O Scale Trains Magazine Online

and a piezo lighter allowing for one-handed operation.
The next step is to center-bore a cylinder to accept the 0.042”
rod. I would drill all the way through the cylinder initially. This
should also have plenty of freeplay and probably a #56 drill or
larger would be necessary for this. Figure 4 shows the drilled
out cylinder, the push rod, and fabricated clevis assembly. Now,
it’s time to drill a hole on the floor of the tender. This should be
approximately 1/16” by 3/8” in size. The hole should fit directly
over the clevis of the cylinder. In my case, I gave the cylinder a
little over a 1/8” of motion. Anything less than this is not visible
and more non-realistic.
Figure 5 shows a drawing of the remaining parts on the inside
of the tender. Before you panic, there are only three parts to be
made and there is one fixed part. Here again, all of the holes
should be #70. The pins used are all 0.024” diameter piano wire
and the tubes to bear the pins are all 0.045” inside diameter
(Special Shapes #TT-61). I used two truck springs to provide
• O Scale Trains - July/Aug ’06
return pressure for the scoop, as shown. By the way, this mechanism
can be radio controlled, controlled by DCC, or with a
solenoid if desired. A pitfall to be careful of here is getting solder