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Hi there! I'm looking for some assistance with this particular locomotive. I'm creating a 3D environment with this engine, but I'm running into trouble with the trucks. I'd like to keep it reasonably accurate, as it seems there's minor differences between all locomotives. But if I have concrete references to work from, I can speed up my workflow and get some very good results.
Would anyone happen to have some good reference photos I can use to model the trucks? Specifically, the "ends" of the trucks. The main bar, the wavy part, seems to wrap around in the rear, but the stairs in front block my view so I can't see what would be there. Any up-close images of the trucks and the wheel assemblies in general would be very helpful. I'd like to finish up this locomotive and move on to painting it soon. It's going to be part of a scene using Unreal Development Kit, similar to one of my older environments, that features an old warehouse with a lot of graffiti painted on it. I want the SD40 to be the focal point of the environment, so I'm putting a lot of effort into it.
Thanks for the images! I do have a pretty decent collection of truck photos, but none of them are close enough to see the inner workings of the trucks themselves. Seeing that would help me figure out how they're pieced together, which would make my modeling work a lot easier.
Here is two photos of some SD40-2 trucks. You will have to save the photos and zoom in but basically the frame is connected by a H design with the pivot point right in the middle of the H. The frame is one solid piece of metal with the exception of the H section. The H section is bolted to the main frame. The pivot point where the kingpin is only around 12" wide.
The traction motors are bolted to the main frame (outer) as shown in the second photo. In the second photo you can see where the traction motor is bolted to the steel of the middle of the outer truck frame (which is like a J type support). The middle traction motor is bolted to a identical support as the other traction motors and is located on the H frame.
Your model looks pretty good except you need to wrap the frame around the ends. Also you can not see the end of the axle on the HTC truck and many other trucks. The end of the axle does not have the 3 bolts like many of the newer locomotives. The older axles have bearings which ride in a journal of oil which is sealed. In the last photo you can see a bearing in the journal box which has been removed from the axle. The journal is laying face down. The face of the journal box is just a bolted piece of cast aluminum. There is a small plug hole to fill the journal box full of oil. You are also missing the bars that the brake shoes slide back and forth on as shown in photo #2. There is also a brake adjuster to adjust brake shoe slack right under that bar. Notice the holes in the bar for the different brake shoe positions. You will also notice there is 1/4" flat bars bolted to the bottom of the frames under each axle. These bars keep the axles from dropping out of the frames when the locomotive is suspended.
Tom, that is *exactly* what I'm looking for. Now that I can see how the trucks are assembled, I can recreate them without trying to act like I'm an engineer piecing this thing together. Do you have any top-down shots of the trucks, without the locomotive chassis? That would also be helpful, but I think I can manage to put this together a bit more professionally now - so, thank you very much!
No I do not. As a matter of fact that is the first time I have ever seen that type of trucks off the locomotive. About the only time you see them like that is when they are getting scrapped. I probably should have taken a few more photos of those trucks. Glad I could help.
I noticed that the brake systems seem to change from locomotive to locomotive, even within the same model number. That 40-2 has a completely different look to it than the pictures you linked, so I'm not sure what I should work from. Can you explain the differences for me?
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