Very Interesting! More on The Ore Boat.

Believe Me`

     I tried to change his mind, but, No go!

Hey, TB, can you convince the customer that a special mill requires a load of hematite?  I think they still ship some hematite, don't they?  Red iron oxide is readily available in several forms, like jeweler's rouge.

Hey!MJY65;

        Don't worry about it! I thought the same thing. So I got some out of my reload material and nope! It was to large.

Tanker-Builder

The taconite would be finer in H.O.Scale than the period at the end of this sentence.

Oh boy.  I missed a decimal and my math was WAY off.  Even #12 shot would be 10x too large for scale.  

Hi!

       You know, you could be correct. As the years went by they always searched for the most efficient way of carrying as much cargo as possible. Cram as much cargo in a space that could be unloaded and loaded faster. When stick Ships ruled it was a long drawn out process! I think some layouts tried to accomodate more Passengers to offset losses in Cargo shipments. Then there was, as has been pointed out a design furor to create a climate to enlarge ships for their purpose. Look at how big some of the Liquid carriers got and then Container Ships!

       I would imagine at their heyday the Lakers carried more cargo than Salties in a specific month, or year. They were and still are limited by the canals and waterways that allow movement from the Atlantic to the Lakes. Now, That Said, I am sure some Lakers did make voyages on the ocean. I have just not read of any cases of that! In that consideration, look at how many Missouri and Missippi River steamers traveled around the End of South America from Savannah, and other Eastern Ports to take Forty Niners to California during the heighth of th Gold Rush! 

      DeckHouse Aft? I think the early Clyde "Puffers" led the way to prove this profile! They certainly outlasted some other designs!

Tanker-Builder

Hi!

           Using the bread and butter method works if you don't want to get into the Interiors. For R.C. and others this is not the best way to go. The beauty of a Laker? They are basically elongated boxes, with partitions Creating the Cargos holds. Pointy, Well, almost, on one end and rounded on the other, form followed function. The Engines and  Engineers and Galley aft, and the Officers and Bridge and Radio crew forward.

             I am not sure where passengers were carried, but they did have a few Passenger cabins, Whether fore or aft I do not know. They have just kept getting bigger except there are waterways that limit the sizes they can reach, Various types of loading and unloading have been devised. If you notice they seem to float On, not In the water. At the bows when going to load they remind me of very light wood toy boats! You can actually see the Bilge curve. Not so in a "Saltie" unless in Ballast! "Saltie: A term given to identify ships that traverse the various northeastern waterways to make their way to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic ocean.

 What suprises me, is this .The history and nature of the type seems to have been successfully kept to the north. I can find Virtually nothing such as photos and drawings in Libraries this far south. It's like they don't exist. I have quiried Museums and Libraries and Have gotten NO viable information. Much less any co-operation. My client belongs to a group of H.O Train modelers building ports and settings concerning the Steel Mills and their hardware in use till their late decline. They hope to preserve the history in miniature. Surprisingly, this group has members in Indiana. Not necessarily the northern part either! 

 

As far as pointiness goes, there is a scientific reason the bow is less pointy than in the past. As the ships get bigger and bigger, the bow shape gets less important, so the bow could even be a simi-circle without requiring bigger engine. On the older ships there were suites on both fore and rear deckhouses.  Since the foredeck structure has been virtually eliminated, now these cabins are all in stern deckhouse.

I wonder if it was really true that laker design kept to the lakes.  The big feature of lakers was no midship deckhouses, to get unobstructed access to cargo holds.  There were some ocean going vessels that did adopt this style, until both lakers and salties adopted the aft-only deck structures.  BTW, I  think the Clyde steamers called rabbits predated either lakers or salties with aft-only deck structures..

Yeah!

         I was partly raised in Buffalo,N.Y. so same here. Remember the cargo will be Barely visible. The taconite would be finer in H.O.Scale than the period at the end of this sentence. We were exposed to them Here, by some fluke? Some months through last year. We were finding the pellets all over our trackside Sidewalks after a train went through in the Night!

        The other Museum Staff and members couldn't figure out what they were. Being, as a child I had used them for slingshot ammo, I immediately knew what they were. In the ship, what I am going for is the general appearance from a distance. The ship will have those big unloader arms over it so it's going the be a busy scene.

          Chances of using the material you suggest would be to big. So, next best thing. Coal loads sanded slightly. Tricking the eye to see taconite and not coal! Fine lead shot, and yes, I used to hunt Quail, is still too big. Thanks for the suggestion. In the Partial model I spoke about in a different post, would be the place for that because the ship then would be 1/96 (R.C.Scale) and perfect for the shot!

          Oh, one more thing, the shot would be too heavy for the thin walls of the hull. This is one thing I have had to watch carefully, just in assembly. She wants to "Hog"!

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your use of the coal.   If you are trying to simulate taconite, some fine lead shot would be best.  Real taconite pellets are grayish black and the size and shape of slightly irregular marbles.   I grew up on the Iron Range and we used to use the pellets for slingshot ammo.  

Thanks!

Hi!

           Using the bread and butter method works if you don't want to get into the Interiors. For R.C. and others this is not the best way to go. The beauty of a Laker? They are basically elongated boxes, with partitions Creating the Cargos holds. Pointy, Well, almost, on one end and rounded on the other, form followed function. The Engines and  Engineers and Galley aft, and the Officers and Bridge and Radio crew forward.

             I am not sure where passengers were carried, but they did have a few Passenger cabins, Whether fore or aft I do not know. They have just kept getting bigger except there are waterways that limit the sizes they can reach, Various types of loading and unloading have been devised. If you notice they seem to float On, not In the water. At the bows when going to load they remind me of very light wood toy boats! You can actually see the Bilge curve. Not so in a "Saltie" unless in Ballast! "Saltie: A term given to identify ships that traverse the various northeastern waterways to make their way to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic ocean.

 What suprises me, is this .The history and nature of the type seems to have been successfully kept to the north. I can find Virtually nothing such as photos and drawings in Libraries this far south. It's like they don't exist. I have quiried Museums and Libraries and Have gotten NO viable information. Much less any co-operation. My client belongs to a group of H.O Train modelers building ports and settings concerning the Steel Mills and their hardware in use till their late decline. They hope to preserve the history in miniature. Surprisingly, this group has members in Indiana. Not necessarily the northern part either! 

Although I have built half a dozen lakers, I have never left a hatch open (I build using the bread an butter method- it's a bi harder to do with that construction).  However, I do plan on doing so in the future.  Don't know if you'd call it a diorama or a vinette, but I want to build one loading at the Superior docks.  I have a book on those, with complete scale drawings.  Haven't decided on the period yet, so don't know if it will be loading hematite or taconite.

Great aircraft Eugene. Looksfantastic.

Well!

 If'n I say so meself! one nice Bird! Looking Good my Friend. I just love that in daylight you got the colors to fall into line. She looks squadron Ops ready!

I am not real tech savvy but if you go to post images com ,you can upload pictures from your phone and share your photos with links for forums.Really easy to use;!