Progress on the RR has slowed to almost a stop after my operating secession. I have been doing lots of OT for my job. But I have been finding time to pick away at building a small truck dump coal loader. I have been using an old article from MR with a few modifications. The biggest modifications I have made is that I have shortened the overall length of the loader. I also changed the method to build the upper belt rollers, the method in MR was too time consuming. I didn't like the article suggestion of using suran rap for the belt, I used black electrical tape cut four feet wide. I removed the adhesive from the tape with Goo-Gone. I started to build the supporting structure from strip wood. I am just eyeballing it so it has the run down built quick look. I still have to make a roof, the truck dump pit, and the chute to fill the RR cars. unpainted conveyor painted conveyor with electrical tape belt. The start of the structure. [ September 08, 2005, 09:08 AM: Message edited by: Coaltrain ]
Here is the progress I have made on the coal loader. Next up is adding the roofing material, corrugated metal. Then I will tackle the truck dump pit that feeds the crusher. I will also have to stain all of the cut ends of the boards. here are some photos of the progress.
I've been staring at the first pics for a while now and now these pop up. That is one very nice piece of engineering - excellent skills sir. I can only hope to progress to this level. So when are you sending that down to Australia? j/k!!!!
I don't claim much originality to this model, as I said I am building it from a 1983 MR article with a few deviations. The basic conveyor is made just like the article except I used structural shape styrene instead of wood as the article states. The main difference to my conveyor (besides being made of plastic) is the overall length and the way I built the rollers. After I had the main I-beams constructed I made a quick spacing jig to space and insure perpendicularity of the rollers as I glued them in place. To make the rollers I first glued .020 x .060 x 4 scale feet long slats across the conveyor (I forget the c-c spacing). These slats are the base of every roller. When those dried I cut some .030 x .060 x 18 scale inches high pieces that I glued vertically to the ends of every roller slat, these are the vertical supports that hold the end of every roller. For the roller I used 1/8" hollow styrene rod cut 4 scale feet long. Now here comes the visual trickery part, to make the V belt rollers with out having to go through a lot of complicated modeling, I only simulated that the rollers are mounted to the vertical end supports when in fact they are glued to the base slats that I glued on first. They look like they are mounted to the vertical end supports because I made sure each roller end touched the vertical end supports. The rollers were made by taking each 4 foot (scale) and break it one foot from each end, but don't break it totally free from the center piece. To control where the breaks happened I made a shallow cut with an xacto blade one foot from each end of the roller, then I grabbed the end with a pliers and bent it until it cracked. I filled the crack with a drop of ACC. Once I got going I could tell just how much I had to break the rollers to get the same bend over and over and over and over and over....... I will keep posting picture here until it is finished, next up is the roof. For the roof I am going to try to drop the metal roofing in etchant to rust it. I've never done it but I've seen great results from others.
That is a wonderful stand-alone model, let alone as part of a layout! If the rest of the layout is to that standard, it will be outstanding
Jeff, Excellent work it looks so realistic did you have a picture to go by or did you design it yourself?
Paul, sorry I didn't respond earlier, I've been busy building more of the loader. I built it from an MR article (1983), except I had to modify it to fit my location. Here's where I am at so far. I added the metal roofing, lighting, and the truck dump pit. I also started to fit it on the layout. I will have to build a ramp up to the receiving pit for the dump trucks to dump into. To weather the roofing I dipped the corrugated metal into PC board etching liquid from Radio Shack. I was totally impressed by the results. I didn't do anything else to the roofing material other than dip it into the liquid until it started to etch then I dropped it into a cut of water to stop the process. I let the roofing dry over night and to my surprise some of it had rusted. There were also some neat holes that the PC board etchant burned into the roofing. I will say that at first I had my doubts. When I first put a piece of the roofing material in the etchant it didn't do anything for a while, then the piece dissolved before my very eyes. Once I got used to getting the pieces out of the liquid before it totally dissolved, things went much better. Next up, add the hoist to the coal chute, build the truck ramp and work in the scenery around the whole structure. [ 17. March 2004, 13:38: Message edited by: Coaltrain ]
You should really post the dimensions and things for that loader. I would like to build something like that for my layout.
HO Modeler and others, I would be happy to post the overall dimensions of my loader but if you have a copy of the Feb. 1983 Model Railroader then you can get them from there. I am building it from an article in that issue except that I built mine a little shorter. I followed the article almost to a tee (except I shortened my conveyor) for building the conveyor, after that I only used the article as a reference. The other day I went to the LHS to get some blackened chain for the chute hoist. They wanted $5 for a piece of chain, but as I was on my way to pay for it I spotted a Tichy jig hoist kit. In the Tichy kit it had a cool block and tackle and a length of blackened chain all for FIVE BUCKS!!! I bought the Tichy kit and used it to finish the hoist on my loader. In the photo there is a temporary piece of brass wire that holds the movable chute to the stationary chute that I will change out with something else (I'm not sure what yet). I also have not finished wrapping the chain around the hoist crank because I'm not sure if I want to model the chute up or down. I really am trying to figure out how to make it be able to go up and down. The parts from the Tichy kit that I used are the hook, the lower pulley, the upper pulley (the photo got cut off), the upper pulley mount (also cut off), the chain, and the hoist crank with the mounting bracket. It was a great bargain. Next up, blending in the scenery around the loader and add finish details around it. [ 17. March 2004, 13:42: Message edited by: Coaltrain ]
Work on the loader is at a snails pace now, still working major OT and it is now spring and I have lots of outside work waiting for me (and fishing season opens soon). But I did manage to get the basic scenery in around it. I had to build up the road behind the loader and add a spot for a scale house. I used foam to build up the hill and I used sculptamold (sp) to blend it all with the existing scenery. I had to use dry wall patch to fix up the facia and I will have to repaint that spot. Next up is the finish scenery (Silflor, ground foam, and trees) plus some more details.
