|
Harbour Crane No 35
Having my roots in cities like Helsingborg and Gothenburg I just have to have a harbour of some kind on my layout. On SDJ version 2 ithere is a failry large harbour section allowing two quay tracks whereof one under the two harbour cranes. There are of course no typical Swedish cranes to buy, so I had to make a kitbash of an existing mit crane.
The Original Kit
I used Kibri´s well-known harbour crane as base, but its "legs" or the portal is a bit too modern for my taste and this build. I rather want something that looks more similar to the ones on the Masthuggskajen cranes from the 60's in Gothenburg. That portal looks very different. On the picture below I have separated the platform from the legs and the bogies used for running the crane track.
Next step will be to build the new portal based on measurements and photos of cranes on the said quay. I choose cranes 35 and 36 as "templates". No 35 is not completely visible on any picture, so I will use that one as target for this first build. The better displayed no 36 will be saved for the next build from a drawing copy.
More about number 35. The new portal is in place, the platform has been slightly widened using some parts left over from the kit and that has been given a new positioning. Comp0leting the whole with some plasticard.
Continuing the puzzle and now more parts have been added to the support/portal. Below we can see the build with almost all stays and braces in place with the side towards the ships closest in the picture.
A quick test of crane house and jibs assembled to the platform/portal shows that everything lookms proportional and will be quite OK at the end. The crane house has been painted green as they were in Gothenburg at the time. The jibs and the portal will be "zinc-plated".
When painted, the portal looks much better. Still a lot of work to do. There will be working lights on and in the crane and the power supply will be fed through the rails to look as neat as possible.
Turning the portal upside-down we can see the electrical installation. Metal wheels pick up the power and two pickups with solderd cables lead the power to the two connecdtor blocks under the portal platform. The cables are run in the corners of the support legs and painted to become invisible.
Turning it back in correct position we cannot see anything of the electrical installation.
Four metal wheels and four palstic wheels fills out the bogies. The metal wheels are identical to the plastic ones and made in my lathe.
To test everything before more parts are in place a temporary light was attached, works nicely!
With this done, the crane could be finished. Three lights were fitted, one just above the middle of the lower jib, and two below the "shelf" that widened the platform. These later two were used to light up the grouynd at either side of the crane. The picture below only shows the light on the lower jib.
The crane is done and does its duty as intended in Dåseberga harbour. Well tended to by its driver Mr Olsson (called Number 35 of course).
Enjoy!
| 