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Reg H
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I decided to quit high jacking Alan's diesel logging thread and start one for the logging branch on my layout.
In keeping with the general theme, the logging operation has been named the 'Henderson Bay Timber Co.".
Keeping the theme pure would have resulted in the "Henderson Timber Co.", but adding the "Bay" seems to help it roll off the tongue.
Those who know my history and the history of this layout will understand.
For those not following the HO/OO thread, I am building an HO layout roughly patterned after the Northern Pacific Raymond Branch.
But the name of my fictional branch is the Henderson Bay Branch and tends much more strongly to Great Northern.
You can follow progress on the Class 1 part of the layout in the HO/OO thread.
I am moving discussions of the logging operation here.
Not much to report on the mill yet. The foundation is approaching completion, but not without some adventures.
It is always a mistake to get in a hurry, and there never should be a reason that parts are not test fit before final assembly.
I got in a hurry and made some pretty monumental mistakes.
The result is that I have been doing repairs to some broken parts and fabricating one duplicate part.
On the brighter side:
An online retailer, Train World, Inc., had these on sale for $49.95 each. DCC equipped and painted as you see it. So I bought two.
As the Simpson Timber Co. often did, I can picture one on each end of a string of skeleton log cars.
I will be looking for some dry transfers to add numbers. A little light weathering will bring out the details.
I haven't programmed them yet, so can't report on running characteristics, but the reviews are good.
Programming will wait until after they are numbered.
Reg
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Alan Sewell
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Hi Reg
Will be interested to follow this thread and is good to see your are progressing.
The GE 70-ton is a nice nice lokey.
You might remember Weyerhauser used several on their logging railroad out of Springfield OR.
John H sent me some B&W photos and I have collected a few more slides since.
I use a GE as one of the lokeys on my imagined branch.
It alternates with one or two steam lokeys as the company have not bothered to upgrade the tracks for heavier SW's.
The woods are about logged other than in that area.
Like you I have to do some weathering etc.
Attached is a photo taken today of it arriving with a log train at the headquarters camp.
I find it runs very sweetly and I have sound added.
However it does have limited pulling power but handles six cars on a gentle grade.
You might need to check this for your branch.
Alan
Attachment: ALC#104.JPG (Downloaded 493 times)
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Alan Sewell
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Reg
You might consider running the GE's back to back as in the attached.
When I first visited Simpson in 1989 they ran their lokeys this way.
They only changed to running a unit at each end in I think the mid 1990's.
Alan
Attachment: Spfld GE 70T001.jpg (Downloaded 495 times)
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Reg H
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I am thinking of running them back to back but at opposite ends of the train.
I still have a lot to do before that is a critical decision.
Off to the basement to work on the mill.
Just the foundation is proving to be time consuming.
Not terribly difficult, just time consuming.
Reg
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Reg H
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Making some progress on the mill:
This is the right side wall. Yes, it is 16" long...in HO. It is a large building.
Paint is Badger Tuscan Light Oxide Red, which looks good to me.
Trying to judge color from an on-line color chart is a bit of a challenge.
I was reluctant to use up any of my Floquil hoard on such a big project.
I had my reservations about acrylics, having had a very negative experience with Polly S when it first came out.
This went on great. It is air-brushed right out of the bottle.
The only challenge is that my air brush is an upscale Badger "fine".
It is perfect for fine work, such as weathering, but has a very narrow spread for this kind of work.
I have a Harbor Freight airbrush which looks to be surprisingly good quality (it was on sale at $9.95),
but I haven't taken the time to find the right hose fittings for it.
I keep thinking I am going to spend money on hose and fittings and find out the thing is the piece of junk to which the price attests.
But we shall see. It sure looks and feels good.
See all the windows? There are eight pieces for each window. It will take awhile.
The sequence in the instructions has one assembling the wall framing and then applying the sheathing, and then doing the windows.
I don't think so. I will be doing all the detail work flat on the bench before assembling the walls.
This is the inside of the wall, showing the framing.
I used a "honey oak" stain for the framing. I really like the way it turned out.
I encountered a "weathered gray" stain while shopping for the oak stain.
I haven't tried it yet, but am interested in seeing how it compares with my india ink/alcohol standard.
I have a photo of the completed (well, almost. I have some painting to do) foundation.
The foundation was a major project as well as a major learning experience.
I will provide details when that photo finally wends it's way through cyberspace from my phone to my computer.
Reg
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Reg H
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Here is a photo of the almost completed foundation:
This was a major project.
A big lesson learned is that any of the small cross-section pieces that are cross-grain are VERY fragile.
There is a lot of repair work in here. Several pieces broke along the grain with practically no pressure at all.
That was abetted by my trying to be in a hurry and skipping the trial fit step.
The result being that I had to attempt forcing pieces together after applying the glue. Very bad idea.
Another result of being in a hurry was not paying attention to the assembly sequence.
You will note that the second bent in is a bit different shade than the others and has no laser burn.
That resulted from inserting one too many of the taller bents in place.
I woke up at 2:00 AM the following morning with the realization of that mistake.
Obviously, our brains chew on the events of the day while we sleep.
So, I fixed that problem by cutting down the misplaced bent to match the short bents and fabricating a replacement.
Not a bad job of fabrication if I do say so myself. I had not glued the very end bent in place. So I used it as a pattern.
Then some very careful work with the drill, coping saw, band saw and emery board to get it all looking right.
This fabrication was a further lesson. In the kit, each bent is composed of two pieces essentially butt-joined together.
I thought that was silly. Why not fabricate each bent out of one piece?
Because....basswood comes in standard widths and lengths.
The only way to fabricate a bent in a single piece is to arrange the beams with the grain and the piles across the grain.
I learned on the first attempted cut why that is a bad idea. The very first pile I tried to cut broke along the grain.
The only way to make the grain run with the pile is to make the bent in two pieces.
There are cross-braces between every bent. The idea is to install those between every leg of every bent.
You can see the outside ones. I haven't decided whether to install the interior ones or not, as they won't be visible.
There would be 40 additional cross braces to carefully remove from their sheets, trial fit, and glue in place.
The bracing, by the way, is detailed down to nail holes.
The last step on this assembly, unless I decide to spend a couple of days applying the rest of the cross braces,
is painting the outside of the outside floor beams flat black. They end up just about 1/8" behind the windows.
In the background you can see the bottle of Titebond glue. B.T.S. recommends the Titebond for structural assemblies.
I love this stuff. It is widely used in the experimental aircraft community.
The instructions recommend white glue for non-structural applications because it will dry clear. The Titebond tends to have a yellow tinge.
My inclination is to use the Titebond throughout and just be careful on how much I slather on.
Reg
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Alan Sewell
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Reg
Looking very impressive. Must say the quality of the kit and of your work is really good.
Will the mill be seen from all sides or will you be able to speed things up by only detailing part of the structure
Alan
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Reg H
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Alan:
I haven't determined the orientation of the mill on the layout yet.
I want to get it completed and then try out different locations and orientations.
I had a brainstorm last night that may allow me to install the entire complex, which would be really cool.
But until I have enough complete to try out some places and see how I can make the track configuration work, all is still up in the air.
This is one of those structures that I will probably complete all sides even if some won't be visible,
with the possible exception of the cross bracing under the building.
Reg
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Alan Sewell
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Hi Reg
Very brave doing the whole kit even if some won't be seen,
but then again given the price and the quality of the kit I guess you an feel justified in completing it as designed.
Anyway progress so far is impressive.
I had been sorting out materials to start the scenery at my woods camp,
but during today's running session one of the switches has developed a short which was not happening on Monday.
The switch has been in situ for about THIRTY years so may be age has won out!!!
Fortunately I have a replacement so will now be doing the track work instead of scenery -
oh well model railroading is fun isn't it.
Alan
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Reg H
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If it wasn't fun, we wouldn't do it.
Since we are doing it, it must be fun.
I purposely install turnouts so that they are "relatively" easy to replace. I hope.
Since this is the first time in many years (decades) that I have laid commercial track,
I don't know how some things will work out in the long run.
Reg
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Reg H
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Scored today on a brief trip to Harbor Freight.
My Badger airbrush is a fine instrument, with "fine" being the descriptive term.
Above I discussed the HF airbrush I bought on impulse a couple of years ago.
It was on sale for $9.95 and for some reason I thought it a good idea to buy it.
Only to find out, after getting it home, that it's air hose connection did not match anything I had.
So the thing kind of went in to cold storage.
With the mill project, and vast expanses of scribed siding to paint, I thought to resurrect it.
I started pawing through the HF website in hopes that they might have the adapters necessary to make the thing useful.
No luck on adapters, but while reading some reviews,
it was mentioned the hose came with adapters that match the Badger connection.
So I went and got one. Best under $10 purchase I have made in a long time. It is a REALLY nice hose, and 10 feet long.
In the raw, it connects to the HF airbrush. But includes the adapter to attach the Badger.
PLUS, another adapter that mates it up with my little Binks air compressor.
Success. It will be awhile before I get to try it out.
Installing the windows on the right side wall is going to be a lengthy process.
Reg
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Reg H
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Thanks, Si.
Of course, now I have to stage a photo op for you.
I hope to get a couple of windows in the right side wall this evening. It will depend on the "honey do" list.
Reg
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Reg H
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For Si:
Reg
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Reg H
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Spent some time on the mill, but didn't get as far as I wanted.
My heart! These parts are small.
These parts are the upper and lower sash for one of the MANY windows.
I spent about 1/2 hour wiggling the parts from the sheet, sticking them on the clear plastic, and trimming them to size.
The window opening required a bit of work, too, getting things to fit right.
I had to stop here because I found that I was out of ACC. I am never out of ACC. How did that happen?
Though the instructions don't address it, clearly the best way to install the lower sash
(which installs from the back side of the wall using the bit of clear plastic as a mounting flange) is with ACC.
Rather than experiment with something else, I decided to move on to other things.
Probably a good idea. I should test fit everything for the window installation before gluing anything in place.
In addition to the parts shown, there is the casing (one piece) and the trim, which consists of four pieces.
I moved on to painting the left side wall. I used the aforementioned Harbor Freight airbrush. It works just fine.
I experimented around with it, and it seems to work as well as my $100 Badger.
Harbor Freight still has them, but at the "regular" price of $19.95.
Really, if you are strapped for funds and would find an airbrush useful, I would highly recommend this product.
I guess I should post a photo and SKU. Soon.
Reg
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Reg H
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Looking at Alan's photos of the GE locos, it appears that just a few small upgrades would really spiff things up.
Black stacks, screens over the radiators, 5-chime horns, and visors.
Yep. No doubt about it. I am better at coming up with projects than I am at getting them done!
Reg
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Reg H
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As promised:
The SKU is 95810.
Of course, you will need a hose and an air supply.
Get the hose from HF. Less than $8.00, and it is nice hose.
In the reviews one of the comments was that HF did not have any additional bottles available.
Not a problem. The bottle connection is industry standard.
You can order bottles, paint cups, etc. from any airbrush supplier.
Reg
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Reg H
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SI
This is fun. But there is a lot of work to be done before exciting railfan opportunities will be available.
Track, for instance. At this point the HBTCo. operates exactly 0 miles of track.
This photo was taken in LeBam on a Henderson Bay Branch (GN) owned industrial siding.
Reg
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Reg H
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Refer back to the photo of the window sash parts.
Here is the first completed window. There are seven individual parts to each window.
I have completed six windows. Which leaves 21 more to go...on this wall!!!
It took me about an hour to assemble and install this first one. The next five went much faster.
And I have figured out a way to speed the process up just a little bit more by modifying the sequencing slightly.
I will be an expert on assembling B.T.S. windows by the time this kit is complete.
Looking at the photo I see that I didn't get the drip strip quite centered on this window.
I hope I did better on the subsequent five.
I guess I better take some photos to check.
I was asking just the other day, "doesn't everybody downsize their scale when they turn 70?".
Reg
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