# A Narrow-Gauge Boxcab for the DC&M



## dawgnabbit (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi, All

DC&M Management plans the "official" roll-out of the new oil-electric loco for early spring, as soon as enough snow is gone that the shop doors can be forced opened again. Meanwhile, the erection crew is praying for another storm while they frantically try to complete by the deadline. 


Here's a sneak preview:











She's not especially fancy, but she is rugged. She has to be, because the assigned engineer is my five-year-old grandson. The frame is a 3/4" thick aluminum plate. Carbody pieces were laser cut from .060" aluminum sheet and riveted together. Here's an early construction shot:











Since this is my first attempt at a scratch-built loco, I wanted to see how much of it I could make myself. The only "boughten" parts are the motor blocks (NW-2), couplers (hook and loop or knuckles interchangeably), and the electronics (14.4 V NiCad batteries, RCS control, Sierra sound system). There are no commercial detail parts. What details there are are pretty simple, both for ruggedness and because the beautiful work I see on this Forum is still beyond my skill level. The "brass" bell is salvaged from a wedding ornament, and the harp bracket is heat-formed styrene strap. The stacks are built up from styrene bits:










The cockscomb radiators gave me some pause; eventually I took refuge in the ten-foot rule and just cobbled together some styrene and ABS bits that "looked about right." All those pipes are heat-formed styrene. The headlight reflectors are from 2 x AAA mini-maglites, and the housing is PVC and styrene:











To my great surprise, everything seemed to work okay, first time. The "prime mover" has a soul-satisfying ALCO snarl that really annoys my wife when I turn up the volume.


Regards,

Dawg


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## Mr Ron (Sep 23, 2009)

Your first attempt turned out great. I'm also building a model of that oil-electric, but in 1:8 scale. I'm building the trucks from aluminum stock and will have 4 12V motors running it. Like you, I improvise on such things as bells and headlights. It's lots of fun.


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## altterrain (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice work Dawg! 

-Brian


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## Robert (Jan 2, 2008)

whoa. Very nice, so much so that the lack of detail (I'll say that loosely) is not noticed.


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## Jack - Freshwater Models (Feb 17, 2008)

Beautiful! Very nice work! Where did you get the parts laser cut? 

Jack


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## dawgnabbit (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

Jack - I had them cut at my local laser job shop (J.E. Soares, Belgrade Montana). 


FWIW, not every shop can cut aluminum; it takes a really big laser because aluminum is so highly reflective. Soares cuts aluminum sheet for some local laser manufacturing outfits, so they've made the necessary investment in equipment.


Dawg


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## scoobster28 (Sep 15, 2008)

Wowsers! I love boxcabs in general, and yours looks smashing!


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

very cool indeed!


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Steve, that's fabulous. Superb craftsmanship.

A real pleasure to view.


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## Mr Ron (Sep 23, 2009)

Dear Daug, Can you give me an idea of how much it costs to have metals laser cut?


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Steve, 

A great job. Nice work on the roof details! 

If anyone is interested, I think Steve's model is of the very first successful diesel-electric loco, boxcab 1000 of the CNJ, which is currently in the B&O RR Museum. 










(You did know that GAL have a styrene version of the same boxcab available? http://www.thegalline.com )


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## ORD23 (Jan 2, 2010)

Nice paint job too. Is she going to scale out to 1:20.3?


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## dawgnabbit (Jan 2, 2008)

Gosh (blush)...Thanks, guys. I'm really happy that you like it.


Mr. Ron - As I recall, it cost ~$130 to cut enough parts for three complete boxcabs like this. That's for the cutting and the raw materials. I prepared the CAD files myself, including parts layout.

http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/afv/post/aft/115049/aff/8/thegalline.com

Pete - Yes, I'm familiar with Alan's fine offerings (thegalline.com). His 1:29 boxcab is a much more accurate representation of CNJ 1000 than mine. That said, CNJ 1000 definitely was the primary inspiration for me. I'm delighted you recognized it as such.

But I also stole features I liked from some other boxcabs, such as the "front porches" and end doors. Also, I downsized things considerably, and eliminated one of the side windows, hoping to make a "what if" narrow gauge loco.

Ord23 - It's nominally 22.5:1 scale, but since the prototype is imaginary, assigning "scale" is an exercise in approximation.

Cheers,

Dawg


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Steve, 

That's really fine work. Gee, I wonder what you'll be creating when you "get as good as other's skill level here"? (Definitely tongue-in-cheek). Personally I think you already are one on of the great "skill levels" here. Great job sir!


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## Bruce Chandler (Jan 2, 2008)

That sure looks nice. I'm sure your grandson will love playing with it - especially since it's so sturdy. Hope you have pictures soon.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Is she going to scale out to 1:20.3? 

I'm not sure about running a CNJ boxcab in 1:20.3, but if anyone wants one, GAL has done the laser work to scale their 1/29th version up to 1:20.3. Alan showed us the first cut at ECLSTS, and it's big and looks really nice. I think someone commissioned the model from Alan, and I believe he'll be happy to sell some copies if anyone wants one. 
*http://www.thegalline.com*


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## Mr Ron (Sep 23, 2009)

Thank you for the cost figure. Like you, I don't try to follow the prototype 100%. Railroads in real life always had modifications or repairs done so that no two engines were ever the same. This was especially true of narrow gauge lines where cost was always a consideration. They made do with what they had and borrowed, rebuilt to suit their needs. My attitude is: "It's my railroad; I'll do what I want on it."


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## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Steve,
About time you shared pictures of that beauty







.

You say you had laser cutting done for 3 loco's, hhhmmmm. Does that mean we can expect to see a stable of these 
fine machines in the near future?









Like I said before, absolutely stunning work, thanks for sharing it.
Rick


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## dawgnabbit (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks once again to ALL of you for the kind words. The encouragement this group provides is one of the best features of MLS.


Bruce - your own fine boxcab (and the construction article in GR) helped me a lot.

Rick - in the NEAR future? Are you kidding? You know perfectly well how long it took me to do this one. LOLOL

Hmmmm...that said, I suppose the DC&M probably could use a couple of heavy freight motors...

Dawg


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Very nice. I don't envy you if you were to decide you needed another radiator. How did you fasten the aluminum pieces together? I don't see any screw heads or anything of that nature. I know there are aluminum solders available, but I don't even see any signs of that or tabs where you may have bent things over for a stronger joint. 

Later, 

K


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

It's a real beauty! 
(and I'm also very curious how you fasten the aluminium)


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## dawgnabbit (Jan 2, 2008)

Kevin - The carbody is held together with flush rivets. There are short lengths of 1/4" square aluminum bar stock in the corners. I match-drilled the bar stock to the side and end panels (3/32, or maybe 1/8) and countersunk the holes. The rivets are short pins of brass rod that fit snugly through the holes. I peened the rod ends down into the countersinks and filed flush any brass still standing proud. This makes a very sturdy joint. With a little filler where needed and some sanding, a coat of paint conceals the fasteners well.

I found one picture that shows some of the rivets. Ugly until painted:










Regards,

Dawg


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## Dave Ottney (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow, great workmanship and doing it in metal is really something. Can't wait to see more progress. 
Dave


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## trainhead (Jul 29, 2010)

Dawg:

What did you use for the trucks / power block assembly? Or was it completely scratch built? BTW, this is a beautiful job.


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## Mr Ron (Sep 23, 2009)

Because I'm building the boxcab in 1:8 scale, making the radiator with the bent pipes presented a challenge for me, so I used my modeler's license and straightened out the pipes where they meet the manifold. My pipes are 3/16" dia wood dowels. Actually some railroads did the same modification to their boxcabs; C&NW was one of them with straight pipes. My version follows the LIRR. BTW, I didn't know if you knew that boxcab design was used for both the oil-electric and the electric versions. Mine is for standard gauge.


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## dawgnabbit (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi, all 

Trainhead - Thanks, I'm glad you like it. The power trucks are from a USA NW-2. The sideframes are stock. 

Mr. Ron - I'd like to see pictures of your 1:8 boxcab. Is there a thread somewhere I can follow? 

Dawg


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