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Comments
Gee wiz Muddy, if I worked in O scale it would be like working on my dinning room chair!
Thanks Ken and Muddy.
I'm thinking about the look of the train and would like some opinions. First some proto photos. I like the look of the disconnects together without the rooster attached like in pic 1. I imagine that heading into the woods either option would be OK. My plan was always to be going into the woods and not out of the woods with a load for a couple of reasons, but all options are on the table at this point. If I do include a load, I like more smaller logs like in pic 2 versus single big logs like pic 3. And for those of us who are concerned about mixing 1:48 and 1:43 figures see pic 4. Also notice the axe burried in the front sled. I'm definitely doing this.
Next set of photos are mock-ups of the train. I added the Dolbeer on one of the disconnects in the first 2 pics. I added a Blacksmith car and a loco to get a feel for the overall size. The next pic adds a flatcar for the Dolbeer. The last pic adds some logs to see what they would look like...I didn't have any smaller ones on hand for now.
I'd be real interested in thoughts and ideas on this.
I'm changing directions on the locomotive. This little guy is cool but the interior detail is not what I want. I have a replacement loco secured and will post more on this end of the train when I start back to work on it.
Moving the the other end of the train, I got some work done on the saw filer car/caboose/tool car/whatever car. I started with a Foothill 20' flatcar. Little bit longer that I first imagined, but it gives me the room to add tons of details inside. These are very detailed kits. My only complaint is the lack of woodgrain in the parts. I considered replacing the deck with wood but ended up adding woodgrain and painting since nearly all of the deck will be covered with "stuff".
I made an ouside braced body and will cover after the interior work is done. Time for an overall dusting/weathering to blend everything together.
A "few" details have been prepped and installed into this ramblin' wreck. The sawfiler stand was a fun build. The turn knobs are NBW castings that were drilled out and .020 wire installed. On to the roof.
This part of the project is finished...unless of course I start messing with it again.
still have the locomotive and the load to build to complete the train. I'm starting to think about the shadow box itself and the lighting. If anyone is an electrician, I would like to chat with you. I have a plan to use color changing lights to have daytime and nighttime lighting. When it's "night" I want the loco headlight to come on. I'd like to be able to do this with as few moving parts as possible. ie: don't want seperate buttons like on O'Neills.
This is a super neat logging train. Thanks for sharing the build as well as posting all the photos. The "saw filer car/caboose/tool car/whatever car" is an easy favorite with all the details you worked into it. It is a "Mini Scene" on trucks with all the care, thought and precision you use to complete all your builds.
I don't have an electrical engineering background, or anything remotely close to it, but I suspect that LED's offer some possibility for your Logging Train day/night lighting effects in a Plexiglas display box. A few years back I purchased a rope of LED lights to use as part of my Christmas outdoor decorations and it came with a small remote paddle to change the color of the LED's in the light rope. Not sure but I think the color is variable due to the fact that electrical impedance/flow can determine the temperature of the LED and thus the color emitted. At any rate, the LED light rope has a control box at the end (which could be hidden under the base of the diorama) and it is controlled remotely with the small paddle that comes with the rope light set. Perhaps a call to David Jamison at Evan Designs (303-410-1118) in Broomfield, Co might be in order. (www.ModelTrainSoftware.com) Never know if he has already designed a similar product for day/night light or would be willing to develop and introduce the product to the model railroading market.
Later, Dave S Tucson, AZ
Thanks Brett...I think I hear a kit brewing.
Kevin, you will be pleased with a Foothill kit. It has the same level of detail as a SW kit...except the deck. If you are using it for a diorama, I think it is great. If you want to run it on your layout, I have some modifications to suggest. My first plan was to scratch build a 16' car that was similar to the SW Blacksmith car, but I got carried away.
I've been modifying the Shay today. Anyone who has had a Bmann Shay gear split on them will appreciate the irony here. Bmann used plastic gears that split, but the water tank is metal. I know because I spent a lot of time cutting and filing off the flange on the tank. I'm sure this was for added weight, but come on.
I'm also looking for one of those 'broken' shays and/or climaxes that people have stashed on a shelf to use as a static on diorama.
Enjoying seeing this build progress, as usual.
Karl.A
Karl, I posted on another forum that I wanted to buy a broken Shay. That's where I found this one. I sent a message to Bmann parts asking for a broken one with no reply.
Thanks Ken. Having fun with this one.
T
The scratch building and modifications are really outstanding. Did you cut out the brass sheets for the roofing and floor on the shay or can you buy them? I am an HO guy but would really like to learn how to modify and weather locomotives. How did you do the canvas rolled up ? It is very convincing. Really enjoyed looking at your great work!!!
Jim
Love the way the scene is coming together.
The canvas rollup was from a Verlindun detail kit I purchase many years ago for a Sd Kfz 251 kit. It never made it to the halftrack, but I like it here. It was just the right length.
At the left, the train is leaving the edge of camp. Mock up buildings are for tarpaper shack and the brick outhouse I never got to put in O'Neills. These will hide the track ending at the left. Behind the track the terrain rises. There will be some exposed rock and some cribbing. The peak will conceal the source of a babbling brook that will tumble down to the riser with the critter on it. Maybe a small marshy area here. From there trickle down under the track to the edge. There will be a small bridge of logs or rough timber. Heading off to the right are the woods. I think a large trunk at the right edge to hide the track end might work. The foliage barely visible at the top of the shadowbox as the trunk disappears upward.
I tried out the wire trees to see how they look. I think these will work. I'll need just a few more plus several smaller ones. Probably 1 or 2 big pine trunks also. I believe it will be autumn in the scene.