May/June 2010 - O Scale Trains Magazine Online

5strips (think of a brass sandwich) make that 8” channel.The top and bottom sheets extend 3” over the sides, and areflush on the ends. Photo 7 shows this effect. The major portionof the frame is a piece of 1/8” thick brass stock milled toa scale 9’ wide by 37’ long. Mark out the truck’s wheelbase,which is 21’-10”, and drill a #44 hole to clear the 2-56 bolsterscrew. Mill out the open portions of the frame (with the bottomsheet soldered in place) as shown in Photo 8 to clear the topsof the gearboxes.768Fig. 1Spacing22 • O Scale Trains - May/June ’10File for rowsclose together.My frame also has a large hole in the center for a speakerport. Use a two-flute mill for this as you can drill with it andfollow the scribed outlines for the openings. The bolster positionbetween the gearbox openings can be milled to be thinnerthan 1/8”. This may be necessary for the required 3’ 8” heightfrom railhead to bottom of the frame. As mentioned earlier, thethickness of the bolsters at the attachment screw will be a factorhere too. There will be a hole drilled at each bolster positionto pass the wiper wire to a decoder.I milled out a section on each end of the frame to solder astiffener piece on the bottom ends of the deck sheet. This stiffenerwill be drilled for the end handrail stanchions and uncouplinglevers. Photo 4 shows these stiffeners. Note also the shortpins in the center of each end. These ensure the screw holeswill be accurately aligned when securing the two sectionstogether. To set these two pins accurately, drill a 0.040” holecentered in the end of the deck plate through the stiffeners.Mark both the deck plate and the frame section so that each