Midland Heavy Yard Crane question

[spikey]

Ever since I built my Mike's Models kit if this crane, I've wondered what the purpose is of the two rugby coalpost-type thingies that are fixed to the rods supporting the jib.   Obviously (?) the chain goes over the thick crossbars, but ... why?  What's the point?

[Compound2632]

Could it be to stop slack chain whacking against the boom - or anything else for that matter?

[kevinlms]

43 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Could it be to stop slack chain whacking against the boom - or anything else for that matter?

It certainly looks like an addon fitting to overcome a discovered problem.

[JimC]

I do believe I see a thinning of the central large diameter rods in their middle, which suggests wear and that they are guides for the chain. The rest might just be fancy bracing. 

[Dave Hunt]

It's my understanding that they are, as has already been stated, guides/supports for slack chain.

 

Dave

[Compound2632]

Is the Mike's Models kit still available? I've not been able to track it down.

[uax6]

Yes it is, I bought one a couple of months back. I can't find Holt model railways own website at the minute, but the details are here for the shop:

https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/shops/118-HoltModelRailways

 

Andy G

(Lets hope that the shop is still open and the kits still available!)

[spikey]

Cheers gents.  That's all I could think.  I guess we're never going to know why, if that's the only purpose, it's so elaborate.

 

Ref the kit, mine was actually the first white-metal kit I'd met, and I was surprised by how easily it went together.  The finished model's nice too, although the curb chain supplied in the kit is neither use nor ornament.  I ended up using some very nice ready-blackened 42 links/inch trace chain from a website called modellingtimbers, but I believe it's no longer trading.

[RLWP]

Looking at other yard cranes, I wonder if the central cross bar originally had a wooden roller for the chain which has now rotted away

 

Richard

[spikey]

2 hours ago, RLWP said:

Looking at other yard cranes, I wonder if the central cross bar originally had a wooden roller for the chain which has now rotted away

 

Ahah!  If that is indeed the case, the way in which the goalpost-thingies are constructed would make far more sense to me ...

[Compound2632]

@spikey and @uax6, were yours 4 mm/ft scale or 7 mm/ft?

[uax6]

Mine were 4mm scale ones. ( I bought the crane in question and a smaller version that has a siding counterbalance).

Andy G

[spikey]

40 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

@spikey and @uax6, were yours 4 mm/ft scale or 7 mm/ft?

 

4mm here too.  Got mine over a year ago now, so maybe current production comes with more suitable chain.