Gibbo675

Hi Chaps, Bigamy is having one wife too many.............. as is monogamy. Gibbo.

I don't know what the problem is, I like a bit of flange.

Hi Corbs, I am most pleased to see that you don't mix up setts for cobbles despite your cobbling. I am also impressed that you didn't take the easy route and fix a carefully placed packing case over the hole, I would have done ! Gibbo.

Hi Giles, That was great, I especially liked how the stirring music at 3:29 added to the the action when there was a display of the dangers of working without riggers and a banks-man ! Gibbo.

Hi Martyn, I can see that there is a lot of work for not much gain but it does make quite a difference. I find such jobs, as fiddly as they are do make all the difference. Gibbo.

Hi Folks, I've been mainly applying transfers today and I have decorated two Booth Rodley cranes and jib runners and a Cowans Sheldon 10 ton hand crane and match truck, also attended to was a riding van. All transfers are by Cambridge Custon Transfers which are made specifically for both types of crane, BL92 for the Booth Rodley and BL36 for the Cowans Sheldon. The wasp stripes on the Yellow Booth Rodley crane are made up from the unused counter weight stripes from the Cowans Sheldon sheet, and the capacity/radius plate on the Cowans Sheldon is from the Booth Rodley sheet,. The riding van has bits from both sheets to make up a number and some data panels from some spare Rail-Tec transfers, this mixing and matching has given a little extra to the models. Booth Rodley 15 ton with Jib Runner and Riding Van. Booth Rodley 15 ton with Jib Runner. Cowans and Sheldon 10 ton with Match Truck. Work upon the Coles 10 ton has also been undertaken with the reworking of the jib and the building of the jib runner wagon and its jib support. Most conveniently the Runner wagon, which is an LNER 22 ton plate wagon, arrived today and was built by lunch time, with the jib being finished and cured enough to be handled I ten made and fitted up the jib support. working from photographs from Paul Bartlett's site I used .020" black plasticard and some Plastruct angle. The reason for black plasticard is so that should the paint wear off the sliding support it won't be as obvious. The reason for the sliding support is so that the jib may swing across the wagon when traversing curves. Coles 10 ton and Jib Runner. Gibbo.

Hi Folks, I've been mainly applying transfers today and I have decorated two Booth Rodley cranes and jib runners and a Cowans Sheldon 10 ton hand crane and match truck, also attended to was a riding van. All transfers are by Cambridge Custon Transfers which are made specifically for both types of crane, BL92 for the Booth Rodley and BL36 for the Cowans Sheldon. The wasp stripes on the Yellow Booth Rodley crane are made up from the unused counter weight stripes from the Cowans Sheldon sheet, and the capacity/radius plate on the Cowans Sheldon is from the Booth Rodley sheet,. The riding van has bits from both sheets to make up a number and some data panels from some spare Rail-Tec transfers, this mixing and matching has given a little extra to the models. Booth Rodley 15 ton with Jib Runner and Riding Van. Booth Rodley 15 ton with Jib Runner. Cowans and Sheldon 10 ton with Match Truck. Work upon the Coles 10 ton has also been undertaken with the reworking of the jib and the building of the jib runner wagon and its jib support. Most conveniently the Runner wagon, which is an LNER 22 ton plate wagon, arrived today and was built by lunch time, with the jib being finished and cured enough to be handled I ten made and fitted up the jib support. working from photographs from Paul Bartlett's site I used .020" black plasticard and some Plastruct angle. The reason for black plasticard is so that should the paint wear off the sliding support it won't be as obvious. The reason for the sliding support is so that the jib may swing across the wagon when traversing curves. Coles 10 ton and Jib Runner. Gibbo.

Hi Andy, I reckon he's looking for his DMU's, all sixteen of them. They're hiding in the tunnel Clive, near the bridge with a bus on it ! Gibbo.

Hi Bruce, I would think that Hattons four and especially the six wheel coaches would be just the thing for early to mid twentieth century breakdown and engineering trains as riding vans and even as conversion to tool vans. It would take only a few windows and doors blanked off or plated over and a repaint and it should look most convincing. Severe butchery might even see an underframe as a six wheel jib runner for a crane. Gibbo.

Hi Tom, To add to what Fat Controller has already said there are different types of crane for different types of job. The two cranes made by Hornby are at the extreme ends of operational duties, the 75 ton steam crane is for major derailments or engineering works such as lifting locomotives or placing bridge girders. The much smaller 6.5/10 ton hand cranes was originally described as a mobile yard crane for lifting machinery or containers onto flat wagons and light engineering work such as lifting sleepers and the like. Cranes allocated to the engineering department were in the main rated between 5 and 20 tons, although there were larger ones, and very often had long jibs for reaching tall structures such as signal posts. Should a large bridge girder or similar be beyond the capacity of the engineers cranes then the larger capacity breakdown cranes would be used, usually in tandem, and might lift up to 90 tons between them. As for the video posted it is not unusual to lift anything by derricking in the jibs the carriage would be placed as closely as possible, along side if possible so that the jib could be as vertical as possible. The reason for this is that the crane would be more stable in this condition and the majority of the lift would be done by way of the hoist. Derricking of the jib may be used to drag derailed wreckage as when doing this the load does not leave the ground and so if the crane starts to heal then the load cannot in theory pull the crane over as a suspended load might. This would be done to the point that the jib is sufficiently elevated that a lift may be attempted should the load be too heavy for the radius of lift capacity. Gibbo.

Hi Tom, This ought to float your boat ! Gibbo.

Hi Tom, That looks the business ! Gibbo.

Hi Jon, You've got it worse than me ! I have got one of the Hornby Dublo Cranes ready to be hacked about in the future once I have finished the current batch of cranes along with a fair number of DMU's and some AC electrics. I think I shall be building a new jib for it along with a jib runner along with other works that need to be attended to as I'm sure that you are aware of. Do post more, perhaps feature your conversions for their interest value. I should like to see progress of the D&S 10 ton cranes. Gibbo.

Hi Folks, I've been busy looking at Paul Bartlett's photographs of Coles cranes and I have reworked the cab of the Coles 10 ton DE. The front window has had the window deepened slightly along with a new cab side to allow the angled side of the cab and a new cab roof. The superstructure is now painted Engineers Olive so that I may fit the glazing, the cab roof section has not yet been fixed although it fits up as it should. I have yet to alter the jib, also the bogies will in time receive attention as they are leftovers from the Dapol Booth Rodley kit and as such they are the wrong pattern. Here is my latest thread which is especially for cranes, do take a look: Gibbo.

Hi Folks, I've been busy looking at Paul Bartlett's photographs of Coles cranes and I have reworked the cab of the Coles 10 ton DE. The front window has had the window deepened slightly along with a new cab side to allow the angled side of the cab and a new cab roof. The superstructure is now painted Engineers Olive so that I may fit the glazing, the cab roof section has not yet been fixed although it fits up as it should. I have yet to alter the jib, also the bogies will in time receive attention as they are leftovers from the Dapol Booth Rodley kit and as such they are the wrong pattern. Gibbo.