Căile Ferate Forestiere (CFF)
Romenia – H0e / 1:87
To chase the tracks at reasonable speed, the Romanian Forest Railways have long been using cars, vans and small trucks converted into rail vehicles. Formerly Volgas, Rocars, later VW Transporters and Ford Transits. I translated the latter into a H0e copy.
The ingredients: Rietze Ford Transit, Kato 11-106 chassis with engine, some accessories and details in 3D print and an axle with 6.2mm wheels.
Started cutting and modifying the chassis. The Kato chassis has one powered bogie; the other one only pics up current. The latter can easily be removed, which is good because it has to make way for a single axle. With such a small light unit, it’s quite necessary for this rigid axle to take power as well. I fiddled around a bit with phosphor bronze wire which resulted in total non-working misery (of which the remains are still visible underneath…). It was only then that I discovered two strips in the chassis. By drilling some holes I could bend them down and they ended up exactly on the wheels of the single axle. IT IS INCREDIBLE WHAT HAPPENS HERE.
To attach the Transit cab to the chassis I designed an adapter and had it printed in 3D. It slides around the chassis, making it wider and fills the wheel arches. I glued two strips with little tabs that grib around the adapter in the Transit cab. This way, everything is securely fastened, yet it’s still possible to disassemble the lot for maintenance. By now the model weighs 11 grams. That is extremely light (runs like rubbish) so weight (lead) must be added. Furthermore, a cover plate with pieces of interior. Finally I added details, painted the cab and applied some weathering.
