I have a blower edition and a frenzel supercharger setup in the works. I also make lake style headers.
Gang, Anyone ready for another one of my 1/8th train projects? Here are some mock up shots of my latest gizmo, designated A-5, which is based on a 1/20th scale rail truck chassis that I ran thru my band saw the long ways to get it as slim as possible (just keeping the front truck / crossmember, electric motor, drive shaft and diff / rear wheels). On that I'll add some custom decking that will fit between the Lindberg T bucket's frame to tie the chassis and T kit together. Sad to say there won't be room under the hood for a scale engine, as I'll have to mount the sound board and the RX board for remote control there, on stand-offs that will place them over the electric motor. A 4-cell, 2200 mah battery pack and some control switches will go in the bed, between the roll bar down tubes. Speaker under the decking. I plan on having one crewman and a lot of lights, tools and junk here and there. Not sure on the paint and weathering. I might go with basic Ford black and some mild weathering, or perhaps a brighter color and a heavier dose of rust n dust. For comic relief, I plan on putting an HO scale loco smoke generator where the radiator's filler neck would be located (the cap hanging loosely on a little chain) so I can have it "overheat" on demand now and then. The bed will have 3 versions: the OEM flat toneau cover, a false load insert with tools and supplies, and an alternate insert with a small tank with extending sprayer arms for weed control. I really want to keep the T's tall top, but it is very spindly and won't hold up to the physical handling model trains get. So, I might try making the top bows out of brass rod to make a lot stronger. It may pull a small trailer now and then.
You know I looked at the beginnings of the T-Bucket build and thought COOL....but thought that was a odd place to mock it up , on railroad tracks? But hey what ever...then read on and gathered that you were putting together a model T-Bucket for railroad use....ok odd but hey they used them for alot of other things but I had never seen one for the rails, so I went online to see what I could find.....here's a few I spotted. Better yet I have been wondering what to do with a 1916 model T touring car that I acquired....and just down the hill maybe quarter mile from my house are railroad tracks.....well I think I got an idea?
Railcars and trucks have been around for a long time and as a model railroader over the years I've gained a special attachment to them, especially the funky versions. Not unlike hot rods, early railcars were shop-built from donor cars and junk RR parts. But I'd caution you about building a real one as there aren't many places to run them. My model is extremely whimsical because of how low it is and that the track gauge is very narrow. 56-1/2" track is standard gauge. 36" is a common narrow gauge. Most of the old railcars are built to either one of those gauges. My model's gauge in scale is only 14" so it is, more or less, a cartoon caricature of a real one. Over they years these gizmos were replaced by custom manufactured vehicles, the bigger ones based on commercial trucks that also retain road wheels / tires for motive power and so they can be driven on / off the rails where needed. Smaller crew car speeders, or "pop" cars, are still in use at some places. There are quite a few people who run their restored speeders on track reserved for club operations and you should have no trouble finding a club in your region, or of one of the National organizations for them on the web. I've seen some new builds based on old Ford parts, too, but they aren't as popular as acquiring and rebuilding original pop cars. I went on a weekend excursion with a friend on his speeder a few years ago. It was fun, but they are pretty slow. But the scenery in NE Georgia was wonderful. He normally runs his with a buddy who has a good tow vehicle and trailer and they have to be manhandled on / off the tracks. Some of the early T railcars could also be used on the street for very short distances (perhaps to get out of the way of an oncoming train?), while still using RR wheels, if they had a locking pin assembly on the tie rod, so the steering could be unlocked for short road work. Many of the early vehicles used for rail cars had engine controls on the steering wheel, so it was usually retained - otherwise you'd have no need for the column or steering wheel while riding the rails.
I actually do have other plans for my model-T ,but some ideas did go through my brain. We always called the little work cars "Putt Putts" in fact the railroad tracks I mentioned many years ago I would walk the tracks with my grandfather to one of our fishing spots, the tracks run along the Columbia river that separates Oregon and Washington...I'm on the Oregon side....and there was a shed next to the tracks that had one of these old cars parked inside, it was in there for many years untouched then the building started to fall down and it went away. My grandfather told me the story of how the old hand pump car that was parked in the shed years before the motorized version replaced it had a part in the birth of my father....what.... My grandparents never owned a car so when my grandmother was getting ready to give birth to my father my grandfather took her down to the little shed next to the tracks pulled the pump car out onto the tracks ...loaded my grandmother on board and pumped that car to the next town ,about 8miles,where a motor car was waiting and took them across the bridge into Washington and the Hospital ...and my father was born January 27 1940. Sorry to ramble just thought it was a cool story.
Here's a couple of my builds. Both kits need a fair bit of restoration now. They have travelled to many model and car shows over the years and are showing their age. I've also just placed my first order with @BIG-JIM for a five window coupe body and a few other parts. Once that lot gets here I'll have a difficult decision to make, what kind of build will I do? These two both push all the right buttons for me. The trouble is, so do about a hundred others! Whatever direction I take, the results will get added here. Tony.
I made my Mysterion build presentation at the GSL in May and the video is posted at Mark Gustavson's Model Car Builder's Museum web site soon. Here is the video https://archive.org/details/gsl-xxv...g-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-mysterion For Jollies I entered the car in the contest and it won second place, Reproduction category. First place in the category went to Randy Duer's insane 1/12 scale Corvette road racer. Not only did it win the Best in Category, it won Modeler's Choice, Best Detail, Dave Shuklis Best Engineering, and for good measure, Best in Show awards!
The Jalopy Journal
