Hey Doc Tom,
Great photos and great advance for your railroad!
Little River #1 strikes a pose. Little River #1 an 0-4-0 is an Ex Pennsylvania RR Class A2 built about 1889. It was the first locomotive used by the Little River RR in the early 20th century. It helped build the rail road.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/LRRR12ndpicture.jpg)
It did spend part of its time on the RR actually IN the Little River.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/Loco1LRRRprortype1.jpg)
I always loved this shot of a well weathered and used/abused little tea kettle still pushing logs around in the 1920’s about 30-35 years after it was built.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/LittleRiverRR13rdpictureBEST.jpg)
So I just had to model this scene. I started with the LGB 0-4-0 I started outdoor railroading many years ago.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/lgb2.jpg)
I was able to locate the correct wires and splice in to them for eventual battery/RC power and control with a trailing car in the future. The locomotive was spray painted flat black from a rattle can. The draw bar was shortened and 30 years of grime and use were put on the model. I was able to stage my own vintage photo from the 1920’s.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04687.jpg)
Here are the full color 21rst century digital images we are usually accustomed to seeing.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04686.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04688.jpg)
Let me know what you all think. Doc Tom
Doc,
Great shots and superb paint and weathering. I love the ‘vintage’ shot - almost matches the prototype. Fantastic work.
Bob C.
Nice job, Doc 
Ralph
Now There are Two of em’. My logging crews needed some neighbors so I just finished the second “set off house” AKA “skid shack.” It is a little different but follows the basic layout of the prototype.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04683.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04684.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04685.jpg)
I have a long way to go before I can recreate this scene on the Little River RR in the Great Smoky Mountains.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04392.jpg)
Tom
Lookin’ good Tom 
Looking good Tom. I loventhe way you creat scenes from th real photos. Excellent.
Shawn said:Thanks Shawn. This is my first prototype modeling effort of a real railroad and fortunately the Little River RR museum ( I even joined the historical society of the LRRR) has a lot of neat pictures.
Looking good Tom. I loventhe way you creat scenes from th real photos. Excellent.
When I was in HO my logging outfit was all fictional although loosely modeled after the Little River RR.
Thanks for looking.
Tom
More nice shots Doc. Thanks
HOMES FOR THE LOGGERS AT TREMONT I have finished my “winter build” project of three “set off houses (skid shacks)” for the Little River Rail Road in the backyard.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04711.jpg)
So, the set off houses were loaded on an out bound log train and sent to the Tremont Tennessee logging camp .
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04710.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04709.jpg)
There they were off loaded and I tried to replicate some of these scenes from the prototypical logging camps of the Little River Lumber company high in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/Scan-1.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/Scan-2.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/Scan.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/Scan4.jpg)
Here are my guys in 1920’s photos getting ready to leave Tremont Camp and get to work on the motor car:
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04717.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04716.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04715.jpg)
And back to the reality of the scene in the backyard.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04714.jpg)
I hope you liked the pics and the story of my winter modeling project…ready for Spring.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04712.jpg)
Doc Tom
Another nice story on a fine build Doc. Nice job. I like the way the string of set outs are connected on the prototype
Great pictures, Tom
Ralph
Dave Marconi said:Thanks Dave. They called those logging camps "string towns." The Smoky Mountains have some steep slopes and it was hard to find flat ground to build a lumber camp. Many times they hugged or were part of the Little River RR right of way.
Another nice story on a fine build Doc. Nice job. I like the way the string of set outs are connected on the prototype
Tom
As always Tom…great pics and story!
Awsome pictures. Cabins look great. Love the old photos.
What a great mix with the old and your skilled work and photography…and writing!
Cabins look great. I love the color you achieved on the wood.
Very nice, thanks for sharing.
Another 3 Feet and a Bridge on the Little River Rail Road. The unseasonably mild winter has had the construction crews out at work on the Little River RR mainline. Another 3 feet of curved large scale track has been laid in Nelson’s Gap high in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. To cross a creek branch running in to Nelson’s Gap the intrepid workman used a log crib bridge like this one from the 1920’s.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/3495BldgLogPiers-2.jpg)
The logs created a very strong tower and the stringers were also built from rounded logs.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04737.jpg)
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04738.jpg)
In looking at these photos the log crib pier may be a little too high…about 15 scale feet.
(http://i542.photobucket.com/albums/gg412/DrGrab/DSC04742.jpg)
I would love to hear from model rail road engineering folks as to the appropriateness of this pier. I could always build up the creek bed to shorten the pier if need be. Tom
Doc, I’m sure what you have will work fine for a good while. That said i’ve never seen prototype pics of the cribbing supported tracks stacked much more than 6 maybe 7’