Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Cowans Sheldon Crane

 

Cowans Sheldon Crane

Spotted at the Battlefield Line - the prototype Cowans Sheldon Crane as modelled by Tri-ang and later, Hornby. 

Cowans Sheldon Crane

I always thought they did a pretty good job of this. The most obvious change being substituting chains, which hang properly, for the ropes, which in miniature, don't. 

Someone did produce a detailing kits for the model, and I'm having another go at getting my hands on one. 

Best of all, guess what I found on a society stand in the good shed? 

Hornby Cowans Sheldon Crane

I know I have one in the stash already, but this is in excellent condition, boxed (complete with inner cardboard), and at £7, was cheap! It also seemed like fate was telling me to spend some cash. And who am I to refuse fate?

3 comments:

Simon Hargraves said...

Hi Phil,
I'm trying to figure out whether the preserved crane is painted yellow or green!
The one you bought is very nice, most of the ones I see seem to be a bit battered. I picked up the die-cast metal chassis for one, which I'll probably make a cover for, like the DEMU engine carrier wagon.
Do these cranes actually function (raise, turn, lower, etc.)?
The old Fleischmann one I've got does, though it's a bit compromised as a scale model.
Cheers,
Simon.

Phil Parker said...

The protype is a greeny-yellow, mostly caused by weathering. I suspect it was originally yellow.

The Hornby one works well, just twist the controls for full play value.

Chris Mould said...

That takes me back Phil, I had one for Christmas somewhere in the region of 55 years ago! The crane was modeled in brown plastic in those days and although they did work well they couldn't lift much in the way of weight as there were no outriggers (probably prototypical) and the plastic body meant there wasn't much in the way of a counterweight. Nice find!