Great shots Doc. Good to see the others enjoying your work.
Did the colonel have a good Thanksgiving??? Looks like he had lots of food in the motor car
Thanks Dave, Rodney, Doug, and David R., Yes there was plenty of food and lots of visitors up on the Little River RR this past weekend.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/3702ObservationCarElkmont.jpg)
Best wishes to all. Doc Tom
Tom Grabenstein said:Dang! How is it I only hear about these parties when they are all over. :D
Yes there was plenty of food and lots of visitors up on the Little River RR this past weekend. Doc Tom
Sure looks like a lot more fun than we had!
FIRST LOAD OF LOGS. My railroad buddy Mr Bill Nelson was nice enough to get me some straight “logs” from his farm. The logs have great bark detail. So I cut them to scale 15 feet long (1:20.3) and loaded them on the Bachmann 30 foot flats that have been empty for quite some time. The setting winter sun made for some interesting pictures of the Shay moving this one flat car that weighed about eight pounds (wood was still green). I was thrilled that it handled the 2% grade and nothing fell off from the trestle on this inaugural run of revenue to the mill. Doc Tom
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04667.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04665.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04666.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04668.jpg)
Nice to see somebody is able to run some trains. It’s a tad nippy here for that, so I’ll enjoy your pix…
Nice looking logs.
Yes they do look great Tom, Shawn’s a sucker for nice looking logs just like Rooster is for Amtrash.
I should make out to the bush to cut some, got 9 log cars to fill. Get them into the shop for the winter to dry out some.
I always like your progress undates Tom. Thanks for sharing.
Nice shots Doc. 
Great shots Doc!
Nice logs too. I can never figure out why people use plastic ones.
Alec
Thanks guys for the positive feedback. It means a lot particularly as this is my first adventure in Large Scale Model Rail Roads and there is just no one in Clarksville Tennessee to get mentoring or pointers from.
Alec , I wondered if foam logs were used to cut down on weight and because they might be uniformly straight??? I was amazed at the weight these Bachmann Shays can push and drag without a whimper. These cut natural logs are really heavy. If they filled Randy’s 9 log cars I would suspect that would be hauling about 50-60 pounds of wood down the tracks. I can see why they used these beasts to haul the Big Timber in the prototype.
Doc Tom
Great pics again Tom, most enjoyable.
That’s the great thing about this Forum in particular Tom. There is so much constructive and positive information here; either to view or get ideas. I have no one who lives near me that models the American scene, either ng or std. gauge, so most of the information I have gathered comes from places like this, historical web sites and of course another invaluable source of yesteryear information being Classic Trains - which, in my view, is compulsory bedtime reading.
I have made logs from dried out cherry wood, which seems to hold its bark for a long while. However I have decided to now use them purely as lineside features, instead of a load on flat cars, as I don’t contemplate building a lumber mill (lack of decent space being the principal reason).
Of the many ideas gleaned here I decided to use my flat cars, two Aristo and two Bachmann (Gramps tank cars with the tanks removed) as MOW cars instead of log haulage.
Hi Alan, Thanks for the nice note. Yes, I agree I have learned all I know about large scale modeling from the internet and a few printed sources. Thank goodness for nice sites like this. The Cherry wood is a good idea. We have that here in Tennessee as well. I would like to model this scene on the Little River RR so I will keep cutting 15 foot scale logs.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/0408UnloadingLogsPond.jpg)
I would also like to model the sawmill of The Little River Lumber Company located in Townsend Tennessee. It will be a big structure and I am trying to determine what materials to use to build it so it can stay outdoors. I will keep looking through this site for more good ideas. Doc Tom
Alan Lott said:
Big sissor snip.I have made logs from dried out cherry wood, which seems to hold its bark for a long while. However I have decided to now use them purely as lineside features, instead of a load on flat cars, as I don’t contemplate building a lumber mill (lack of decent space being the principal reason).
Smaller snip.
Alan,
You don’t need to model the complete lumber mill. That would take all of your yard and half of your neighbors, as well.
You just need to suggest it, like part of the mill pond with log dump, and a bit farther on, where the finished product is loaded into box or flat cars. You might even have a small building if you want.
Thanks for the suggestion of the cheery wood. I have a cherry tree that needs trimming.
Actually, Steve, I have a small feature adjacent to the railroad (it is a wooden boat (dinghy) hull shape and has a make believe well pump which recycles the water); it is a small featrure. There is a pile of the cherry wood logs nearby across the track on the approach to one of my tunnels.
I guess I could make a false fronted building - which is something I had considered once before - for the lumber depot. Thanks for re-awakening my little grey cells.
The Head Gardner - G-d bless her - says she thinks the railroad could be spoiled by having too many structures. She is right - (they always are, don’t you know :)) and I don’t want to detract from my elevator and freight depot which both were built last summer. But I think something could be acheived.
The other alternative is to do the lottery, win and buy the neighbors out.
Tom, you mention building a large structure and hoping it will last outdoors. We built a grain elevator this year. It was constructed from tanelized patio decking. The decking is around 1" thickness and 5" to 6" in depth. As is is treated for outdoors it should, with a couple of coats of paint, last for years. I anticipate my elevator being around for some while and maybe becoming my headstone I also built a freight depot from the same stuff but with different grooves on it. The very close grroving can appear like siding. There are some cut outs for windows on the models but I also made fake doors and windows. With your skills I guess a great model could be achieved.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/great_western/_forumfiles/Grain%20elevator%20001.jpg)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/great_western/New%20freight%20depot%20008.jpg)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/great_western/Grain%20elevator%20002.jpg)
Just wondering what you attached your track to (it is pictured on top of the trestles)?
Alan Lott said:
Tom, you mention building a large structure and hoping it will last outdoors. We built a grain elevator this year. It was constructed from tanelized patio decking. The decking is around 1" thickness and 5" to 6" in depth. As is is treated for outdoors it should, with a couple of coats of paint, last for years. I anticipate my elevator being around for some while and maybe becoming my headstone(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/great_western/_forumfiles/Grain%20elevator%20001.jpg)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/great_western/New%20freight%20depot%20008.jpg)
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/great_western/Grain%20elevator%20002.jpg)
Very nice. That is a good idea for an outdoor structure. Thanks. Tom
john papadonis said:
Just wondering what you attached your track to (it is pictured on top of the trestles)?
Hi John, The track ties and rails are painted. The track is attached to 5/8" stringers using wire through the web of the rail. The trestle bents are tied to the rail with wire also. It is a trick I learned from GR magazine. So far it has worked well.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/trestlebldg1.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/trestlebldg2.jpg)
Tom