peterbunce
1880's Colorado Narrow gauge on 45mm track
Hi,
I have started a new horsedrawn vehicle - its quite small, being only 5? long for the body.
Another website calls one of these ?the first pickup?, which is correct but the correct name is ?carriage builders delivery wagon? which is much more descriptive.
That name is the one used in the Dover Publications book which shows a very slightly diagonal view of one ? the drawing comes form the Hub magazine of 1894.
I had sufficient to start and most importantly the wheels were in stock (laser cut from the USA). The body was worked out and at only a scale 3 foot wide I knew that I would not be able to fit a couple of figures side by side with ease (even the small Chinese copies); so the body has been widened to 3 foot six wide to accommodate them.
The first thing to find was a piece of tube for the inverted semicircle that the body has to allow to front wheels to ?tuck under? this is very useful in tight areas. That is a very old piece of tube from the centre of a roll of 2? wide gummed tape! It has been ?in stock? for ?something or other? for a very long time indeed, and I only used half of it. The rest of the body has been made from plasticard with holes where need to equalize pressure. The cupboard door shapes were scored in before assembly ? there are no handles ? I envisage the driver using a ?carriage key? , like the older railway carriages had, and are still used on the Festiniog Railway.
Why ?The world?s first pickup?? Another use for this vehicle is to collect disabled vehicles for repair ? there will be some hooks on the rear crossbar of the body ? these were used to tow such vehicles to the factory. The vehicle is to be completed for a single horse, with American style shafts (made from tube).
The vehicle has a double cupboard at the rear of the seat with a turtleback top and doors opening into the open body; I have fitted an internal strengthening frame here on the assumption that sometimes heavy loads would have been carried, and the frame would also add strength to the vehicle. The drawings are incomplete so I have taken some liberties with my design. But it is still conforming to the side view that I worked from.
The roof over the seat has been made with solid sides - where the radii is at its sharpest ? made from strips of (scrap) PVC foam sanded to shape, with cross pieces; as a result of the variable curvature the centre portion was then planked with 5mm wide strips of .020mm plasticard; the edges were filled and the whole roof sanded to get a reasonable shape, a side piece was then added to finish of the (supposedly canvas covered) roof. Some extra pieces were needed to keep things in order ? bit once assembled they will not be seen The top surface was painted with Masonry paint to which some talc had been added; this gives some e3xtra ?body? to the paint and assist in filling in the (still) rough parts, repeat if necessary.
The four vertical supports for the roof are started with 1.5mm square section; the rear one are glued to the rear inside corners of the cupboards (before the lid for them is fitted), and the front ones have a simple reduction in with to allow them to be fitted to the inside of the seat area. When dry, and having fitted the curved top to the cupboards (cut out slots for the pillars and also the seat supports ? those being made from plain, not plastic covered paper clips. They are increased in size by a couple of strips of .020 which makes them much stronger, Finally there are 3 cross pieces two sides and one at the rear ? these are the bases for the drop down rubberised canvas weather curtains that are later fitted here.
The under edges of the roof have 4 small depressions for the tops of the pillars to fit into in due course.
That?s all for now - here are 3 photos of most of the work done so far ? enjoy!
I thought that G scale was meant to be a large scale - this vehicle is tiny! The body is 5" x 3.5"
I have started a new horsedrawn vehicle - its quite small, being only 5? long for the body.
Another website calls one of these ?the first pickup?, which is correct but the correct name is ?carriage builders delivery wagon? which is much more descriptive.
That name is the one used in the Dover Publications book which shows a very slightly diagonal view of one ? the drawing comes form the Hub magazine of 1894.
I had sufficient to start and most importantly the wheels were in stock (laser cut from the USA). The body was worked out and at only a scale 3 foot wide I knew that I would not be able to fit a couple of figures side by side with ease (even the small Chinese copies); so the body has been widened to 3 foot six wide to accommodate them.
The first thing to find was a piece of tube for the inverted semicircle that the body has to allow to front wheels to ?tuck under? this is very useful in tight areas. That is a very old piece of tube from the centre of a roll of 2? wide gummed tape! It has been ?in stock? for ?something or other? for a very long time indeed, and I only used half of it. The rest of the body has been made from plasticard with holes where need to equalize pressure. The cupboard door shapes were scored in before assembly ? there are no handles ? I envisage the driver using a ?carriage key? , like the older railway carriages had, and are still used on the Festiniog Railway.
Why ?The world?s first pickup?? Another use for this vehicle is to collect disabled vehicles for repair ? there will be some hooks on the rear crossbar of the body ? these were used to tow such vehicles to the factory. The vehicle is to be completed for a single horse, with American style shafts (made from tube).
The vehicle has a double cupboard at the rear of the seat with a turtleback top and doors opening into the open body; I have fitted an internal strengthening frame here on the assumption that sometimes heavy loads would have been carried, and the frame would also add strength to the vehicle. The drawings are incomplete so I have taken some liberties with my design. But it is still conforming to the side view that I worked from.
The roof over the seat has been made with solid sides - where the radii is at its sharpest ? made from strips of (scrap) PVC foam sanded to shape, with cross pieces; as a result of the variable curvature the centre portion was then planked with 5mm wide strips of .020mm plasticard; the edges were filled and the whole roof sanded to get a reasonable shape, a side piece was then added to finish of the (supposedly canvas covered) roof. Some extra pieces were needed to keep things in order ? bit once assembled they will not be seen The top surface was painted with Masonry paint to which some talc had been added; this gives some e3xtra ?body? to the paint and assist in filling in the (still) rough parts, repeat if necessary.
The four vertical supports for the roof are started with 1.5mm square section; the rear one are glued to the rear inside corners of the cupboards (before the lid for them is fitted), and the front ones have a simple reduction in with to allow them to be fitted to the inside of the seat area. When dry, and having fitted the curved top to the cupboards (cut out slots for the pillars and also the seat supports ? those being made from plain, not plastic covered paper clips. They are increased in size by a couple of strips of .020 which makes them much stronger, Finally there are 3 cross pieces two sides and one at the rear ? these are the bases for the drop down rubberised canvas weather curtains that are later fitted here.
The under edges of the roof have 4 small depressions for the tops of the pillars to fit into in due course.
That?s all for now - here are 3 photos of most of the work done so far ? enjoy!
I thought that G scale was meant to be a large scale - this vehicle is tiny! The body is 5" x 3.5"
