Giant Block-Setting Crane, the iconic Meccano model. Based on Peter Harwood’s Model Pan 169, the Fishguard ‘Titan’, but also added some of my own ‘improvements’ and experiments.
I decided that fully articulated bogies are the way to go, to ensure that all wheels are in correct contact with the rails. Based on Andy Knox’s design, but without sliding couplings. The 32 wheels, are all driven and are all articulated so should fit the rails perfectly (except for non-roundness of some flanged wheels!) Temporary addition of a Powerdrive to test the gearing to all the wheels. First try, the front 16 wheels went forward and the back 16 went backwards!. Second try, the left side went forwards and the right side backwards! Third time lucky. Powerdrive set for 3:1 and the travelling speed is about right (4 wheel revs per minute, as per the Fishguard instructions) I hope this design works. It’s nice and slim, and uses plastic spacers as rollers. It only has 16 of them, not 60-odd as the Fishguard design has. If they’d cracked under load I’d have replaced with brass collars. First trial of fitting the jib onto the tower. It revolved! But also showd me that both roller bearing plates needed further support in places. My counterweight at this stage is several hundred old 5.5″ strips bound together, but will be partly replaced by a lead-acid battery later. Cab, inside and out. The hoisting drum is not yet fitted with its cable. The pseudo steam engine runs on a separate motor from the other 4 actions. Maybe I should add some ‘pipes’ between the boiler and cylinders etc, Racking drum and Jenny (or Crab). it runs correctly along the jib without catching on my handrails!It’s all working!
