Following on from Paul's thread.... (started a new thread just for the Vacminel topic rather than SK800)

https://www.marklin-user...-Locomotive-pre-war.aspx

This is really interesting, I see it was discussed similarly here a few years back....

https://www.marklin-user....aspx?g=posts&t=5539 and this link...

http://tischbahn.de/inde...tugal-hergestellt-wurde/ (which is possibly drawn from this link.....)

http://www.frtrains.com/...ntation/vacminelp1.shtml

The items of course are interesting in their own right, but what really fascinates me is that this Portuguese Gentleman was able to manufacture products of very high quality in his own workshop, in his spare time!! - the articles refer to Bronze moulds which were later destroyed, but I'm finding myself wondering what would have been the techniques required (and possible at that time) to actually manufacture the Loco parts and the Coaches, not to mention the Track and Trafo.

My initial thought was that the track is actual Marklin track, and that the coaches were standard Marklin production items repainted by him, but perhaps he made them from scratch. So not only did he have the ability to cast the Loco body and Tender (did he also make the engine, wheels, motor etc or did he use Marklin chassis as his basis?), but also the Tin-plate fabrication for the coaches and trucks, but also able to source of produce a Trafo.

Perhaps this is covered in the original non-English articles and the auto-translation has let me down?

Because this is really a diversion from Paul's original topic, I'll start a new thread which might catch some new viewers and stop us stomping all over Paul's thread.

Awaiting more input.

Cheers

Cookee
Melbourne

To make everything including transformer, track, etc would be very hard for one person. I would say too that the mechanics of the loco were mainly original Marklin. The body of the loco seems to be slightly different but he didn't need to machine the whole loco. A marklin body could have been copied in several stages probably using wax and plaster and obtaining a low quality metal copy that could be improved to a better level to make a more suitable mould for production. The wagons may have been original M repainted. I have never seen them in person but certainly this has caught my attention and it is one thing to look forward to obtain if price is not to crazy because I imagine there won't be a lot around.

Hello Manuel,

It is absolutely incredible to read that short letter explaining some of the possible production methods. This guy was a true craftsman! Looks like he worked with what he had and was able to make incredible parts in the end! Of course it is still interesting how some of the parts were made....like the linkages and the car bodies which would require very heavy metal stamping machines.

I am still curious if he used any original Marklin parts....my guess is that he did or somehow found a supplier or partner to get the parts for him. Making those tiny linkages exactly correct would be very difficult. Also the molds would be interesting to see -- they must have been multiple part molds that could break apart to eject the part or perhaps they had cores in them.

Best regards,

Paul

Simply amazing he was able to accomplish the tender casting with a two-part mold! The metal must not have been Zinc unless he had some kind of injection system....the detail is too perfect. There must have been considerable work to be done on the part after as it would not fill evenly although he might have had more equipment from his friend who was in the business.

Paul

Hello Friends,

After further inspection of the molds of the tender from the photos I can see that he used two commonly known casting techniques with cores and break-apart molds. One difficult problem when faced with metal casting is getting the part out after the metal has cooled and hardened. Both the piece and the mold must be very hard to ensure details but these details often prevent the part from being removed. For example, the two rear buffers on the tender are a big obstacle because they protrude out and must be surrounded by the mold. The solution is that the main tender mold breaks into 4 pieces. We can even see the parting line where the mold comes apart (look closely near the ends of the tender). This way the mold can be safely removed without damaging the hard metal part after the casting. I am not sure what material the mold is made out of...I think brass was mentioned but I don't think this is possible, brass is very soft. Most molds are made out of steel because they can withstand the high temperatures of the metal melted in them. The mold must be strong to survive many castings without losing detail.

The craftsman would also have to engrave some of the "VACMINEL" lettering into the mold before the molds are actually made. Perhaps original Marklin pieces were cast in past then with the lost-wax process the molds were made and then cut apart (plaster can handle extremely high temperatures to make the molds).

The SK housing would have been many times more difficult to make than the tender. There are so many "undercuts" that the mold would have to be many parts with multiple cores. Examples of undercuts: buffers, smoke deflectors, streamlined parts. Then the windows and front lamp holes are very difficult and finally the area in the cab with the little bridge piece to hold on the wire sockets and tender coupling piece. Because of so many undercuts and holes, there is a huge amount of post-casting work to be done with lots of filing. We can see several modifications to the original Marklin design to make it easier to cast...especially in the front of the SK and the rear of the tender.

A true marvel to accomplish such a task!

Best regards,

Paul