I’m putting together an Athearn (please don’t laugh!) blue-box 54’ covered hopper. I’m trying to figure out exactly where the brake cylinder goes, so I’m referring to RMC’s October 1993 issue, which has drawings and images for PS-2 4740 cu-ft hoppers. Looking at those drawings, I still don’t see where the brake cylinder goes (although they did allow me to allign the triple-valve longitudinally as shown in the detail picture on page 78, rather than transverse as the instructions seem to show).
I’m wondering if perhaps the brake cylinders are located on the trucks themselves, and therefore, I wouldn’t be mounting anything on the slope sheet. Reasonable?
So, anyone know better just where those buggers are located? Pictures or other magazine references would be appreciated
I’ve found reference (http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/article.php?article=1517) that these are reasonable fascimilies, and since I generally run on a modular layout, I’m more concerned with durability and low cost, than extreme accuracy. Still, one tries! [:)]
Those 4740 covered hoppers can have end mounted brake equipment(under the slope sheet on the ‘B’ end of the car), or have truck mounted brake equipment. On the former, you should see the cylinder, control valve, and the upright ‘arm’ that pulls on the brake rigging.
Interesting- your scan of the Athearn instructions is better-resolved than my original! [:)]
Part of what raised my question in the first place in particular is better-observed in your copy. The brake cylinder in your scanned instructions clearly has the mounting lug found on the END, while the part included with my kit has the mounting lug on the SIDE.
I ended up trimming off the lug on the side, drilling a hole in the end, and using a spare bit of brass rod to mount it as shown in the instructions. Part of why I decided to do it that way was realizing that the brake cylinders on some Walthers Airslides I built in the past month were mounted in the same manner.
Oh I take credit for nothing - the wonderful HO Seeker website has these reproductions of old catalogs, old instruction sheets, and other model railroad literature that I find to be invaluable.
Oh, I’m very familiar with HO Seeker, have referenced it quite often to find old sets of instructions.
Since I’m in a field relating to document imaging (loading some at this very moment, actually), and REGULARLY see images that I would consider illegible, but still potentially being used as evidence in courts of law, it’s still nice to see good-quality scans like this. Bravo!