Jon Grant 4472 Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 I am looking to extend one of the Sweethome Alabama baseboards by 18 inches, to make the scenic board as long as, and to hide, the newly-extended fiddle yard. While thinking about what to put on the new bit (other than more trees), I thought it would be a good opportunity to add a turnout and a bit mor track to increase the operating potential of the pulpwood branch/spur. Leading on from that, I also got to thinking about turning it into a small, Inglenook-style layout in its own right, with a dedicated fiddle yard, with a view to using it as a working layout for small shows, as well as remaining part of the larger Sweethome Alabama Here's the board in its current guise I have scope to extend the board by 18 inches, and will probably end up with two 3ft boards. I also have scope to make the boards a few inches deeper. My initial intention is to have the log cars disappear either into a building or behind some trees so that they can be loaded 'off-stage', behind the backscene. I also hope to use a dedicated switcher, possibly a 44 or 70-tonner for the site. Your thoughts and suggestions, folks. ps - I also have some huge woodchip cars....could a woodchip loader be included into the same scene as pulpwood cars, or is it either/or? Thanks Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Jon, As an aside, did you ever get around to "drawing" a track plan of SHA? I am confident in saying that I know absolutely nothing about the wood-pulp business over here..........Do they wood-pulp for paper and such like of for things like "oriented strand board"? I did notice down South that they use that a lot in house construction instead of plywood. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Jon - not for sure, but I think Pulpwood gets taken as is to paper plants - and to make woodchips all the off-cuts, small branches, etc,are taken to a plant and chipped, then loaded into cars to be taken to the factory The loaders are like long hoods that slot over the car - I think Mike Scott had one on one of his layouts. There is a "how-to here http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?104310-How-To-Build-A-Woodchip-Loader and Walthers did one - but I think it is OOP = picture here http://www.euromodeltrains.com/trains/products/Walthers1/933/3526.gif Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Grant 4472 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 Thanks Jack Looks like a woodchip loader involves a bit more infrastructure than a small industry in the woods I have a few photos of a pulpwood loading site in Alabama and will perhaps go down that route Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 how about a siding going to the fiddle yard,hidden by a bridge or trees then this could be the loading track, out of site,you could have loaded pulpwood in,empty out,empty woodchip cars in, loaded out,if you could fit a smaller siding in as well that could be a RIP track(have bad order cards),use waybills so the cars have to be shunted in order for different destinations(east bound,west bound) if you start with all empty cars,( should think you'll get 6 in each) and loaded in the fiddle yard,that should keep someone happy for about a hour(me,me,me) also if you knock the top speed of the switcher down so no more than 10mph that may make it last longer. food for thought!!!!!!!!! Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodshaw Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 As a matter of interest, what company does that patched UP loco in the picture above belong to? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Grant 4472 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 A pulpwood loading yard in Alabama Lots of potential here. I have a container lifter that will kitbash into the log loader without too much effort Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Grant 4472 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 ....and a few more Starting to get excited about this little project now Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Jon = If you decide to build one of the grab cranes, like the one at the far end of the siding (available from Kibri as a kit , #11282) the grab is actually intended to work - I wish you luck! WARNING! DO NOT ASSEMBLE THIS KIT WITHIN EARSHOT OF SMALL CHILDREN! THEY WILL ADD LOTS OF NEW AND EXCITING WORDS TO THEIR DAILY SPEECH! THEY WILL TAKE GREAT DELIGHT IN EXPRESSING THEM LOUDLY IN FRONT OF THE VICAR, ELDERLY LADIES, AND IN PUBLIC PLACES WHERE THEY CAN EMBARRASS THEIR PARENTS! The grab needs at least 4 hands of VERY thin fingers, a magnifying glass, a thorough knowledge of the most profane Anglo-Saxon vocabulary, and infinite patience to assemble (none of which are included in the box!. After 2 hours of trying to get it together, I finally succeeded - only to have it fall apart when I tried to move it! Suffice to say. it was eventually put together with liquid glue, and in a part open position, so that I could compress te scrap metal load and fit it between the claws - which seems to produce a reasonable result .This one is for loading the containers in my container tilter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Grant 4472 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 One of those loaders looks ideal - I've built one of those 'orange peel' grabbers before on a JCB kit - one of a choice of 5 grabbers/drill/buckets. The pneumatic piston rods falling out of the pistons gaused more grief than enough....until I glued them in place Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Jon - on offer - http://shop.miniatur-wunderland.com/kibri-11282-h0-liebherr-934-umschlaggeraet.html - about £12.50 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Grant 4472 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 Just ordered one Jack - bit cheaper than the $41.00 from the Walthers catalogue Thanks Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Just ordered one Jack - bit cheaper than the $41.00 from the Walthers catalogue Thanks Jon I think that there is a 98% chance of anything being cheaper elsewhere than Walthers Catalogue - have fun with the assembly! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Jon Don't forget it has to have enough operational interest for a 1 or 2 day show, when out on it's own, this is where waybills would be handy. Rod It's a HELM leaser gp38-3 Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave1905 Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 I had several pulpwood yards on my territory when I was Asst. Trainmaster in Texas. They looked like the yard in the Alabama pictures. Maybe a shack plus a loading crane/tractor and piles of pulpwood. Its detestable stuff. Keeps falling off the cars, loads shift, I was glad to see it go. The 4 wheeled tractor that looks like a big fork lift, with the slatted grate is used to not only load the cars but the slatted grate is used to "bump up" the load. Once the pulp wood is loaded the tractor pushes against the load with the slatted panel to push the logs onto the car and make sure the ends stick out a uniform distance. Had a paper mill in Arkansas that received chips in hoppers (the wood or termite train). Both pulpwood and chips end up in the same place, the paper mill. Wood is chipped at the paper mill and chips are chipped at the wood yard. Chips are easier to handle, they can be conveyored around and its easier to unload. There is no reason the same yard couldn't ship both chips and pulp wood or logs. The paper mill on the other end of town used logs that were trucked in. Putting the truck or tractor on the tracks would be a no-no. The loaders have to get to both sides of the car and driving the tractor over the tracks could damage the track and would cut up the tires of the tractor. You could hide the entrance to staging behind a stack of logs or the chipper building (metal building, fairly new but still industrial) and there could be conveyors over the hole to carry away bark chips (for landscaping) . The bark chips could be bagged and shipped out in boxcars. Or you could have the chipper on the far side of the track and the hole blocked by the bark bagging building. The ex-UP engine is probably owned by a leasing company and has been leased to the KCS or one of its subsidiaries (based on the lead unit's paint.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Grant 4472 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 Excellent ideas Dave and an excuse for running one or two boxcars up the branch - Ashley Drew, etc Car cards would be a must to retain attention Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
long island jack Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 does that mean we get to play with one of these Ray PS there's 2 blood hounds in that pack,do you want one for the chain gang?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Grant 4472 Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 yes and yes, Ray Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 I've only just noticed it - but you gotta love that poor-boy "broke-back truck" in that 2ndpic of the 2nd set Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Jon; What vintage are those photos? I ask because the most modern vehicle in sight is the red pickup (or maybe the grab crane) and it isn't very modern. It is rural Alabama, though... Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Grant 4472 Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 Jon; What vintage are those photos? I ask because the most modern vehicle in sight is the red pickup (or maybe the grab crane) and it isn't very modern. It is rural Alabama, though... Adrian Not sure Adrian, I'll try and find out Judging from the condition of the CSX pulpwood cars, I would hazard a guess at somewhere between the late 1990s and mid 2000s Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Not sure Adrian, I'll try and find out Judging from the condition of the CSX pulpwood cars, I would hazard a guess at somewhere between the late 1990s and mid 2000s Jon I might have put it a bit earlier than that - the red pickup looks to be a mid-80s Chevrolet (last model year 1987), but I agree it is probably in the '90s (as it can't be earlier than 1987). The crossing gates look quite modern* and I have found a 2003 photo of one of those flats in significantly better condition http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rsPicture.aspx?id=457148 *in fact the crossing gate/light setup is a bit strange, with the lights in both directions on the far side of the tracks and the high gantry. I'd gues that the road approaches the tracks at an angle, makes a right turn to cross at near 90 degrees, and then makes a left to resume its angled course (or it does a wiggle to line up with the crossing - the high lights are at a different angle to the low ones). The lights would be on the opposite barrier posts to give better sightlines, with the gantry to increase the sighting distance even more. The armco barriers appear to be on the insides of the curves. That amount of expenditure on a crossing implies a fairly busy road and probably a fairly busy rail line. It is also interesting that there is no switch stand to give a visual indication of the switch position. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Jon - this might be of interest to you http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23128 - might even be possible to do a cut-n-shut job into one of those "broke-backs" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I've only just noticed it - but you gotta love that poor-boy "broke-back truck" in that 2ndpic of the 2nd set Brokbecktruck.jpg The cab looks like a '71 or '72 Chevrolet - almost certainly based on the C3500 dump truck, which had that frame shape. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 The cab looks like a '71 or '72 Chevrolet - almost certainly based on the C3500 dump truck, which had that frame shape. Adrian Looks like it's going to be difficult./impossible to find one in HO scale, though Adrian - 40s/50s no real problem , Late 80s/90s available - 60s/70s like rocking horse manure! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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