New Designs - NZ120 D/DM Class (60ft)

This week see's a completion of a new design, the D/DM class. Those who have been to Wellington after 1938 should be familiar with em.

Designed in 3 components, the 2 shells & seperate bogies.

The bogies are designed to fit 15mm axles (In NZ I source the wheels & couplers from Russell @ Trackgang Products. They are available in either Frosted Ultra Detail (Nylon) or "Raw Brass" and can be found here

The main bodies are designed to be printed in "Frosted Ultra Detail" only.

The D can be found here

The DM can be found here

Currently the main bodies are undergoing processing, and is available for purchase now.

The prototype - Image sourced from http://nzrailwaysrollingstocklists.weebly.com/dm---motor-of-1938.html

Rendered image of the DM

Rendered image of the D class

Rendered image of the Bogie

Showing the internals

After a test print arrives of the design & a lick of paint & wheels it can be properly visualized! Still a bit to go for it to be a runner. The chassis I used came from a Graham Farish N Scale DMU. 

And a wee vid of it running. Currently DC controlled but intend to DCC fit it out

Another video of it running with headlights.

Building an even bigger Station

Work this weekend sees the completion of a station platform. The turnouts have been wired up in 2's & 4 tracks can be easily accessed with only 3 point controllers. Since the layout is DCC (NCE Procab) this gives some rather easy & fun action with 4 trains possible if the operator can keep up.

And being DCC some head on collisions have occurred when gin was introduced in the mix. Some fatalities later it was decided to send everything in 1 direction only.

The platform itself is "Gib". Primed then painted. For the yellow & white lines I used "Continuous Thermal Labels" cut into thin strips & applied.

After I took the shots I was inspired to drag out the passenger fleet under the guise of  a crucial "platform clearance checking" in order to successfully pass final certification.

Again, shortly after I took the shots, I was inspired to drag out the actual passengers.

On reflection, the Wellington Station is one I personally wish to build, if I ever had the room. It would have to be as scale as possible, with the main station building being a challenge in itself, however with a 3d Printer it suddenly seems very possible.