PORT CRANE - Part 7

I just went through the longest model railroading hiatus in some time. I've been in the midst of making a career change - leaving my project manager job with Cipriani Builders and going back on my own again.  There was some overlap between the two jobs and until yesterday (saturday) I'd been working every day and evening since mid November.  So, on my first day I can sit around the house and do nothing, what do I do?  - Pick up tools and put down a hardwood floor that had been sitting in boxes for months.  (If you visited at the Steel Mill Modelers Meet in September you probably remember seeing them)  

 So, I finally found myself sitting at my workbench a few nights ago and didn't even know what to start with after so long.  The port crane seemed like a good choice, or at least until I ran out of Tichy railings and walkways.   The framework of the crane is mostly complete so it's detail time.  An important detail is a stairway to access the operators cab, the boom arm, and the crane machinery.  Ladders would have been an easy way out, but not really prototypical - stairs seem to be a norm for a multiple daily access type crane.  You will notice that I used a ladder for the upper machinery platform - an area that would require only periodic access.

These stairs and platforms aren't as simple as they first look.  To look realistic you need to keep the number of risers consistent between stairs and also the stair angles need to match.  I ran out of platforms and railings to this will be continued.

Also, I began work on the upper machinery platform.  Electric relay boxes, motors, hoists,...etc..  The flat corrugated panel in front of the machinery platform is to provide cover for the moving operating section when not in use.

And motors/gearboxes to drive the traversing wheels of the crane.