, I'll have to quit screwing about, cough up some serious money for a larger, actual Proxxon saw or something, and be done with it.

Most (but not all) parts were then distressed with a wire brush in the drill press. Staining the parts was done by soaking a handful for a few hours in a sealed jar of acrylic wash. The parts were then laid on some scrap PVC to dry. Everything needed staining at least twice.
Image


Various jigs save a lot of time and pain. Moving left to right: Coupling arc jig, as each coupling block needs an arc belt-sanded across it's face. The two nails sticking out below the coupling block in the center, mark the parts for drilling their mounting pin holes. Below that, the axleboxes are shown to have had their mounting tabs cut down, to reduce the size of the slots I'll have to cut under each solebar, to accommodate the tabs. The wheel gauging jig also really helps.
Image

09/05/21
An assembly jig was made from scrap foamboard and popsicle sticks. Joints were glued with PVA, which on joints of this size, is quite weak. Once the glue had set, the joints were gently pilot drilled and reinforced with cut-down dressmaker's pins.
Image

The "metal" parts will need something better than the couple coats of flat brown, used on the old trucks. Dulux Duramax "rust effect" paint was surprisingly effective, though a bit reddish. Drybrushing Tamiya's Hull Red for some variation, then a more general drybrushing with Tamiya's Nato Brown to tone it all down, gives the exact effect I'm after.
Image

The solebars were marked and slotted with a cutting disk in the dremel, then axleboxes fitted with B-7000 pre-mixed epoxy.
Image

Yet another jig made of scrap, ensures the axles are squarely in the right place. Once the glue has set for a fortnight, the axleboxes will also be drilled and pinned.
Image

28/05/21
Coupling blocks being fitted, frames in varying stages of assembly and pinning.
Image

Damaged trucks in the jig, and too many other parts awaiting assembly. :oops:
Image

The buffer face-plates have been cut from a thinners tin, but I've yet to finish them. Planks for the tops are also cut.
The old trucks had load-securing chains that would fall off, catch on trackwork, and get tangled in running gear. This time, I'll be building non-operating hand-winches as fitted to the prototype; I've yet to order the parts for those.
A carry box for this first rake will also need to be made, as the plan is for it to be my "travelling" rake when visiting other lines. By the time the other 90 trucks are built, a more permanent wagon shed will exist on the next tramway, allowing trains to be stored and used without excess handling - therefore the box need only hold 30.

I'm also keeping a .txt file in which to take build notes, that will save some mistakes and wasted time on subsequent batches.
This has been extremely labourious so far, with no sign of that changing. It's manageable in chunks of an hour or three, whilst watching or listening to something less tedious.

Anyway, that's a lot of big talk of plans from me, I'd best go live up to them..
Thanks for reading :)
Last edited by Old Man Aaron on Sun Feb 27, 2022 3:19 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by philipy » Sat Jun 12, 2021 1:12 pm

NINETY???????? :shock: :shock:
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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by Peter Butler » Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:37 pm

philipy wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 1:12 pm NINETY???????? :shock: :shock:
Yes, that's what I thought! I have managed up to four similar stock items but hesitate to go further.
The best things in life are free.... so why am I doing this?

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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by Andrew » Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:50 pm

Five slate wagons of the same type was enough for me, but I'm VERY impressed! You're really not doing things by halves...

The text file to record progress/learning is a good idea - I'm forever picking up projects I put down a few months earlier only to find I can't remember my own cunning plans...

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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by GTB » Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:53 am

Old Man Aaron wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:59 am I've decided on four batches of thirty trucks, to be built over the next two years. This first batch will actually be fourty trucks, as I'll need another four for the navvies to use, and six damaged trucks out-of-service, to be strewn about the future mill yard and lineside.
Well done, worth an 'Attaboy' at the very least.

Someone from up your way was at a GSSU here in Melbourne a while back with a decent length train of cane trucks, which was loaded with chopped up millet straw from straw brooms. Thirty loaded trucks will make an impressive load behind one of your Fowlers.
Old Man Aaron wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:59 am 07/05/2021
Unlike the last trucks which were made of expensive pre-milled balsa, I'm ripping down Tasmanian oak boards. This way, the timber in each truck is only about a dollar. Used a 7¼ table saw to rip the 12mm thick boards down into strips, small enough for my 2" Proxxon clone to digest. That saw really isn't up to cutting oak, either. For future batches, I'll have to quite screwing about, cough up some serious money for a larger, actual Proxxon saw or something, and be done with it.
Interesting, you are using Victorian/Tasmanian native hardwood for Qld. cane trucks and I use Qld. grown native pine for Vic. timber trucks....

I used some mountain ash off-cuts for something a while back and a few cuts blunted the carbon steel saw blade on my little Proxxon K230 bench saw. Ever since then I've used clear pine for rolling stock, ripped down in the bandsaw, before final sizing on the Proxxon and a lot of it was Qld hoop pine. Getting hard to get now, but it was nice wood to work with and gave off a nice vanilla smell when cut/sanded. Less impressed with the stuff the Kiwis now send us which is all I can find locally.

I can't get a suitable carbide tipped saw blade for the little Proxxon and native hardwoods like mountain ash/Tassie Oak (it's the same tree) will dull a carbon steel blade very quickly. To use hardwood, assuming I could find some, would mean I'd have to cut small sections on the Triton saw bench, which is a bit too exciting for this little black duck....

Regards,
Graeme

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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by Old Man Aaron » Mon Jul 12, 2021 11:12 am

Thanks again, fellas. Having collectively seen your work, that's some high praise. :salute:
Andrew wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:50 pm Five slate wagons of the same type was enough for me, but I'm VERY impressed! You're really not doing things by halves...

The text file to record progress/learning is a good idea - I'm forever picking up projects I put down a few months earlier only to find I can't remember my own cunning plans...
Aye, my memory's not what it used to be. Every major project (even some minor ones) has a .txt file, or at least some scribbled-on sticky notes in the project's storage box. Sticky notes are a lifesaver.
GTB wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 1:53 am Someone from up your way was at a GSSU here in Melbourne a while back with a decent length train of cane trucks, which was loaded with chopped up millet straw from straw brooms.

I used some mountain ash off-cuts for something a while back and a few cuts blunted the carbon steel saw blade on my little Proxxon K230 bench saw.

Less impressed with the stuff the Kiwis now send us which is all I can find locally.
Seeing that rake was an influence in deciding to build more trucks of my own. There's several very good rakes owned by some of the Zillmere club members. Well, that explains why the replacement blade I fitted lasted only minutes before starting to dull. Good to know; will have to keep carbide blades in mind when shopping for a better saw.. That Kiwi pine, I presume is that soft, rarely-straight, dressed-all-round stuff at Bunnings? If that's the case, I don't like it, either.

18/06/21
Cassettes were assembled with panel pins and PVA. Sides are 3mm ply, tops and bottoms are 7mm. Adhesive-backed felt/velvet provides some protection for rollingstock, though it's the extremely close clearances that will keep the trucks from moving about too much. Needless to say, this "traveling rake" will remain unloaded. Rails are the usual coffee stirrers, and M3 screws are fitted at the front end, to accept the railing ramp.
Image

20/06/21
Each of the stanchion brackets were cut and bent by hand over a few evenings. Stripping the original paint thinner tin's printed finish prior to painting however, took just as long. Ended up leaving the formed parts in a jar of caustic soda, which was set in the ultrasonic cleaner for a few hours.
Drilling locations were then marked and drilled to 0.8mm for the dressmaker pin "coach bolts". The buffer plates had to be annealed before they could be bent to fit around the buffer blocks.
By 05/07/21, the parts were ready to fit. I ended up cutting out the blanks for the other 90 trucks' metalwork, but will leave forming etc. for when I actually get to building those batches..
IMG_8832-37.jpg
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When ordering the running gear from Binnie, I forgot to account for the navvies' and damaged trucks - leaving seven frames stuck waiting at the wheel-fitting stage. I've ordered the needed running gear, along with enough for the subsequent batches in one go, to save on shipping.
All of the planks have now been stained, and the axleboxes have been drilled and reinforced with pins.
The whitemetal ratchet-and-pawl castings for the winches are also on order, from Ozark Miniatures. Shipping for that lot was nearly equal to the order itself.
Image

07/07/21
The cassettes and carry case are done. Was going to stain them, but cheaped out and used some kero & linseed oil already on hand. Not the best job, but for my first (and hopefully last) plywood box, this'll do just fine. Each cassette holds five trucks.
Like the trucks themselves, this lot was deceptively time-consuming. The empty cassettes and case come to 5kg. I would've preferred to have used thinner than 7mm ply for the cassette tops/bottoms, but the panel pins would never have gone in straight enough for material that thin.
On the other hand, I've started looking for my first car, so lugging stock around in a wheely bag on public transport, hopefully won't be a factor for much longer..
IMG_8840-42.jpg
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Stanchions were fitted with PVA, and clipped in place whilst they dry. Some were fitted upright, but most were made deliberately crooked, as cane truck stanchions never stayed perfectly upright for long.
Image
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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by Old Man Aaron » Mon Jul 12, 2021 12:24 pm

09/07/21
Can't rely on glue alone to hold the stanchions, which were drilled 0.8mm and halfway into the solebars, for headless scraps of dressmakers' pins to be glued in flush with the surface. The stanchion brackets were then fitted over them with shockproof superglue, and the locations for drilling more dressmaker pin "coach bolt" holes, eyeballed and indented on the outer sides of the frames for drilling. Not perfect, but close enough.
IMG_8845-48.jpg
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The pins fitted through the brackets had their heads painted along with the other metalwork before fitting - much easier and neater than fitting them unpainted and having to brush paint them in-situ during final touch-up. Yeah, they lose a little paint here and there during fitting, and need touching up either way, but this way it's far less touch-up to do, over-all.
Image

12/07/21
With 26 of the batch finally looking like cane trucks, I couldn't resist a mock-up train.
IMG_8854-57.jpg
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With the trucks assembled to the stage that they can be safely stored in their new box, I'd like to take a break from this project and catch up on something else. However, virtually all the stanchions are just barely too tall to run in and out of the cassettes without rubbing the ceilings of each. A couple hours of careful shortening and re-distressing the ends this afternoon, had it sorted. Tomorrow, I'll re-stain the shortened ends, and get these things put away for a few months. But not too long, this rake's gotta be done by year's end..

Cheers,
Aaron
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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by philipy » Mon Jul 12, 2021 12:39 pm

:salute: Cor blimey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by ge_rik » Mon Jul 12, 2021 1:08 pm

philipy wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 12:39 pm :salute: Cor blimey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Similarly, Strewth!! :shock:
That's gonna be one heckuva train when they're all finished :? ;)

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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by GTB » Mon Jul 12, 2021 2:20 pm

Old Man Aaron wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 12:24 pm With 26 of the batch finally looking like cane trucks, I couldn't resist a mock-up train.
Now that's what a cane tram looks like.........

Definitely worth an 'attaboy' young sir. :salute:

Regards,
Graeme

Ps. How did you manage to get detail parts from Ozark? Last time I tried, the website refused to accept an overseas order.

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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by ge_rik » Mon Jul 12, 2021 4:52 pm

Excuse my ignorance, but what is "shockproof" Superglue? Does it remain flexible, unlike normal superglues which tend to be brittle when set?

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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by Andrew » Mon Jul 12, 2021 5:19 pm

Brilliant! The wagons, the storage box, your patience, all of it!

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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by Old Man Aaron » Tue Jul 13, 2021 2:35 am

Thanks again, looking forward to having them done. Sometimes, there's a simple pleasure to repetitive batch-work. Other times, it's just tedious.
I'm just hoping my RH Fowler can move all 30; maybe I should fit ball bearings to it's tender to give it a better chance, that thing's heavy.. :scratch:

Re: Ozark, that is a pain. When did you last attempt to order from them? My current order was placed 25th of June, according to the invoice. Another order some months before, was also without issue. Might be worth trying again? I had similar issues ordering some used points from GRS some weeks ago, ended up transferring the money to a relative's Visa card and paying with that one.

The "Shockproof" superglue isn't quite shockproof, or flexible, but it is noticeably stronger and less brittle than standard cyano. It's also good for high-temperatures, and it's much thicker than the usual stuff. I get mine at the evil green shed; use it for all sorts of things, and keep it in the fridge.
Noticed it's also on Evilbay and other suppliers: https://www.ebay.com.au/p/14028052017
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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by philipy » Tue Jul 13, 2021 6:34 am

Thaks Aaron. That particular brand seems to be an Aussie special, it is listed on Ebay UK, but all the suppliers ship from Oz at about £17!
I've done a quick scout around and this Loctite product appears to be about the same - says it contains rubber and is slightly flexible.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Loctite-Powerf ... 5575&psc=1

Dunno if there are any other brands but probably are.
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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by ge_rik » Tue Jul 13, 2021 6:58 am

philipy wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 6:34 am Thaks Aaron. That particular brand seems to be an Aussie special, it is listed on Ebay UK, but all the suppliers ship from Oz at about £17!
I've done a quick scout around and this Loctite product appears to be about the same - says it contains rubber and is slightly flexible.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Loctite-Powerf ... 5575&psc=1

Dunno if there are any other brands but probably are.
Good find, Philip. Looks like the Australian versions also contain rubber, so presumably this is the same product. I suppose it's a bit like the difference between PVA and SBR.

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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by Lonsdaler » Thu Jul 15, 2021 9:02 pm

Aaron,
The work you're doing is simply brilliant. Like many others, I've limited myself on batch building to single figures, but that's mostly kits of the Binnie/Phil Sharples variety. Doing the same scratch built in such quantity is either disciplined or masochism :lol:
I can't understand why you think the Inspector wouldn't have much to inspect on your railway. He's finally arrived at Mitch's - I'm sure he could squeeze in a quick visit whilst down under!
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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by Old Man Aaron » Wed Oct 20, 2021 4:22 am

16/10/21
After a break to focus on other projects, the seven trucks that were waiting for wheels have now been caught up with the rest of the batch.
Slowly working through fitting the planks, though I've only enough bar clamps to do five trucks at a time. Using PVA, tacking with superglue where it won't be seen.
Image

After allowing to dry at least 6 hours, the "coach bolt" locations are indented with a scribe, to allow an 0.8mm drill in the dremel, to locate quickly and accurately each time. Each truck needs 22 dressmaker's pins to complete from here, which get pre-cut to two lengths so they're ready for insertion. A tiny smear of shockproof superglue ensures they'll stay put. Approx. 950 pins were inserted through masking tape, into a sheet of styrofoam, for painting the heads. That will cover the planks, load winches and buffer plates for this batch.
A little paint is lost from the heads when gripping in pliers, but it's still easier to pre-paint and touch them up later, rather than fully priming and painting them in place.
Image

I've finally sat down and worked out what I'm doing for couplings, and how the load winches will go together. Parts for those are now on hand, I might make a start on them once the planks are all fitted..
Last edited by Old Man Aaron on Thu Feb 24, 2022 6:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by Old Man Aaron » Tue Nov 16, 2021 1:22 am

31/10/21
After a lot of thought, I realised the winches would have to be individually fabricated, which thankfully turned out to be less painful than expected. Finding the crucial component - the ratchet-and-pawl, was the hardest part. Ended up using these whitemetal castings from Ozark.

The first casting was bent by eye, to make a mounting bracket out of it. I decided I was happy with that one, and put a piece of masking tape on the pliers, as a positioning guide so I know how wide to make the bent bit at the bottom. Before bending them all however, the lower-most cast bolt detail had to be cut off and drilled 0.8mm for pinning to the wagon chassis - see left-to-right for progression of the castings.

Unsurprisingly couldn't find any suitable winch drums (capstans?), and was seriously looking at machining all 130 of them from aluminium or nylon. But I came to my senses, sparing my remaining sanity and elderly lathe, deciding to just fabricate them over a few evenings. 5mm styrene tube, cut with a razor saw and a simple jig of wood scraps. The washers were aligned by eye, glued with the shockproof cyano.
IMG_9175-76.jpg
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03/11/21
For the other side's bracket, I bought some styrene strip just for this - but realised it looked awful once assembled. So some scrap 0.5mm aluminium was cut, drilled and bent, to better represent something forged by the hundreds in a sugar mill's smithy. 1.6mm styrene rod was used as "spindles".
As all the whitetal brackets were hand-bent, I knew there would be some variation in height of the winches, so the spindle holes in the opposing brackets had to be drilled after assembly, to ensure they'd be roughly center-aligned to the winch drums.
IMG_9176-77.jpg
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08/11/21
The couplings are the usual cut-down screw eyes, heated to red and quenched in used engine oil to blacken. Links of steel clock chain were used between closed eyes for the permanently-coupled trucks. After degreasing, they were pushed into the foam sheet as the sewing pins were, for painting. I know half the paint will wear off in fitting and use, but with the blackened underlying metal, I'm happy with that.
Image


09/11/21
As trucks were often loaded in the fields at late/early hours, some mills painted the ends of their headstocks white, to make them more visible to tractor drivers and road traffic alike. After a number of failed attempts at achieving an acceptable peeling paint effect, I found simply dabbing a torn piece of makeup sponge onto the headstocks, gave a perfect appearance of grubby/worn paint. The failed attempts were just painted over with a brush, to represent new/repaired trucks.
Image
IMG_9183-85.jpg
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11/11/21
Finally starting to get there.
Image


15/11/21
The winches and buffer plates were drilled after fitting with contact cement, tacked with superglue. I realised the permanently-linked eye hooks wouldn't be able to screw in with both wagons attached together, so they were separated for now. I'll re-couple them after numbering the headstocks and airbrush weathering. These winches aren't perfect by any means, but they're close enough. Every mill's trucks were different, but the winches always had the drum, ratchet and "spindle" (just nubs) cast as one piece. These were bought-in like the wheelsets and axleboxes, with the brackets made locally/onsite, along with the rest of the truck.
IMG_9198-9201.jpg
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Still a good dozen or so hours of work left, but relatively little to go..
Last edited by Old Man Aaron on Wed Nov 17, 2021 2:30 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by philipy » Tue Nov 16, 2021 7:04 am

I flicked through the pictures before going back to actually read the words and I was in complete awe about how you'd scratch-built the rachet and pawl units, and that was going to be my first question! Nevertheless those trucks are simply works of art, not just models, and they keep getting better and better. Absolutely phenominal,
Philip

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Re: New Wholestick Cane Trucks

Post by ge_rik » Tue Nov 16, 2021 8:58 am

Jawdroppingly brilliant! The detail you've included in those winches is really impressive, especially as each of them has been scratchbuilt from oddments. And the rust effect really finishes them off!

Wonderful!

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