Garden Railways – August 2019

GardenRailways.com 53

1

The frame’s center

beam and bolsters

are made from ½" by ½"

cold rolled steel. I used a

milling machine to cut

recesses into the

bolsters and main frame

so that the pieces would

interlock and have

greater stability.

2

The blade support

is a combination of

¼" by ¼" and ⅛" by ½"

steel. I cut the angles

for the plow blade in a

milling machine,

though you could use a

grinder or a file instead.

3

To check the plow blade’s clearance on the rail, I put

the frame on trucks I scratchbuilt for this project. Then

I adjusted the blade support before welding it together.

4

The basic frame completed and filed. Note the angled

support piece for the bottom edge of the vertical "V."

The top edge will be supported by the roof of the body.

BUILDING THE FRAME

Blade support

Trucks added ⅛" x ½" steel ¼" x ¼" steel

to check clearance.

Bolsters

interlock

BASIC FRAME to frame

Platform

measures

1¼" x ½"

Ver tical

supports

Angled

support

where

plow

meets

body

Angle

cut for

plow

blade

C This drawing shows all of the

pieces to the project, with color

coding. The material on the

frame is single layer 2mm poly-

styrene. The body is a “sand-

wich” of three layers, two inner

layers of 2mm polystyrene, and

an outer layer of 1mm polysty-

rene. The inner layers must fit

inside the outer layer and inter-

lock with each other. The inner

layers also need space for the

window openings.

BUILD THE TRUCKS

BONUS article on how the author

scratchbuilt his trucks. Find more at

GardenRailways.com/Fall2019

⅛" x ½" steel