P r o j e c t L a n a k i l a
Lanakila Photo taken May 2006 Aptos California
One of my favorite pastimes is scale modeling. You learn a lot from a scale model. You learn to appreciate how difficult the prototype was to design and construct as well as the history behind the prototype.
This was not one of the most difficult projects I have undertaken. I had a lot of help along the way. I made some new friends, I picked up some new skills and honed some old ones, but most of all I learned a great deal about a piece of Hawaiian history, the Oahu Railway and Land Company.
What you see above is the finished project, complete with everything, including rc controls. I made some concessions adding the rc. I didn't modify the tender to look exactly like the prototype because I need to get in and out of the tender to charge the battery for the throttled. That meant the long hand rails on the side would have been way to fragile. I did convert it to oil though which actually helped provide more room for the rc speed control, reciever and the batteries.
I also opted for the standard surface controller because of it's cost and size. The drawback being that the controls have a steering feature that I don't need and the throttle requires constant pressure. I might modify the transmitter (controller) so that the trigger doesn't spring back in position.
The breaks didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. I had a hard time making out the details on the image in the book so I did the best I could. All in all I made a lot of mistakes and have decided that I want to do the whole thing over again in Brass starting with the Bachmann drive. I scored another engine off ebay, so that shouldn't be too hard.
I was really impressed with the way the front plate turned out though (I etched in brass with the star). I also liked most of the way the head light ended up. The number plates on the sides are too low I'll have to adjust my plans. The best part of it is the reflector which was easier to make from scratch than it was to find one the right size.
Towards the middle of 2009 I decided I needed to modernize the tender too.
I started out by fabricating a new frame of cedar and box wood.
After a coat of primer and some black paint, I attached some of the original electrical fittings and some trackside details as well as details I fabricated myself.
A test fit of the tender before I install the R.C. unit.
The receiver unit is held to the frame with carpet tape. I put the on and off switch in the rear toolbox. The charger connector is in the fireman.s toolbox.
After another test fitting I assemble the whole unit one last time and then detailed.
The new pilot deck and beam were added just before the tender revisions.
I fabricated the deck from brass and the beam from a piece of bass wood.
The new pilot is strong enough to lift the front of the engine but the cow catcher is the modified orignal plastic cow catcher and is not strong enough to carry the weight of the engine.
Not satisfied with the original styrene cab, I remade the cab out of thicker styrene and made a set of molds. This cab is polyurethane resin and features moving windows and doors.
Finally I replaced the plastic toolbox cover with a wooden one.
The images are shots I took in my backyard in Aptos. As a final word, I just wanted any readers to know a little about Aptos California. Aptos has a lot of ties with Hawaii in the past. Claus Sprekels used port Aptos (gone now) to unload sugar cane from Hawaii and when the kingdom of Hawaii was usurped he used the 28000 acres he purchased here to grow beets so he wouldn't have to rely on cane anymore. Clause Sprekles was a good friend to the kingdom and to King David Kalakaua and his sister Liluokalani. He helped finance a coupe to recover her throne.
When I first came to Aptos in 1972 or there abouts I had the good fortune to attend a party at the Sprekeles mansion in Nisiene Marks park. There was still a portrait of King Kalakaua in the dining room.