WM183
Western Thunderer
Hi folks.
Well, I've settled in here, had a good look around, and I rather like it. I think it's time I tried to contribute, and to that end, welcome to my workbench thread. This is a great format for me, as I tend to wibble and wobble from project to project. I am a builder first, and an operator a distant second. For me, the research that goes into building a model, and then solving the actual construction puzzles the build presents, are nectar and ambrosia. Whether I am building a US or British model, however, I always start the same way: with researching the prototype. For reasons of economy and simple enjoyment, scratchbuilding, err... scratches my itch. Ahem.
For British prototype modelers this is (usually) straightforward. We are spoiled with a library of amazing reference material for virtually all goods stock, and for most passenger stock and locomotives. LMS and Midland modelers in particular could scarcely ask for more, so great is the library of reference at our disposal! Things are only slightly behind for the GWR, and further behind yet for the LNER, SR, and many pre-grouping companies. However...
If you model American stock, you're in for a ride. Aside from a very few roads that have a solid library behind them - Southern Pacific and the other Harriman lines, and Chesapeake & Ohio chief among them - you're gonna have to do some digging. Even large roads like New York Central or Pennsylvania have very little ready printed reference of actual use to the scratchbuilder. Much of what does exist are diagram books that have collections of long, skinny equipment diagrams that are nearly but not completely useless for our purposes. They often come in little paperback books, sold at train shows and through historical societies, and are full of images that look like this:
This does give us some useful information; many exterior measurements and some data about the engine are provided. If you're modeling something very obscure, this may be all that you get. You can build a model with nothing more than this and a few good photographs of your subject. However, you can also dig a well with a teaspoon; possible doesn't mean efficient. You'll have to fill in a lot of the blanks on your own. The fortunate bit is, if your subject is this obscure, and no other printed material about it exists... who's going to say you're wrong?
Next up we have elevation drawings. These can often be found in better books on the topic at hand, or by searching through internet archives like Hathi Trust for old railroad and engineering journals. These old journals are your BEST source for this sort of model-making, particularly if you model things that are over 100 years old... why 100 years, Amanda? Because that is when printed material goes firmly into the realm of free use. Elevation drawings often include sections and a nice side view of the subject, and look like this:
They contain only a bit more dimensional information than the equipment diagram above, but they're clearer and show more of it. For most of us, this is as good as it gets. You can work from this; by combining the above 2 types of drawings, good photos, and a bit of experience, you can do it. You may also be able to find drawings like this for a locomotive similar to, but not identical to, whatever you're building; in the early 1900s for example ALCO built literally thousands of heavy 2-8-0 engines. If you model say the Big Four, and cannot find a drawing for one of their engines, but can find another one made for say, Illinois Central, you can usually make the assumption the two will only really differ much in a few cosmetic areas...
...unless you model the Pennsylvania. Ahem.
Lastly are real honest to goodness engineering drawings. These are drawn to feature in technical journals, as well as to show the final draughting department how to create the prints that will be use by shop workers to build the system or part. They are usually full of dimensional information and are extremely accurate; I would not scale off the previous drawings unless I absolutely had no choice. I'd scale off one of these if a dimension wasn't marked - which is pretty rare. These are usually for individual systems or parts, like this frame and saddle drawing for the Pennsylvania H6b shown above. (Yeah, the frame drawing is for an H6... we know the dimensional differences that matter. The frames are the same.)
These are bread and butter. If you can find these - and you probably can find SOME - you're golden. You can, and absolutely should, build from these. These also can be found for British prototypes, namely in more technical books on subjects a few people devoted most of their lives to. We're in their debt.
Of course, we have to make the above drawings into something that makes sense to us, right? Something we can cut out of metal or styrene or card? Stay tuned for part 2, when we will convert the frame drawing to a scale drawing, and then to some actual metal to cut.
Note that the frame and saddle GA was too big for me to attach, hence why it's linked from Imgur. Do note I have converted most of these to PNG and reduced their size so they will fit. As obtained from online sources - chiefly Hathi Trust - the images are quite big, and plenty clear to read all data and dimensions.
Well, I've settled in here, had a good look around, and I rather like it. I think it's time I tried to contribute, and to that end, welcome to my workbench thread. This is a great format for me, as I tend to wibble and wobble from project to project. I am a builder first, and an operator a distant second. For me, the research that goes into building a model, and then solving the actual construction puzzles the build presents, are nectar and ambrosia. Whether I am building a US or British model, however, I always start the same way: with researching the prototype. For reasons of economy and simple enjoyment, scratchbuilding, err... scratches my itch. Ahem.
For British prototype modelers this is (usually) straightforward. We are spoiled with a library of amazing reference material for virtually all goods stock, and for most passenger stock and locomotives. LMS and Midland modelers in particular could scarcely ask for more, so great is the library of reference at our disposal! Things are only slightly behind for the GWR, and further behind yet for the LNER, SR, and many pre-grouping companies. However...
If you model American stock, you're in for a ride. Aside from a very few roads that have a solid library behind them - Southern Pacific and the other Harriman lines, and Chesapeake & Ohio chief among them - you're gonna have to do some digging. Even large roads like New York Central or Pennsylvania have very little ready printed reference of actual use to the scratchbuilder. Much of what does exist are diagram books that have collections of long, skinny equipment diagrams that are nearly but not completely useless for our purposes. They often come in little paperback books, sold at train shows and through historical societies, and are full of images that look like this:
This does give us some useful information; many exterior measurements and some data about the engine are provided. If you're modeling something very obscure, this may be all that you get. You can build a model with nothing more than this and a few good photographs of your subject. However, you can also dig a well with a teaspoon; possible doesn't mean efficient. You'll have to fill in a lot of the blanks on your own. The fortunate bit is, if your subject is this obscure, and no other printed material about it exists... who's going to say you're wrong?
Next up we have elevation drawings. These can often be found in better books on the topic at hand, or by searching through internet archives like Hathi Trust for old railroad and engineering journals. These old journals are your BEST source for this sort of model-making, particularly if you model things that are over 100 years old... why 100 years, Amanda? Because that is when printed material goes firmly into the realm of free use. Elevation drawings often include sections and a nice side view of the subject, and look like this:
They contain only a bit more dimensional information than the equipment diagram above, but they're clearer and show more of it. For most of us, this is as good as it gets. You can work from this; by combining the above 2 types of drawings, good photos, and a bit of experience, you can do it. You may also be able to find drawings like this for a locomotive similar to, but not identical to, whatever you're building; in the early 1900s for example ALCO built literally thousands of heavy 2-8-0 engines. If you model say the Big Four, and cannot find a drawing for one of their engines, but can find another one made for say, Illinois Central, you can usually make the assumption the two will only really differ much in a few cosmetic areas...
...unless you model the Pennsylvania. Ahem.
Lastly are real honest to goodness engineering drawings. These are drawn to feature in technical journals, as well as to show the final draughting department how to create the prints that will be use by shop workers to build the system or part. They are usually full of dimensional information and are extremely accurate; I would not scale off the previous drawings unless I absolutely had no choice. I'd scale off one of these if a dimension wasn't marked - which is pretty rare. These are usually for individual systems or parts, like this frame and saddle drawing for the Pennsylvania H6b shown above. (Yeah, the frame drawing is for an H6... we know the dimensional differences that matter. The frames are the same.)
These are bread and butter. If you can find these - and you probably can find SOME - you're golden. You can, and absolutely should, build from these. These also can be found for British prototypes, namely in more technical books on subjects a few people devoted most of their lives to. We're in their debt.
Of course, we have to make the above drawings into something that makes sense to us, right? Something we can cut out of metal or styrene or card? Stay tuned for part 2, when we will convert the frame drawing to a scale drawing, and then to some actual metal to cut.
Note that the frame and saddle GA was too big for me to attach, hence why it's linked from Imgur. Do note I have converted most of these to PNG and reduced their size so they will fit. As obtained from online sources - chiefly Hathi Trust - the images are quite big, and plenty clear to read all data and dimensions.
Attachments
Last edited:
