Hi,
The operating HO scale McMyler Car Dumping Machine at the GSC club in Asbury Park, NJ is now in action online in a new movie: http://www.robertjohndavis.com/blog/
Rob
That’s nothing new under the sun…I saw one back in the early 60s…It was operate by hand crank…The “ore” was dumped into a lake ore boat that had a opening in the bottom for a 3 pound coffee can.When the can was full it was taken to the mine and placed in the tipple where the tipple operator would reload it into ore jennies.
Rob, that is one awesome bit of automation, and a spectacular model, Brakie notwithstanding…
One good question he raises (probably without realizing it [:)]): How do you get the loads out of the boat and back into the cars?
Very cool!! Must’ve required an infinite amount of tweaking to get everything coordinated.
I’ll express my enthusiasm. That’s a great model! Neat action, dramatic setting, and lots of cool details. No matter what decade it’s built in, those involved deserve a big attaboy!
BTW, Larry, there wasn’t any YouTube video in the 60s, let alone a MR Forum to talk about it on. So that’s new, even if you can’t muster any passion for it.
[;)]
Actually I have much passion for such things even though I may have seen some things before in person or in magazines…In fact there was a article in either MR or RMC that feature DM&IR and the ore docks at Two Harbors with unloading into a ore boat…Check around the early 80s…
Automation such as working flood loaders and working rotary dumpers should be the next step in the hobby…We have the means much more today then ever before.Perhaps a computerized system for the flood loader and rotary dumper…
After all we are modeling a transportation system.
I think the boat has a hole in the bottom; it never really fills up.
Exactly! Thats the beauty of those systems…The coal goes into a container such as a coffee can and gets reloaded at the mine.[tup]
Yeah. I have thought about making an operating grael dumper, like the one explained in HO Railroad from start to finish about the Cripple Creek Central. (An MR project layout.)
A really great modeling job and great animation of the dumper.
Great model and video!!! I like the aerial photos on your site too. Especially that last one on the main page.
Very cool, but what is that thing against the backdrop at the top of the screen at the beginning of the video that looks like a giant eye? Can it read your mind?
that’s pretty amazing , even if it has been done before . i can’t even imagine how long that took to build and troubleshoot
but if the boat has a hole in the bottom , won’t it sink ??? [:D]
probably a camera so operators can see where their trains are.
Hi Guys,
Yes, there is a hole in the boat. The dumper will, someday, have a model of the Huber Colliery in Ashley, PA to load the hoppers we dump there.
The eye in the sky is one of a series of camers we use to view hidden areas of the layout during shows. We tend to pack people in anyway, but with the dumper there is always a crowd so the camera helps us out.
Thank you for checking out the video! If you are in NJ in October, come by and see us.
Rob
This is an excellent model. Not easy to accomplish and very well done. There must be some strategically placed magnets as well to ensure that the coupling works flawlessly. Having the just emptied hopper hook to the full one as it pushes it through would rather mess up the sequence.
Ok, that shows a good deal of tallent.
OTOH, what I realy want to know ( and whill show just how much MR expereance I have ), - How the heck does the car automaticaly switch to the other track on the backward roll? Don’t turnouts have to be set properly to alow a car to go one way and set the otherway so that they will switch from one track to another?
My guess is a spring switch accomodates the switchback. The turnout is held over by a lightly loaded spring. When the car rolls through,it forces the points open just enough to let the car through then pops back to turn the car onto the empty track on its return trip.
It is a fixed 1-point switch. No moving parts. Cars roll in one way and roll out the other way. Pretty neat!
Rob
This is the first I have heard of such a thing.
Who makes them and how do they work?