Tichy 120 Ton Wrecking Crane and Boom Tender


twforeman

Certified Great Northern Nut
If you read the RPO thread you saw that I picked up these kits. I started building the crane yesterday. It's a lot of parts, but if you take your time it should be a nice model.

I'm taking in-process photos I'll post here (and on my blog) as I go.

This is what it's supposed to end up looking like:


Step one is assembling the weight box (to be filled with BBs later) and the trucks.


Step two is to assemble the undercarriage. Two photos here, one mid-step, one completed.




Step three is to start assembling the boom.


So far, so good. One thing I'm missing is any photos of a GN wrecking crane so I know how they lettered them. Still looking around for that.
 
Did some more work last night so I have a few more photos to post.

Step five is to assemble the pulleys and boom forks. The pulleys are three pieces each and I had to sand them down a bit to make them fit in the forks.

Looking at the photo I realize that I should fill the sink areas with some putty before I declare these finished.


Step six is to assemble the two hooks. The big hook is six pieces.


Step seven is to build the cab. This was a few more parts and gluing the sides on was a little fiddly. But I got it done.


Step eight is to assemble the winch drums, control levers, cylinders and front rollers.


And that’s as far as I got yesterday. This afternoon I will probably finish up all the sub-assemblies and then prep it for paint.

This build is going a bit faster than I expected.
 
Lots of pieces go into the power section of this crane. This is the last major sub-assembly.


Next was adding all the grabs to the base and then washing all the pieces. Here they are ready for washing.


Now I wait a couple of days to make sure they are all dry and then I get to figure out how to hold all the parts for painting.

I started the boom tender, but that will be the next post.
 
Tim, The boom car & crane look great! Makes for great auxiliary rolling stock!
While I haven't put the wrecking crane together yet, here is my version of the boom car. I was originally going to decal it for the GN, and settled on this paint & labeling for now. I figured this way, I could still add decals to it later on depending if I went logging, GN, or something else.
IMG_2703.JPG


Hooked to the PL cinder car
IMG_2704.JPG
 
So who was first, Tichy, or Gould? Curious, as I am sure these must be the same models.

Started this one in the 80s, and I am now inspired to finish her up.
(Plus, I recently got my first airbrush)

 
So who was first, Tichy, or Gould? Curious, as I am sure these must be the same models.

Started this one in the 80s, and I am now inspired to finish her up.
(Plus, I recently got my first airbrush)

A little digging shows that Bill Gould designed the kit and sold it originally. I think Tichy bought the rights and molds a while ago, but I can't find out when.
 
Couple of comments:

For "twoforeman".....I have the Tichy crane & boom car, too, as yet unassembled. When I looked briefly at the cable stringing part some time ago I thought it seemed unclear. Did you have any trouble doing it?

For "Bob T" and "twoforeman"....years ago I remember seeing in the Gould catalog a standard, solid-bottom (i.e. not drop-bottom) 40 ft. gondola kit. I didn't get one at the time, though I should have, because that car type was, at least in the years I model (1920s), ubiquitous. I asked Don Tichy about the kit and he said he didn't know Gould had offered it (I encouraged him to produce one!). I don't know of a current HO kit of this length and type. I understand those 40-footers were built to that length so they would accommodate a load of the 39 ft. rail lengths easily in the years of jointed rail (which include my modeling period). Do you remember seeing the Gould one? I have a 40 ft., "standard"-side (~5 ft. high) car kit by Walthers (don't think it's offered anymore) that I had to modify to bring it up to Tichy-level detail proportions.
 
I was surprised at the number of cranes that were lettered for the maintenance of way. On the railroads where I have worked the wrecking cranes belonged to the Mechanical Dept. not the Engineering Dept. (MofW). It may be that the railroad letters ALL company material cars MW. Interesting.
 
Fantastic model and detailed construction photos and narrative.
Hat's off to you for a very fine job!
 
Couple of comments:

For "twoforeman".....I have the Tichy crane & boom car, too, as yet unassembled. When I looked briefly at the cable stringing part some time ago I thought it seemed unclear. Did you have any trouble doing it?

The instructions for doing the cable stringing aren't too hard to follow once you have the model assembled. They make more sense when you can look at the actual pulleys. Just take your time and alternate sides as they suggest.

I don't know anything about a Gould gondola kit.
 



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