Railgon Scratchbuild


D

DTI973

Member
I've been working on a Thrall built Railgon from the first batch built (7/80).
Unlike you HO scale guys, many items added had to be scratch built as I am modeling in 1/29th scale.
This is one of the first projects that I've attempted to get the underbody detail accurate as well.
For reference the body on the gondola is over 22" long.
I'm quite pleased with her.

What do you think?

Regards,
Brian Briggs

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In a word? Lovely. How about some more photos? Any progress shots? What did you build it out of?
 
Excellent! I agree with Ryan, any progress photos? I'd love to see how you built it.

1/29th! I don't even have room for 1/87th!
 
That looks awesome. I also would like to see pics of it being built if you have them. You must have a nice large backyard setup to be able to run that scale or one huge building.:D
 
OK, I took some pix after I had most of it assembled. Made of styrene and brass. The rivets and grabiron eyelets (NBW) are Tichy Train Group.
I made some scale drawings from the RMC Railgon artical (1980ish) that I worked to. I found some great detail pix online that I used to really help with the details.

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Duane, I'm hoping to have a big building built when I retire!

I hope these help,
Brian Briggs
 
Brian, those grabs look like the real thing. Same with the nut and bolt detail on the sides. 1:29 really allows you get those fine details we HO modelers can only dream of. Fine job.
 
thats a beautiful gon, when I first glanced at the picture earlier I thought it was the real thing instead of a model. down the road there is a huge Morton building with with a house attached. I'd love to have something like that then I could do more than build kits and wish I had room for a layout. 728 square feet doesnt leave much room for one.

Keep up the good work.
 
Ken,

Yes I do have a 1/29 engine to pull it with.....R/C-DCC with onboard battery power and Soundtraxx sound decoder

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I'm currently working on a GP38-2 that will get the DT&I Bicentennial paint job :cool:

Take care,
Brian Briggs
 
Is that the best you can do?:D

That is some fine, fine work. The level of detail is unreal. Nice job.
 
Charles,

No need to imagine.....I took these pics a year and a half ago......this train was 55 feet long.....the Geep handled her nicely. :D

Enjoy,
Brian Briggs

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Impressive trestle work and train, Brian. I think your train might be worth more than my house. :eek: how big is your garden layout? Got a track plan? I'd kill to have the time, money, and wife that would allow me to build something like you've done.
 
Jim,

Thanks,...first about the railroad....it's just a big irregular shaped oval with a crossover. The main is 320 feet of track with 10' min. radius. Since I've built this I've realized I don't like the great outdoors for my trains...it's a pain to carry everything in and out every time I want to run. Plus I have summer hobbies that conflict for time with my train hobby. I've learned I enjoy being in the basement building and running during the cold seasons.

As far as expense goes, this is actually cheaper than 'O' scale (which is what I modeled for 20 years). The thing about going bigger is that you reduce the number of pieces you can fit. I won't have an entire roster of engines like many in HO would, but I will have the ones I want....quality before quantity.

I have funded all of my 'G' scale by ebaying off my 'O' scale....that has been great!

As a pricing example....If you bought the GP7 (mine was painted NW from the factory) for $150.00 (cheaper than anything in 'O' scale) Add in the cost of the R/C reciever - $99.00, a new qsi decoder/sound system - $135.00, Battery pack - $75.00, Speaker, wires, connectors, and switches, paint and decals (which are scarce in 1/29) - $50.00......that makes it a total investment of $510.00 for an engine that does it all well.

I'm very lucky to have a wonderful wife, she encourages and supports my hobby.

Regards,
Brian
 
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