....From photos on the East Somerset Railway web-site I can see that the crane has a jib-rest at this time and there is no sign of the weight truck.
A couple of questions please:-
[1] how does the jib-rest relate to the wagon which was attached to crane no. 2 before WW1?
[2] what has happened to the weight truck for crane no.2?
If the weight truck was not preserved with the crane, how are the tailweights moved around at this time?
Graham,
The "weight tender" sadly has not survived with the crane, and I think was probably broken up at Swindon not long after the crane was sold in 1975 to the DVLR. There is photographic evidence that it existed in '75, and by that time the crane formation consisted of the jib runner, the crane, the weight tender, and a 6-wheel former milk tank ADM44171 which was used as an auxiliary water carrier. The latter two vehicles have not survived.
In GW and BR(W) days the three vehicles (jib runner, crane, and weight tender) would always stay together except when the crane was actually lifting, and the crane would never have travelled anywhere without the tender. The jib runner supports the jib, and the lockers were used for timber packing. The weight tender carried the (six-ton) kentledge, together with lifting tackle (chains etc) and of course in the very early days all eight, and later four of the propping girders. The ectra four girders were clearly dispensed with quite early in the crane's life, but I haven't been able to establish exactly when. Up to the end, however, any item of tackle of sufficient weight to mean that it couldn't be manhandled was kept in the weight tender, and picked by the crane when needed. For this reason, even when working, the tender was generally kept coupled to the crane.
When the DVLR sold the crane and it was moved back (intially to Swindon), the kentledge did not go with it. When I bought the crane, it was one of several missing parts I attempted to locate, and I did in fact find it round the back of the workshop at Buckfastleigh, where it had been stored for a number of years. The SDR kindly let me arrange for it to be reunited with the crane, and it is now in a smilar location at Cranmore. I do not anticipate that it will be moved again until the crane is operational.
The missing weight tender is clearly a blow to the restoration of the crane and the recreation of the proper set of vehicles, but I am attempting to purchase an ex-BR(E) "Tube" wagon which is visually the most similar wagon available in terms of size and shape - it is the same length, and the only significant difference is that it has two large drop-flaps per side instead of five short ones. It will do the job, if I can persuade the current owner to do a deal of course.
In discussion with Ian Young at the Reading Trade show last weekend it emerged that Ian was not aware of the prohibition which the GWR placed on the crane being moved with the tailweights in place. The discussion concluded that the kit probably represents, in side view, the crane with the tailweights in place. As we wish to model the weight truck in a "travelling" form I am interested to know the shape / size of the tailweights? What images might you have of that item?
Thank you, Graham Beare
I was going to upload a couple of photos showing the crane without the kentledge fitted, and the kentledge itself (prior to removal from Buckfastleigh), but unfortunately it would appear that I cannot do this from the PC I am currently using so we'll have to go to Plan B for the time being:-
The ESR website has a number of photos of the crane without the weight, for example the second photo on
http://www.eastsomersetrailway.com/gallery.php?gid=61
The weight occupies the space where the visitors head and shoulders are visible in this photo, and the two slots clearly visible just above are the locations where the securing nuts are fitted to the kentledge bolts. The photo on the frontpage of the BDCA website (
www.bdca.org.uk) shows No 3 crane with its weight fitted, and comparison of the two photos should clarify the arrangement. The weight itself is a single cast lump, shaped in plan like a capital "D", approx 9' x 4' x 10".
The reason I asked about the rear cab sheet before, by the way, is because of the origins of this kit. As mentioned by others, this kit has its origin in a 4mm kit produced by a chap in Bristol several years ago. To produce his "mark 1" version of the kit, I believe he subcontracted the production of the artwork for the etches, and one error was the inclusion of two cab windows (as were fitted to DS35) rather than the single window fitted to the GWR 36-tonners. An example of this mark 1 kit can be seen at Pendon, complete with this very conspicuous error. The chap then authorised someone else to reuse the same artwork scaled up to 7mm as the basis of a gauge "O" version. An incomplete pilot was displayed at a show not long afterwards, then the whole project disappeared for some years, eventually to resurface with Sanspareil. I was therefore interested to know whether this highly visual error had been corrected or not!
The original designer (in 4mm) has been working on the mark 2 version of the kit for a long time now, and the mark 2 version is greatly improved over the mark 1. The mark 2 also includes both boiler options, and a pilot build crane can often be seen on a layout at shows called "Maindee East". Exquisite!