Crane Locomotives

[spikey faz]

Progress on the crane mechanism continues at great pace!

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

I've been adding a few pipes and operating rods/levers.

The box of parts is looking significantly less full now, which I take as a sign of progress! Still need to do a bit more to the crane, but I reckon not far off from getting the loco body and boiler ready for some paint.

Mike

 

[Osgood]

For the resin - metal bits interface, what has been your sticky stuff of choice?

 

[spikey faz]

For the resin - metal bits interface, what has been your sticky stuff of choice?

The smokebox front is epoxied (Araldite 5 minute) onto the resin casting. I drilled a few holes into the resin (where it couldn't be seen) to allow the epoxy glue a bit more 'bite' to hold the smokebox front in place. The kit instructions do not recommend using superglue for this.

Any components not epoxied onto the resin will be bolted into place.

Mike

 

[spikey faz]

I'm trying to figure out what the large cylinder thing is that I've circled below.

It looks like some sort of counterweight, but why add weight where its not needed.

Mike

 

[Osgood]

Thanks for glue info, I've recently been having issues with superglue and some materials (not helped by using glue that is 2 or 3 years old) and have resorted to good old Alraldite (and it is old - really old - like 20 years old, but it hasn't gone off).

Surely not a counterweight - the only thing you might find in this position is a second rope pulley to allow heavier lifts at a shorter reach. Strange.

Is this photo taken at Crewe Works by any chance?

 

[Osgood]

The only thing I can find in this position on similar cranes is this magnet cable reel - picture from Crane Locomotives by R.A.S. Abbott.
It would need a steam generator (e.g. Stones) on the crane to provide the power.
Have you looked through any published info on Crewe Works?

 

[Osgood]

It might possibly be a chain block, for precision lifts, with the operating chain wrapped around the side nearest the building?

The only other view I can find of it (3249 - no evidence of other engines having the same attachment) is here:

19th century railway enthusiasts | L.N.W.R. 0-4-2 Crane Tank No.3249 , to traffic 1894. | Facebook

L.N.W.R. 0-4-2 Crane Tank No.3249 , to traffic 1894.. photographed post grouping at Crewe Works .. no date. Image source via Reddit

www.facebook.com

So with the attachment not present in an early LMS view, it must have been fitted in later LMS days.

 

[spikey faz]

It might possibly be a chain block, for precision lifts, with the operating chain wrapped around the side nearest the building?

The only other view I can find of it (3249 - no evidence of other engines having the same attachment) is here:

19th century railway enthusiasts | L.N.W.R. 0-4-2 Crane Tank No.3249 , to traffic 1894. | Facebook

L.N.W.R. 0-4-2 Crane Tank No.3249 , to traffic 1894.. photographed post grouping at Crewe Works .. no date. Image source via Reddit

www.facebook.com

So with the attachment not present in an early LMS view, it must have been fitted in later LMS days.

View attachment 268296

Ah! Some sort of pulley or chain block. Makes far more sense. I'll see if I can cobble together some sort of representation of this, as I'm modelling 3249 in its later years.

Mike

 

[Overseer]

Ah! Some sort of pulley or chain block. Makes far more sense. I'll see if I can cobble together some sort of representation of this, as I'm modelling 3249 in its later years.

Mike

I think Tony was right the first time with the electric supply cable retracting reel for use picking up scrap steel with an electromagnet. It would be a twin reel with a coil spring like a vacuum cleaner cord retractor (but without the ratchet). The would be turbo generator mounted somewhere on the loco to provide the electricity for the magnet. Electro magnets on cranes or excavators are very common now for handling scrap but would have been cutting edge technology when the LMS installed it in the 20s or 30s.

 

[spikey faz]

I think Tony was right the first time with the electric supply cable retracting reel for use picking up scrap steel with an electromagnet. It would be a twin reel with a coil spring like a vacuum cleaner cord retractor (but without the ratchet). The would be turbo generator mounted somewhere on the loco to provide the electricity for the magnet. Electro magnets on cranes or excavators are very common now for handling scrap but would have been cutting edge technology when the LMS installed it in the 20s or 30s.

That is really helpful. Thank you.

It makes sense as the turbo generator would have needed a steam feed. By coincidence there is a pipe coming out of the safety valve mounting on the right hand side that is not present on earlier pictures where the crane appendage is absent. I'm guessing that this would feed the generator.

Mike