RGS Rotary Snowplow by yvesvidal - DURANGO PRESS - On3 - 1/48

[yvesvidal]

Installation of the rails is now terminated and it is time to pass to the ballasting phase. Below is a picture showing a vintage and seldomly used narrow gauge track. Ballast ispresent but not in the same quantity and thickness as on a main track, with heavy code rails.

 

 

To ballast the rails, you need the ballast and a special syringe to apply the glue.

 

 

The bag of ballast is made of real granite crushed to 1/48th scale by Brennan. Brennan has made for himself a name and his ballast and coal (used in the tender) have become the reference in the O scale 2 rails world. The syringe can be found with Micro-Mark and is very useful to apply precisely and delicately the mixture of 50% PVA glue, 45% water and 5% isopropyl alcohol to make the water ever wetter.

 

 

First step is to apply the ballast, using a soft brush:

 

 

The glue mixture is then spread delicately between the ties.

 

 

Once dry, the track is a lot more realistic:

 

 

Some dirt, grass (Woodland Scenic) is also added to show the reduced lack of maintenance of that track:

 

 

 

Yves

 

[yvesvidal]

With the track completed (more or less - I thought about replicating some snow but quickly dropped the idea), the snowplow can be installed:

 

 

 

 

In the picture above, you can clearly see that the snowplow was designed for a regular gauge track.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An aerial view to complete this phase of the project.

 

Yves

[Canute]

That's turned out nicely, Yves. Work trains are near and dear to my heart.

[yvesvidal]

Project is almost completed. I just acquired an On3 engine to push the snowplow. The 2-8-2 engine will need KADEE couplers and a complete overhaul as it does not run yet smoothly. However, the price was right and it is in excellent condition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is now time to go back and finish the HMS Bellona.

 

Yves

Edited December 19, 2023 by yvesvidal

[wefalck]

A pretty massive set, even though its 'only' narrow-gauge. I gather one needs mass and HPs to get through the drifts.

[John Ruy]

Beautiful Engine Yves. Nice find… 👍

[GrandpaPhil]

Very cool!

[CDW]

Beautiful engine, Yves.

What all is involved in a complete engine overhaul such as what you mentioned. Is it mostly a matter of disassembly, cleaning, oiling, and reassembly? With some of the engines, it must be a chore finding spare parts, or is it?

[yvesvidal]

11 hours ago, CDW said:

Beautiful engine, Yves.

What all is involved in a complete engine overhaul such as what you mentioned. Is it mostly a matter of disassembly, cleaning, oiling, and reassembly? With some of the engines, it must be a chore finding spare parts, or is it?

 

Craig, yes you summarized it pretty well. I may add a DCC controller in the process, to allow remote control of the engine. Finding spare parts is not easy but fortunately, we still have one company in the USA, casting brass parts mostly in O-scale. They do carry a lot of spare parts for these engines and many others.

 

Yves

[Canute]

Yeah, the modern DCC module (Digital Command Control) adds sounds and lighting controls.

[realworkingsailor]

Saw this, thought you might be interested:

 

Looks like fun! And it works pretty well too!

 

Andy

 

[yvesvidal]

Thank you for posting that video. Yes, G-Scale or Gauge 1 (1/32) is another story and you can envision this kind of operation as long as the snow is very fresh and cold. In On3, it would not be possible.

 

Yves

[realworkingsailor]

45 minutes ago, yvesvidal said:

Thank you for posting that video. Yes, G-Scale or Gauge 1 (1/32) is another story and you can envision this kind of operation as long as the snow is very fresh and cold. In On3, it would not be possible.

 

Yves

I agree with you, I’m under no illusions

 

In O scale you’re pretty much limited to making the rotary spin, but that’s about all (maybe some sound effects). You’d never get enough weight in it to keep it on the tracks let alone be able to add a motor and batteries etc. (even the G scale rotary derailed at the end of the above video). 
 

Andy