HO Detail Part Help

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Got yet another request for my Forum friends. Does anyone have a good source for the stirrup steps on this boxcar: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2803943?

I’m trying to model one that was assigned to paper service. (Prototype pic is in an off-line source.) I have checked all the usual detail part places and they don’t have anything similar. I don’t want to have to bend them. (I’m good with bending engine and car handrails but stirrup steps are a little beyond what I think I can attack.)

As usual, any assistance that can be provided would be most welcomed.

2

You deemed these to be unworkable?

https://ppw-aline.com/collections/freight-car-stirrup-sets/products/29000-freight-car-stirrup-steps-style-a-pkg-25

Very little effort to spread them slightly and then bend the uprights parallel to be inserted into the car floor.

No other suggestions, Ed

3

A couple of the links I put in an answer in this thread may turn something up, but I doubt they’d be be better than those in the link above.

https://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/291952.aspx

4

I remember back in my younger years hammering round brass wire flat, anealing it and bending our own. Then I read an article in a magazine about someone using steel staples for a staple gun. Flat, about the right size, easily bent with hand tools and more durable than the brass ones. If I needed a bunch of them, I made a simple bending jig or even a piece of tape on one jaw of the needle nose pliers. You learned early on to make at least twenty percent more than you needed. When the super glue is in the mounting holes is when the step goes into the other dimension never to be seen again. It’s handy to have a few extra.

Pete.

5

The stirrup steps on the car in the photo are face-mounted. I have, somewhere, stirrup steps that were meant to be face mounted, but they’re cast in acetal plastic, so are almost impossible to cement in-place, and seldom stay where they should be.
That style is too modern for my layout, so if I can find four of them (or more), I’ll post in this thread to let you know, and arrange a method to get them to you. Keep in mind that they are unlikely to stand-up to any mishandling.

If you want similar-looking ones, but more sturdy, I’d suggest that you buy some flat brass strip - .015"x.042" and use an easily-made form on which to bend it.

To make the form, use a 2"-or-so square of sheet styrene at least .030" thick, then use solvent-type cement to add a shape similar to that of the stirrups in the photo - it should be at least .040" thick.

You can then cut off a suitable length of the brass strip and bend it around the form. Once it’s bent, determine the needed length that will be below the bottom edge of the car’s side, then use small smooth-jawed pliers to twist the remaining portion of the uprights at 90º to the portion below the sills.

Next, use a suitably-sized drill bit to make a hole in each of the twisted ends, then solder a short length of wire (.0125" or .015" diameter) into each hole, with just a bit of the wire protruding out of the twisted portion, to represent the bolts holding it in place.

Use a utility knife (or old blade in your X-Acto handle) to cut-off any excess material from beyond the drilled holes in the formed steps - this should be done on a hard surface, not on a cutting mat.

Drill the sides of the car to accept the mounting wires, then use ca to affix the stirrups in place.

Wayne

6

I actually hadn’t thought of that idea. However, I can see how that would work. Thank you.

7

@Wayne, I am not challenging you about your thought of the stirrup in the photo, I admire your work and knowledge very much.

My question is, Could there be any chance the stirrup’s uprights/sides go behind the car’s side sill and the rivets/bolts go though the side sill first then through the stirrup’s uprights/sides?

8

@FURRYKid, here is a trick when installing brass stirrps in to the bottom of plastic side sills that have pre-drilled holes.

Sometimes it may be difficult to get both upright/side posts of the stirrup started into the holes at the same time without bending the stirrup’s step.

Here’s the trick, snip off just a little of one upright/side post and ‘‘dress’’ that cut end to remove any burr.

Now just start the longer upright/side post in to the bottom of the sill first then start the shorter one, now push both upright/side posts in at the same time.

There, no bent or twisted stirrup or torn up holes.

Here is the tool that I use to ‘‘dress’’ up the end of cut brass rod (it rounds the brass rod’s tip). The wife took me to a Bead Show one day, you would be susprised what one can find at a Bead Show to use with model railroading.

The tool’s working end has a metal hollow tip that is rounded inside with tiny ‘‘teeth’’ that remove the burrs and put a rounded tip on the end of the brass rod. The rounded brass rod tip will then start in to a hole in plastic nicely.

edit; I’m thinking now it might be called a Burnishing tool.

9

You can do it, I know you can.[:)]

10

That’s certainly possible, and would be my choice most times. I was simply going on the premise that stirrup steps shown on the real car were bolted to the side of the car, rather than the bottom of the side or attached to the underframe.

I supposedly have some of those side-mounted stirrup steps, but they’re very easily broken and/or prone to fall-off, as they’re made from engineering plastic, with which most glues are useless.

I did go hunting for them, and found 38 of them, all for face-mounting, and there are, I’m sure, at least four similar ones, which would do one car…there’s likely several groups of four, but as you can see, there’s a variety of shapes and sizes…

If FRRYKid is interested, I think that he can contact me in my “Messages”, and give me either his e-mail address or his actual mailing address, so that I can send the stirrup steps to him. I cannot, however, reply to him in the “Messages” feature, as it hasn’t worked for that purpose for several years.

I do think, though, that my attempt for offering an alternative solution might have been a little too complicated, as it does require not only bending material, but also making jigs to allow such operations.

Wayne

11

I’m in the home stretch on my latest project, which was building a dozen of these hoppers. I used kits from Bowser (originally Stewart), but pretty-well rebuilt them to match their prototypes, which were built in 1914 in my hometown.
The cars did have sill steps as part of the body castings, but I wanted the two-rung type similar to the real ones, so used ones offered by Accurail. They’re bottom-mounted and also cast in acetal plastic, which is not easy to cement in place. Right now they’re held in place by friction, and may be okay if not handled too much.

A couple photos…

These last four still need another coat of clear gloss and one of semi-matte, plus a little weathering.
The road ordered 1000 cars from local builder, National Steel Car, in 1914, then, during production, ordered another 500.
Some of the real ones lasted well into the mid-60’s as MoW equipment, many of them still on archbar trucks, as the cars were not used in interchange, other than on lake boats.

Wayne

12

I’ve had good results glueing acetal parts with pins by drilling the hole slightly oversize and squeezing the pin lightly to distort it slightly. The distortion allows the CA glue to lock the pin in the hole without actually bonding to it.

Mark Vinski

13

For the hoppers, shown in my previous post, I used a cut-down X-Acto chisel blade…

…to place a small amount of JB QUIK WELD epoxy into the end edges of the under-the-slope-sheet-areas on each car, then inserted the drop-steps into their mounting holes.

I’m hoping that the hardened epoxy will yield a tight enough fit to keep the sill steps where they belong.

Since I haven’t heard from him, I’m guessing that FRRYKid isn’t interested in the free drop steps.

I’ve made dozens of two-rung drop steps for passenger cars and some freight cars, too. The ones for the baggage cars are done in four different widths, to suit each particular car…

…but I bottom-mount pretty-well all of them…

Wayne

14

I didn’t check my post last night, so I didn’t see the offer until just now. However, I think the A-line stirrup step suggestion is the best idea for the prototype. But thank you for the offer.

15

Tichy has some surface mount ones that look like what you need.

16

It may not be quite right but the suggestion of modifying the A-Line one is what I think I will use.

17

FRRYkid;

Before you commit to anything, have you checked the etched brass offerings of www.yarmouthmodelworks.com? They make stirrups as replacements for many of the more fragile plastic steps found in HO. If not this time, who knows what the future holds.

18

I did a quick check and none of what they showed would work. The A-Line ones are metal and should be strong enough for the purpose.

19

I am wondering something. its not about the discussion topic its more about your username because if it means what I think it does. We could possibly be good friends.

20

My “handle” as it were has to do it my protolanced railroad. Forest Railway w/ reporting marks of FRRY hence FRRYKid. Although these days I’m not really a kid anymore.