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mcb

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Everything posted by mcb

  1. mcb
    Yes Wefalck, I could not see any stays forward, only the bracket at the top. There are other lines faintly visible in the photo above but I am reluctant to add them when I am not sure. For instance there appears to be a block at the top of the stack. What could its purpose be? Flag or anchor light? We already have a mast for that I think. I may need to fatten those turnbuckles more. Thanks, MCB
  2. mcb
    Hello again, The upper support bracket for the stack is unusual (see pic above) at least to me. I was unable to find suitable brass stock at a few local hobby shops so I am trying to make do with 3/64th styrene tee (Plastruct). I built a fixture to taper the ends and I thinned it down somewhat as well. The hoops were made with some flat brass wire. These will be mounted with brass wire pins and not permanently attached in case I can come up with something better. If these look to bad on the model I may simply use smaller flat styrene or brass and give up some of the 3 dimensional 'texture'. Thanks Again, MCB
  3. mcb
    Hello Everyone, Thanks for the comment Brian and thanks everyone for the likes. I have been working on the stack for 'Isis'. On the first version of the stays for the stack I made some turnbuckles but they were grossly oversized (probably ~42") so I removed them and tried to represent them with blobs of paint. I used fine Easy Line for the stay wires. I also hung the boat hook over the door. I will make another post to show how the top bracket support is working out. Thanks for looking, MCB
  4. mcb
    Hello again everyone, Thanks Keith and Canute for the comments and everyone for the likes. There is a little bit of progress to report on the grain elevator. I have added and rigged the ladders to the sides of the elevator. I couldn't think of their purpose until I saw a picture of one leaning against a freighter that was being loaded, it should have been obvious to me. I have also made up the flag pole (never saw a flag or lantern in any of my pics) but did not yet glue it in, as well as some other miscellaneous details. The last week I have been building the stack and vent for the relief valve in brass which in the pic are placed in position not glued. Remaining to do on the stack are turnbuckles and guy wires for the stack and the support bracket for the top of the stack. After the stack will be rigging the discharge tubes and the marine leg. Clean-up and then finished? The last pic included here should be a detail shot of the stack cropped from another William W. Barry jr. photo in the series as noted in the first post. It shows an odd lenticular sort of arrangement of structural steel joined at the ends with 2 hoops for spreaders. Most or all of the other (few) pictures of 'Isis' and the other grain elevators I have show a simple set of 3 pipes or rods (p&s) which would have been easy. But I said to myself when I started this that I would stick to these photos and a deal is a deal. Thanks for looking, MCB
  5. mcb
    They look nice and straight to me. Well done. MCB
  6. mcb
    Hello again all. Thanks Roger and Canute for the comments and everyone for the likes. Three weeks and more seem to have gone by since my last update. I must post some progress. A lot of the small detail parts have been added and of course some things that were good when dry fitted have had to be re-made. I have added ventilators, skylight, boat and whistle to the 'boat deck', whistle, bell, awning and blocks for the ladders forward. One thing that I cannot see on these photos is a smoke jack for the galley stove which I assume to be in the rear of the engine house. I will omit it for now. Remaining to do: Rigging the ladders, rigging the discharge chutes, aft bitt and flagpole, various deck litter (ropes , barrels, boat hook etc.), fabricate rooftop ventilator, (dreading this) rig the marine legs and lots of touch-up and adjustment. When I am finished with this project I will list the materials and commercial parts I used and perhaps some thoughts on my reasoning involved. I think it might be necessary to get a new camera so that I can get good images when this grain elevator is done. The pics I have been posting look the thing just rolled of the show room floor. Thanks, MCB
  7. mcb
    Pipe work looks great. I will have to remember that rivet method. MCB
  8. mcb
    Thanks Keith Aug and Canute. And thanks all for the likes. Yes I am glad I got that issue of 'Transfer', thanks for the heads up Canute. I do have Flagg's books with three color pics. They were barn red over a black hull in those pics and probably for most of their career. A small update: I now have the tower sheathed and some of the deckhouses on. The model is a little bit more heavily weathered than I usually like, I am having difficulty touching up since I have no more of the Floquil paint in that color. The pics show the red paint brighter and the weathering a little more subdued than it actually is. Thanks Again, MCB
  9. mcb
    Thanks Keith and Wefalck, thanks all for the likes. Those blocks are from Bluejacket. They are 'Iron stropped triple blocks F0384', they are white metal. They seem a good match to the photos. Making blocks myself is a little too much for me. The chutes and pipes in the tower are just so something might be seen through the openings. In reality there was a lot more in there. Thanks again, MCB
  10. mcb
    Hello everyone, It is again time for a small update. I have finished with the hull for the most part. I added a hatch in the deck at the bow, coal scuttles, water fills etc. in locations that are my best guess after looking at drawings and pics of other elevators. I may add some cleats later, I think there were probably 4 at least. The bitts and bollards should be close to their proper positions as I can see those in the photos of 'Isis'. I painted my representation of the top of the steam engine and plopped the rear deck house/engine room over it to look in the skylight at it--it is barely visible. I am glad I looked otherwise I would still be making chairs and wrenches and calenders.... I am easily distracted. Before mounting the tower to the hull I installed the previously rigged triple blocks for the marine legs and 'parked' them on wire rods until I get to the stage where I can mount the marine legs. I hope they don't come off or tangle too much, I would be in a lot of trouble. I don't know how you folks do it on this forum, the rigging you do is astounding. Since these photos I have put on the tower and started to sheath it. From here it will mostly be assembling parts that are already made. Thanks for looking, MCB
  11. mcb
    Hi, You are doing a beautiful job here mbp521. Those 'pre-heaters' and 'auxiliary engine' (or one might say heat exchangers and pump) seem analogous to the later feed water heater systems found on locomotives. This of course is to get the feed water temp as close as possible to the boiler temp using waste heat, minimizing steam pressure loss among other things. Keep up the nice work! mcb
  12. mcb
    Thanks Everyone, These elevators seem to have been built on the NE seaboard. Many around NY harbor. The 'Isis' and sister 'Themis' built in Camden NJ 1898. They certainly must have been dusty (No Smoking) and I don't think the owners spent a lot on upkeep. MCB
  13. mcb
    Looks great . Especially the distressed foot lockers. MCB
  14. mcb
    Hello Everyone, It is time for another update. Thanks to MSW member Canute for pointing me to another source (RMIG--'Transfer' #40 ) for information on these vessels. I found that by making my hull longer I am actually close to the correct length now. I discovered a few details that I should probably add on as well. Also found that many of these floating elevators were not self propelled, some had barge like hull forms. And I got some confirmation that essentially no two of these things were alike or that one would retain its appearance for long. I am now near the stage of assembling the parts and sub assemblies. Here are various parts and the rebuilt marine legs. The last picture (if I can manage to get all the pics in order) shows a plastic structure protruding from the area of the engine room. That piece is meant to support the stack which otherwise would be too heavy and vulnerable. Just behind the support for the stack is the top of the steam engine (in primer) which will be under the skylight. For some reason I seem to put these details in where no one will ever see them. I do this in model RRing as well . Now I am starting to think of other things to go in there. It must be one of the reasons I never get anything done. Thanks for looking, MCB
  15. mcb
    I think I may try that wefalck, The more I look at them I don't care for how they hang. The one at the bow next to the name looks better. Thanks everyone, MCB
  16. mcb
    Hello All, It is time for a small update. Here the hull is almost complete. The wooden 'stick' fenders look pretty clunky in the photos, I probably should remake them. The 'woven rope' bow fender is a small piece of tack rag. Moving on to the superstructure now. Thanks, MCB
  17. mcb
    Very nice and interesting.
  18. mcb
    Great job and I think the barrels look fine. MCB
  19. mcb
    Hello All, I thought I would update this log to show what I have been doing lately. The first picture shows the 'marine legs' which are the movable conveyors that are let down into the grain barge to remove the grain, probably with some help from men with shovels. These were made some months ago but I have decided to modify (articulate) them so that the discharge will be into the interior hopper. Second picture shows the movable discharge tubes which are positioned in the ships hold to deliver the grain. They are masked so that 'seams' can be painted on. Thanks for looking, MCB
  20. mcb
    Thanks Keith Black and the same to you and all at MSW. MCB
  21. mcb
    Hello again, Thanks for looking in and the likes. Wefalck: Looking at these photos at higher resolution I can see that the elevator tower itself seems to be sheathed in metal, what used to be called around here corrugated 'iron'. The windows in the elevator look like ordinary off the shelf double hung windows from the local lumber yard. The lower ~ 10' are a different composition, I am assuming wood. Strictly low budget. The deck houses look like wood. The interior skeleton is simply to support the sheathing. I added some pipe work etc. in the event that any thing might be visible later. Over the years it seems that there were changes made (some drastic) at least to 'Isis' and 'Themis'. By the way, I did see an old pic or illustration of a grain elevator that was not fully enclosed, I believe in Buffalo NY. Keith Aug: 'lack of aesthetic appeal' …. I don't know about that, I found her irresistible.😮 Thanks again everyone, MCB
  22. mcb
    Hello again, This model was pretty far along before I decided to post it. I used photos to make a sketch to build from. Since it appeared to me that the hull form resembled an elongated harbor tug boat I used a hull from a Noch n scale tug boat to help determine the shape of the bow. However after building the engine room house I did not like the proportions and scrapped it and the hull. This project is primarily styrene, I will try to list all the detail parts before the log ends. Here is the current state of the model along with the old and the longer new hull. The deck houses just positioned for show and need more fitting. Please excuse the cell phone photos and the disgraceful mess of a work bench. Thanks, MCB
  23. mcb
    Hello all, This log is for a floating grain elevator as could be seen in New York harbor in the early 20th century. These self propelled grain elevators were used to transfer grain from barges to freighters in various locations around the harbor rather than directly from a large elevator on shore. Freighters would presumably fill 'unsold' hold space with this bulk cargo. I became aware of this subject through my interest in railroad activities in New York harbor up until the '60's although these grain elevators were independently operated. I was unable to find as much information (drawings) of these floating elevators as I would have liked but I enjoy building (model railroad subjects) from photos in styrene. I was not sure if this log should be in 1901- present but but the sister elevator to 'Isis', 'Themis' was supposed to have been built in 1898. There is some information and color photos in the book "New York Harbor Railroads in Color" Vol.2 Thomas R. Flagg pgs. 20-21. The photos below are from NPS / William W Barry Jr. (Steamtown N.H.S. DL&W RR glass plate negative collection ) 'Isis' is between two grain barges, unloading them and sending grain down its chutes to a freighter. I have already built approximations of those two barges. Any info about these grain elevators or any rail /marine operations would be appreciated. I will post photos of the current state of the model following this. Thanks, MCB
  24. mcb
    Hello all, I am a model railroader who stumbled onto this site looking for ship fittings. I found that I could not stop looking through the incredible work here. My train layout has been getting dusty. I am currently building model railroad related equipment and vessels (all in 1:160) for New York harbor pre '60's. On my bench now is the floating grain elevator 'Isis'. It is being built from photos in styrene. I hope to start a build log for it soon, if there would be interest in such an ungainly tub. It certainly would be unique. And of course at the last train show I attended I could not walk by a table where there was an old ('80's ?) AL Bluenose II at a price not to be refused, naturally missing the instructions. I have the hull done on that but I am told I must get going on the NY harbor things first. Sorry I did not join in sooner. I've been hanging around for months. Thanks, MCB
  25. mcb
    Hi Ken, This is great. I am interested in (and working on) NY harbor scenes especially Harlem Transfer/ DL&W facilities. I have seen your post above for the stick lighter. Please keep the pics coming. I cannot believe I missed this as I have been hanging around here for months. Thanks, MCB

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