New Gon for the DC&L

I recently finished a Leadville Designs Bill Meyer and Small gondola kit that I received for Christmas a few years back. Bill Meyer and Small made equipment for narrow gauges here in the east as well as the more famous ones out west. I really like the look of these 28 foot cars and built one from plans back in high school. 

Below is the Leadville Designs kit as built. A nice kit with underbody detail. I modified it slightly, adding through bolts on the sides.

Here are the two cars side by side. The Leadville Designs kit was nice, being a laser kit, most of the parts fit well without much work. The exception being the stake sides- that WAS a pain and mounting the couplers. There is a nice slot in the car ends for Kadee couplers or some kind of couplers. However, the instructions did not cover their installation and I had to heavily modify the Kadee's to fit. The kit, priced at $79+ shipping is nice and has more appropriate stake pockets, 3D printed and a pain to clean out. However, I think my scratch built car from 20+ years ago looks pretty good and given I cut all my own strip wood, was  a real bargain! They'll both run on the DC&L. Stop by sometime and compare for yourself.

The Arroyo Shay No. 2

 After sitting in multiple pieces for quite a while, I have finally painted Arroyo Tram No.2. The project started out as a way to make a freelance version of Gilpin Tram No.2 out of a Bachmann 2 cylinder, 2 truck shay and a Wiseman Models backdate kit. So, it's mostly painted. I still have some details to add, like the injector water line that broke off, bell cord, etc. I'll post again when done.

 Modifications - Lengthen the frame, boiler, and tender

I had to figure out if the cylinders could be dismantled and the drive shaft modified from a 2nd engine. Looked like it could be done........

 

 

The moment of truth, cutting the shaft with a razor saw..............

 Lining up the shaft to drill a hole for the portion of the shaft and valve gear for the third cylinder

 

Carefully drill the hole. Yep, that's a big hole in a little rod.

 

Assembled on the lower portion. Use your best adhesive here.....

Test run to see if it works, yes, it does.........

Then take it all apart and paint it a few years later........