Some of you may remember that I am in the throws of building a Cannonball Car shops 40 ton steeplecab. Well last week I finally took delivery of the last part needed to get it done, ie the pantograph…I got the trolley pole two months ago. So a couple of questions.
1.) I was looking at the photos and technical drawings for a Sacramento Northern steeple cab was trying to figure out what I should build the mount for the pantograph to sit on out of. Styrine, Wood or Brass, and why. Cons of Brass I haven’t worked with it outside of a NWSL Little Joe that is in serious need of an overhaul.
2.) There are a pair of air tanks mounted on the roof of the steeple cab. I assume that these are for the air lines and brakes. I have seen other models with air tanks on the top of them and was wondering what company they came from.
I generally default to styrene, mostly because it’s faster and easier to work with and to bond. I’m not against brass, per se, but will only use it when: a) durability is required; b) THIN strength is required; c) or if I’m working with piping (all of my pipes are brass rather than styrene, but generally ACC’d to the model)
Most likely Precision Scale. They’ve got the largest and nicest array of air tanks available, in both plastic and brass. Their selection isn’t online, however, so you’ll have to invest in one of their parts catalogs (steam parts; diesel tanks are different)
“Best” is subjective. What’s “right” is .008" and .010" wire. But I generally use .012" or .015" for durability’s sake, and only use .010" wire when absolutely necessary.