I've at last made a start on my long-planned wagon building program. I want the wagons to be distinctive to the rebuilt PLR, i.e. not copies of wagons used elsewhere. The most important aspect is the need for them to be tipped which I hope to do at least semi automatically. I want to try and build a tippler which has echoes of the original Pentewan tipplers with a pivoted section of track. My first thoughts are that it will be easier to automate if the opening side is full length and top hung. I'm not sure how prototypical this will be so would welcome thoughts from other learned modellers.
I'm designing the wagons using Solidworks for Makers. It had quite a steep learning curve however I'm now successfully producing components and assemblies. Test prints so far have been done on my Bambu A1 using a 02mm nozzle and basic PLA. The detail is pretty good and the PLA is remarkably strong. For full production I may get some parts printed in resin, although I'll need to be sure it will be strong enough.
Here are some pics of the designs and prints:
