Ohio Locomotive Crane

[Alex]

Neat project! I used to enjoy working on a full-sized one, not too far from you. Unfortunately, it now needs a new boiler.

One thing we noticed was that, when it was fired up and set up (a LOT of work) almost nobody bothered walking past and looking at it. One summer day though, the ONE visitor who stopped and looked and watched, was a young engineer. She asked well thought-out questions. Now, when we were running the Shay (and, giving rides in the caboose or shortie business car) there were lots of people looking, but the crane? No. Oh well.

Here's a link to the societies page for it, just FYI.

https://www.bytownrailwaysociety.ca/index.php/equipment/auxiliary/central-vermont-crane

[crueby]

Neat project! I used to enjoy working on a full-sized one, not too far from you. Unfortunately, it now needs a new boiler.

One thing we noticed was that, when it was fired up and set up (a LOT of work) almost nobody bothered walking past and looking at it. One summer day though, the ONE visitor who stopped and looked and watched, was a young engineer. She asked well thought-out questions. Now, when we were running the Shay (and, giving rides in the caboose or shortie business car) there were lots of people looking, but the crane? No. Oh well.

Here's a link to the societies page for it, just FYI.

https://www.bytownrailwaysociety.ca/index.php/equipment/auxiliary/central-vermont-crane

Excellent  video of that crane! 




I would have stopped and hung out by the crane like that engineer did. When I  took the cruise on the Liberty ship in Baltimore I  spent most of the day down in the engine room. Couple times went up on deck to notice 'oh, water!'

[RReid]

This will be interesting and challenging! Did you not scale it to match up with your Kozo Shay because you want more heavy lift capability?

[Krypto]

Wow, a steam-powered train crane!  How much fun can you possible put in a single package? This will be an awesome build, really looking forward to it.

[crueby]

Thanks guys!
Ron - I wanted a larger scale to do more real work with it, plus it got the clutches larger to be easier to make and better function. Plus Plus I like how slow a larger engine will run and still develop good power. The Shay will run nice and slow even with small pistons being a three cylinder. It needs to be able to lift a pallet full of at least a days worth of beer for the shop elves! Thats a lot!
Chris

[Zephyrin]

wow, this is really an awesome project, lot of mechanics, will be great to follow !
may I suggest to keep the gauge compatible with 5'' track, as you will certainly receive invitations from clubs for demos and get together...

[crueby]

wow, this is really an awesome project, lot of mechanics, will be great to follow !
may I suggest to keep the gauge compatible with 5'' track, as you will certainly receive invitations from clubs for demos and get together...

Well, as I mentioned in the first post (I ithink I did anyway) that the boiler will likely be just a shell, since I normally just run on compressed air at home and at shows. Easy enough to slide the wheels on one side over a fraction if need be to set it on 5" track, with the taper locks on the wheels. Moving this model around much would need a second crane, then a crane to move that crane...     Should be fun for stacking shop elves and such though! I may well make a clamshell bucket for it, these cranes had the second winch drum to operate the clamshells as well (though different clamshell buckets needed different numbers of cables, the two-cable ones were quite common).

[crueby]

Gotten a start on prepping the blanks for the eight wheels (bottom) and the taper locks (2 in each blank, on top of the pile). The taper lock blanks are ready to go, the wheel blanks are still rough cut from the bandsaw and need to be trued up and taken to final thickness...


The contractor is stopping over with the final paperwork for the room addition later, that work will start soon. I realized that the new room should be called the 'Engine Room' since it will hold a lot of my steam engines (and other stuff.   

[cnr6400]

  Nice stack of solid gold! 

[samc88]

Cool project, I do like a working model crane. Used to make them out of meccano years ago

[crueby]

Cool project, I do like a working model crane. Used to make them out of meccano years ago

Now that you mention it, I remember making them like that too!

[crueby]

Nothing new to show today, still trimming down the wheel blanks, and getting sidetracked into other things.


The room addition is stepping slowly forward, the contractor is getting the building permit from the town building department, and had to come back to me for a copy of the original survey map from when the house was built. Otherwise, you have to wait for some bureaucrat to stand up, go open the file drawer, etc, which can take a extra week. With luck they can start work in another week or so.

One thought that occurred to me yesterday, was the name for the new room. Given that a lot of it will be to show the steam engines, it should be the 'Engine Room'. 

[Kim]

The Engine Room!  I like it!

And you should get one of those Engine Telegraphs (full-sized, of course) to sit at the entrance to the room. Clearly, that's what one would need in an engine room.  That, or maybe a Warp drive?  Guess it depends on whether you're a steam guy or a Trekkie! 

Kim

[crueby]

The Engine Room!  I like it!

And you should get one of those Engine Telegraphs (full-sized, of course) to sit at the entrance to the room. Clearly, that's what one would need in an engine room.  That, or maybe a Warp drive?  Guess it depends on whether you're a steam guy or a Trekkie! 

Kim

Last year (or was it the year before) I drew up a CAD model for an engine telegraph - someday it will make it to the top of the list! Will need two, to let the elves signal back and let me in the room...

Hmm, theres a cool new show, a Steampunk version of Star Trek!  ...  Cap'n, the boiler can't take any more!   

This afternoon I fired up the 3D printer and printed a faux cast iron 'Engine Room' sign to go over the door, black PLA with the tops of the letters and the outline painted gold. Should look good with the new room!  The CAD file is attached if anyone wants to print one for their shop. I sized it to fit on the build plate of my printer, your slicer can scale it up or down as needed.

 

[cnr6400]

  Engine room sign, eh? "Make it so number one!"  As to Warp drive as Kim mentioned - I usually get about Warp factor 3 whenever I do any woodwork- it always warps !