thats a neat find

do you have a link to the manufacturer's website?  Or a protophoto?

Neat Car!

Spiffy!

A question about loading...

Wouldn't it make more sense to load it with the cane going the other way, so it's held in by the bulkheads?

Or did they load them this way for quicker unloading?

Loading

Seems there's all sorts of ways:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_f6woIm_SAvA/TTxkLnzF14I/AAAAAAAAALE/WlRZMwDvZfA/s1600/McLane+8x12-107.jpg

http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/data/13030/6d/ft4580066d/figures/ft4580066d_00017.jpg

http://www.taplines.net/tfc/fellsmeresugarmillweb.jpg

Thanks

Thanks Philip - I found them online by searching for Miniatures by Eric   http://miniatures-by-eric.myshopify.com/collections/hawaiian-kits/products/ohk2-fricke-cane-car

The site is not well developed and most of the castings and kits seem to be toward Modern HO but this was under HON3 Hawaiian cars. 

@Bill You are right about loading and I wondered the same thing. There are a lot of pictures that show a ladder laying down on the upper chain as a plank to load the cars by, mostly women, but I think the real reason is the UN-loading was done mechanically from above. The chains were removed and the cane either forced to one side or carried away overhead.  I have some catalog cuts to post if you would find it interesting.  Most of the links Philip found look like either Cuban or from the Philippines.

Neil

Cane cars

Hi Neil, 

You've done a very nice job on that whole-stick cane car.  

Most cane cars (in hand-cut days) and now cane bins (with machine harvesting) in Australia and Fiji are unbraked and did not come with hand brake wheels.The lever hand brake was actually fitted to very few cars.

The hand-brake lever is picked out in red under the frame at the left of this later steel-framed version of a former whole-stick cane wagon that has been re-purposed by my local museum. The hand-brake is in the "off'" position in this photo  You could quite realistically fit the hand-brake lever to only 1 wagon per rake of six or so. That could reduce your build time on the "fiddly bits".

One of the best on-line references for modelling sugar cane, and the locomotives and cars that hauled it over various periods in different countries is Lynn Zelmer's CaneSIG site - http://www.zelmeroz.com/canesig/index.html ,  and more specifically the Modelling Handbook pages at  http://www.zelmeroz.com/canesig/resources/resource-02hbk.html

You may find that your load is out by 90 degrees on your wagon, From most photos of hand-cut can loaded onto wagons (Check out Lynn Zelmer's site for Fiji), because of the variation in length of the hand-cut cane, it was more usual to stack the cane stalks across the wagon and tie them down with a rope between the endframes.

The following photo shows a loaded wagon on "Lomo Lomo" by Steve Pettit - based on Fijian cane practices in 1/48 scale, as displayed at the 2013 Australian Narrow Gauge Convention

You may have to check how things were done in Hawaii.

For unloading in Australia, I think that some type of a side-dump was used at the mills. Cranes were used at first but proved too slow to unload the wagons, Now that Australian cane is mechanically harvested and transported in cane bin cars, rotary dumpers are used like this one at the Tully Mill that takes 2 8-tonne bins at a time,

I hope that this helps with you wagon builds, 

Hawaiian Cane Car Loading

@John - Thanks! Great photos!  There were mills that loaded as you've shown but on Hawaii Island most cars were chosen to work with the Fricke or Gregg unloaded from the side. This may have stemmed from early mills that used an elevated track and side ramp similar to log dumps.  Mills often used flumes to carry cane from the fields but many, many short and narrow gage trains ran out into fields on fixed and temporary track. I just chose to model that type  

Below are a couple examples of unloaders:

Neil

Chains added

when I went to the craft store today I was wearing contacts and literally could not see the links in this chain. Working with it to look ok was challenging but I really like the effect now. 

Not perfect by any means but nice. I'm definitely going to order a few more. Practice should help improve my skill at this. 

Neil

A question that's a little loco

Hi Neil,

Are you going to be brave enough to have a go a one of the jackshaft drive Fowler locos that ran in Hawaii?

If so I can provide some photos of the last surviving jackshaft drive Fowler locomotive that is preserved in Australia.

Fowler Engines

I love those little engines - we'll see. My layout still doesn't have a spur to the fields as I was going to model flumes to the mills. The book "Fowler Engines of Hawaii" has been my source but I'd love to see any pictures you may have. Thanks!

Neil

Aussie Fowler survivor

Hi Neil,

The Fowler is preserved at the Australian Sugar Heritage Centre at Mourilyan, south of Cairns.  http://www.sugarmuseum.com.au/the-museum/ . Photography is difficult because of the larger Hudswell Clarke loco on one side and being backlit on the other side by the large glass window on the other side of the Hudswell Clarke locomotive. The photos in the previous link show some of the exhibits including the Fowler. The Fowler is a seriously small 2'-gauge steam locomotive. So here goes..

The information panel on the Fowler Patent locomotive

Maker's plate on cab side

The boiler backhead and cab

Things to note: 

• Two separate gauge glasses as per UK practice (tri-cocks not used)
• Reverser on right
• Throttle in centre at top of backhead
• Handbrake (vertical shaft) at left of boiler. Steam brake is not fitted. 
• Two spring-loaded Salter type safety valves at rear of steam dome
• Top of loop type handle at bottom of screen immediately to left of the handbrake shaft- used to operate cylinder drain cocks by lever (seen heading forward to left of handbrake shaft and to right of side tank)
• Steam fittings and presure gauge mounted on steam turret 

Right-hand side motion, Note the bends in the reversing lever 

 Left-hand side motion - overall

In detail - cylinder with cylinder cocks and actuating lever arrangement, cross head and main rod from rear. Below the drive rod from the rear axle to the front axle.

The jackshaft with bearings and springing for rear axle

The drive transfer down to the crank on the rear axle and forward to the front axle. The wheels are hidden inside the frames.

This apparently was an early attempt to keep the cylinders "out of the weeds" to reduce the effects of dirt pick-up causing excessive wear on the motion parts when steam locomotives were used in agricultural industries like sugar cane. No doubt the book on the Hawaiian Fowler locomotives that Neil has includes much more detail about the "Why?"   

And to close out, a photo of an Aussie timber whole-stick cane wagon and the back buffer-beam and cab of the Fowler

That's me "Fowlered out" . Enjoy and,