Bulk Grain Wagon Conversion, Part 1

See the previous thread 'More Info On These Wagons?' for the background to this modification project.

This thread shows how I modified a Hornby Bulk Grain Wagon to run on Tomy track.

The first picture shows a Tomy Annie/Clarabel chassis above and the Hornby Chassis below.


And from the side. The Hornby chassis is a bit longer, and the axles are further apart. I want to use the detailed Hornby side plates, so the Tomy chassis needs to be lengthened, and the axle supports need to be moved apart.


The first cut (is the deepest). Sides removed from the Tomy chassis. I want to keep the end buffer/coupling sections.


Sides removed from the Hornby chassis, I cut it like this so as not to destroy the buffers - they might come in useful sometime.


Tomy buffer/coupling sections separated and spaced to about the same length as the Hornby side plates.


Tomy axle support sections separated, and a slice removed from each end so that they can be moved closer to the buffer/coupling sections....


...like this.


Lengths of square section styrene superglued to the undersides of the three middle sections of Tomy chassis to give the correct separation of the axles.


More styrene struts glued to the end sections to give a length equal to the Hornby side plates.


Everything coming together nicely.


And from the side.


The original axle retaining piece is now too short, and also too wide - more cuts.


The two ends of the axle retaining piece in position. (The sides have been glued on too - sorry I forgot to photograph that step. The corner joints are reinforced with fillets of Araldite 2-part epoxy.)


The two ends of the axle retaining piece joined together with a strip cut from the surplus Hornby chassis.


Here's the re-modeled clip removed from the chassis after the superglue has set. A hole has been drilled in the middle which will be used to secure the clip to the chassis and to screw on the superstructure.


The chassis assembly with its wheels in place. No comments about the positioning of the brake shoes relative to the wheels please - I think that adds an air of Fisher-Price authenticity.


The superstructure needs to have its retaining lugs removed, and a hole drilled in it.


Final assembly, almost ready for a trip to the engine-wash, and then the paint shop. There are a few little tweaks I'd like to make first though. And the other two wagons to modify.


One slight drawback, as Super observed in the original thread; the finished wagon is about 2mm too tall to pass under a Tomy standard 3" riser, so we'll have to be a bit careful about which routes it's allowed on. I can't see any easy way to do the mod differently to avoid this.

Wow, this is impressive beyond belief! Fantastic job Chrisjo!

[Super]

That is AWESOME Chrisjo. You must have an engineering type mind to be able to visualize the steps it takes to perform this mod...I love it! It looks perfect. Many thanks for taking the step by step pictures, the pictorial is great and shows exactly how much you did which was quite a lot. Brilliant work and I can't wait to see the finished product.

does it require a wider clearance on the curve tracks given the extended length of this rolling stock?

does it require a wider clearance on the curve tracks given the extended length of this rolling stock?

Total length without couplings is 104mm. A standard express coach is 117mm, so length itself is not an issue. However the wider axle separation (60mm vs. 45mm) does mean that it overhangs the inside of a curve about twice as far (c. 6mm vs. 3mm), and it hangs down quite low, so there could be issues with line-side structures, though I haven't noticed any yet. Drag on curves might be a bit higher too, but probably only marginally.

Great conversion there Chris, I was wondering if you may be able to produce similar wagons using HO rolling stock instead which may solve the height problems etc... There are some great wagons made by the likes of Roco which due to HO being slightly smaller than OO will possibly solve these issues

Not being entirely happy with the result shown above, I got up early this morning in fighting mood and attacked the modified chassis with a Dremel saw to create a well that fits the underside of the grain hopper. Also note the added coupling retaining screw and washer.


That's much better. There's still a hair's-breadth of clearance between the wheels and the underside of the hopper, but it's still a fraction of a millimeter too high. I could file the hatch hinges off the top, that would just about make all the difference I think.


Or I can always run it with the top off. I wouldn't be surprised to find that this represents a genuine real-life wagon too.

[Ucwepn]

Very impressive!

Love it Chrisjo, great work and it looks very professional! You'll have to make a rake of them now!

This is one of the most impressive mods I've seen of a Plarail item. Great job!