Mr. Meashey is indeed!
Update:
Located some beads from the girls that will work as turnbuckles. Work is getting in the way of progress right now, though…
Eric
Work is stupid. We should quit and play trains Eric.
Love the bead idea. I use round ones all the time for globe valves for plumbing. Never considered oblong ones for turnbuckles… good idea
Dave’s idea of weed eater line is interesting. Might have to give that a try also.
I agree!
I am off today, and, after “home recovery duties,” returned to this project. I used the beads and @Cliff_Jennings idea about the shrink wrap to give a taper of sorts. The whole is leaned up against the Tree of Spray Painting as the black primer dries. Pictures to follow when it is all mounted on the trucks.
I have begun moving forward with the crane. The plans in the GR compendium one was sort of small-ish. It only pivoted; it did not rise up and down. I am wondering if I should just upsize this a bit or expand the project a bit to let the boom go up and down. The end state has to be durable, fun, and at reasonably representative of the real thing.
Eric
1 Like
Update:
Over the course of the day, Kid-zilla and I took on this project. I soldered the truss rods to the queen post, glued the beads to the truss rods, and “shrank on” the shrink tubing to the beads:
Some black primer followed. The Tree of Spray Painting bears another badge of honor!
As the primer dried, I took @PeterT 's advice and cut short lengths of tubing to protect the trucks. It may be overkill, but it was simple. I also located some smaller washer to fit into the cavity on the underside of the trucks. Kid-zilla laughed, as I must have tried to mount both trucks upside down at least three times each. Now I know why the washers were too big…
Anyway, after I tapped some holes in each bolster, he helped me line up the washers (one side did get a nylon one), brass, tubing, and screws…
…and he helped me screw them in place:
Next came some 0-5-0 testing…
…followed by a trick with Diesel Dan…
Testing revealed a spot at a “pinch point” drove this frame off the rails. This is probably an issue with the track.
This is starting to look like a piece of railroad equipment! Thanks for all the ideas regarding the truss rods and turnbuckles!
Eric
Update:
We made a push today so that Kid-zilla could show off the work to his grandparents and cousins. It began with gluing our secret ingredient - craft sticks - to the frame…
.
…and weighting the lot under books:
We let it dry about 8 hours, but bonehead (yours truly) put on the wrong cutting disc…
…tearing up a couple planks. The hand saw did little better, so we had to replace a few:
To be honest, I should have marked and cut the planks in advance. On account of my laziness, we’ll have to touch up the paint a bit.
Next, we took the flat car out to the track for trials. Usually, we run trains a bit to fast to get them over dirty spots and switches, so Kid-zilla suggested a simulated work train behind Mack:
You can see some of the paint damage just behind the crew car. We did suffer some derailments at first. One of the wheelsets had come out of gauge. Then, we noticed that this car did not suffer “alternatively level” portions of track. Kid-zilla fixed this with some weights. I fixed it permanently with some MOW work. After running flawlessly, it was time for a load test:
Video: Load Test
My camera cut out before the crucial “Un-load Test!”
In between we did some serious gandydancing around the mill to address alignment issues, level switches, and install rail clamps. Everything worked flawlessly for the descent of the relatives…So flawlessly, in fact, oo one noticed Olomana flaming out…Guess someone else wanted a turn on the Track of Perpetual Puttering… 
She dates to 1998 based on the receipt that came when I scored the little gem for about $10, so I cannot complain…too much.
We are, of course, not done. We still have to make that crane. I have to get some 1/4" basswood to serve as a base. One set of posts will hold a drum for the cable to raise and lower the boom. Another set will hold the boom as well as a drum to raise and lower the hook. I figure on mount all on a large fender washer. I’ll fix another fender washer to the base. The crane will rotate about a pin that goes through the crane’s deck, both fender washers, and into the center beam. That should be executable, durable, and fun.
Oh, and simply because I wish to hijack my own thread, I’d thought I’d share a funny story about that little green coach. My parents had gifted the gang a little cash for their success in the Mik 2022. While perusing e-Bay, CINCHOUSE saw that little green coach:
- CINCHOUSE: That’s cute!
- Me: We don’t need that.
- CINCHOUSE: It reminds me of my little green trolley souvenir from San Francisco.
- Me: It’s not a trolley.
- CINCHOUSE: We can name it Travis the Trolley.
Between advice I received early on that my purchases should include those things that make others happy as well as a spark of my infrequently heeded spousal intuition, I reasoned I should make a bid. Travis the Trolley will now grace the Triple O.
More of that work stuff to follow, so progress will have to wait. In the meantime, we have a pretty nice flat car.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Eric
3 Likes
I am reminded of a joke , a retired guy took a job at a Wal-mart and after the first week he was called into the office, the supervisor was disappointed that he had been late every day so far . He asked the guy what they would have said to him when he showed up late in his last job, he replied “good morning General”.
So be a good soldier , snap a crisp salute and do what CINCHOUSE. requests! Maybe this will require a new locomotive to pull it around the Triple O
Eric- Regarding the green coach, yes I have one and why did I get that? Then I made a Regner Paul steam tram, and lo and behold, it matches the prototype car the tram used to pull. So you never know.
coming along. Nice work on the truss rods. I like the bead and shrink wrap.
Great dad-work Eric.
Eric;
This car uses the “guts” from an HO heavy wrecking crane.
Here’s a closeup of the “works.”
Best, David Meashey
Eric, I got an LGB crane in my stash from Texas.
I would have offered it to you but my wife (CINC-CONDO) decided it was neat and I should keep it. It certainly is neat, but I have no room for it nor any use. It sits on a very small LGB flatcar at the moment but with no central pivot. The boom can be raised and lowered, and the hook also.
If I told her it was for your kids, she might let it go - and that would either give you a model to copy or save you a lot of work! Let me know before May 25th if you are interested.
I shall now have to peruse Regner’s website in her presence…accidentally, of course! We have the LGB version of this tram; I had no idea this was its matching coach!
No progress (stupid work). I talked to Kid-zilla about using a stove from Oldest Daughter’s short 'bash of a few years back (thanks again for that opportunity @Rooster !) as a steam engine to power the crane. He looked unconvinced…We’ll stage the bits during the next work session and see how that flies.
Eric
I remember you posting something this effect in another thread. I have been canvasing the boys’ collection of toy cars and trucks to see if I can find a donor. No joy…
Eric
Pete, PM sent! It’ll save some work, as you said, and I think Kid-zilla wants his crane car before his drivers license!
Eric
Wants it “more than” a drivers license, or “before his 17th b’day” ? 
I’ll dig it out when I get back to FL after the vacation.
Thanks! Kid-zilla just saw the picture! He’s stoked! Looks like I’ll beat both his 17th birthday AND the drivers license!
Update:
Guess what arrived in the mail today?
Many thanks, @PeterT ! Of course, the first order of business was to play with it as is before mounting it to its flatbed. After I was done playing with it, though, I decided Kid-zilla should have a turn, too!
With the crane in hand, I helped him make a thin wash of alcohol and India ink so he could stain the deck:
He took time to do each plank a bit differently to make them look all mixed up, spending extra time on planks he thought looked more damaged and thus older:
Kid-zilla then set everything out just to see how it would look before we screwed it all down:
Later, we got the fittings to put the crane in place. He glued a large fender washer where he wanted the crane mounted…
…and helped me tap a hole for the screw that would fix the crane over the truck. He debated closing that hole in the back of the crane’s cab, but decided leaving it open did make it much easier to get PLAYMOBIL into and out of the cab. Wise choice!
With that all done, there was only one thing to do, assemble the MOW train…
…and pose with his work!
While not quite done, this has entered the roster and is sitting on the ready track. We still plan to add a hold-down for the hook and a simple yoke or rest for the boom. We also plan to use a Cricut to cut vinyl lettering for the crane’s name. I told him when he is older, if he wants, we can really detail this up. For now, I want this to be detailed enough for him to call it a “model” but not so detailed he cannot use it as a toy.
Kid-zilla is SO proud of his crane car. He asked to present it as a special “show and tell” at dinner. Later, he told me, he might “run the wires” so he could power up the railroad tomorrow and run the work train.
As alluded to above, there are a few closing posts to come, but it is not too early to say thank for all the help in bringing this project over the line!
Aloha,
Eric
3 Likes
that just looks awesome!! Kidzilla is going to need a new name, as his wrecking has turned into pretty good building and detailing!!
The wash on the decking is perfect, Good Job Kid!!!
1 Like