I have a small area at the end of my yard I would like to detail with MOW and other supplies. There is a pic below. The three tracks on the right are the main, receiving and departure tracks, joining together. The track on the embankment to the left is the yard runaround track. Inbetween are three stub ended tracks, two of which are cut shorter than the one which extends into the pic. The white styrene bit you see between the runaround track and the stub ended yard track will be a service road, it is descending from crossing over that runaround track. So, this is the area available to me.

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Here is a pic facing the other way. That ramp coming from the crossing can be seen well, and the three stub tracks. The styrene bits next to the longer stub track are to provide a level base for a platform. About where the two shorter stub tracks end, I had started a decline to enhabce the appearance of the embankment. So I've leveled it out here.

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So my question is: If I was to store 40' lenghts of rail here, would a jib crane be used to load on flatcars? For other supplies a short platform to access a boxcar door? I think I've seen pics of barrels of spikes. They must be incredibly heavy. How are they moved? What else can anyone recommend?

I have a few small structures I started for other scenes but never finished because I changed my mind. I might be able to use them here.

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Any and all help, links to pics, etc is very welcome!

Gary

Something like this could be used to load rails on flatcars. A small Americancrane on a flatcar. Also rails can be loaded into gondolas. A Burro crane with an electro-magnet could also be used. I once saw a Metro-North Burro crane, unloading fishplates and connectors from a gondola a few years ago, of course, no camera on hand.
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Those small buildings are cool, but you might also want to add an old caboose, passenger car that was taken out of service and is now used by MOW crews for an office and crew lounge.

That crane on flat scene, (with the passenger car in the distance) is almost perfect enough by itself, as a model subject for your area. The combination of age, greenery, and subject material, would make an excellent vignette.

I think that a crane like the one in Ed's photo, or even one on rails, like the Walthers model, would be better than a jib crane - both for the longer boom and the ability for it to move about.
Not that long ago, most spikes (not just railroad ones) came in wooden kegs - I remember them and I'm not that....never mind. I'd guess that they'd be moved with a two-wheeled hand-truck, at least in the supply yard.

Nowadays rail spikes come in metal pails, I think maybe 5 gallons, although, according to this site in 50, 100 or 200lb. pails or in bulk, by the gondola-load.

Another possibility would be to turn over some of that vacant real estate to the Telegraph Department, for use as a pole yard. A couple of piles of tapered dowels or even some Rix poles without the crossarms and a few stacks of crossarms (without insulators), and perhaps a shed or two for storage of tools and supplies and they'd be in business. A few reels of cable and/or wire would look good, too. It'd also give you the opportunity to occasionally run a retired wooden baggage car in work train service, lettered, of course, for the Telegraph Dept.

Wayne

Thanks everyone for your input. My initial thought to use a jib crane, such as the one here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.stellascalemodels.com/images/Owens_Monumental_Company/OMC5.html">http://www.stellascalemodels.com/images ... /OMC5.html</a><!-- m -->
was to keep things in proportion, this is a small area. But I do see that the limitations of such a crane would make it implausable. So I was looking at the Walthers site at all the cranes available. I love the Tichy one but it is too large. Custom Finishing has a nice 7 1/2 ton Burro crane but it is pricy. The Walthers 25 ton, the one I guess Wayne refers to, seems a good choice. But I'm attracted to Jordan Products Erie steam crane. Pic here: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/360-304">http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/360-304</a><!-- m -->

Has anyone any experience building this kit? I'd like to find out if there are any major problems with part fit, etc. I like the fact it is so old, relegated to service in the MOW yard. And being on tracks, can move about, and I could have a ramp to one of the stub tracks so it can leave the area.

Please let me know what you think of that.

Regarding Ed's mention of a passenger car, I had forgotten that I had indeed intended to include one back when I designed the layout. At the risk of boring you: I've mentioned before that the John Galt Line name comes from a book called Atlas Shrugged. Well, it was a branch line of Taggart Transcontinental, and was given seperate identity for political reasons, beyond the scope of this discussion. The book centers, as most fiction does, on a conflict between heroes and protaganists. One of the main heroes is Dagny Taggart, her nemisis is James Taggart, her brother, and President. While I intend to model the Taggart Comet (like the NYC 20th Century or PRR Broadway Ltd) and use various heroes names on sleeper cars, the James Taggart will be a derelict hulk in the MOW yard! In my minds eye I see a sway backed old wooden car. I don't know what model would lend itself to this, if anyone has a suggestion, please advise. Thanks!

I don't know about the crane, but I heard their cars are easy to put together. And from the one I took out of the box at my LHS, looked nice.
Maybe the good Dr. can tell you better, as I think he's put a couple of them together.
And that crane would look "just right" sitting on a flatcar.

As far as the passenger car, I would suggest a Roundhouse "Harriman" coach, or even better yet, a combintation.

I wasn't even aware of that Jordan derrick, although I do have their steam shovel, as-yet unbuilt. While the derrick to which I was referring was the Walthers American,


their 25 tonner would be an even better choice. However, the Jordan version would be even more versatile, and with a suitable dirt ramp, could be loaded onto a flat car, too, as in Ed's photo.

For your "grounded" ex-passenger car, the MDC/Roundhouse Palace combine might be a good choice, or even the Pullman, diner, or observation car from the same series. Here's an in-service combine:


...and a Pullman (converted to a coach):


I'd de-truck the car and put it up on ties, and perhaps close it up underneath, too:


It would also be a good idea to block-off most of the windows with "sheet metal" or "plywood", although I'm not sure how you'd be able to put a sway-back into it. Another option might be a LaBelle wood kit, or something scratchbuilt.

Wayne

I think a crane like Dr Wayne pictured would be perfect. In the steam or transition era, most if not all mow work was done from a work train. I think at that time hi-rail vehicles were pretty much restricted to inspection and management use. Rail and ties would be in stacks with ties under the stack of rails to allow for a cable to pass underneath to lift them with a crane into a gon or a flat car to be put into service. The railroad might use a crane on tracks for wreck clean up where the wreckage might be too far from the tracks for a flat mounted crane to reach or too heavy for the flat mounted crane to lift without tipping over, but I think most mow work would be done with flat car mounted heavy equipment.

Thanks Ed, Wayne. Wayne, I took a look at LaBelle's website and it looks like their roof is one piece so would present the same problems to acheiving a sway backed look. I seem to remember there was an article, probably in Model Railroader, back in the 60's on building something like this, may have been by John Allen, anyone remember this?

In the September 1959 Model Railroader, Ron Christison did an article on Powering the Tru-Scale crane ( which is now the Walthers 25 ton)...The author also backdated the crane to a steam version.

jglfan Wrote:I took a look at LaBelle's website and it looks like their roof is one piece so would present the same problems to achieving a sway backed look. I seem to remember there was an article, probably in Model Railroader, back in the 60's on building something like this, may have been by John Allen, anyone remember this?

Here's a more recent look at achieving that sway-backed look.

Another option would be to build the LaBelle car body, substituting a plastic roof from Eastern Car Works or Branchline - the judicious application of a little heat should make the roof pliable enough to form to fit the car.

Wayne

If you extended the one track to run along the length of the "depot", you could use the little 25-tonner that Sumpter mentioned. It could run up and down with an attendant flat car picking up supplies to be loaded on the work train waiting on one of the other shorter tracks. If it was powered, it might switch the necessary cars right out of the work train.

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Backdated or not, powered or not, it's a neat little contraption...!

Andrew

Russ, I missed your post. I figure on getting teh Tichy crane for worktrain service, I like the fact that you can model it with the interior visable, and I have a storage track at the other end of the yard for it to sit on. For this area, the crane would be pretty much dedicated to service there. So the fact that the Jordan model is on tracks makes it versatle, and I lke the fact it is steam, without modification!

Wayne, I remember that thread, what awesome work he does! If I can build a sturdy frame as he did, that method would be great. But that's a big if! I was looking at instruction sheets at the LaBelle site, tho they are for previously made kits, not the current ones. I am not sure the bodies would respond to the method you linked too, have you built one of these kits?

John Allen did articles on swaybacking and humpbacking cars. I think they were reprinted in Classic Articles from Model Railroader, which also came out years ago. I don't think John was using plastic kits as a base, though.

jglfan Wrote:I was looking at instruction sheets at the LaBelle site, tho they are for previously made kits, not the current ones. I am not sure the bodies would respond to the method you linked too, have you built one of these kits?

I've never built a LaBelle kit, although I've scratchbuilt a few freight cars and structures using wood - never again, thanks. I much prefer styrene: Faster construction, and much more permanent, too. Any stripwood I had left was hacked into short lengths for scrap dunnage in open freight cars.

The Tichy model is of a 125 tonner, definitely bigger than you'd need for that yard area. It's a well-done kit and can be customised to suit your tastes. I added some sliding doors to mine, along with platforms for fueling:


The boom idler car is an Athearn 40' flatcar, with a scratchbuilt wooden deck, and a styrene shed and tool boxes:


Wayne