Good afternoon:
John sent me an e-mail asking me what I thought of the street sweepers. Since
then I have been carrying one of them with me and looking. I ended up with
this
review.
The basis of the street sweeper kit is two primed epoxy castings. The first is
the cab with roof. The second is an accurate reproduction of the scale frame.
The underside has the correct ribs.
The castings are highly detailed, accurate, and crisp. I have checked them
against the plans and my research materials.
A length of extremely stiff bottle brush material is included. It is 1/2 inch
diameter or 2'8" which is quite accurate. The real brushes were rattan and
wore
down with use.
A poly bag contains a length of silver chain and a piece of silver wire. Both
are used with the side plow wings.
A second, long poly bag contains two sheets of clear plastic with paper cover
sheets for windows. It also contains a folded piece of extremely thin white
plastic. (Think of a thick plastic sack from the grocery store.) This may be
used as a splash guard behind the brushes.
A third, long poly bag contains lengths of brass wire in two diameters. Some
of
these are pre-bend handrails and others are steps. Longer pieces will be used
as side plow supports, trolley hook hold-downs, and other accessories.
The fourth and last poly bag contains the two pieces of styrene to become the
side plows. There are four pedestals for each end of the two axles
and four broom supports which hold the brooms in cast epoxy. Two boards of
styrene is provided for the roof walk. A wide styrene board to become broom
supports finishes the bag.
15 pages of prototype information and instructions are provided, plus a sheet
with four colour photographs of Iowa Terminal #3, the prototype for this kit.
She is currently at the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Rockhill, PA. (Not Blowing
Rock)
I have not started construction on my pair. I have spent a week studying the
kit and the instructions. Here is my current list of parts that were not
included and their sources.
1. 1 Trolley pole William Flatt's TP-44; 4 horizontal springs
2. 1 Trolley base William Flatt's TB-1 rectangular base
3. 2 Gongs Shape styrene into 12" round gong, 4" thick
4. 2 Headlights KND 02-147 Interurban headlights
5. 1 Trolley retriever: William Flatt's TR-1 (optional)
6. 2 33" Northwest Shortline NASG 100 tread, blunt axle wheelsets
7. 1 Black Beetle power truck; 6'6" wheelbase
8. 2 Decals: home made ITR emblem in Iowa outline
9. 1 Set of decals: 3, IOWA TERMINAL RAILROAD
10. 7 Paints: Reefer White as primer; Bight Silver; Milwaukee Orange; RI
Maroon; Engine Black; Bright Red for gong interiors. All paints are Polly-S by
Testors. Other colours as needed.
I do not plan to power my street sweepers. If mine were powered, I would
require that the brushes rotate. That will necessitate replacing the epoxy
brush hangers with scratch built hangers from brass, adding working chain drive
with gears, cutting slots into the floor for the chain to reach the drive motor
with gears. These slots will probably weaken the floor to the point that I
need
to make a new floor out of brass. Control of the brush motor is another issue.
Second, the prototype has four wheels. Four wheel models work well only if the
track and wheels are very, very clean or the model weighs two pounds or more.
Two pounds is enough weight to crush through the rail dust and dirt. My model,
when finished, will weigh between three and five ounces.
Third and last, the Black Beetle is about $100.00 and the DCC decoder is about
$30.00.
Construction looks straightforward. The plans look well laid out. The
instructions say to use Alpha Cyandacrylate glue, also known as super glue or
crazy glue. This is a fine glue, but brittle. For high strength joints I will
use two-part epoxy. For joints where a tiny bit of flexibility is desired, I
use Walther's Goo. Other glues are used as needed.
Step 2 includes adding the Gong. If you use two, they should be flush with the
roof. If you use on as on ITR 3, the gong is vertical. I will create my own
gong from materials unknown. The exterior and supports will be silver. If the
gong is brass, the exterior might remain unpainted; coated with Dullcote. The
interior will be painted bright red. Why? I paint the interiors of my gongs
and bells bright red; prototypical or not.
Step 3 hints at adding the trolley pole. I will add a brass sleeve for the
pole's base. The pole is removable. The wire for headlight power is attached
to the brass sleeve. Please note ITR #3 does not have a trolley retriever.
Painting will be done after the first half of Step 11. By now the cab is done,
much of the frame is complete, and the wing plows have been created but not
mounted. I always prime everything with white. I will prime every piece I can
for the entire model. Then spray orange. Mask and spray silver for the roof.
Spray silver onto all sides of the pedestals, frame, and broom supports. The
window frames are hand painted in maroon. The gong interiors are painted
bright
red. All of the areas to receive decals first receive a layer of Future floor
polish which is really clear acrylic paint. This makes a perfectly smooth
surface for the decals. After I have applied all of the decals and painted as
much as I can, I lock down the paint and decals with a coat of Dullcote.
Windows, headlight LEDs, and electronics are now added. Headlight lenses are
clear plastic. For the windows I might use the included clear plastic.
Because
there isn't an interior, I might choose to use exposed X-Ray film. (This film
is created testing the machine. They can tell if the machine is ready based on
how cloudy is the film. After that these large pieces of blue, clear plastic
are trash.) For really dark windows I use two layers.
There is still some minor painting after the first half of Step 11. This is
done with a brush with the colour bright silver.
A step is missing between #12 and #13. #12 finishes the frame and underbody.
#13 finishes the model by adding the wing plow chains. Mounting the cab to the
frame has been omitted. I will be adding four flanges to the bottom of the cab
and four holes in the frame. Screws will be used to attach the pair. This
will
allow me access to the interior in the future should I chose to power the unit.
Step 13 has the mounting of the wing plow chains. The instructions state the
top of the chain must be removable; this is required if you wish to separate
the
cab from the frame.
I plan to power the headlights with warm white LEDs. These LEDs will be lit
whenever the model is on powered track and/or trolley.
(The electrical diagram below should be viewed in either plain text or Courier
New.)
trolley --|>|--+ +--|>|-- trolley
| |
right rail --|>|--+--/\/\/\---|>|--|>|---+--|>|-- right rail
| Headlights |
left rail --|>|--+ +--|>|-- left rail
1N4000 2K LEDS 1N4000
Those who study this circuit will realize I have created a six leg bridge
rectifier with a load of a resistor and two headlight LEDs. (Warning: the
final
resistor value is always determined by experimentation.) The headlight bulbs
will be warm white, 806 surface mount LEDs. These are quite tiny. I use 32
gauge wire.
Later, if I chose to power the model, this circuit will be replaced by the
headlight outputs of a DCC decoder.
Thorin
________________________________________________________________________
1a. Re: McGuire-Cummings Long Broom Snow Sweeper Cars in S
Posted by: "William Flatt" [email protected] w_flatt
Date: Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:40 am ((PDT))
Hello, Thorin:
Just returned from Florida. Where is Blowing Rock, PA?
Will continue assy on the NST/Hydro/WCFN steeple cab.
Regards, William.
PS: I will be attending the Philly trolley meet next month.
----- Original Message -----
From: Thorin Marty
To: [email protected] ; [email protected]
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2013 5:32 PM
Subject: [S_Scale_Traction] McGuire-Cummings Long Broom Snow Sweeper Cars in S
Good afternoon:
I am pleased to announce the arrival of McGuire-Cummings Long Broom Snow
Sweeper Cars in S Scale. These kits feature a one piece Resin Body,
floor & Plows; less poles, trucks, or power unit. I have two on order.
One will become Mason City and Clear Lake 102 and the other will become Iowa
Terminal 3; different eras, same prototype. The prototype is alive and well,
currently running in Blowing Rock, PA.
http://www.pknd.com/
Coming from KND are WCF&N coaches 100 and 102 and CNS&M center-door box
motors. CNS&M 234 is currently numbered 33 and lives in the shops of the Iowa
Traction RAILWAY in Mason City, Iowa. I will see her in May.
Thorin
