What Every Scrapyard Needs

Looks fantastic!!

Jeff

Thanks Jeff, I wanted to make sure that the magnet was beat up enough.  I remember them as pretty dirty -as was everything in that mill.

George

Found another photo!

George

George, I used one of those for years in the old mill that I worked in. Look's just like the real thing!!

Jeff

That will add a realistic look.

Great job

Very detailed and realistic.

Don't forget to post the final photos once you get it placed on your layout

Dave

Thanks everyone!

Funny story.  I'm 20 years old working in the Strip Steel at a summer job.  I'm on night shift (forget the exact job, sweeping maybe).  Overhead crane (120 ton or 240 ton capacity) operator stops his equipment, climbs down, and goes for a coffee at the vending machine.  After a minute or two you hear some swearing and he climbs back into the cab and goes off down the mill.  About 3 minutes later, the crane comes back with one of these electromagnets attached.  He carefully positions the magnet on the vending machine, picks it up to a height of about 25 feet and manuevers over the scrap pit.  He cuts power and it makes a nice loud boom as it smacks onto the scrap in the bin.  Then he just calmly glides the crane down to the other end of the mill to start working again. 

I'll tell you what - that boom woke up a bunch of sleeping millrats.

George

Wow! The guy just destroyed the vending machine? Holy Cow, did he get in any trouble or was it very old and going to be replaced anyway? Either way that must have been funny to see!

That was also funny to read about.  A lot of people suspect those machines are,

like casino games and slot machines, weighted on the side of the house, if they

don't work right.  I would not think that disappearance would go unnoticed, though.

by the vending contractor.

I assume those shiny brass hooks on the magnet will get weathered, too, unless

that would foul up power to the magnet?

George

There were a few occasions where I would have like to drop a vending machine into a dumpster.

George, Good stuff. Thanks for sharing with us.

I don't know if he got in trouble or not.

All I can say was it was a different era.

George

Yeah, the hooks need weathering.  I've added a power cable to the electromagnet and I'm working on the crane to use it.  It will be a construction crane (outdoor use).

George

Thanks everyone for all the kind words.

George

I agree. George you did a awesome job on that magnet. Sorry, I did not mean to derail the thread.