The easy way to make them alike is to make a jig. Cut a slot in a block of wood with a hole at the appropriate length, drop the end of the brass in the hole, bend it into the slot, and bend the end over the end of the block. (I’ll have to find a picture! Bruce made lots of them that way.)
Update:
Thanks as always, Pete ( @PeterT )!
The counterweight got its black paint and the gondola walls got their primer. Both need to dry thoroughly before I mount the former and paint the latter.
The bits arrived from Ozark. They are pretty cool, but I will need to locate very small screws or nails to mount the “stirrup” steps, and I have to figure out a way to secure the post pockets beyond just CA glue. The crane tender will lose a lot of fun value if using it comes with “Be careful! The pockets will fall off!” each time it comes off the ready track. There may be room to tap a small hole for an equally small screw.
All attempts to fix my Dremel, which I’ll need to tap the holes to mount the stirrup steps when I find those screws, were for naught. In fact, I just about wore the doo-dad that holds the collet in place smooth in my attempts to remove it. The top 3-4 speeds had stopped working months ago, so I used this as an excuse to upgrade to the next more powerful model. The thing also gets used for crafting, school projects, household repairs, etc. so it doesn’t count against the Triple O’s budget!
I know the hobby shop near my office has micro-screws for R/C aircraft. The issue will be getting there, as I will be on a backshift for a while. We may proceed and paint the chassis, mount the decking, and at least enjoy a flat car.
Have a Great Weekend!
Eric
Update:
Happy Labor Day!
Progress was in fits and starts due to this horrible thing…work. Beats having the bank foreclose, so nothing to do about that work thing…The following will read as those it happened over the weekend, but, in fact, it was a series of micro-sessions.
Kid-zilla and I cut, mounted…
… and weight tested the planks.
Henrietta did NOT enjoy the ride! We have since found our Humane Society pig is an expectant mother, so maybe she had morning sickness.
Later, I used a fine-tipped Sharpie to mark nails. He made the comment that it “looked just like the crane car,” which means I met the minimum design objective! This step is boring and repetitive, so Kid-zilla moved on to use the scraps from our planks to repair the walkways on the M&K Sugar Co.'s trestle.
Waste not, want not.
I did mount the counterweight…
…using E6000, the second-best glue for everything. I wish that I could have figured out that mounting frame, but there will be other projects. I did pause to test fit the whole set.
We think itis starting to look pretty good! Kid-zilla had set up an eZtec garage sale find ($5 for the set) and placed his crane set in the yards at Pu’uma’o.
The loco, by the way, is Lucky (as in “Lucky we found you before they tossed you into the trash!”). Lucky complements Gordon, the same brand and model, as the “ready loco” for the ephemeral inside track. For a grand total of $6.50 cost-averaged over multiple years, these toys have brought a lot of joy.
I asked Kid-zilla to start filing the stakes on the gondola walls so that they would fit into the new pockets. Nope. Boring. I took it up in 5-minute increments, got fed up (He was right. Boring.), and used the finishing sander.
Clearly, I should have built everything then painted it. Live and learn. I am planning to tap some holes into the pockets and secure them with some HO track nails I found at my hobby shop (@Dave_Meashey thanks for telling me to look for these!), as I do not think the glue will hold over time. I thanked the hobby shop owner for carrying a diverse set of esoteric supplies that supported a wide variety of hobbies, letting here know that I appreciated the fact they didn’t only sell high end items, but also the little bits and parts that let us turn existing toys and models into something special. It made her day.
I should mention Oldest Son has also been busy on the lanai. I have been struggling to find an activity he would enjoy that would build some skills and maybe spark a professional interest. Enter Guillow’s…
Whle a Bf. 109 is decidedly not a train, the tools and skills are complementary, and he seems to really enjoy balsa as a medium. To boot, any tool he needs, the railroaders among us can use!
Much like with the girls who’ve taken skills from the railroad to their own activities, I consider his willingness to try his hand at this a success. Maybe Kid-zilla will stick to the trains.
Updates as progress merits!
Eric
Awesome. Eric and kids!!! Always like to see the progress of your layout! Keep up the “work” and the fun still becomes more fun
Eric,
There is another as I feel his presence !
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The true test will be an “initiative project,” where he plans and executes it himself!
With that thought in mind it sounds like 15’ sweeping curves will be needed on that sugar line. 
Uh, oh…did someone imply a Mikdao in the future?
Actually longer passenger cars but…
Rooster
you and the boys look like you had a rough night
Update:
Progress continued, and the crane tender is pretty much done.
I drilled tap holes through the various Ozark Products to mount them to the frame. I had a hard time balancing between drilling the holes shallow enough to let the HO track nails “bite” but not so shallow tapping them in resulted in bent nails. Where I drilled too deeply, I dipped the nails in CA glue and called it a day. As the stake pockets were quite tight, I used a piece of some-kind-thing to drive the impulse of the hammer to the nail.
Later, Kid-zilla joined me to mount the remaining pockets.
I was a bit concerned that the stirrup style steps would impeded the swing of the trucks, so I placed the car on a piece of R1 curve to verify the clearances.
Good to go! Kid-zilla helped to prep the stirrups for the tender and crane…
…and occasionally joined in the hammering and gluing. He liked the stirrups enough that we added them to Crane-zilla, too. We also cut and filed some piano wire to mount brake wheels to both cars. The stirrups break up the profile, reducing some of the bulkiness of the design. Personally, I was surprised how these small details, combined with the hand brakes, moved these cars multiple notches from toy to model with limited expense (I will say paying $1 for shipping on a $1 part is still aggravating. So be it.). Since there was no need to let glue dry, Kid-zilla moved right on to painting the metal parts…
…and staining the deck with an India ink and alcohol mixture. He then loaded the tender with railroad bric-a-brac a couple hours later.
Proud Dad bias aside, the kid has an eye for this!
The complete consist looks pretty credible…
…especially in a the fully assembled work train.
The leading doo-dad, btw, is courtesy of Pete ( @PeterT ). It came with a box of “stuff” from an auction he’d wone and made its way with bits and parts to Hawaii where it serves as a track clearance doo-dad.
Though the crane tender needs some lettering, Kid-zilla gave it the most important test, the is-it-fun test, shortly after assembling the MOW train. He maneuvered the work train into position and spent the next 45 minutes installing an irrigation system.
It passed. If he never touches this project again, those 45 minutes made the whole project worthwhile. As it turned out, he made sure our guests this evening saw this crane set, so I think he is taking some real pride in this project!
We still have some touch up paint and lettering to do, but this project is almost pau (finished). I’ll document that as it occurs. Consistent with Triple O practices, we will let time and use provide weathering.
I am already looking towards the future. I have enough bits left over that, with the order of a pair of trucks, we can make another car to this design in the future, and I would really like to add a U.S. profile gondola to the fleet. There is realism in consistency to the environment, and there is realism in consistency to the prototype. Either way, this project proved, as countless LSC members have suggested over the years, a bit of fore thought can cost average the shipping on detail parts to really transform even the simplest projects. Though the crane car and tender have no OR&L prototype, they match the OR&L in spirit, making due with resources available in the middle of the Pacific or from foreign sources of opportunity to make a railroad where no rational person thought one should exist.
Updates as merited! Have a great week!
Eric
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Bravo Zulu Kid Zilla and Eric! It looks very good. Something to be really proud of.
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Beautiful work, both of you!
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Love that!!
My mind wanders to how Eric might make that work, if he had to…
Sand plowing?
Guano mining?
Wave parting?
Lava clearing (with a VERY heated blade)?
Kid-zilla was both impressed and disappointed to find that there will no guarantee of snow at any Summer Diesel Intensive!
Thanks in general for the kind compliments as well as the help, prods, and parts along the way! It is pretty cools to see pieces and parts from across the LSC community come together to make this project a reality!
Have a great week!
Eric
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