I finally got to the point where I was going to install GGD's wood coaling tower. I had to rearrange some of the turntable spur tracks to accommodate the spacing of the supports. I did purchase the concrete pier supports that were an after-market item. A good purchase, too.
I also purchased the Lionel concrete Coaling Tower. I use that as a comparison. First, I recall opening the GGD tower box and found no separate ladder inside. Thus no way to get to the first landing. Instead, I decided to use the old Plasticville coaling tower's ladder that the GGD tower was replacing.
Second, the are some issues with the GGD tower as compared to the Lionel version,...like the stairs. The GGD stairs are somewhat out of scale for O-gauge where the Lionel stairs look right. Also, unlike GGD's, Lionel used open grate floors and landings that would not allow a lot of coal to build up.
Third, there is no way for the GGD's chute counterweights to be imaginatively pulled; unlike the Lionel where there is a scaffold landing where a miniature worker could reach and stand to pull the chute's counterweight. The one Lionel counterweight is attached to the chute on either side whereas the GGD's has two counterweights one each attached to either side of the two chutes; four counterweights total.
I guess the workers in Lionel's union are not as powerful as those that operate the GGD's because the arrangement of the two counterweights would likely require a two-man team to operate the chutes . . .if they could reach it.
I have begun to add a scaffold under the GGD's counterweights and an additional landing to accommodate the stairs to it. I'll post when complete.
