[rkapuaala]

I made this new cab for Lanakila and mounted it, then I thought; Wow! that looks great, but the tender still looks wrong /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sad.gif

Its suppose to look like this, with the long hand rail and the steps front and back.
So, I bent me some long hand rails out of 3/64" brass tubing, and bought some cool trackside steps that would only require minimal modifications and started to mount the steps when I noticed, that the original tender platform over hands the side beams a good 6 scale inches, but the modern tender, fitted for oil runs flush and in addition to running flush, the deck isn't solid but has some huge spaces between each plank.

Never one to leave well enough alone, I built this out of some old cedar and Popsicle sticks. Sorry, I couldn't wash the chocolate out of them, but what the heck, it'll be painted and covered by my rc stuff.

The only images I have of Lanakila are not clear enough to make out the bolt patterns so I did the best I could and admit that they maybe off in alignment as well as spacing. But it looks much closer now.

And since it looks so much closer to the original, I decided on some other modifications. That rear step needs to be replaced with something sturdier. The tool box lids need to have a better

hinging system hat just some bendable plastic, and the boxes themselves need to look more like wood instead of a non determinable material.
I was also inspired by the thread about the home made pin couplers. The way all model trains couple the tender (even my O and HO trains) is a major pane because you have to lift the tender a little to fit it on the engines draw bar. I decided, I'm going to use a home made pin coupler but with a slight twist; I'm going to spring load it so that I can pull up on the pin then push the tender coupler over the loco draw bar and let the pin drop into the hole in the draw bar with the spring providing a stead downward pressure to make sure the pin doesn't rattle free.

Hopefully this will be as simple as I imagine it to be

 

[rkapuaala]

Today's progress.

I need to fabricate that little hook thingy that hangs down in the middle of the side beams. Anyone know what that hooks for? Started to mill the pin coupler but got tired so I am taking a break for today.

 

[Semper Vaporo]

I assume the hooks you as asking about were to hang "re-railing frogs" from.

 

[Jerry Barnes]

Nice work!

 

[rkapuaala]

Semper,
I am embarrassed to admit it, but I don't know what a re-railing frog is. But you can see the hook in the black and white photo of the tender, it hangs down off the side beams right between the trucks.

 

[Semper Vaporo]

It is a big metal thingy that looks somewhat like a frog in a switch that is used to get a flanged wheel back on the rail.

In a minor derailment, usually one wheel is still within the gauge and the other is outside the gauge. The one outside the gauge has to be lifted up over the rail to get the flange back on the correct side of the rail. This is usually done by coupling on the errant car, clamping the rerailer to the rail just in front of the wheel and pulling like the Dickens. The wheel rolls up the frog ramp and over the rail, falling down on the tread. The wheel on the other side sometime can be coerced to roll up on the rail by itself as the car is pulled, but sometimes a second ramp is put in front of it to help. This is done for each axle that is off the rail.

If both wheels are outside the gauge then they both have to be run up the rerailing frog one at a time to get the truck back on the rail.

 

[Semper Vaporo]

Other things could have been hung from hooks on the tender.

Buckets for carrying coal or water as needed for small jobs... like taking hot coals back to the caboose to get a fire started in the cook stove or space heater. Buckets could be used to fill the tender from a creek, but would take a long tedious time to do.

Hoses could have been on those hooks so the engine could stop on a low bridge over a creek or river and water pumped up to the tender... these hoses would have been quite rigid and large diameter so they could move lots of water at a time and not collapse from the vacuum formed by the pump on the engine sucking on the top end of the hose.

Push Poles could have been on those hooks... these were used to push a car on a track ajacent to the one the engine was on... a dangerous and now outlawed practice... the pole often shattered or slipped out of the poling pockets and whacked the worker, inflicting severe wounds or death.

Lotsa good reasons to have hooks on the tender.

 

[Snoq Pass]

rkapuaala, here is a photo of a Straddled type of re-railing frog as well as a site that sells different versions of re-railing frogs to real 1:1 railroads:

http://www.akrailroad.com/OnlineCatalog/CarandEngineRerailers/tabid/87/Default.aspx

Since you are building a steam locomotive, the type of re-railers that would have possibly been used would be double-end type of re-railer. The site above has a photo of double-end type

 

[rkapuaala]

Thank Semper, Snoq. I now know what a rerailer is and what that hook was used for

 

[joe rusz]

Looks great Richard! Now 'splain me something: is the tender body off your ??? 4-4-0 or what?

Boy, Popsicle sticks! I see so many modelers have a sweet tooth. In my case--and because we are always dieting, it's Sugar Free Fudgsicles, one a night at 80 calories. But if I had my druthers and was skinny, I'd be eating the real deal, ice cream.

 

[rkapuaala]

Joe,
Yep that's just the backmann tender shell. I've converted it to oil (or an approximation of what it might look like converted to oil) and gotten rid of the platform, coupler, steps, hand rails, and substructure and replaced them with typical OR&L Hardware.
Yeah,,, I get mamona too,,, all skinny cow sticks brah,
I found this great stuff called slow churned ice cream that's practically diet even though it isn't. You should try

 

[rkapuaala]

First Coat of primer

Those little hooks turned out to be more of a challenge than anything so far. Thank god for Scalehardware.com. They have the perfect sized bolts for them.

You can barely see it, but that fastener is one of their .042 inch hex nuts.

Before I primed everything, I carved some wood texture into the bachmann back tool box.

I also decided against the back step since I can't see a silhouette of it the photo of the prototype. If I'm thinking they didn't put it on because they had the steps on the side that are close enough to the back platform.

I'm thinking that in its place they probably installed a throw bar, which is what I will do instead of the steps.
I'm also having a bit of a problem with the sprung pin coupler, Every time I pull it up, it lifts the block I have it attached to which is about the same weight as the tender. I've tried reducing the size of the spring, but then there is too much play. I may end up just having a pin that lifts up and then locks in place once it is lowered.

 

[Jeff Livingston]

OCD Buddy? Looks suberp! After consulting the 4-4-0 gods it appears that the early tender decks were orginally completely wood and often steel covered with the tank placed on top. It wouldn't seem unreasonable to believe that this would cause rapid corrosion and leaks in the bottom of the water tanks. Especially here in Hawaii. I suspect the Lanakila had at least one if not more replacement tender tanks. The GMO files may tell us.

Jeff Livingston
Kaneohe, Hawaii

 

[Ray Dunakin]

That's really looking good, Richard!

 

[SlateCreek]

Looks fantastic. I was originally thrown off by the length of the tender shell without the trucks underneath.... now I can see that both the model and prototype are about three "toolboxes" long...

Matthew (OV)

PS: Love the "photo du month!"

 

[joe rusz]

Richard, the tender is lookin' really cool. And your attention to detail is outstanding!

I am slowly working my way through the latest GR and came across the review of your figures. Very nice.

About ice cream, or a reasonable facsimile thereof--I have tried the slow churned stuff and agree that it's pretty good. I have it occasionally as a treat, but because it's got more calories than Sugar Free Fudgsicles, I have to restrain myself. However, each year when we go to Buffalo, N.Y. to visit my cousin, I treat myself to ice cream from a place called Antoinette's. It's family run by the third generation of Greeks, who started the original ice cream parlor in the Twenties, I think. This stuff is so rich in butterfat you can hear you artieries plugging up. All homemade, on the premises. And the whipped cream topping is real too! Chas Ronholder can probably attest to that, as he used to work nearby. Sigh...

 

[rkapuaala]

Thanks for the info Jeff, I guess they went with exposed wood to prevent dry root from occuring.
Matt, you have a good point. I took the measurements of the substructure and decking right from the backmann models original decking and substructure. After you mentioned it, I looked at the photo again and realized that the substructure members might be too wide, probably by as much as a couple of inches. Now the wooden part was a breeze to make, so, I may either thickness plane the bottom off, about 3/64ths or start all over again.

 

[rkapuaala]

Joe,
I've been enjoying gellato in place of ice cream. It's supposedly lower in fat and calories and the stuff I get is made by this Italian guy locally and it taste just like ice cream too me,,, at least a lot better than Skinny Cows.

 

[xo18thfa]

Richard: Very nice job. She looks great even in primer coat. Looking forward to seeing it back on the rails.

Take care, Bob

 

[rkapuaala]

Now that I have my upgraded cylinders for my Ruby 2 Kauila conversion, I'm going to have to move along quickly on this tender. I'm going to skip the spring loaded pin coupler for the draw bar and just go with a removable pin. So after cutting down the side beams to closer to prototypical dimensions, I started installing the rc stuff.

First I attached the Bachmann connectors to the underside of the framing.

Then I attached the RC receiver, controller, battery and on/off switch. To hold down the receiver and the controller I just used double stick tape. For the switch I cut out the back of
the tool box and used the existing screws on the switch and some styrene shims. I attached a Velcro strap to the deck for the battery pack and joined the rc and Bachmann connectors with some small wood screws.
All thats left now is to modify the Bachmann shell so that I can recharge without taking it off and then attach the wheels and I will move on to Kauila.

Here is the tender with the beams cut down and the shell sitting on top of the platform.