mtaylor

Thank you to everyone for the kind comments and the likes.
 
 While waiting for shed materials and the cutting tool to arrive I built the water tank and stand and also added a ladder. The three water tank elements are attached to one another and stand alone but are not attached to the barge deck. The water tank assembly will be the last elements to be permanently attached. 

 

 

 
 Thank you to all for following along.
 
  Keith

That's what we do!

Thank you, Brian. I've ordered the below product, I'll let everyone know know how it works out. If it doesn't I'll give Elmers a try.

 
 Thank you, Eric. I've ordered both the Vallejo Ferrari Red and the Apple Barrel Barn Red, the Apple Barrel Barn Red looks very close to the Vallejo Brown in the link you sent. When these two arrive I'll do test strips on  the current test wall and post results.
 
 Thank you, mcb. I've probably overthought this way too much.   Trying to determine not only a color but a hue from historical black and white photos is an exercise in futility, I think it's more of a best guess scenario. 
 
 Example is the photo you sent. The engine shed on the right next to the rolling stock looks to be the same color and it does look to be a bit more red than brown.........maybe?? The engine shed on the left looks to be more brownish but that could be because of the direction of the sunlight?
 
 As far as weathering goes...... The model I've built represents a barge pile driver approximately two years old. Much older and the Steam Donkey would have been the improved dual cylinder, dual drum engine. One wouldn't expect to see flaking paint but one would expect to see rubbed, scrapped, and soot and mud dirty paint as the photo below suggest. 
 
I'll definitely give a review of the cutter once I've had a chance to put it to work. 

 
 Thank you, David. The problem with mica or plastic is the scale/size. The window openings are 0.15 x 0.15 inches, that's so small to not only cut accurately but to then try to fit into the opening and then glue it in place. I tried some thin clear food container plastic that would be perfect if I could cut it accurately and then get it installed. I tried but my normal patience evaporated rather quickly.  
 
 
 Thank you to everyone for the likes, comments, and taking the time to follow along.
 
 Keith

Another glazing possibility is mica. Any rockhound shop will have some.

Vallejo makes a "Boxcar Red": https://micromark.com/products/vallejo-acrylic-airbrush-paint-boxcar-red-1oz?keyword=vallejo boxca

Keith, in the past I’ve used clear Elmer’s glue for small window glass. I placed the frame on a piece of glass and taped it down, dripped the glue to fill the frame and let it dry. The glue shrinks down to a thin layer and looks very realistic. It somewhat resembles rain glass which would have been more the style back in the day and the frame can be easily pried off the piece of class with an xacto chisel blade. 
 
-Brian

Thank you, Glen. I think the Burnt Sienna is too orange?
 
 Is this more what you were thinking? 
 

Myself, I envision a more brownish red like the below.
 

 

I think the burnt sienna is too brown if you are trying for boxcar red.  I envision it more red than brown like the pics below.  I would do a base of a reddish-brown (a bit more more red than brown) and add some weathering techniques.

 
 

Thank you everyone for the comments, likes, and for being part of the journey.
 
  I've built a test shed wall to get an idea of what's going to be required to complete the shed. The wall is 1x2 inches representing a wall 10x20 feet. The color is Burnt Sienna, I'm trying replicate the old boxcar red of over a century ago and I'm not sure I've hit the mark. Any thoughts from you folks regarding the color would be greatly appreciated. I also need to be directed to where I can purchase liquid window glass, I tried finding a supplier without success, 
 
 All of the sheds in the photos I've seen have horizontal siding some are shiplap siding and in others the boards are nailed edge to edge. Some had window trim and others did not. As I've gotten into this part of the project it's turned out to be more complicated than I had originally thought would be due to the scale. 

 
 For all these years I've been freehand cutting small wood stock with an X-Acto chisel blade. Because I've not had more than a few pieces to cut I've fiddled making the ends square by sanding. The engine shed and future associated builds is going to require a lot of exact cut pieces and freehand cutting is out of the question. After seeing a favorable review on MSW I purchased this tool from Unique Master Models and is due to arrive this Saturday.  
 
 
 Thank you so much for your support. 
 
   keith

Thank you, Richard. Strictly wood piling, steel wasn't used till after 1900. 

Hi Keith, really like all the small details you are putting into your model 👍.
Just a question, did this pile driver just hammer wood piles or was it used for steel piles as well.
 
Regards
Richard
 
 

Thank you, Brian. This little project will hopefully become part of a larger project based around the Brooklyn Navy Yard. According to Ken, @Canute the water near the mouth of the East River would have been too brackish to have supplied water for the boiler. I dare say there's very little difference in the engine fundamentals between a Steam Donkey engine and boiler and the engines and boilers for steamboats. The only difference is the water, steamboats plied fresh water rivers while the barge in this build was towed/pushed around in brackish waters.     

Keith, I am loving this build. Each little detail you add increases my amazement.  
 
This may have been discussed earlier and forgive me if I totally missed it, but I’m curious, if this is a raft why couldn’t the water tanks just be fed from the river they were floating on with a simple feed pump instead of having a supply boat provide it? I mean how much different is the boiler setup on these rigs compared to those on the steamboats?
 
-Brian

Thank you so much everyone for the likes.
 
 
 Thank you, Pat. During the time period this model represents I think the manufactures were content with developing engine improvements with no thought toward efficiency.
 
 Thank you, Gary. My thought exactly regarding the weight distribution but had I been part of the design team I would have put freshwater tanks below the in the barge's deck which would have guaranteed an abundant water supply for the boilers and also would have provided ballast for a lower CG. 
 
 Thank you to everyone for being part of the journey.
 
   Keith

Nice progress, Keith.  Placing the water tank behind the shed makes sense as its weight would help counterbalance that of the driver.
 
Looking very good!
 
Gary

Looks good Keith.  I am surprised they were not using SWR for the pile driver by this time?  Not saying it should be at all, just interesting that it does not seem that they were.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Unfortunately I can't hit the laugh emoji and thank you emoji at the same time. 

Keith - A good looking fully rigged raft. A new category of MSW vessel.

A huge thank you to everyone for the likes and for following along.
 
 
 Thank you, Richard. The later improved duel cylinder, duel drum Donkey engines dwarfed this early version.
 
 
 Thank you, Ken. Yes, there'll be an elevated oval water tank on a stand that will gravity feed the boiler.  
 
 Something like this measuring 8x4x6 feet would hold 1,436 gallons weighing (including tank weight) a little over 12,000 Lb's. In all likelihood this will be somewhat modified in the making. 

 
 
 
 A milestone day.
 
 We started this little project on July 11th with an idea and 49 days later as of today, the Donkey engine was permanently attached to the barge and the drum lines run over the sheave wheels. 

 
 The engine shed is filled with the engine, there's no way a water tank would fit and little else for that matter. The water tank will go at the back of the shed attached to the shed wall. 

 

 

 

 

 
The friction drum line cleated at the base of the tower needs a coiled line. I'm not sure at this time how I'll handle the line on the friction drum head but it won't as it is currently pictured.
 
 The shed base is not attached and as soon as I've satisfied myself that all is well I'll remove it by cutting the shed base where the front doors are located and slip it around the Donkey engine lines.
 
 Next up, we start the shed.

 
 Everyone's support for this project has been incredible, thank you.
 
   Keith

Brilliant project Keith, looking at your pictures with the scale size guy on the donkey, they were huge machines.
 
Regards
Richard 

Thank you for the comments and likes.  
 
 I'm going to build a 4x4x6 water tank with a hand pump between the tank and boiler. That size tank is just over 700 gallons. Lula, the help boat/tug, will deliver water in the AM when she brings the pile driving crew to the barge. If 700 gallons isn't enough water for the day she'll make a midday delivery along with piling logs and fire wood if necessary. Most Donkey engines were wood fired till the 1920's. 
 
 That's the way it's going to work in my world unless someone has a better plan.
 
   Thank you to everyone for your support.
 
    Keith

Loving this discussion, and to chime in on the donkey/onions question, I thought it was a Shrek reference! (Onions have layers, donkeys have layers...)

I think a water barrel or tank would have been there. The water in the boiler gets consumed quite quickly and one needs to keep a certain level in order to not burn out the flue-pipes. Otherwise, I would think that the operators of these pile-drivers would have had either a barge for coal and water at hand or would have carted the supplies to the drivers (as did the operators of steam-rollers and traction engines). The buffer barrel/tank could be filled by hand-pump, while the coal could be carried on board in sacks (on the back of hired men) or in wheel-barrows. In those dark ages before HSE, a simple plank would have been sufficient to be laid to the land.

The logging donkeys used water from the surrounding streams, acquired thru a suction pipe, run thru an engine based pump. The suction pipe had a screened intake that got dunked into the stream for the water, Logging locos hauled their feed tank(the tender) with them. There probably was a feed tank on the scow for startup water. (For those of us who live in rural areas, the fire companies still do the suctioning of water from selected ponds. They also maintain a tanker or two. Not everybody lives within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant.) Since the pile driver was working on pier pilings, I'd expect they'd either have a hose from a handy hydrant or some kind of water hoy to keep the clean wet stuff available. This last is pure conjecture on my part. The time frame for the railroad I model is the mid 1950s and they didn't have water barges in that period. City water in Hoboken/Jersey City was enough.
 
The Lackawanna Railroad pile drivers had sheds for their mechanisms that were painted a light tan with dark brown trim. That was their Rail Marine department colors, since the passenger ferries were done up in those same colors.

Keith - you need to consult a critic who is more like the right scale. Does Ole Bob have a view?