# Car crusher



## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

One of the major points of activity on my layout is a large busy salvage yard that I remember from my youth.
It's major source of revenue was the steel mill it supplied with gondolas full of scrap metal.

I have all the Walthers major salvage yard machinery -- the conveyor, the shear, and the baler -- but no one makes a _hydraulic car crusher_ in HO scale.

I'll need to scratch/bash one out of styrene, from photos I'm finding with Google searches.
I know fairly well what the main unit looks like, but I'm not finding any photos of the associated mechanisms like power source, hydraulic pump, reservoir, electric panel(s), etc. I suppose I could "fake" it, but I'd like to be at least _somewhat_ accurate. The old stand-alone units were powered by electric motor-driven hydraulics. Today's crushers are mostly trailer-hauled, and powered by an internal combustion engine.

If anyone knows where I can find photos or drawings of the old-style arrangement, I'd greatly appreciate a heads up. At the very least, they'd give me some 'scale' to work with.

Thanks in advance.


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

can't help you with your info, but I have to say it will make for an interesting and unique scene. :smilie_daumenpos:


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

You could make it actually operate, squishing some foam car model!


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## 3.8TransAM (Jan 13, 2016)

It better have a "Christine the Crusher" logo on it when done

That's awesome!


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

_Bill of materials:_

• CA glue.
• Styrene cement.
• Sheet styrene, 1/64"
• Sheet styrene, 1/32"
• Sheet styrene, 1/8"
• Styrene slab, 1/4"
• Styrene I-beam, 1/2"
• Styrene tube, 1/8" o.d.
• Styrene tube, 1/16" o.d.
• Styrene round bar, 1/4"
• Scale armored hose.
• Scale pipe elbows and fittings.
• Scale DC electric motor.
• Scale industrial power transformer.
• Scale hydraulic pump.
• Brass wire, .030"
• Scale gooseneck outdoor light.

I'll have to manufacture the control manifold and operator's stand.

I'll also have to find several HO scale crushed cars. I remember seeing some years ago, but I can't seem to locate any now. I have an HO scale grapple loader to feed the beast, but so far, no "victims".


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

3.8TransAM said:


> It better have a "Christine the Crusher" logo on it when done
> 
> That's awesome!


LOL, that _would_ be awesome. :smilie_daumenpos:
But I remember "Godzilla" stenciled in red letters on the top casting.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Neat idea.

I'm thinking that the hardest part to model will be the crushed cars. Real cars fold up flat, as your pics show. Plastic cars will snap and shatter. Any ideas on how you are going to do the cars?


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

MtRR75 said:


> Any ideas on how you are going to do the cars?


Well, if I can't find any commercially, I may think about getting '40's, '50's & '60's plastic cars, and applying heat somehow, to gently squish them, without melting or 'spreading' them.
It'll probably require a 'capture' die, mold release, and indirect heat.

I believe Walthers has 50-foot gondolas loaded with crushed cars. That might not be a very cost effective solution though.


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Just a couple of thoughts on crushed cars.

1. Before you flatten your cars, cut the doors open with a dremel wheel. That way the doors will separate as shown in your pictures.

2. For crushed glass, there is really nothing that glistens like real glass. Get some cheap window glass, cover it with something -- not cloth -- the glass will stick to the cloth -- maybe cardboard. Mix in some nails or screws or bolts, then pound the heck out of it. Then sift out the smallest particles -- they should be the about right size to be sprinkled around your crusher.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

MtRR75 said:


> Just a couple of thoughts on crushed cars.
> ... cut the doors open with a dremel wheel.
> 
> ... there is really nothing that glistens like real glass.


Excellent thoughts.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

MtRR75 said:


> Neat idea.
> 
> I'm thinking that the hardest part to model will be the crushed cars. Real cars fold up flat, as your pics show. Plastic cars will snap and shatter. Any ideas on how you are going to do the cars?


Needs a bit of carefully applied heat. That should do it.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

I'm bashing a grapple loader for handling cars on-and-off of the crusher.
Using a WoodlandScenics bucket loader, and a Shapeways 1:87 grapple.
Total cost is $20, but it'll be one-of-a-kind 'perfect'.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The process was straightforward and simple... but tedious.
The cars were crushed.
Then they were fed into a shear.
The pieces were loaded by a conveyor and a bucket loader into gondolas.
A local GE 44 tonner hauled the loaded gondolas to the steel mill weigh-scale spur.
Quite often, you'd see a loco, two gondolas, and a caboose moving through the suburbs.
At the mill, there were sometimes 50 or 60 gondolas lined up at the weigh scales... loaded with scrap metal, limestone, or coke.
Ore Jennys and coal hoppers came in on the other side of the mill.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Lol, in a text message exchange with Craig Martin at Archetype Scale Model Engineering, he'd like to make it for me at $75 per every hour of work... or $600 per 8 hours. Holy Samokes!!

Get out the styrene and glue!


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Hey here's an idea for your crushed cars... take an existing car model and wrap heavy-duty aluminum foil over the top of it. Cut out the windows and add some paint, then remove the foil from the model and crush it. Seems like you should get a nicely folded result from that?

For a safer crushed glass, what about taking a rolling pin over some salt? Most crystals with a frosted surface can be turned clear with something on its surface... maybe roll a bit of salt in some light cooking oil and see if that gives the desired results? (I don't *think* salt will dissolve in oil, could be wrong)


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## MtRR75 (Nov 27, 2013)

Shdwdrgn said:


> For a safer crushed glass, what about taking a rolling pin over some salt? Most crystals with a frosted surface can be turned clear with something on its surface... maybe roll a bit of salt in some light cooking oil and see if that gives the desired results? (I don't *think* salt will dissolve in oil, could be wrong)


I do not recommend salt. Latestarter lives in North Carolina, which has high humidity (like I do in Alabama). Salt absorbs humidity from the air. (That is why our salt shakers always freeze up.) I accidentally spilled some salt on the kitchen counter the other day and did not have time to clean it until several hours later. By then all of the salt crystals had turned into little puddles of salt water.

Salt might work in Colorado -- which has lower humidity, but not in the Southeast.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

MtRR75 said:


> Neat idea.
> 
> I'm thinking that the hardest part to model will be the crushed cars. Real cars fold up flat, as your pics show. Plastic cars will snap and shatter. Any ideas on how you are going to do the cars?


Put a car on top of another car, place a heavy book on top of them and slowly heat the plastic cars with a hair dryer. As they heat up the heavy book will compress them and you can push on the book too without damaging it. GO SLOW WITH THE HEAT.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

_Gonna' try this_:

• Make a capture die out of aluminum or steel -- one that's close-fitting to the size of the car.
• Machine a steel block to slide-fit into the top.
• Cut windows out of car, and remove wheels.
• Spray mold release into die.
• Place car into die.
• Slide steel block in, on top of car.
• Place assembly into oven at 250°.

Over time, the weight of the steel block will 'squish' the car.
The major unknown factor is _time_. Ten minutes? Fifteen? 30?
It may also work in a shallow pan of boiling water.

A scribed-line scale on the side of the steel block will enable similar results from car-to-car.

If I can do a few different ones, they perhaps could be 3D printed to produce several dozen. Painted and weathered individually, they'd all appear different.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

I don't know what temp that plastic melts at but the important thing is to stop the heat when the cars get to looking just right. If the heat is captured I don't think you can stop it fast enough to keep from getting the cars way too melted.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Shdwdrqn. I like the foil idea. It will crush much more realistic than any attempt at heating plastic.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Shdwdrgn said:


> Hey here's an idea for your crushed cars... take an existing car model and wrap heavy-duty aluminum foil over the top of it. Cut out the windows and add some paint, then remove the foil from the model and crush it. Seems like you should get a nicely folded result from that?


For some reason, I wasn't picturing what you meant by this.
But then I stumbled onto this website, and the concept and brilliance of your idea dawned on me.

Whole cars, front and rear clips, doors and fenders... all could be fashioned this way.
And rows of crushed cars!

Kudos!!
And thanks!!

http://www.horailroad.com/clinic3/


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

A shout-out to *Shdwdrgn*...
(Reply #15).

I didn't pick up on your idea right away, but you had the answer. :smilie_daumenpos: :appl:

Thanks.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

I agree. That does look great. Now Stop crushing those old cars! In my junk yard no car gets crushed unless it's newer than 1970. After that year they were/are junk anyway.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

_Ordered these_...
They were the hardest items to find.

• Shapeways electric motor.
• PSC Feedwater heater pump.

They'll sit on top of a square styrene oil reservoir.
I'll snip off the pump turbine, and use wire insulation for hosing.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Okay, I've found crushed cars by Walthers...
For some reason, nothing was coming up on Google when I searched. I ran into these by accident.

It's part #3634, and in the States it's about $15.
I've seen offshore prices at about $125 plus shipping.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Must be factory rejects.  That's pretty cool, I've never seen those before!


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

My car crusher is almost finished...
Lots of little styrene parts, plus putty and filing.
Also, I found an HO scale electric motor for the hydraulic stand (the first one was actually for O scale). The whole assembly has turned into a major operation.
I'll post pics when I get it painted and weathered.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

If you look on the RC truck site you'll find all kinds of hydraulic equipment to actually operate your crusher. Fluid pumps as well as tubes and hoses ect. for operating dump trucks so it ought to work for you too. Stuff is pricey though.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

That's one of the coolest and most unique builds, looking forward to the pictures.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Heating cars*



LateStarter said:


> Well, if I can't find any commercially, I may think about getting '40's, '50's & '60's plastic cars, and applying heat somehow, to gently squish them, without melting or 'spreading' them.
> It'll probably require a 'capture' die, mold release, and indirect heat.
> 
> I believe Walthers has 50-foot gondolas loaded with crushed cars. That might not be a very cost effective solution though.


 LateStarter;

You could heat the cars in a toaster oven. Two cautions though. Do Not Use The same toaster oven you use for food. Do what I did and buy a used one at a yard sale or Goodwill store. Melting plastic, and even worse, burning plastic,create very nasty, toxic, poisonous, fumes and ash. Bringing up the second caution. The plastic in modern furniture is one of the reasons firefighters wear air masks. My mother-in-law once left a glass, plastic topped, coffee pot heating on our gas stove and went shopping. I came home, walked in and couldn't breathe! I had to back out, then go through the garage and put on my painting respirator, before I could enter the house and turn on our whole house fan and open windows. The plastic that filled the house with toxic fumes was a 3" disc. It doesn't take much! Use you toaster oven outdoors, or at least in a well ventilated area, on low temperature. You will need to watch the melt down. You will only need to soften the plastic, not melt it into a puddle, or set it on fire! The "crushing" of the warm plastic car can be done with a brick, or large metal plate.

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

The prototype was painted a Machinery Green, with black hydraulic cylinders... doesn't look good on a model scale.
I'm probably going with a dull Safety Yellow for the cylinders.
On the overhead girder-plate was the name "Godzilla", originally in white, but faded to an oily egg shell.
The front of the 2-foot-thick concrete base was coated with leaking black fluids and grease.
A weathering dream!


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## Rogerdat (Apr 26, 2015)

Lemonhawk said:


> Shdwdrqn. I like the foil idea. It will crush much more realistic than any attempt at heating plastic.


I've made a grapple in 3D resin to fit a ModelMasters CAT320D








This one's too big but I did another closer to the right size for HO scale
Having some issues though, getting this to articulate correctly. Didn't know about the Shapeways download.
rr


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## Rogerdat (Apr 26, 2015)

Rogerdat said:


> I've made a grapple in 3D resin to fit a ModelMasters CAT320D
> View attachment 559326
> 
> This one's too big but I did another closer to the right size for HO scale
> ...


Wow, that's a horrible photo.








There we go


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## Rogerdat (Apr 26, 2015)

Rogerdat said:


> Wow, that's a horrible photo.
> View attachment 559327
> 
> There we go


*Diecast Masters 320D, not "Model Masters", sorry
r


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