OK, with Mik 2020 behind me, it is time to get on to the next challenge…cane cars to go with the recently refurbished Little Thomas, a long defiunct battery powered LGB m2075, now in service as M&K Sugar Co #7. “Rooster” had sent along some beautiful redwood timbers, spare wheel sets, and hook-and-loop couplers to make a series of cane cars with some detail parts to finish off Little Thomas. This will be a slow build, as I have a number of professional obligations before me, and I am going to prioritize Oldest Daughter’s “shorty rehab” over this project.
I think the most important lesson I learned from the Little Thomas project was to begin with research. My books show that cane cars in Hawaii were universally short, 2 axel contraptions. Most appear to have been of wooden construction, and methods for holding sugar in the car ranged from bowed-out gondolas (sort of like a canoe cut athwartships), bulkheads, sideboards, chains, or simply corner posts. Workers piled the sugar in until literally the trains looked like moving haystacks, so clearly gravity and slow speed played a roll! What seems to be true, though, is that each plantation built its cars to some sort of standard. The pictures show the same basic flat cars being used as the basis for tenders, gondolas, and box cars, among other things. Bad photos of an Ewa Sugar plantation cane car, the last survivor of system of six engines, 705 cars, and nearly 30 miles of permanent track (Source: Bonnel, Hery F.; “Hawaiian Railways of Yesteryear;” The Hawaiian Railway Society, 1997; photos by me.), follow:
Youngest Daughter helped me take measurements; of course, I’ve not the foggiest where they are at! Given this will be build to 1:24-ish PLAYMOBIL scale, the impression of the prototype is more important than the exactness of the dimenions, anyway. I also plan to selectively compress it, if necessary, so that the wheelbase conforms to the LGB “Feldbahn” series. If those operate on LGB R1 curves, then our cane cars should work as well! I am going to steal the three beam construction from this prototype, mounting the couplers to the center beam. The deck and bulkheads (should we use bulkheads) will be - SUPRISE! - craft sticks. Chain will come from the craft shop, should we go this route. I should note that the other guidepost from a basic design point is Eric Schade’s relatively GR series on building tipper cars.
Mounting the wheels remains a cunundrum. I have neither the tools nor talent to make the journal frames in Eric’s article. I was thinking of a simpler solution like these on the MOW cars at the local museum:
This does not appear inconsistent with what I can see of the Waimanalo Sugar Co’s cars (from the internet):
Going this route, the plan is to glue a block of wood to the frame, use a bit of brass tubing as a bushing per Eric’s article, and simulate the spring suspension with a “cover” that could also serve to reinforce the seam between the journals and the frame. If I get ambitious, I may try to bend brass around the block in rough approximation of the MOW car. Waimanalo, incidentally, is the next town over, so taking the guide from the above picture has some “home town” appeal…and avoids making those bulkheads!
The end result of all this “butt modeling” will I hope result in something true to the spirit of Hawaii’s sugar industry: a basic, repeatable, and versatile flat car design that uses the M&K’s available materials and is readily modified to serve any of a number of functions for the M&K Sugar Co. True to the spirit of the Triple O, I also want it to be rugged enough for the crew to use either for “operations” or as a platform for railway equipment of their own designs.
Along the way, I have set myself to following modeling goals, something I have found useful to keep me on track for these projects:
- Becoming more comfortable working with wood.
- Going from measurements of the prototype to at least prototype inspired models.
- Improving painting and weathering techniques.
- Possibly experimenting with brass.
As ever, the project will adhere to CINCHOUSE guidance that “This cannot be just your hobby,” and I will follow the principle of “All may participate; none must participate.”
I am not sure when I will be able to turn to on building. As I want these cars to be repeatable and standardized, my first priority is to make useable sketches from the still missing measurements. Actually cutting and assembling may be about a month out, I am afraid, but I wanted to at least post my intentions to motivate myself to get going and to invite comments and advice on my rough guide as outlined above.
Thanks as ever!
Eric
