Fairbanks Morse 300 Ton Coaling Tower NOS Kit Model Masterpieces Ltd. #125  HO/HOn3

The prototype for this model was  constructed for the Colorado & Southern Railway (C&S) at its Denver Rice  yard by the Fairbanks Morse & Company in 1918 The coaling tower had a  capacity of 300 tons, with the hoist elevator powered by a 15HP electric  motor housed in a seperate concrete building nest to the tower.

The Denver Rice Yard was a joint  facility used by the C&S and the Santa Fe railroads. This tower is  representative of hundreds of coaling facilities built in North America  during this era. The 300 Ton coaling tower was dismantled and replaced by a  400 Ton steel and concrete structure in 1946. This model is part of the Model Masterpieces Ltd. "Mainline Steam  Super Series" and is accompanied with detailed assembly instructions and  full-page drawings and illustrations.

Construction of this NEW-OLD-STOCK (NOS) kit will require use of normal modeling tools. Have available before, starting a good quality wood /glue, liquid plastic cement, 5 minute epoxy and one of ' the “super glues'' (referred to as  CA/ACC in the instructions.). Carefully read the instructions and study the  drawings before starting assembly. Carefully remove the styrene parts from  the plastic sprues. Note that each mold set forms one side of the turntable  bridge. Remove flash from the styrene and metal parts. Ejector pin marks on  the inner side of bridge center section must be sanded smooth to allow  correct fit of aluminum Center Block. Pre-stain all lumber with Doctor Ben’s  Weathering Stains before starting assembly.

Follow instructions carefully knowing that upon completion you  will proudly own the finest model available. We sincerely appreciate your  purchase of this product and hope you will look for more of our products on  our website, Ebay and sometimes at your Local Hobby Shop.

Need a slightly smaller Turntable  Pit?

 

Information from the Kit Instructions:   Preparing the  Turntable Pit Each of these pits  are cast in a very high and stable resin. This is done  so that you will not have to worry about things warping  and twisting around long after you have installed this  pit into your layout. Still, the pit that you have  received may (probably) have some tiny voids that were  bubbles as result of the casting process. Typically, we  pressurize our castings to pretty my void out these  pockets. Unfortunately, the size of this pit does not  fit our pressure pot, so there are a couple of things  that you can do to remedy this situation.   First, a tiny clump  of grass/weeds picked up with small pointy tweezers and  a dab of super glue pointed into the void makes it  disappear right away! Another idea is to use a small  Dremel bit and a dental pick to make the pockets more  ragged like the split granite and aged over time and  chunks have fallen off. These two ideas are what I  prefer to do.       If you are  looking for that relatively new look (and what layout  full of un-weathered buildings & rolling stock isn’t) a  small dab of Squadron White putty or Testors Puddy with  a small spatula will make quick work of the gaps. If you  are not into those fancy puttys/puddys might we suggest  using some paintable caulking or wood filler from the  Big Box store instead?     Installation Instructions: This  Doctor Ben’s Fine Scale Turntable Pit is fairly simple  to install. Cut a 12” square hole where you would like  the pit positioned in your layout; build up some  framing; test the fit of the pit and get all the wiring  ready to hook up. Begin priming and weathering as per the Doctor Ben’s  “How-To #1: Turning Toys into Models” booklet. Install  circular piece of track (a two-gallon bucket will help  you curve the metal track) and test fit (a few  strategically placed pilot holes with track nails as  locating pins aids this process well) and cement into  place with some 5-minute epoxy. Weathering will hide any  epoxy that seeps out. The dimensions of  this Turntable Pit are 12" square overall with the pit  dimensions of 9.125" diameter by 15/16" to the floor of  the pit. The  rail lip that you see in the image is  0.093" high by about 5/16" wide. the individual 3/32"  BBBs are staggered as not to overlap joints.

 

Are you ready to do some weathering?    The following is an abbreviate version of the modeling & weathering techniques included in the Doctor Ben's "How-To #1: The Art of Turning Toys into Models".

 

We are always looking forward to hearing original ideas & feedback from our friends & customers who have enjoyed using our products. Got a story to share, or am image that you are especially proud of? Send them in, we have thought that we should have more User photos. As always we are happy to return your requested material to you.