A scratch-built water crane with a difference

yb281

Registered
When I was building my new engine shed area (which has replaced the old cattle market), I wanted to include a water crane. In fact that was target no.1 for the Llanfair show, but I couldn't find anything suitable on any of the stalls. I was telling a certain trader and esteemed member of this forum about this (and he knows who he is), when he reached under his stall and pulled out the very thing I was after and which he had bought for the princely sum of 3 quid! Swine!!!! :rolf::rolf:

Anyhoo, last weekend I went to a model railway exhibition in Redditch and on a OO S&D layout I saw a model of a water crane that I thought would be just the job and a little unusual. Basically, pretty much the whole thing had been encased in a wooden structure in much the same way that an outside tap is protected from the frost.

The basic structure is just a solid piece of wood with the planking scored into it. The roof is a piece of plasticard and the base of engineering bricks was made by modifying a brick plinth recently kindly donated by the people of Ruritania, so probably from a Pola or Piko kit? The "bag" is a flexible drinking straw stowed in a wire loop. The controlling valve wheel came out of the spares box. The whole lot was painted in masonry paints before being "planted" on a bed of black gutter adhesive/sealant.

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Nice work as always Mel....
 
Great - a detail I need to add to my railway at some point. Thanks for the idea

Rik
 
Melvelous . That scene really has the 'feel' of a grimy loco storage and maintenance area.
 
That looks absolutely brilliant and lifelike - I can almost hear the loco simmering away!
 
Nice one Mel :thumbup:
 
That's very nifty
 
Stainzmeister said:
Ingenious use of a bendy straw Mel. :bigsmile:
Is the crane based on a prototype ?
Well, I really have no idea to be honest mate. Mine is only based on what I saw on the show layout. It seemed to be a pretty accurate and well researched layout, so really I can only presume so.
 
As this area features the former tram loco shed (or rather, what's left of it), the fact that a full length normal tramway passenger train can be stored here with the steam tram perfectly lined up with the water crane is the result of;

A) Perfect and meticulous planning. or
B) A total accident that I just found out this afternoon when parking said train out of the way.

You decide.

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PS Please refer to my qualifications as posted above my avatar. :bigsmile::bigsmile:
 
What are the dimensions please?

Now we know what to do with all those short bits of timber that we never get round to chucking out. Oh unless you have a log burner of course.
JonD
 
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