Articles tagged with: DHR

Jul03

Tea Van [ Part 4 ]

Categories // Darjeeling, Rolling Stock

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Tea Van in 7/8ths

Tea Van Part 4

Here is progress on my first 2 test builds. The biggest challenge was designing the door frames in a manner that allows me to consistantly mount the doors so that they have structural integrity and look prototypical at the same time. The photos below also show some of the interior detail. One of the aspects of using a muliple layer wall is it allows details to be incorporated into the structure. Each layer of the wall on its own is fairly weak, yet once laminated a 3 part wall makes for a strong light structure. The axle boxes I have cast in Brittania metal using a 3D printed part as the master. The same applies to the couplers and hook details. This adds two great features:

  1. Added weight down low to keep the TeaVan on the rails even under higher winds.
  2. Built in stainless sealed bearings that provide low rolling resistance for longer trains.

Will keep progress going as I build the test proto-types. Building the two units allows me to find better ways to solve difficult assemblies as well as finalize the drawings and cut the parts for the final kits. The TeaVan will be limited to 6 kits for sale and possibly 3 as RTR. (Ready to Roll) - I am trying to keep the kits in the 275$ range - this may seem high and it is a bargain for the amount of wood, castings, photo-etch used in the kit. more info to come.....


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Mar08

Tea Van [ Part 3 ]

Categories // Darjeeling, Rolling Stock

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Tea Van in 7/8ths

Tea Van Part 3

Here is progress on the Tea Van base. One of the issues I found with aircraft plywood and the only drawback to its use is the inherent flexibility it has in one axis. As part of its design it is highly flexible in one direction and incredibly rigid in the other. After much playing around I used to rely on the larger support beams for rigidity and then realised that if I sandwich two layers of plywood cut in perpendicular directions the end laminate is rigid along both x and y axis and a perfect platform to build upon is created. The two images below show the layered effect and the final sandwich creates notches along the edge to align the rest of the build.

I placed the two layers between foil so that nothing sticks to them as they dry and set aside overnight to cure under weight. (placed 20lb weight on top of the composite). Once dry I proceeded to add the remainder of the under deck details that will hold the axle boxes and couplers. I use small clips to hold all parts in place until the glue has fully cured. I try to keep the clips symetrical to help minimize any warping.

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Mar06

Tea Van [ Part 2 ]

Categories // Darjeeling, Rolling Stock

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Tea Van in 7/8ths

Starting point is the base. The base will be made up of the sub-frames and the deck. For the deck I am using a sandwiched layer of 0.3125" and 0.0625" aircraft plywood. The layering allows me to do two things:

  • Increase final strength by layering
  • Create tabs for the wall alignment later on. This will help keep assembly easy and square.

Time to start cutting some wood. I created 4 sets of files in cad to send to the laser cutter. Each of the files have been shown in the gallery below. I set up the cad files to cut in a specific order. The holes and scribing need to be completed before the outside is cut. This will reduce any inaccuracies as a result of the part moving once cut. Having the mounting holes pre drilled (cut) for both the axle boxes and cupler mounts makes later assembly and accuracy much easier.

For the next installment I will show the cut wood and its assembly along with the axle box castings in pewter.

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Mar20

DHR B Live Steam [ Part 2 ]

Categories // Darjeeling, Live Steam

Building a Darjeeling Himalayan B locomotive in live steam in 7/8ths scale.. part 2.

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway "Class B" Locomotive in 7/8ths Live Steam

Part 2

The starting point for the loco is the frames. As much as I try to design ahead there are still issues that are missed along the way that seem to come back to haunt you. The first set of frames that I had water jet cut were great, BUT (nothing worse than that infamous BUT to throw a wrench in the works) I had designed the first set of frames as per prototype. This is normally an option and in this case keeping the shape and consistency of the rear half of the frame was a problem. The rear portion of the frame was a large U that wrapped around the leading edge of the boiler. On paper and cad it seemed a good idea, however in reality the accuracy of the bent curve posed a couple of problems in keeping everything parallel and square. My second solution was to machine a spacer out of brass that had the curve machined into its design. This when complete looked proper and at the same time it allowed for a great array of functions, including a boiler bracket.

Here are the refined cad designs that I used for the loco frame. I had the frame laser cut as apposed to water jet cut when I did the second run. Cost wise the laser cutting in more economical. In comparison the laser cutting is far more accurate for small holes as compare to water jet. In finish quality the water jet far exceeds laser cutting. The edges are almost like a knife they are so smooth and sharp. The other advantage to water jet is the lack of edge hardening that laser cutting develops. I did feel that being able to have all the required holes cut at the same time advantageous and that is primarily what led to having the frames laser cut.

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Mar06

DHR B Locomotive in Live Steam

Categories // Darjeeling, Live Steam

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway "Class B" Locomotive in 7/8ths Live Steam

A bit of history : From Wiki Pages

"The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways. It was built between 1879 and 1881 and is about 86 kilometres (53 mi) long. The elevation level is from about 100 m (328 ft) at Siliguri to about 2,200 metres (7,218 ft) at Darjeeling. It is still powered by steam locomotives. Modern diesel engines are used for Darjeeling’s mail train.

The railroad line basically follows Hill Cart Road which is partially the same as National Hichway 55. Usually, the track is simply on the road side. In case of landslides both track and road might be affected. As long parts of the road are surrounded with buildings, the railroad line often rather resembles urban tramway tracks than an overland line."

Here is a gallery of images that truly give the flavor of the Class B enigines and the railroad:

The "Class B" is one of my favourite narrow gauge locomotives and is a must build. I have chosed to only build steam locomotives as "live steam" engines. The main reason for this is to get away from maintaining and charging batteries and R/C gear. I also feel that live steam locomotives should not have any R/C control attached to them as nothing compares to hands on control and planning ahead while running.

A couple of quick points on what I felt was important and elements that swayed the design process;

 

 

    The boiler needs to accomodate both coal fireing and butane or alcohol.

    Axle driven water pump and a means of topping up boiler while coming up to steam

    Scale frame, valve and cylinder structure

    Scale appearance and function

    Sight glass for water and scale or close as possible pressure gauge

    5 man crew.

Here is a copy of the only builders plans I could find, and the source for many or the majority of my measurements when drawing up the cad files.

Darjeeling-B-unit

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Mar06

Tea Van

Categories // Darjeeling, Rolling Stock

Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Tea Van in 7/8ths

Darjeeling TeaVan

The Tea Vans were used for tea with the holes in the doors and for freight and baggage with solid doors. They also replaced the doors with mesh panels for chickens and livestock. (now that is screaming "BUILD ME" ) This is version 2 of the TeaVan or AL (after lasercutter) There will be a very limited number made for sale once I have completed the project and have made enough for my own needs.

Some of the features will be:

  1. Working brakes - be nice to park the cars on a siding and have them stay - mainly due to the next feature.
  2. Bearings set in axleboxes - reduced the rolling resistance greatly.

Here are the low res cad file drawings for the TeaVan as per research and available photographs. No original works drawings survived.

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