Westlake Publishing Forums

What battery do you use for these dead rail motors?
MJinTN

I use Lithium ion packs at 14.4 volts like the link shows and usually from this supplier because I know they have all the safe guards built in.


https://rldhobbies.com/batteries-chargers/batteries/

The tank car build was pretty straight forward.

I got lazy and started with a under frame and trucks from an old reefer.



Bolted on a 1/4 inch plywood under deck then added side and end sills.



the ply was covered with individual boards glued in place then KD couplers were added. The tank form is a piece of 3 inch PVC drain pipe.



This picture was shown before but fits here also. The PVC pipe was wrapped with Redwood strips and the ends capped with Styrene sheet. The tank ends will be covered in wood strips also.


More later.
Rick


 

Good start. -- Russ

More on the tank car.


The tank cleaned up, sanded smooth and fitted to the bunks on the flat.


Here the tank car is basically finished except for a little weathering.



The open deck area is where the engine,radiator,pump and piping will mount.



A "stove bolt six" from an old Chevy kit by Hubley paired with a scratched radiator.


More later.
Rick

The tank car and pump finished up, nothing left to this project but the railings on the caboose/crew car.













I will post a video link of the train in operation but no fires

Well this winds up the Fire Train project.

The fire train passing through Hyampom on its way to a small fire at the Louse Creek crossing.

Most satisfactory. -- Russ

Great video!!
Thanks for sharing.
MJinTN

THE McVAY LOADER
Thanks for taking a look at my last posted build. Here is another one I did a few years back.

After accidently discovering my first loader I knew I had to build one so the research started.

Just what is a McVay loader.  Basically it is a lightweight truck mounted winch and boom system for loading log trucks in the woods.

Here is a line drawing of the basic concept.


The early units were all built on the Mack AC "Bulldog" trucks but later as the Mack's became more difficult to obtain the loaders were mounted on other brands of trucks like Sterling, White and even GMC's. These loading machines were cheap to buy, easy to transport and operate, quick to set up, and could usually be repaired in the woods with a Crescent wrench and a hammer thus making them ideal for the small operator.
The earliest McVay Loader, soon commonly known as a "Jammer", was built in 1929 but the real production kicked off in 1934.  Between 1929 and 1957 fifty two Jammers were built in the small two man shop in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
The Jammers were very popular in the Southern Oregon, Northern California pine and Fir forests from the early 1930's to the late 1950's. This is in an era that was swiftly moving away from railroad logging and turning to truck hauling for logs. 
The machines, especially the later ones, used some interesting technology for the day like a hydraulic system for boom swing. The early Jammers mounted on the Mack trucks used the truck engine and transmission to power the drums by removing the chain drive to the wheels and reattaching it to the drum set. Later models used a second engine to power the drums and hydraulics.
My research has only turned up five of these units still with us which is quite a few considering the circumstances of their existence.  Only fifty two units were ever built, they saw hard and rough usage and the advent of newer and better machine systems made them old and obsolete, not worth hauling out of the woods.   

 Here is a list of the McVay "Jammers" and their locations That I am currently aware of.

First is the one located at Roots of Motive power, Willets, CA . This is an early Mack AC "Bulldog" truck with McVay loader Construction #3 built in 1936 mounted on it.


Roots of Motive Power web site    https://rootsofmotivepower.com/


Next are the ones located at the Collier Logging Museum in Chiloquin, OR.

First up is Construction number 11 claimed to be built in 1946. As it survives it shows a Mack Chassis and drive train but has been bastardized with a Ford flat head engine and Ford cab parts.


If you want to see what it is supposed to look like go back and check the line drawing, that is how it was built.

The next one at Collier is construction number 12. Not much information available on this one.

Continuing,
The builders plate of #12


Last but not least is construction number 31A, built in 1957. This unit is reportedly the second to last one built by McVay. The loader was mounted on a GMC diesel truck and a Ford engine on the deck operated the boom and tower.




Collier Museum web site
https://www.google.com/search?q=collier+logging+museum&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS999US999&oq=collier+logging+museum&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqDAgAECMYJxiABBiKBTIMCAAQIxgnGIAEGIoFMg0IARAuGK8BGMcBGIAEMgcIAhAAGIAEMggIAxAAGBYYHjIICAQQABgWGB4yCAgFEAAYFhgeMggIBhAAGBYYHjIICAcQABgWGB4yCAgIEAAYFhgeMg0ICRAAGIYDGIAEGIoF0gEJOTI5NGowajE1qAIIsAIB8QULlgVbyss8sQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Next the loader located at the small museum in Trail, Oregon, it is construction number 10 and is mounted on a 1913 Mack AC Bulldog truck. This is the most complete unit I was able to locate and is the one I photographed and measured for my build.

That's the brief history of this unique machine and a look at the survivors from an industry that has all but passed away.
Disclaimer. The construction numbers and their corresponding dates make no sense to me but this is what my research has uncovered.

Next up will be the build of my McVay loader.

This will be another neat build.

Nice choice. Let's see how it turns out. -- Russ

Very Nice and different
Barney

To mount a finished McVay Loader I first needed a truck.

I had this kit tucked away for years because I really love the old Mack AC "bulldog" trucks. Unfortunately it is in 1:24 and I build everything in 1:20 scale but I always had some vague idea of using it as a pattern to build from.


The second piece of the puzzle, so to speak, was the line drawing with measurements I found in the TimberBeast magazine.


Before starting the loader I have to build the whole truck. I used the Monogram kit as a set of blue prints and measured each piece and scaled it up to 1:20 then built it. Keeping in mind each sub assembly has to be readily removable for painting then re-assembly. This actually turned into a much larger and more difficult project than I had anticipated.

Here we have the main frame side rails and cross members all built up from Styrene shapes. As you can see the truck is over 11 inches long. ha big surprise coming later about that.



Starting to assemble the frame. The tires and wheels are for model airplanes but the tires were the correct size for this truck.


More to come
Thanks for taking a look.