Thanks for the information Al.
This advertisement bothers the Hell outta me! Does this mean Lassen Ice and Cold storage possibly has a bird vault? If that is the case then it’s disturbing however I love my “Red Wing” shoes so perhaps that is profiling?
Excellent work as always Mr. Marty !
It does in fact but not at this facility, this is ice only for the refer cars.
Thanks for the compliment Dave.
Rick, we have found that is the absolute smallest we can cut. We have also found that thin fonts are problematic. The machine was not the cure all I’d hoped it would be, but we also have grown to use it for other hobbies and crafts.
Nice work on the ice house, Cricut be darned!
Eric
Well shucks, Mr Marty , thanks for naming the icehouse after me!
I know there is a volcano, county and National Park named after me in Northern California!
Right you are Pete. Lassen is a very common business name in far Northern California. Even the shop we ran for years was named Lassen Sheet Metal.
I assume that you have researched your ancestor, Peter Lassen, pretty famous man in certain circles.
Rooster… It’s a goose, calm down…
Back again with another project from the “Someday” file. This little railcar fascinated me from the first time I saw it in the book “Steam in the Redwoods” back in the late 1980’s.
I have been hesitating all these years because it is a standard gauge prototype and of course I model Narrow gauge so I could not build it true to prototype.
Looking for an indoor project because it has been so hot lately, 105 to 115 degrees, I finally thought “what the heck” build it anyway and try for the “feel” of the prototype.
So here we go.
The prototype, no known history or other photos that I am aware of but according to the photo caption it existed in the early 1890’s.
I think a brief history of this railroad would be in order to help explain my interest in this little machine and the railroad it ran on.
Proto history.
The first railroads in California were built in and around the town of Union, later named Arcata, and into the woods to haul the Redwood timber to Tidewater at Humboldt Bay. Permission was obtained from the state legislature and the Union Wharf and Plank Walk Company was incorporated in December of 1854 and built a long wharf across the mud flats from the town to navigable waters along Big Slough.
The first rails used on this new wharf were 6 X 6 Redwood timbers with a running surface of 2 X 4 Pepperwood, these were later surfaced with strap iron for longevity. The first locomotive in California was an old white horse named Spanking Fury who apparently didn’t really live up to it’s name, the rolling stock was just one four wheel open car.
In 1875 the company changed it’s name to the Union Plank Walk and Railroad Company and introduced the first steam locomotive to the area. Named the Black Diamond it had an upright boiler on a four wheel car and had a geared engine with two oscillating cylinders. This loco served for several years but was eventually replaced with more modern equipment.
The company changed ownership and names a number of times but eventually in July of 1881 it became the Arcata and Mad River Railroad Company. The Annie and Mary as it was affectionately known to the locals changed hands many more times passing through the ownership of some of the biggest names in the timber industry. Finally on May 1 1983 after 129 years the oldest continuously operated railroad west of the Rockies was no longer in service.
I grew up watching this railroad operate as well as the Hammond Lumber Company rail road that was still running steam up till 1957. For some time I lived beside the tracks of the Annie and Mary and as teenagers we would hop on the flat cars hauling lumber from Korbel to Arcata as it trundled along at about 10 miles an hour. Even to this day I can still find traces of the old right of way, even some trestles still standing, what a great railroad.
I guess this helps explain my love of railroads and the logging industry. The Annie and Mary would be a great RR to model, my only problem is that it was standard gauge.
The build pictures soon.
Thanks for taking a look.
3 Likes
Well Ric not to challenge and perhaps maybe to your delight. The way I read it is the Annie and Mary did not become standard gauge until 1925. So it appears that the inspection car pictured is still narrow gauge?
I also had to look up pepperwood as I had never heard of it before.
David,
Good catch, glad to see someone is taking an interest.
The key word in your quote above is “unique” The for runner of and the early Annie and Mary ran on a gauge of 45 and 1/4 inch before standardization.
Most of the RR and engines were changed to standard gauge in, like you said above, 1925. One spur line was left NG until that mill closed in the early 1940’s. My RR era is late 1930’s thus making the line standard gauge for my use.
Now the rail car in question was way closer to standard gauge than typical (3’) narrow gauge. Thus making the conversion to 3’ as big a challenge as if it had been normal standard gauge. At least for me.
I didn’t go into full detail of the railroads complete history because the intro was already getting way to long for most folks to bother reading.
Rick,
I totally understand I really do !
I learned from your post and scale/gauge matters not to me as I model by eye is all I was saying.
Rick,
That railcar looks to have a complete marine steam engine. You might look at small steam boats of that era for details?
David, no problem. I have admired your modeling skills and passion for history on here for years. When are you starting another project? no pressure 
Peter, thanks for the tip, I’ll look into them.
To start the build, I of course, looked through all the junk boxes for usable parts and pieces and ran across this guy.
A Bachman figure and not the correct scale but I just couldn’t not use him, he is so perfect for the part.
I found some LGB spoked wheels, plastic but that’s what I had. I cut the inner sleeve down so the Ozark bearing mounts would work and had to make new axles because the originals have a splined area right where the bearings will ride.
Now that the axles are established I can start on the frame.
1 Like
Rick,
I’m always amazed at what you pull out of your junk boxes. I mean I know I have a bunch of junk but I’m not sure I could do as many builds I’ve seen you pull off, but maybe in 30 years my junk box will have grown as well.
Craig,
Junk boxes always grow, in fact if you leave the cabinet doors closed for extended periods of time you will find that they have reproduced and you have way more junk than you remember having .
Oh ya, a little progress on the build.
Just a standard wood frame and decking. The water tank box and boiler started. I built an above deck ashpan for more interest and reality but I think I am going to dump it (no pun intended) as it sets the boiler to high and further ruins the proportions.
As you see in trying to get the deck wide enough to accommodate the equipment I had to raise it above the wheels instead of riding between the wheels. Amazing what an effect that a few inches makes when changing gauge, see discussion above.
Leave it alone Rooster
2 Likes
I can’t Rick !!!
Start your own thread 
!!!
Rick, I’m honored you actually listened to me about scale and gauge as I have learned when “playing with large scale trains outside” it’s all about how the eye travels in my honest opinion!
David/Rooster;
You probably need to distill a good batch of Trollish Punch as well.
Best, David Meashey
