12-02-2017, 12:27 AM
This thread was created to clean-up a thread in the Model Railroader Forum. Some of these pictures were posted there, but are somewhat off-topic. I'd originally planned to remove those photos and replace them with a link, but decided to leave them. I have, however, left a link too, so we may see some extra traffic around here and perhaps some new Members, too. My friends here, naturally, are invited to view these photos, too.
The crane was scratchbuilt in 1970, and is a composite of several cranes on which I worked. Originally, I set out to build a model of a blast furnace, and was able to get copies of blueprints of my employer's biggest blast furnace, at that time, the largest in North America, I think.
Here are a few photos of the real one...
...and the modelled version of the picture above...
I had the majority of the casthouse built, plus the blast furnace shell to the bell (top of the main structure), but with none of the piping or other large details at the top. At that point, it was well over 2' tall, and the pipes would have pushed it to over 3'. I also had the main structure of the double-track skip bridge built - milled basswood angles, channels, etc., with steel rails installed. The casthouse itself occupied a board 3'x3', and yet to be added were the stockhouse, about 1'x5', stoves 1'x3', and gas scrubbers and baghouses, about 2'x3'. As it was, the casthouse occupied most of the student-type desk that I was using, and we were living in a one bedroom apartment at the time.
Besides that, I was running out of funds for materials.
We moved several times, but with no place to do any further work , I eventually began to take things apart. The last to go was the skip bridge, and some of the rails from it were used on the crane. The crane spent a lot of time in a shoebox, until we were finally able to build our own house, with a basement for a train layout.
Since the crane was complete, I hunted for a suitable spot on the layout, and the area behind the locomotive shop in Lowbanks seemed appropriate. Two of the cranes which inspired the construction were outdoor cranes, anyway, so it was suitable for such a locale.
The main parts of the crane (bridge, trolley, and cab) are .020" and .030" sheet styrene, reinforced using milled basswood shapes - such shapes in styrene either didn't exist or I was unaware of them. All of the handrails were also basswood angles, although some were damage in storage and I've replace those with styrene parts.
The bearing caps on the trolley wheels are from a Revell model of a Russian T-33 tank, the wheels on the bridge and trolley are from old HO scale brass wheelsets, and the oversize sheaves in the hook block are from the ship-builders' section of my LHS at the time. Pretty-well everything else is scratchbuilt from sheet styrene: the motors, reduction gearboxes, electrical cabinets and switchboxes, even the magnet.
The crane runway was built for the installation on the layout, and is mostly Evergreen styrene shapes - H-columns, I-beams, and various angles and channels. Stairs up to the crane are from Tichy, although the ones on the crane itself are scratchbuilt. Oh, and the enclosure surrounding the steps up to the crane and the electrical switch gear, was made from corrugated basswood siding salvaged from the blast furnace's casthouse.
That appears to be all of the crane photos I have, although I've not used ones which were similar to some shown, and I have apparently lost all of my photos from 2012.
Wayne
The crane was scratchbuilt in 1970, and is a composite of several cranes on which I worked. Originally, I set out to build a model of a blast furnace, and was able to get copies of blueprints of my employer's biggest blast furnace, at that time, the largest in North America, I think.
Here are a few photos of the real one...
...and the modelled version of the picture above...
I had the majority of the casthouse built, plus the blast furnace shell to the bell (top of the main structure), but with none of the piping or other large details at the top. At that point, it was well over 2' tall, and the pipes would have pushed it to over 3'. I also had the main structure of the double-track skip bridge built - milled basswood angles, channels, etc., with steel rails installed. The casthouse itself occupied a board 3'x3', and yet to be added were the stockhouse, about 1'x5', stoves 1'x3', and gas scrubbers and baghouses, about 2'x3'. As it was, the casthouse occupied most of the student-type desk that I was using, and we were living in a one bedroom apartment at the time.
Besides that, I was running out of funds for materials.
We moved several times, but with no place to do any further work , I eventually began to take things apart. The last to go was the skip bridge, and some of the rails from it were used on the crane. The crane spent a lot of time in a shoebox, until we were finally able to build our own house, with a basement for a train layout.
Since the crane was complete, I hunted for a suitable spot on the layout, and the area behind the locomotive shop in Lowbanks seemed appropriate. Two of the cranes which inspired the construction were outdoor cranes, anyway, so it was suitable for such a locale.
The main parts of the crane (bridge, trolley, and cab) are .020" and .030" sheet styrene, reinforced using milled basswood shapes - such shapes in styrene either didn't exist or I was unaware of them. All of the handrails were also basswood angles, although some were damage in storage and I've replace those with styrene parts.
The bearing caps on the trolley wheels are from a Revell model of a Russian T-33 tank, the wheels on the bridge and trolley are from old HO scale brass wheelsets, and the oversize sheaves in the hook block are from the ship-builders' section of my LHS at the time. Pretty-well everything else is scratchbuilt from sheet styrene: the motors, reduction gearboxes, electrical cabinets and switchboxes, even the magnet.
The crane runway was built for the installation on the layout, and is mostly Evergreen styrene shapes - H-columns, I-beams, and various angles and channels. Stairs up to the crane are from Tichy, although the ones on the crane itself are scratchbuilt. Oh, and the enclosure surrounding the steps up to the crane and the electrical switch gear, was made from corrugated basswood siding salvaged from the blast furnace's casthouse.
That appears to be all of the crane photos I have, although I've not used ones which were similar to some shown, and I have apparently lost all of my photos from 2012.
Wayne