OO scale railway cranes

[oldknotty]

Does anyone make a kit for a crane in OO I want to build a breakdown train but i want something a bit different that the standard Hornby offerings . Any medium is cool for me :-))

Thanks martin

[mozzer models]

if you can find one D & S kits did a 4mm one which do turn up on Ebay

[Blue Max]

A D&S Cowans Sheldon crane sold on e-bay this evening although at £197.00 this is top dollar, especially when Danny still makes a batch from time to time at a far more sensible price. Still it makes me happy as I have two of them, one in each jib variation.

[Blue Max]

Martin,

 

Just remembered that there is also a Ransomes and Rapier 36T Steam Accident Crane and Match Truck (4mm) which is under development by another member of the RM Web. This is one that I really hope goes into production at some point, as from the pictures I have seen of it, it is a very comprehensive, extrmely well detailed kit.

 

I have only ever seen one for sale, again on e-bay earlier this year, it went for £415.00 .

[chertsey chopper]

For lighter work Dapol makes a 15ton Diesel crane IIRC.

Should be available at most Dapol stockists.

Old Airfix ones do appear on ebay every now and then. I've got one in pieces in one of my odds-and-sods boxes, I must rake it out and see if it's based on the same model or if it's the heavier working load variety. The D+S Crane kit would seem the way to go if you can find one...if you check out Yahoo and type in Cowans Sheldon and then the Crane31 link you'll see what one looks like.

 

jules

[Dave777]

If you go the Dapol route there was a Model Rail article a few years back about how to improve it. I'll dig out the reference tonight.

 

 

[The Stationmaster]

For lighter work Dapol makes a 15ton Diesel crane IIRC.

Should be available at most Dapol stockists.

Old Airfix ones do appear on ebay every now and then. I've got one in pieces in one of my odds-and-sods boxes, I must rake it out and see if it's based on the same model or if it's the heavier working load variety. The D+S Crane kit would seem the way to go if you can find one...if you check out Yahoo and type in Cowans Sheldon and then the Crane31 link you'll see what one looks like.

 

jules

 

The Airfix/Dapol crane is not a breakdown crane but a Civil Engineer's crane.

[craigwelsh]

A D&S Cowans Sheldon crane sold on e-bay this evening although at £197.00 this is top dollar, especially when Danny still makes a batch from time to time at a far more sensible price. Still it makes me happy as I have two of them, one in each jib variation.

Ironically that particular kit was bought at Scalefour North for £15 as I turned it down! The remaining Mitchell kits from Scalefour North are also being sold by the seller.

 

It would be nice to see the 36T crane on the market eventually..

[Follower]

Does anyone make a kit for a crane in OO I want to build a breakdown train but i want something a bit different that the standard Hornby offerings . Any medium is cool for me :-))

Thanks martin

 

You still see the old Hornby-Dublo cranes around on e-bay and some shops. I'll check my HRCA auction catalogues when I get home and see what sort of prices have been reached.

If you do get one do make sure it is for 2-rail running, as the 3-rail will short your system out if you don't re-wheel it. I got one from Frizinghall (?) about 3 yoars ago for about £35

which included match trucks, jib runner, all four jacks and the box!

 

Simon.

[Adrian Wintle]

You might also want to look at the HO Tichy crane kit. It would need a new chassis to replace the American one, but it should be a relatively nice kit (I have the N-scale one).

 

http://www.tichytraingroup.com/index.php?page=view_product.php&id=1&category=Freight+Car+Kits

 

Adrian

[JZ]

Cambrian do this one. Used for unloading at yards that didn't have cranes. Makes up into a nicely. Sorry no photo as I sold mine on ebay.

[The Stationmaster]

Cambrian do this one. Used for unloading at yards that didn't have cranes. Makes up into a nicely. Sorry no photo as I sold mine on ebay.

 

 

Strangely enough I actually had one of those out as a (sort of) breakdown crane

c1976/77. Like several others it was in M&EE use as a more or less static crane and the one in question lived in the Down Yard at Westbury and probably hadn't turned a wheel for 10 years or more.

 

It was taken down to Clink Road Jcn (just under 5 miles) to deal with a Grampus which had suffered a fairly catastrophic hotbox incident and needed a new wheelset, axlebox, spring and axleguard fitted in order to be moved. The crane took about 90 minutes to move over the 'almost 5 miles' as it had to be stopped every few hundred yards to have the bearings soaked in yet more oil but it performed admirably on its liftng task. Not the regular thing for one of these by that date mind you so definitely not run-of-the-mill.

[Dave777]

Model Rail references for the Dapol kit:

 

May 2007 - modification of the kit to include a new jib, match wagon to carry the jib, and changing the wheels from two bogies to a fixed set of four axles.

 

This article also makes reference to a Summer 1998 edition of Model Rail where Chris Leigh carried out some modifications, and also issues 60 and 61 where some discussion was carried out in the Q&A pages.

[chertsey chopper]

The Airfix/Dapol crane is not a breakdown crane but a Civil Engineer's crane.

Cheers for the correction Mike, any kits you'd advise having a go at?

[The Stationmaster]

Cheers for the correction Mike, any kits you'd advise having a go at?

 

 

Really as advised by various folk above - but it all depends on what sort of crane you're after. The Cambrian one strikes me as ideal to stand in the corner of a yard for C&W use.

 

As far as real life goes the last thing anyone wanted to do was take a crane out on a rerailing job unless it was absolutely unavoidable, it cost lots of dosh to to even take them off shed, they were/are unwieldy things to work with on a site and they can take ages to get set-up or moved from one lift to the next. Hence what you normally got (or specifically asked for) was 'the vans' (or later the BRUFF type road-railer lorries) using MFD or similar jacking kit.

 

So the most typical pattern of 'breakdown train' didn't include a crane! However if you like cranes............. and it's your trainset. (But I do fancy that little Cambrian offering )

[Follower]

You still see the old Hornby-Dublo cranes around on e-bay and some shops. I'll check my HRCA auction catalogues when I get home and see what sort of prices have been reached.

If you do get one do make sure it is for 2-rail running, as the 3-rail will short your system out if you don't re-wheel it. I got one from Frizinghall (?) about 3 yoars ago for about £35

which included match trucks, jib runner, all four jacks and the box!

 

Simon.

 

It took me (much) longer than expected to find some cranes being sold, but in reasonable to good condition without boxes they were selling for around £20.

 

Simon.

[Guest stuartp]

It depends what era and region you're after.

 

The D&S crane is really a 19th/early 20th century beast, after that larger heavier locos meant they were under-capacity for front-line work.

 

With a bit of work the Tichy HO one doesn't look unlike the Cravens 20T (?) crane preserved by the NRM and used by the NER, CR and others. As with the D&S one these were a bit puny by Grouping-era standards but as at least one made it to preservation they must have lingered on somewhere.

 

The Dublo model is suitable for the Grouping onwards, the LMS ones were introduced to cope with Pacifics and the like. 36, 45 and 50T capacities, supplemented by a new batch during WW2. I forget which model the HD crane represents but all 4 companies had something vaguely similar and being expensive capital kit they lasted into BR days. Not seen the forthcoming kit bit it sounds like it fits in this group.

 

Hornby's current model (the Thomas one, not that awful foreign thing in the Railroad range) - based on the 1960 Cowans Sheldon 75T cranes, the jib is too short (to cope with 1st radius curves) and the runner is ficticious but the rest isn't bad dimensionally, if a little crude by modern standards. With a bit of licence and missing off the relieving bogies (the short 4-wheel bits) the original jib can be used to represent the smaller 30T (?) cranes delivered at the same time.

 

Everything else I can think of (Cambrian, Airfix/Dapol, Hornby 10T 4-wheeler) is a P.Way crane or yard crane.

 

As Stationmaster suggests, the vans on their own are much easier - the old Hornby generic coaches can be bashed into something representative and can be had for a couple of quid if you look hard enough. Usually found in threes - messing/riding van and a couple of tool and packing vans - although there was considerable variation.

 

Watch my workbench in the next couple of weeks - once I've got the cafeteria car out of the way Hurlford's 1960s tool vans are next on the list - L&YR, NER, LNER and HR !

[jonhall]

The Triang hand crane is one of my favourites,

 

 

 

http://www.metropolitanrailway.co.uk/Cowans_sheldon_handcranes.html

 

J

[Gordon A]

Johnhall,

 

Where did you get the nicely detailed counterbalance weights from?

 

We have one of these at Bitton, but given the number of people required to turn the handles etc, it is very much out of use.

 

Gordon A

Bristol

[jonhall]

Johnhall,

 

Where did you get the nicely detailed counterbalance weights from?

 

We have one of these at Bitton, but given the number of people required to turn the handles etc, it is very much out of use.

 

 

 

Gordon,

 

They are my own manufacture, I've never advertised them as I don't want to get into the manufacture business, but happy to sell the odd set if people want them. I do the tall 6 1/2ton type (the top photo) as an etched backplate, with a resin block that it's glued onto. See the link in my last post. I also now do the 10t short type (bottom photo)which is a resin block with all the detail cast into it, doing away with the need for the etch. Both come with a set of etched pulley wheels. Send me a PM if interested, or I'll have the bits with me at ExpoEM on Saturday - I'll be behind the DEMU stand all day.

 

The crane at Bitton is the only surviving 1942 batch of 6 1/2t cranes which are slightly different from the later versions.

 

Jon

[Poor Old Bruce]

Gordon,

 

They are my own manufacture, , or I'll have the bits with me at ExpoEM on Saturday - I'll be behind the DEMU stand all day.

 

Jon

Jon,

 

Will you be at Bretby in June?

 

Richard

[jonhall]

 

Will you be at Bretby in June?

 

 

Yes, both days, splitting my time between Abbey Road and the secondhand stall.

 

Jon

[Poor Old Bruce]

Yes, both days, splitting my time between Abbey Road and the secondhand stall.

I hope to be there on the Saturday. Will try to find you.

 

Richard

[ashman]

Going back to Oldknotty's original question, if he is into kit bashing he could try converting the Dapol crane into a steam version ala RM Aug 1990.

[jitterbug1723]

Members might be interested to know that I am producing RTR versions of the Ransome and Rapier 36-ton Crane in 00, EM and P4. No kit is currently available and each is basically a scratchbuilt example. I am looking into the possibilities of producing other Railway Cranes such as the 45-ton R & R and the GWR 6-ton Travelling Crane. I need a minimum build of 5 units to make the project viable so would welcome any thoughts or enquiries

 

Steffan