I am really looking forward to this my first entry in a modeling challenge ever. It should be fun to follow everyone’s building logs to get ideas and enhance creativity. A special thanks to Mik for organizing this the 4th annual challenge. Another special thank you to Mr Dave Taylor for his very generous offer of a gondola kit to enter in the challenge. Here is the thinking of the Little River Lumber/Logging guys on this years challenge: My Little River RR is a 1:20.3 attempt to recreate the real Little River RR that worked in the Smoky Mountains in Eastern Tennessee at the turn of the 20th century.
It is a model railroad still under construction. For photos I am using a fine grade of “finishing ballast.”
As you all know ballast has a way of disappearing in to the ground with the outdoor environment we deal with. So, an operating ballast car in 1:20.3 scale is a high priority to deliver and drop ballast in washed out areas. When Dave offered the gondola kits for the challenge I felt i could get moving on this idea for a backwoods ballast car. I noted this nice specimen on a google images search.
But the reality of this detailed modeling is probably beyond my skills and the 30 day time limit would really make this almost impossible for me to build. So back to Google images and I found this simple creation.
So when the gondola kit gets here that is what I will be trying to recreate. So far I have disassembled an old Bachmann tank car to get down to the basic shorty flat car I will use for the build.
This was given to me by a model RR buddy and hence no cost involved. The shorty flat in 1:20.3 is 25.5 feet long and I think this will work well for a backwoods ballast car. The shorty flat is also too narrow for the other 1:20.3 flat cars I run on the RR.
So I will build up the sides with strip wood and cover the deck with wooden strips to get about a 7.5-8 foot wide flat car. So far no money spent and I am aware of the $25 limit. Next step will be to find small hinges and running gear. Ozark Miniatures order is pending. I could use ideas on where to find small operating hinges. Thanks for looking and I really am appreciative of all the work you guys have done to make this challenge happen. Tom
