It’s a beauty and you have every right to be proud of what you built.
On build logs I want to hold my tongue and on chatty ones, I flap it too much!(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-embarassed.gif)
Rick Marty said:
Well thanks for the additional nice comments.
Now I am a little embarrassed for making the remark about no interest.
You should be!
But I’m disturbed Maynard has been pretty quiet on this thread with the amount of knowledge he is willing to share. I bet Greg and Ted don’t have a fix as to(too,2,two) what you created and guide you to ANOTHER WEBSITE on how THEY would do it which does not pay the bills here!
Thanks for the additional pics as that is all I know how to read.
This post has been edited by Rooster: I get in trouble by the poster queens for posting blanks as they think it’s to bump my post count however it’s only to let the poster know I’m watching his post.
If the edit doesn’t make sense then check out my website on how to bump post count as it’s VERY important !
Rick,
You did a fantastic job. You are very talented.
Shane
I can just hear the motor running and the crane in operation as well… Great build.
Rick,
What did you end up using for the cables? They look really good. I’ve only been able to find plastic coated cables. From the pictures it doesn’t look like yours are plastic coated.
What did I do?
Craig Townsend said:
Rick,
What did you end up using for the cables? They look really good. I’ve only been able to find plastic coated cables. From the pictures it doesn’t look like yours are plastic coated.
I don’t know about Rick, but I’ve always looked to this source for polished cables, ie; non fuzzy.
This an example and a Big clue!
I’m sure you have local sources.
John,
I once found saltwater fishing line at my local boxstore. I didn’t pick it up because it was 1x7 strand, not 7x7 strand (and yes they look different). 7x7 (or 49) strand is available, but I was just curious what Rick used.
Craig
Craig,
What I used was a black woven thread from JoAnns Fabrics. I cut a length say 15-20 feet and stretch it tight between 2 nails out in the yard and spray paint it with a metallic gray paint. When it is dry I rub it down with chunk a paraffin then with a rag. Seems to give it a good color and texture as well as making it semi stiff so it holds position.
You can buy braided steel and stainless steel cable from McMaster-Carr and it really looks super good but most of it won’t wind up on anything smaller than about an 1/1/2 inch Dia. drum. Tat is usually to big for most 1:20 modeling.
Rick
Craig Townsend said:
John,
I once found saltwater fishing line at my local boxstore. I didn’t pick it up because it was 1x7 strand, not 7x7 strand (and yes they look different). 7x7 (or 49) strand is available, but I was just curious what Rick used.
Craig
Uh you’re welcome?
No wonder that I’ll not comment again …
John Caughey said:
Craig Townsend said:
John,
I once found saltwater fishing line at my local boxstore. I didn’t pick it up because it was 1x7 strand, not 7x7 strand (and yes they look different). 7x7 (or 49) strand is available, but I was just curious what Rick used.
Craig
Uh you’re welcome?
No wonder that I’ll not comment again …
John,
I wasn’t trying to make fun of your comment. I appreciate the thoughts. I was simply telling you what I had also found. The reason I wanted to find 7x7 strand because I was told it was slightly stronger and more flexible, in case I used it for a working cable.
Rick,
The stuff I found was 0.021" diameter and is marketed as beading wire at the local craft store. It works pretty good. I once tried melting the coating off, but since not ends where not crimped it self unwound.
Way back when i worked for the navy, we did some stuff with wire rope and cable. One of the things that i recall is that the pulley shieves and drums have to be big…at leat 30 times the diameter of the cable or the life of the cable will be shortened. Many construction machines seem to short this rule with smaller pulleys. You often see worn out discarded cable all coiled up tightly and i think thàt the small radius of bending is the cause.
I would guess that cable with finer wires would bend around smaller pulleys safely than those with fewer thicker wires.
For a model i would use nylon or dacron line. For large stuff nylon chaulk line string looks ok if you can color it, kite string is good too but often to lightly spun to hold up well. Really the best is braided fishing line or i have seen braded kite line that the real kite hobbiests use. I braided line for my RC sailing model boats…lots of load and lots of movement.
By the way, whatever you use, a certain amount of weight or other force is needed to make the cables hang and work right.
So far I haven’t had an issue yet using the beading wire. It seems to hold its shape fairly well, and is stiff enough that only a little tension is needed to hold things tight.
An addendum to my McVay Loader build thread of February 2017.
While visiting Train Mountain and Collier state park recently we ran across some new acquisitions at the Collier logging museum, two new, before unknown, to me, McVay loaders were on display. If you care to go back to the top of this thread I posted some history about these machines and the company that built them.
To recap briefly, the small machine shop located in Klamath Falls, Oregon built these log loading machines between 1929 and 1957. They were mounted on trucks manufactured by others like; Mack, Sterling, White and now a GMC has come to light.
There were various reasons for the quick popularity of the McVay loader system, they were fast and easy to operate and way cheaper than rail mounted machines such as the McGifferts. They hit the market at a perfect time as truck logging was ascending and rail logging was on the decline.
The three known surviving examples when I did this build were; The # 11 at the Collier Logging Museum, Chiloquen, OR. The #3 machine located at Roots of Motive Power, Willits, CA. And the #10 machine located at the museum in Trail, OR. The number 10 machine was the one I measured and photographed to develop the blueprints for my build. Even though this machine is mounted on A 1913 Mack AC and my build used a 1926 Mack AC there is little differences in the machine and it’s operation.
Our last visit to Collier State Park was in 2019, we were booked for a stay at the campground in the late Spring of 2020 but the forest fire came through and put an end to all camping reservations for a couple of years. After our recent visit I was amazed that they were able to save and preserve as much of the park as they did when everything around it was devastated for what looked like miles.
Then COVID, and like everything else the park was shut down for a couple years. Finally this year during the week of June 10th we were able to return for a visit. And as a bonus Train Mountain is only 5 miles down the road.
To my amazement two new previously unknown, to me, McVay Loaders were sitting on display. Of course I could get no real hard information as the only people available to speak to were volunteer docents who knew nothing beyond their tourist information script.
This is what I have been able to piece together about the machines displayed at Collier.
The Number 11 is the bastardized junk pile build on a Mack frame of undetermined age in 1946. The Mack has been altered sometime in the past by adding a Ford cab and Ford V-8 flat head engine and makes it difficult to visualize the original machine.
The first new machine is Loader number 12 also built in 1946 on a Mack AC cab and chassis of unknown age.
The builders plate
The next Machine is discribed as McVay Loader #31A built in 1957 on a GMC truck that I have not been able to determine the age of. The truck is a 950 Hydra-Matic Diesel that looks to me like a late 1940’s model.
The museum description is as follows.
“McVay loader #31 A, 1957.
This loader is mounted on a GMC truck. A Ford engine on the deck operated the extra heavy wooden boom and steel tower. A total of 52 (this number seems to float between 50 and 53) loaders were built overall between 1929 and 1957. This unit was reportedly the next to last McVay loader built. When the truck crane and the Drott Type with the grapple hook came in, they were much safer to use than the end hook design the McVay Loader had and the McVay was phased out of use by 1962.”
How accurate this information is, who knows? After all it is history.
4 Likes
Very cool! I’d forgotten about the project so I reviewed most of the thread again.
I noticed a few names we haven’t heard from in a long time. Matt Doti who is a wealth of Amtrak knowledge and David Maynard that I haven’t heard from or seen since one of the last shows in York. Hope they are both well.
Yea Jon, A lot of that seems to happen. They participate, sometimes heavily, then are just gone and no one seems to know why or where, I for one miss their input.
might it be, that they belong to that rare type of people, who have a life beside our hobby?
Korm, Are there really such people? I had heard rumors but have never actually talked to one 
well, i’m not sure either. that’s why i put the question mark.
but what other explanation would there be? 