A Rakes Progress

[Granitechops]

Ok, kit of parts made up

long flat bars 12 x 2 mm are the MOUNTING BARS, the two 4mm holes close together are for mounting under the bogie with no lateral give , so that wagons can be pushed with NO zig zag that could cause derailments

The hollow square sections are the POCKETS to hold the links, so that they can SLIDE
the 45degree cut away allows the face plates to meet without the links getting trapped between the faces

The short bits of angle are mounted above the pockets for a BUFFING surface when pushing wagons

The 3 loop links are designed so as to allow wagons to swivel vertically in relation to each other, & without applying any forces that would cause derailment

while BOTH pushing or while pulling

 

[Granitechops]

Right off to paint the second tanker in primer

same but different :wave:

 

[steinz]

Dry january day, so out testing the rake

Brilliant - thanks for sharing on the forum !!

 

[Granitechops]

Cheers Simon

this second tank is to have an enclosed skirt

 

[Granitechops]

Basically used the same saddle bolted to the tank,

with 2 pieces of strip glued & pinned to them, & bridged with a reinforcing strip of ply in side

 

[Granitechops]

Looking like this from the outside

dont like the "two plank" look, but did not think that plywood alone ( 3mm) would be strong enough

So going to overlay this with the ply after

 

[Granitechops]

Added the the saddle for the top

 

[Granitechops]

Bogies, minus couplings on the works siding

 

[Granitechops]

Add couplings to bogies

add end caps

 

[Granitechops]

Running out of end caps

(there are only 6 coasters in a set!!! )

so thought I would use one of these

I believe it is the top of a Betterware microwave container for baked potatoes!! Edit, no it was baked Apple

used in the spirit of advertising, like the outspan car, the beer barrel buffet coach, etc

as its biodiesel being carried, the leaf will be painted green

 

[Granitechops]

Back to the couplings, not very good pics , see if I can get better ones later

3 links partially extended

The long links generally stay parrallel to wagon floor

but the middle short link, allows much twist without any torque being transferred to the next wagon

 

[Granitechops]

Couplings closed up as in pushing wagons

as you can see even with only one link pocket having the angled cut away, there is room for the middle link to drop clear of the buffer faces

 

[Granitechops]

Added ply to loose that "planked" look

and painted in primer

 

[Granitechops]

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[<font]

 

[Granitechops]

[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[<font]

OK

lets try this one again

So the next tank, ran out of coasters for ends, the lh end is the baked apple container TOP, bit of a job to fix, as I had to file out the inside of the pipe to get to go in, but kept popping out again, in the end I had to cut some slots in the inside lip of the lid to reduce that tendancy, glue it in place, & to ensure it stayed in situ, drilled .6mm pilot holes & fixed it in a couple of places with dressmaking pins

The other end using the apple base was slightly easier as I had left the original chamfered end on the pipe, so glued, drilled, pinned in place

Top saddle in place, & side skirts again

 

[Granitechops]

So, a few tanks in the pipeline.

 

[Granitechops]

You may notice a fourth tank on the right of that pic above,

it has NO ENDS

I was not going to do Baked apple rigmarole again, so decided to go utility ends,

basically flat, MDF, cut to shape ( oversize) drilled & fitted with 2 legnths of 4mm screwed rod rthat were to hand

 

[Granitechops]

So other end drilled & rods screwed up after gluing ends in place,

& ensuring solid fixing with end also pinned to wood saddle & side skirts

When glue dry, ends finished down to size, & tank primed

 

[Granitechops]

Tank 2, with top hatch in place

& painted this am, paint not fully dry yet, must be the cold

 

[Granitechops]

Tank 3, still needs top hatch,