The LIRR Industrial Service, Inc. shelf layout

[Chris333]

I saw this today and thought about your turnout:

[Lemosteam]

Found a use for some old cat pole etches and made two poseable dozer blades for mt DKS Cat D2’s to push aggregate around. They will be painted in IS white when done. Yeah, no, I’m not adding hydraulics.

[Lemosteam]

Finished painting and wathering DKS Cat D2 numbered C and S. Dozer C and its operator Calvin, is strictly used for coal, unless another machine goes down. Dozer S and its operator Sam is used for sand only.

Here they are all dirtied up.













Here’s Sam pushing sand u the pile while the excavator dumps more.



Calvin has climbed the coal pile trying to push it a little higher.



Calvin is pressed into duty at the gravel pile because dozer A is in the paint shop. Alouicious is A’s operator.



Calvin has made the grounds a mess at the coal pile, struggling to push another blade full up as the Crain waits for its new 30 yard claw bucket to be installed.

[Lemosteam]

The aggregate yard has a night crew with Carl and Shane on the dozers with Bert in excavator 3. The yard is reeling in big bucks for the mob lately.

[glakedylan]

John, your layout looks fantastic! I have been following this thread, and each addition and completion has significantly enhanced the realism of this RR. Great job!

[Lemosteam]

Designed and printed a poseable clamshell bucket for the crane car. The kit includes parts for two, one with a straight jaw and the other with teeth.









The hoist has a magnet to swap when the crane needs a different appliance.



Here the crane is lifting the bucket from the barge:

[Lemosteam]

Finished assembling the second clamshell bucket; The links proved too brittle for these giant hands so I made some brass ones. This one has no teeth for cleansing aggregate out of gondolas and barges. I posed this one open this time.  Next up will be an orange peel grappler for the crane car.





Here, the operator is looking to grab a load of PRR ballast.


Made cribbing for the toothed clamshell and installed it on the A end of the flat. The clamshell is sitting in the cribbing and will remain loose for photo ops.


Meanwhile, the crane car is getting ready to grab some gravel from the barge.

[Lemosteam]

More work to finish up the buckets today:

Added the cable to the pulleys in the clamshell buckets. Painted and weathered them as well.




I also added some epoxy to the large magnet to give I’d the Bugs Bunny magnet look. IYKYK.


I added some rope to the cribbing on the flat to act as hold downs for the buckets.




I also shortened the crane cable so the attachments were farther off the ground for more realistic posing.


Only one more attachment to print and add to the flat car on the brake end.

[wazzou]

Is there a prototype for this flatcar operation?
I have a hard time wrapping my head around how they would operate that in a number of ways.
How was it moved around? 
Why would they do that, instead of an autonomous shovel? 
How can it load/unload without some form of support for/from the flatcar to prevent tipping?

[Lemosteam]

Is there a prototype for this flatcar operation?
I have a hard time wrapping my head around how they would operate that in a number of ways.
How was it moved around? 
Why would they do that, instead of an autonomous shovel? 
How can it load/unload without some form of support for/from the flatcar to prevent tipping?

@wazzou , All fair questions, although there is a similar prototype in Duluth MN at Azcon Metals, using a much larger crane on a smaller flat car. I saw no evidence of outriggers whe I was there which I have thought about. You can see that the tall crane can reach to either side of the tracks to load and unload incoming materials. It could also be the that the crane itself is drivable and moves itself on the tracks.





The LiRR IS has a leased PRR 44 tonner that will push it around, along with all the gons that they have and empty from the mainline interchange.

The crane is intended to be used on both sides of the channel in scrap service as well, so the crane needed to be mobile. It is the only machine that can load and unload the barges as well, from the tracks.

I also doubt that a small load in the buckets would topple the crane and flatcar, or a 5’ tall grapple full of scrap metal. The buckets are about 5.5’ wide and 7.5’ long and 4’ depth when closed.

That’s my logic anyway, as convoluted as it may be. Remember upthread, this is a hokey 1950’s operation run by the mob, lol.

It would be cool to add poseable, fold-out outriggers to the corners of the flat car for stability.

[Chris333]

Think that is a Brownhoist ?   Their frames do look like a short flatcar.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_lemke/albums/72157670869774271/with/27979042093

[Chris333]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/highland_lake/15281859630

[wazzou]

I appreciate your hokey Mob Boss operation and I don’t intend to demean it.
I do have experience in heavy construction, transportation and railroad operations and it just isn’t plausible.
Not my concern.
It is rule #1.
Carry on with my apologies.

[Lemosteam]

I appreciate your hokey Mob Boss operation and I don’t intend to demean it. I absolutely did not take it that way by any means!
I do have experience in heavy construction, transportation and railroad operations and it just isn’t plausible. Understood and appreciated, and as a designer in the engineering community, I would love to hear your reasoning as to why, if you are willing to share specifics, or if you think outriggers on the car would help.
Not my concern. No, but I do try to be understanding of other knowledgeable modelers, and I was not trying to be dismissive of your assertion.
It is rule #1. Aye.
Carry on with my apologies.  Absolutely no need for an apology, whatsoever.

@wazzou , see green comments above.

[Lemosteam]

First attempt at printing my grappler design for the scrapyard went horrible. Broken bits, and could not get one from two printed kits. Boo.


Second design, not so bad.




Adding the links to the hooks. One is attached to the upper pulleys.


Adding all of the hooks to the upper pulley.


Grapple open.


Grapple closed.


Grapple at work.