I’m really enjoying watching this build.
When i die my wife or children will be money ahead if they just burn the place down and take the insurance settlement. I have way to much money tied up in worthless hobbies. But I turn 55 this year and have been the primary bread winner for all of it. So if their largest task is dealing with my sanity and fun I’m okay with that
i still got half a dozen of moving boxes to sort out.
if i remember right, we emptied our former home about 18 years ago…
Korm! Not the boxes with the umlauts!
nö, thä böxäs vith ze ümläütz vänt tö äüsträliä.
I can’t believe the 30 days is up this coming Sunday! The pressure is ON!!
This morning I woke up and I wasn’t happy about the overall height of this beast so I went to work and cut off 3/4" off the lifting arms and the cabs. Talk about a major step backwards but it is done now.
Once that was done and the glue was drying I got to work on painting the long trucks black and the wheel trucks caught a spray of black. The long trucks and the bridge will get another coat of spray tomorrow.
Looking at photos of the real deal I noticed that they had several hydraulic lines running down the side of the bridge. Not wanting to waste my railing brass rods a light bulb came on. I raided my old wiring stash and came up with a 5 stranded wire I used in my HO days. I then used staples as brackets to hold the wire to the side of the bridge. The wire/lines terminate round the corner of the bridge and out of sight. It will all be painted black but the wires add some visual interest to the bridges.
Tomorrow will be another all day effort. My wife said she is a Train Widow. I did emerge from the basement for lunch. 
Yea, I have been hearing that “Model Train Widow” phrase a few times in the past couple weeks.
If I’m done by Saturday night I take her to dinner, if not I guess she will have to go by herself 
Don’t let the romance die…
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The truck carriers are out of paint and assembled. I used some pin striping to make the yellow markings.
The bridges are partially painted and will get another coat plus clear tomorrow.
The lifting arms are looking good and will also go to paint tomorrow.
There is still so much to do. While the paint is drying I will get to work on the platforms and railings.
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Too funny Rick. Maybe our wives can accompany one another to dinner. 
Panic time! and I can’t find a can of paint that I used yesterday. It’s not where I left it or thought I did. It’s not in the trash. It’s not under over beside or on top of any bench or otherwise flat surface. Maybe I left it outside and now it has 4 inches of snow on top of it? I did find the cap but no can so that must mean that it has done RUN OFT !
It was such a nice tone of grey that I have been using on the decks and roofs. I’m gonna go and tear the place apart again…
Otherwise the Schnabel will be done, well 95% done but Good enough.
I feel your pain, Todd. I had a whole box of detail parts and tools I wanted to use on the engine build and had it in my hand last night, but for the life of me I can’t find it today. Must be gremlins 
The Schnabel looks great, nonetheless.
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It has to be the Gremlins or our aging minds
Thanks Dan. The schnabel is looking incredible. I didn’t get to finish the railings and a few bits are unpainted but that can be done later.
A few more photos as the weekend approached.
I made some old school ladders from styrene. I forgot that I could have used the 3D printer.
UGGGH! I messed up when I masked for the windows on the back of the cab. I forgot to leave room for the ladder so I had to remask and move the windows over.
Several coats of Colonial red made the lifting arms look great.
I ran out of time to make a load for this car but I did make a short piece to connect the 2 ends so the idea is that this is an empty Schnabel that is being brought to pick up a load.
Can’t wait to see the glamor shots and see it all in one piece. Very cool and huge project.
Thanks Devon.
Here are a few sneak peeks of the “A” unit.
I definitely could have used a few more days on this. I totally forgot about bending safety railings for the upper deck and adding 2 big pistons. The lower railings also need to be completed and painted. There are also some odds and ends to be added on.
I cleared ice and snow off the rails this afternoon and hopefully we will get some melting over the next couple of days so I can put this on the track and get a video of it in action to go with the glamor shots. 
It’s been a funny day without a big project to work on. My wife is no longer a “Train Widow” and the first thing she suggested is to clean up the house! Maybe I will start in my shop since there are scraps and tools used during the construction all over the place. I also have to find a home for this monstrosity!
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I’m assuming the red paint is not a coincidence and that the Cranberry Institute will be showing it off at their next conference?
Yes. This schnabel will be serving the cranberry institute. Those big jugs of juice are heavy.
Actually I have painted a lot of my equipment to reflect a local RR called the Cape Cod Central and their sister RR, Mass Coastal.
In this video you can see the Mass Coastal GP30 running a load to and picking up cars from the cranberry factory.
I took the Schnabel out for a photo shoot and this was the first time it was connected together. I wanted to run it round the RR to different sections for the glamor snaps but there was still too much ice on the RR to make it. It did roll its’ wheels outside the yard and through the wye that has 8’ diameter curves and the overhang was not that bad. It wasn’t good either considering that it doesn’t have a load but only a 3" connection piece.
This thing is Huuuge but it is really cool.
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That thing is a beast. Its freakishly huge. I like it. Great job