Moving models about.

[steamer5]

Hi Guys,
Dad & I both put timber between the loco & the rails, we then have suitably padded clamping that either goes across or through the frames. These then are tightened down so the loco can’t jump about on its springs. Our locos have done many hundreds of kilometres like this with no issues.

Cheers Kerrin

[keith1500]

As I took my loco out this weekend, I thought I might contribute to this post with my set up.

The loco lives on the trolley in the workshop. It is stowed under the work bench with the towel over it to keep it clean. When I first got the loco my thoughts on a trolley were; open access to the underneath of the loco, caster wheels, and a useful height. The height was determined by my club's steaming bays. Access to the bays is by transporter and the trolley is set to the transporter’s height. The work bench is set to clear the loco and it a good job I am reasonably tall!

So, for transit the loco goes on to a wooden base which then has a wooden cover placed over it. The transit box can only be lifted by the base and is a two man lift (the loco weighs in at 58kg). The base has two skids on the underside which are smooth and set to straddle a 5 inch gauge track, so another way of getting the loco on to a piece of track if needed. The object of the smooth skids is to allow it to be slide once in car.

The operation goes like this

Base of transit box is placed in the car. Loading operation by GL5Keith1500, on Flickr


The trolley brought forward and an extension track slotted on to the trolley and lined up with the base.

Ready for the up! by GL5Keith1500, on Flickr

Thunderbirds are go !

Thunderbirds mode by GL5Keith1500, on Flickr

The loco is then rolled along to the base. This works okay as the loco being and 0-6-0 will tolerate angle in the track and quite happily rock across the sloping extension track on to the base of the transit box. I doubt this would work with a loco with pony trucks.

Once on the base it is carefully set in the centre and the hand brake applied. The towel is placed over the loco and two “sausages” formed at either end. Once the lid is placed over the loco should be protected from bashing the sides and top by the towel.
Note the base has a bund around it to contain any water or oil that migtht drip off after a run.

Loco on base by GL5Keith1500, on Flickr

With the lid on the transit box is slid in place over the rear axle. hence the smooth skids and polished board in the car.

Transit box in place between the wheel arches. by GL5Keith1500, on Flickr

The rest of the kit and caboodle is packed in and we are ready.

And ready for the off with wagons and other kit and caboodle. by GL5Keith1500, on Flickr


The set up originally worked well with my Mitsubishi Sigma. When I changed to the a 4 x4 it’s height was a problem. This was overcome by adding a height adjuster from an old stool. Given the angle of it wouldn’t normally leave it and the loco unattended but for the photo! The only other thing that makes things a bit tricky is having a slight down hill slope to the drive. It used to be both down and towards the hedge, but I levelled that somewhat. A smooth driveway would also be an advantage and casters with a brake on them.

[JonL]

I've just purchased a pump up motorcycle lift; fantastic bit of kit. Paid £109 delivered, and it pumps from worktop height down to boot floor level easily, and is very stable too.

[Jo]

I hope you are going to put some straps on that. If some T**t decides they are going to have an accident with you there is nothing going to stop that going through the windscreen.

Jun 1, 2021 13:09:15 GMT JonL said:

I've just purchased a pump up motorcycle lift; fantastic bit of kit. Paid £109 delivered, and it pumps from worktop height down to boot floor level easily, and is very stable too.

I have one in my workshop known as "the rollerskate" I use it for moving round/lifting heavy items like my 12" rotary table

Jo

[chester]

In the past for moving heavy things about eg motor cycle engines and the like i used to "borrow" the children's skateboard very useful just lean it to get round corners.

[92220]

Apr 26, 2021 11:51:42 GMT 92220 said:

This is the crane I bought off Ebay for £175.00 collected:-

EDIT:   The photos didn't come out as expected. I'll try again.

Bob.

Hopefully I've sorted the photos of the crane:-


This is the crane at maximum height:-


Img_3797 by Robert Shephard, on Flickr



Img_3796 by Robert Shephard, on Flickr





This is the crane at it’s lowest:-



Img_3796 by Robert Shephard, on Flickr



The next 2 photos are the crane split for strapping down, in the car:-





Img_3795 by Robert Shephard, on Flickr





Img_3794 by Robert Shephard, on Flickr





The mast and base separate by unscrewing 2 screws. Once unscrewed, the mast still stays in position until unclipped. It is then easy to lift and carry. When I bought the crane, I modified it so that it would fit in the car. I took 12” off the mast height, and 12” off the width. The width is expandable and all actions are battery operated so there is no real physical work to move it about in pieces. It’s load capacity is 250Kgs, so more than enough for pretty well any 5” gauge, and probably 7.1/4”, locos.



I bought it off Ebay as a “disability hoist/lift”. When new, these cost over £3000 !!! I paid just £175 and it was in perfect working order.

[uuu]

Aha - you have two pictures the same - I think the up one is missing.

Wilf

Edit - this has now been fixed

[lesstoneuk]

I've had to have major thinking sessions on how to transport my class 76 when it's done. I have two vehicles at hand.... A 1989,Fiat Ducato camper van and a 66 plate Citroen DS3. Putting something like the 76 into my wife's pride and joy is a definite no-no so it has to be the DS3.
After much measuring and tweaking, I can do it as follows.
2 x batteries.... Pass footwell
2 x bogies..... Boot
Body subframe... Over the top of folded pass seat.
Body complete.... On blanket on subframe.
Tools and sundries... Boot
I know it's a pain assembling the loco, running then having to knock it down to go home. There are distinct advantages though.
Since recovering from covid, I can't lift much and walking is in short bursts.
Sub-assemblies are manageable. Plus anything that needs oiling is there in front of me instead of me having to do weird contortions to get that last oil hole.

[JonL]

Even with the assembly it's still less faff than steaming a steam locomotive from cold. Of course, I enjoy the faff, so there may be something wrong with me.

[lesstoneuk]

Jun 2, 2021 7:40:20 GMT JonL said:

Even with the assembly it's still less faff than steaming a steam locomotive from cold. Of course, I enjoy the faff, so there may be something wrong with me.

Sorry to have to break this to you but you have a particularly nasty case of chronic steam oil in the blood. I'm afraid there is no known cure.

[uuu]

The patient crane is also good for repotting large plants. Lash the harness to the trunk, the legs spread to go around the pot. Lift and tap the old pot down to free, then wheel plant over to new one.

Wilf

[92220]

Jun 1, 2021 20:04:32 GMT uuu said:

Aha - you have two pictures the same - I think the up one is missing.

Wilf

Hi Wilf.

Not sure what happened there. I have added the missing "Up crane" photo but I couldn't find a way of deleting the incorrect photo. I intending just deleting the BB code for the incorrect photo, but when the post was edited, actual photos showed instead of the BB code.

Bob.

[uuu]

At the Pumphouse on Wednesday, we appreciated John's decent loco trolley and overhead hoist combination. The club's 7 1/4" loco needed attention to it's axle pumps. So how to present these for service?

We were able to hoist the hefty loco off the trolley by its rear coupling, and drop it back vertically on its front buffers, with wooden packing up to the smokebox. Steadied by retaining the hoist connection, the pumps were presented at a very convenient height. It was easy afterwards to return to the horizontal.

Wilf

[92220]

Another possibility for loading a loco into an estate car, is to fit one of the larger wheelchair hoists. These are made up to a 200kg SWG, to allow electric scooters to be loaded, so should be OK for most locos 7.1/4 and under. That is actually what made me think of the patient hoist I bought for the workshop.

Bob

[andyhigham]

Jun 1, 2021 18:38:54 GMT 92220 said:

Apr 26, 2021 11:51:42 GMT 92220 said:

This is the crane I bought off Ebay for £175.00 collected:-

EDIT:   The photos didn't come out as expected. I'll try again.

Bob.

Hopefully I've sorted the photos of the crane:-


This is the crane at maximum height:-


Img_3797 by Robert Shephard, on Flickr



Img_3796 by Robert Shephard, on Flickr





This is the crane at it’s lowest:-



Img_3796 by Robert Shephard, on Flickr



The next 2 photos are the crane split for strapping down, in the car:-





Img_3795 by Robert Shephard, on Flickr





Img_3794 by Robert Shephard, on Flickr





The mast and base separate by unscrewing 2 screws. Once unscrewed, the mast still stays in position until unclipped. It is then easy to lift and carry. When I bought the crane, I modified it so that it would fit in the car. I took 12” off the mast height, and 12” off the width. The width is expandable and all actions are battery operated so there is no real physical work to move it about in pieces. It’s load capacity is 250Kgs, so more than enough for pretty well any 5” gauge, and probably 7.1/4”, locos.



I bought it off Ebay as a “disability hoist/lift”. When new, these cost over £3000 !!! I paid just £175 and it was in perfect working order.

I've bought one of these today. Missing it's battery but at a penny short of £60 I'm happy

[92220]

Hi Andy.

That is an amazing price!!! Well found! New batteries are quite cheap (you need 2), so you have a really good unit for 'peanuts'. It is easy to take it apart and shorten the legs and expanding arms if you want to. I downloaded the owners manual from the 'net and it has exploded views of everything, so it is very easy to modify.

Bob.

[andyhigham]

I collected the hoist while I was working "down south"
I located a battery assembly for a decent price. There was no handset with it, when I opened the controller to work out the handset connections I found a couple of blown tracks. I built a new control board using Veroboard and a few relays. I bought a PWM speed controller off Ebay for just over a fiver and wired it into my board for the slow speed lift/lower
In case anyone is interested here is the circuit diagram

controller 2 by Sigma Projects, on Flickr

[miken]

Today was an interesting day I got to try out 3 new vehicles and my new transporting system.
So, In preparation for passenger hauling hopefully starting shortly after the lifting of covid restrictions:-
1) I was able to try my new(!) car towing a trailer for the first time.
2) I was able to try out the new trailer.
And
3) I was able to get a boiler test and try out my freshly rebuilt locomotive at the track.
The truck and trailer performed well and the mighty 42bhp engine barely noticed the extra load.
The loco passed its boiler test but twice suffered a derailment of the front bogie on the same curve. So needs a bit of investigation to rectify this problem before going into service (at the moment im blaming the track).
Oh, and I still need to fit mudgaurds to the trailer. Very bad.

[andyhigham]

Jun 8, 2021 11:10:43 GMT 92220 said:

Hi Andy.

That is an amazing price!!! Well found! New batteries are quite cheap (you need 2), so you have a really good unit for 'peanuts'. It is easy to take it apart and shorten the legs and expanding arms if you want to. I downloaded the owners manual from the 'net and it has exploded views of everything, so it is very easy to modify.

Bob.

Bob
I will have to reduce the width of the legs as my doorways at home are approx 700mm wide, the hoist is 750mm wide.
I have measured up and I don't think I can reduce the height more than 200mm without the screw hitting the bend in the central mast

[92220]

Hi Andy.

I cut from the mast, what I thought I needed to reduce it by. When I reassembled it, I carefully dropped the mast until the curve of the mast just reached the straight vertical part. I then lifted it up 25mm (1") and then marked the mast with an indelible black marker pen. That is the lowest I will ever take it. Taking the mast up, the first time, has to be carefully done so that if the nut does JUST come off the screw thread, the screw reverse, with a little manual help, will get it re-engaged. I then brought it down by 1" and made a second pen mark to show the maximum height. I then lowered it another 1/2" and marked it again, as an advance warning to stop raising. I reduced my width to just fit through a standard interior doorway.

Bob.