Towering Infirmity

trammayo

Interested in vintage commercial vehicle, trams, t
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Back in 2008, as part of my new trailer's 'scenery', I added a Bachmann Cooaling tower. Meant for 0 Gauge, it was also offered for G Scale. It survived the rebuild of the trailer but, due to various factors, it started to fall apart. I tried all sorts of temporary fixes (including bracing the inside of the structure with wood and screwing through the plastic.

2008
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A couple of weeks ago, I leaned over to rerail an errant coach and managed to catch the roof of the tower. This inadvertent action dislodged everything and it would no longer go back together. Fed up, I decided to build a new tower more to scale.

The old tower removed - hand rails, stairs, etc. had already dropped off or got broken before the final blow!
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With the new (totally wooden) representation I was about to build, being 30% larger, it was imperative that I alter the track layout by the depot. The original track was plastic with an improbable connection to the brass track!

The old....
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... and the 'new'. The marks of the former tower's basr can be seen - along with 3 items of toy rolling stock (50mm gauge?)....
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When I say new, I mean new to me. The LGB points had to be rebuilt and electrical conductivity restored (just in case!)
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I didn't take any pictures of the build (and it is far from finished) as I had so many interuptions to the planned "me" time. Indeed, as late as last Friday evening, I was struggling. In the end, I decided to make it a deliberate 'build in progress and made a lean-to board advertising the construction company. One only has to treat the ampersand as an A and you have a complete acronym!

Pictures of the new build - the builder is named as T & TS Planks....
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Ex 45x22 PSE (ex 2x1 is not available here!) represents the elevator and acts as a nain spine..
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And a couple of more shots. The coach was used for clearance testing.. The sleepers have been removed to represent the drop pit feeding the elevator - all I need to do is find the bags of coal I put somewhere safe.
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The shute (bashed - literally - from a piece of corrugated sheet) is permanently fixed in the raised position ..

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With the trailer now in the hay shed, the tower is back in the workshop awaiting gantries, stairs (maybe a ladder because of restrictions on space), detailing and landscaping, etc. Further painting is required and maybe a brick wall as a backdrop (like the other end of the depot).

Also, I will need to acquire a two axle, bottom dishcharge, hopper truck - as my bogie hoppers are too long.

More to follow..

Edit; And I need to put a stop at the end of the track. Don't ask how I know that - suffice to say that an accidentally rerouted loco went through the depot!
 
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It looks very impressive, Mick. And very cunning on your part to make the elevator out of a solid piece of wood - I'd have been looking round for a suitable horizontal tube or, worse still, trying to make one! And the missing sleepers is a neat piece of detail.
 
Well, after another week of not being able to please myself, I did sneak in some shed work. Here's a lttle more progress;

Because of space (width or depth) limitations, I have had to put the steps on the opposite side to the Bachmann model. I was going to go up another level with back gantry (access to elevator) but the steps up to the tower would have been too long. I will build a ladder up to the elevator access door.
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The steps are made from old glazing beads and glued to a strip of ply. The side members are offcut strips (which camouflages the plywood strip and the bead mouldings). Apart from coffee stirrers, all the wood is scrap saved for a rainy day.
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The stairs will get more posts for handrails and the legs are now in the process of being cross braced. The coffee stirrers are not parallel so I used a tiny (60mm long) plane to true them up.
 
Looks much better than the plastic one you are replacing with your own scratch built tower! What was that coach in one of the shots you took. The one with the "railroad" roof?
 
Looks much better than the plastic one you are replacing with your own scratch built tower! What was that coach in one of the shots you took. The one with the "railroad" roof?

Hi - it's a Bachmann JS D&RG. I used it to gauge clearances.

Now painting and adding final details (well, as far as I'm going!). Finally found the 'coal' (too many boxes to look through. Tedious was the word (well, it was after three attempts - I guess on the first two attempts I forgot to look in the box where they were:banghead: ).
 
Tower done apart from roof, then it will be a case of fitting on layout and 'dressing the scene'.

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Need to receive the little hopper truck (ebay purchase) to set the scene. Then I will be off to a show a week on Sunday. Need to service locos as I thought that my shows were over for this year. All piled up (in boxes) on the bench - so that's a sooner, rather than later!
 
Well, I'm still messing about with things. The tower is now firmly affixed to the layout. A back wall has been made and fitted, a lean-to shed, oil drums, coal in the pit and now I need to coal up the hopper truck (which I collected from the PO yesterday.

The Jellybeans are has-beens!Jellybeans hopper.jpg

Off to do that work now. More pics later...
 
Very impressive Mick; I like it a lot - the tower that is, not the consumption of jelly beans! :)

Thanks.

We used to sell a lot of sweets - I used to weigh them out. I personally tested for quality!

The hopper has now been attended to - just waiting for the PVA glue to set then I can reclaim any loose coal. Its a rush job and I only had gloss. It will be partly hidden underneath the tower (that's my excuse).

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At least I'll be able to propel it into position now I've altered the couplings to the correct position. Just need to find an uncoupler (I have at least two somewhere). Once I get the trailer out (Fri or Sat) I can take some pics.
 
Got the trailer out of the barn yesterday evening. Loaded up with locos this morning and thought I'd take some pics. Well we all know what thought did don't we?

Deleted 90 per cent of pics as they were utterly carp. These two are just plain carp.

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Thanks Gordon!
 
Although my last outing with the trailer for this year was marred by heavy rain, I did manage to get a few pics of the trailer layout (there were few visitors because of the bad weather). So here's my last two pics (honestly)..

Hollymount Sept 25 - 2016 (5).JPG Hollymount Sept 25 - 2016 (6).JPG

Although quality is down to my usual standard, at least there was some light!
 
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