I just "completed" building the Walthers Coaling tower. I say it in quotes because the thing doesn't go together the way they say in the instruction sheet. And there are no directions that actually show you where the finishing pieces like ledges and ladders go, so you really have to guess. I found better pictures of the finished tower in the Kalmbach book on freight yards. Has anyone found it possible to get the rails for the dump bucket to actually align with the end of the brackets on the tower? I had to trim the ends off the brackets to keep it from looking silly. All in all, while I'm no master modeler, I think I would have rather bought this on already assembled. I find that's true of a lot of the Walthers kits.
Abbie
Lefty
I'm afraid your going to have to get more specific on which kit you have. I know of at least 3 coaling towers from Walthers, and I'm sure there are more. I will agree that some of the instructions leave a lot to be desired but in general I've found the kits do fit together, some more easily than others. I highly recommend dry fitting the majority of parts before glueing just to ensure they are the way the are needed. One little goof in the beginning can have a cascading effect on any kit.
I'm not sure to which Walthers coaling tower you're referring, but many such kits leave some things such as chute and platform placement, ladders and other details, up to the builder.
I didn't have a lot of available space for mine, the smallest one from Walthers, so built it with a single chute. I did add a sandhouse and sand storage tank, though, and used ladders, steps, and other details from the larger Tichy tower:
The Tichy tower leaves placement of almost all details up to the builder:
Wayne
The Walthers instructions are really pretty weak. They have a lot of photos on their kit boxes and you have to rely on those views to match detail locations, unfortunately.
Roger Huber
Nice looking tower wayne. I like the look of the concrete and the wood coaling towers from Walthers in N scale, but I don't know if I can get them. Their are a bunch of kits I want right now that Walthers has decided to retire, and I'm not yet in the finanicaly stable enough possition to hunt them down and get them.
I have the Walthers Modern Coaling Tower.
I recall that when I built it, a lot was left to the discretion of the builder.
What I did was to keep the top of the box nearby for reference to the photo.
I aligned my tracks so that the ends of the coal chutes matched the placement of the tender.
Rich
Alton Junction
TA462 I just finished up the Tichy tower I got in February. You think the Walthers instructions were lacking? LOL, try the Tichy instructions.
I just finished up the Tichy tower I got in February. You think the Walthers instructions were lacking? LOL, try the Tichy instructions.
Hmmm. I thought the Tichy instructions were fine, but that the kit could have been better engineered. The die work, like all Tichy kits, was superb and everything fit together perfectly. However, there was no positive way to affix the sub-assemblies, such as the platforms, ladders, and bucket elevator to the main structure. Since the sub-assemblies have to be pre-painted, as does the tower structure, the modeller has the choice of using ca (a poor choice for styrene, painted or not) or solvent-type cement. While the solvent cement will yield a bond much superior to ca, it requires all mating surfaces to be free of paint. With no locating holes or cast-on ridges, it was difficult to know exactly where to scrape away the paint, especially on the main body of the tower. I built two of these towers, one for a friend and one for myself, so each was somewhat customised to fit its available space.
I ended up pinning the sub-assemblies in place, since many of the contact points on the add-on details are fairly small. After determining the proper positioning, paint was scraped from the appropriate areas, then .015" holes drilled into the tower and corresponding holes into the detail parts. I inserted short lengths of .015" music into the holes in the tower, affixing them with ca, then mounted the add-on parts on the protruding pins. These parts were then bonded to the main structure using lacquer thinner applied with a small brush, and, after that had cured, the details were also secured to the pins with an application of ca. This was followed by paint touch-up, as required, with a brush. My tower, as you can see in the earlier photos, has not yet been installed on the layout, although I do keep it on the layout, near the south end staging yard.
The only damage has been to one of the sanding spouts, knocked off its pivot while placing some other stuff in the same area. I repaired it with music wire, so it's still capable of being raised or lowered, useful occasionally for photos. Incidentally, both towers were originally done with the roof the same colour as the rest of the tower - I went back later and applied "tar" using a brush.
doctorwayne I'm not sure to which Walthers coaling tower you're referring, but many such kits leave some things such as chute and platform placement, ladders and other details, up to the builder. I didn't have a lot of available space for mine, the smallest one from Walthers, so built it with a single chute. I did add a sandhouse and sand storage tank, though, and used ladders, steps, and other details from the larger Tichy tower: The Tichy tower leaves placement of almost all details up to the builder: Wayne
So sad that that freaking Photobucket is blocking all of these images. I would have liked something like your rendition of that coaling tower on my new layout.
Brian
My Layout Plan
Interesting new Plan Consideration
railandsailSo sad that that freaking Photobucket is blocking all of these images.
??
I see all his images as well as the ones you copied in your reply
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddy railandsail So sad that that freaking Photobucket is blocking all of these images. ?? I see all his images as well as the ones you copied in your reply
railandsail So sad that that freaking Photobucket is blocking all of these images.
Yeah, all of Wayne's images work for me. If they are on Photobucket, he must have ponied up the cash. After all, he's making a killing in the sandpaper market
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
After I added an image of my Walthers "wood" coaling tower to add (I don't recall instruction issues) I notice the thread is only 7 yrs old! But since I got it ready to post, here goes.
IMG_5095 (2) by Paul Ahrens, on Flickr
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
rrinker he must have ponied up the cash
He has said he did in other threads, which is why I bothered to comment at all. I'm sure he doesn't want to hear that his pics don't work.
Links that you click on to take you to the Photobucket site are still a pain in the caboose because you must endure a couple different pop up windows of advertising.
BigDaddyHe has said he did in other threads, which is why I bothered to comment at all. I'm sure he doesn't want to hear that his pics don't work.
I believe Wayne is in the same category that I'm with Photobucket. I was a paid-up subscriber to their "Plus 200" plan that had a cost of something like $30/yr.
According to Wayne, if I recall, Photobucket will honor this rate until the end of 2008. My renewal comes up in November so I'll see then what my options are. At least I'll have another year to make other arrangements.
For the time being, I'll continue to use my Photobucket account until they tell me that I can't. I certainly will not pay the $400 annual fee. I've also been a paid subscriber at Flickr for about six years so I do have other options.
I never got any emails from Photobucket asking for more money or threatening to shut down my account. I think it was in a VERY poor way that they suddenly cut off the free users without notice. That was simply crass business practice.
Regards, Ed
Ed, I was told that as long as my account is up to date (renewed on the anniversary date) I will be allowed third party hosting until December 31st, 2018.I went to their basic Plus 20 paid account a few years ago, and was offered a 25% discount on the Plus 50 account which replaced it when their new policy was implemented, so the cost was basically the same, and my third party hosting rights were "grandfathered" until the date mentioned. After that, I'm not planning to look for another site (I have a feeling that most of them will follow photobucket's example), although it was suggested that I get a web site and do photos through that....I'm thinking about it, anyway, but I'm not very adept with computer stuff.
doctorwayne Ed, I was told that as long as my account is up to date (renewed on the anniversary date) I will be allowed third party hosting until December 31st, 2018.I went to their basic Plus 20 paid account a few years ago, and was offered a 25% discount on the Plus 50 account which replaced it when their new policy was implemented, so the cost was basically the same, and my third party hosting rights were "grandfathered" until the date mentioned. After that, I'm not planning to look for another site (I have a feeling that most of them will follow photobucket's example), although it was suggested that I get a web site and do photos through that....I'm thinking about it, anyway, but I'm not very adept with computer stuff. Wayne