Foam Cradle for Engine Repair

nope. sounds like you need to buy two and roll your own.

That's a plan. Wonder if I could slice the foam with a hot wire or something. I don't suppose freezing it would help when using a knife or saw blade.

I used a Hot Knife I bought at Harbor freight ($15.00) to make mine.  I had enough foam to make two, one for home and one for my club, I used super glue and accelerator to join the pieces.  That was three years ago and neither has come apart.  The piece that was left over I use for the engine shell when I disassemble one.  Recently I found another large piece of thick form under my layout and one of these days I'll make another cradle :-)

Sent you an email think I have your answer 

The Train Room in Hagerstown,MD has the cradles with different lengths. You may want to contact them.

Scott Smith

Question if I could come up with a commercial produced product to fill this bill how many would be interested.  

rtraincollector posted:

Question if I could come up with a commercial produced product to fill this bill how many would be interested.  

Bill, assuming you mean an "O"-scale-sized cradle with two parallel compartments (one for the frame/motors and one for the shell/boler), I would definitely be interested.

I have looked at the foam cradles and find the price is way out of site for $1 worth of foam.  I would make a cradle to suit my needs, you can use foam or wood and carpet or whatever you feel will cushion enough. I have used a piece of 5/8 rebound padding with great success. doesn't anyone in O gauge make their own stuff, even the simple stuff like an engine cradle?

I tried to find foam to make my own, I wanted it to be black so it would not look so scruffy after the smoke fluid and oil. I could not find any thing in town. And what I could find at the fabric shop was way over the price of the single cradle one made for trains that I could get from the hobby shop.

If you know of a cheap block of black foam, with the correct stiffness, that's maybe about 16" by 12" by about 3" high, where?

Try contacting Berwyn's Toys & Trains, in Berwyn, IL.  (708) 484-4384 and ask for Tom. I purchased an extra long foam cradle (for articulateds) from them, within the last couple of years. It comes in VERY handy.

I made my own.  When I get home this afternoon I will post pics.

I did just find some customizable foam meant for gun cases, etc. on ebay.

I guess I really wanted to find out if there was some product made for model trains that I could just buy like the single one I have. Gluing two of them together sounds like a plan.

How well would a hot knife cut this stuff? 

Leaves a crispy burnt edge on it

I have had good success cutting foam rubber by using the following technique.  I mark a cut line on the foam with a sharpie.  Next I take a piece of plywood to use as a straight edge and also to compress the foam.  I have the foam to be cut laying on a work bench that is about knee high.  With the piece of plywood on the foam, lined up with the cut line, I take one of my knees and place it on the plywood and press down, compressing the foam.  When I have the foam compressed, I just cut along the edge of the plywood with a razor knife.  this works really good for me. 

Matt Makens posted:

Leaves a crispy burnt edge on it

Kinda' what I figured from the soldering iron digs in mine.

Mr Union Pacific posted:

I have had good success cutting foam rubber by using the following technique. ... snip...

I'm not sure that would apply to cutting a groove into the foam for a cradle, that works fine for just cutting the foam.

My cradle with scale 611 and Milwaukee GP to show size

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Matt Makens posted:

Leaves a crispy burnt edge on it

Kinda' what I figured from the soldering iron digs in mine.

Mr Union Pacific posted:

I have had good success cutting foam rubber by using the following technique. ... snip...

I'm not sure that would apply to cutting a groove into the foam for a cradle, that works fine for just cutting the foam.

Oh...that's a plan. Buy two blocks of foam and cut strips from one to glue on the other making cradles. Hmmm...

I did that for my first one Chuck.  It worked, but my foam was kinda' short, so I ended up buying a 24" one.

Okay heres what I have 

rtraincollector posted:

Okay heres what I have 

What is that?  And more importantly, where did you get it?  It looks perfect for being able to have something on it at a slight angle for oiling axles.

I have a couple of these Engine Cradles that I got a 3-4 years ago. They are pretty nice, can be put together end to end or side by side. They have 35mm film canisters for screws and parts and also a built in trough for parts. Pretty well thought out, at least I thought they were. At the bottom of the page they also have some very nice needle point plastic bottles for oil, smoke fluid or whatever, also got a few of those when I got the cradles. There is other nice stuff on the website as well.

The downside to this is that I have read here on the forum that some have had difficulty contacting Collectors Choice lately. Website is still up, so I am not sure what is going on there? The owner used to own a train store here in the area where I live. He has sold the train store and is now retired. Could be enjoying retirement, traveling or who knows what?

I have their 24" model, works fine for me.