Backdating a toy crane and resin dozer
Bashing a cast iron steamroller
plus other vintage construction equipment!
The Erie Crane
A guy in california was selling toy cranes. They were garish, totally the wrong era, and wrong scale.... but they were quite inexpensive!
After a brief search a suitable prototype was located
It is a 1920's Erie gas/pneumatic located near Brownsville, Pa.
First, everything that didn't look like an Erie was removed, then I started to add bits of styrene and wood to make a reasonable representation of the Erie. The crawler base required complete new sideplates.
Next I started on the heart of the machine. I didn't have anything suitable for a gasoline motor, but I did have a cast resin generator that looked very much like a Caterpillar D11000 power unit.
Industrial equipment, like cranes, often had the engines replaced when they wore out. So a later Cat diesel in an early crane really isn't too far of a stretch.
The hoisting drums are wooden spools with inexpensive nylon gears set into a basswood and styrene framework.
The classic wooden cab was fabricated from coffee stirrers and basswood. I decided that medium grey and barn red simply suited the machine, although light green would have been more period correct.
I made the roof from a spare LGB coach roof. After a bit of thought I decided to simply reinstall the original boom, rather than fabricating a new one. Most people don't even notice.
To finish it off, I had an aluminum clamshell bucket from a coin operated crane game that I modified into a rather nice, fairly scale looking clamshell.
The US Army was kind enough to supply a diagram of how the bucket should be rigged.
On the old layout
The Cletrac Dozer
The dozer started as a cast resin John Deere MT. OK, but really not what I wanted.
Everything above the floorboards except the seat got cut away. Next time I will do this outside, resin is very dusty to cut.
A metal 4 cylinder flathead from a Hubley Model A fit nicely, A bit of plastic pipe for a fuel tank and a scratchbuilt wooden radiator changed the entire appearance of the dozer
I decided I really liked the look of a cable lift blade, as seen on this HO Dozer
The framework is just plastruct angle
It took me several days to decide upon a winch for the blade. I finally settled to model this compact unit
Wood, plastic,wire and putty made for a rather credible winch
Painted and installed on the dozer
The woodcutters just loved it!
A Huber Steamroller
About 10 years ago I found a cheap and cheesy Chinese copy of a cast iron Huber roller toy at a flea market for $7.... I didn't think much about it, just repainted it and tossed it on the layout. After a year or two outside it started looking pretty rough
It came in to the skunkworks for a complete overhaul. It got a new, more accurate cylinder, a redesigned front roll with steering gear, bew front canopy supports and a complete repaint.
Then I weathered it to make it look old again.
Mack AC with cable dump bed
Every layout needs a dump truck. I had a 1/24 Monogram 5 ton Mack 'Bulldog' kit, but it was the stakebed version... so the stakebed got made over
I decided I wanted a hand crank cable dump, just because they look cool
The Monogram included a motor that was just too neat to hide. So the hood is up
The winch is made from Ozark Miniatires castings
Ready for the layout
Scratchbuilding a road grader
I'm not sure anymore WHY I wanted a grader, but I decided I did. An old pull type wagon grader.
A simple A-frame made of styrene is the basis of this build
A brass blade and cast aluminum wheels
Bits of wire and this and that. Design cues from Russell, but not a perfect scale model
A nice coat of green, and it looks like it belongs behind that Case traction engine.
Thanks for looking!
Go back to the Allegheny Valley