...with apologies to Bob Dylan, to finish up the cannon I had been working on, I drew some 14-spoke wheels. I had some artwork for wagon wheels from Gerry Dykstra, but that was not in a format I could edit. So I decided to draw my own. To get the model as precise as I could, I went up to Fort Ward to measure the cannons they have in the restored bastion. One of their guns is a very authentic replica of a 6 pound James Rifle.
I was able to get detailed measurements of the wheels. The hubs in particular were quite interesting with a cove on the inside and an ogive on the outside. Also, I measured the amount of dish in the wheel. It was only 2 inches, but that is an important feature of wagon wheels from this era.
I also measured the 24 pound howitzer they have on site. It is slightly bigger that the 6-pounder but only by about 4 percent.
While I was at Fort Ward I stopped by the Museum and visited the replica of the officer's quarters. I took a panorama of the inside of the officer's quarters. I need to recreate something similar on my layout. I plan to detail the upper story of the Provost Marshall office. So this photo will help guide me. I also had a nice chat with the museum director as she and her colleague were wondering why I was measuring their guns.
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| Interior of officer's quarters for detailing ideas. Looks cozy. |
Telegraph System
Amby continues to make amazing progress on the telegraph system, He now has all five base stations done.
I think he has been having fun with them as he sent me this image of the dot code on his oscilloscope. I was playing around with speeding up the code. I think it might be a tad easier to listen to at about 25% faster than what we have now. It remains to be seen if we will be able to change that in the software.
It is time to begin wiring the dispatcher's control station. That will be built into the cubby hole section of the dispatcher's desk.
When I built that cubby hole I was inspired by the field desks that civil war officer's used. It happens that the museum at Fort Ward has one of those on display too.
