Hulett Ore Unloader in 1:32th

[SandiaPaul]

Wow great pictures...and sad. Especially as I saw these regularly when I was growing up. The pics will be really useful as you progress. Are you going to make the larry car?

[Bernhard]

Are you going to make the larry car?

Yes Paul, of course I'm going to build the larry car too. With the help of Tim's photos, I've finished designing it. But the build will have to wait until I have finished the main girders.

Bernhard

[Stuart]

It's always helpful to have as much information as possible to refer to, especially on a build as complex as the one you are undertaking. All the best to you as your project continues.

Stuart

[Peter_T1958]

Those are great photos of the wrecking site. They are priceless for the builder, others then you can scarcely guess what you (and only you) can make out in those photos.

[Barney]

Bernhard it just gets better - - but what is a "Larry Car "
Barney

[Ray Dunakin]

Bernhard it just gets better - - but what is a "Larry Car "
Barney

I wondered that too, and found out from Google it's a "self-propelled car for carrying materials". I also found this very interesting webpage about larry cars used in steel mills:

http://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/2021/01/larry-cars-in-steel-mills.html

There is also a bit of info about the Hulett ore loaders and its larry cars.

[Bernhard]

Ray, yes that is a good explanation. Thanks for sharing. As a reminder, I'll show you the schematic of the whole machine with all the functions.





(Quelle: Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, delineated by Hardlines Design Company, 2000)

Bernhard

[Hauk]

It might have been adressed earlier in the thread, but why did they need separate narrow gauge tracks for the shunting engines? Couldnt they just use standard gauge shunters on the same tracks as the cars?

Not that I am complaining, it makes the project even more fascinating!

[Bernhard]

Hauk, I actually don't know that either. Maybe they wanted to save space and time. The distance between the towers is slightly smaller, and the travel distance for the larry car is slightly shorter.

Bernhard

[Bernhard]

Thank you guys for your interest and your comments.

The first parts for the two long main girders are slowly taking shape. First, I have to work on the frames inside the girders. These are designed so that the tracks for the disc hopper and the larry car can also be attached to them. To do this, I have to mill a few bent reinforcing angles from a 3 mm brass plate.



These angles are fastened with pin rivets, so I still have to drill the braces accordingly.



I also have to emboss rivets into various angles and reinforcement plates.



All parts ready for assembly:

[Bernhard]

The reinforcement angles are soldered on both sides of the frames, and the pin rivets are glued in with high-strength Loctite 648.



I need a total of 4 left and 4 right braces. Because the track of the larry car is inclined by 4°, the frames are of different heights.

[Bernhard]

I continue with the long side plates of the girders. First, I mark out the positions for the reinforcement plates, to which the bearings of the drive shaft of the travel drive will later be attached.



The reinforcing plates are pre-tinned and then soldered to the side plate with the soldering torch.

[Bernhard]

Then the side plates have to be drilled. They are over 1.3 m long, but my CNC machine only has about 780 mm of travel. I therefore have to push all the parts once so that I can machine them over their entire length.

[Bernhard]

Next step: Emboss the rivets in the side and cover plates.

[Bernhard]

Then the mounting angles for the foot plates have to be soldered to the inside of the side plates. To do this, I prepare a mounting plate into which I drill two holes for dowel pins.



I can then position the two foot plates at exactly the right distance from each other.



I screw the mounting angles to the foot plates and then solder the angles to the inside of the side plates.



To check the exact alignment of the two side plates, I put the cover plate on for a test. It already looks good, but there's still a long way to go before the main girders are finished.