I had some train time last weekend, and wanted to give some activity to an otherwise dull 'house track', used to set out bad order cars, etc. I created a small scene of a crew of local woodcutters loading pulpwood. The car is of course an Atlas bulkhead flat, with fine sawdust sprinkled over the deck. The truck is a CMW Ford stakebed, and the log unloader is a REA MOW vehicle with a modified bucket. I scattered bits of broken wood around the site, and cut some very small Ponderosa pine twigs to length and glued them on the car and in the truck bed. I figured there should be a couple of guys along to help load/unload the logs, but perhaps they aren't really needed! I don't know much about prototypical pulpwood loading in the transition era...other than the fact some loads did originate in northern Arizona. Any corrections / suggestions from the pulpwood crowd would be appreciated! Here's proof again that in N scale, you only need a few square inches to create an interesting scene.
Looks sweet. I think you need the blokes both there. the one on the flat car to align the logs (not sure how the log loader would get them in that position otherwise), and the one on the truck supervising his load Good stuff. EDIT: I really like the fencing in the background too, whats that done with??
Nice scene, Verne. One suggestion I would make, It should be bark on the deck of the rack instead of wood.
Thanks, guys... I will replace the wood with bark, Tad...good call. I should probably put a sign on the flat section of the stake bed on the truck as well.. The wood loads look better to the eye than on camera...the bark is proportionally too thick. Oh well...such are the challenges of N scale!
Looks great.....I too am planning a pulpwood loading area. From what I have seen in photos on the net, I think you got it! Good job
Verne, you'd be surprised how many little mom and pop operations there are out there like that. Keep it just like that, those type of operations continue to this day...you could unload lumber there one month, grain the next, pulpwood the next, it never ends..those spurs get used a lot.....great job!!!!
Looks great Verne! We have a similar operation about 20 miles west of us where they unload drilling pipe for the drilling rigs. Usually you can see a flat car being unloaded with a loader or crane.
Thank you for your comments... Robyn, as mentioned in the first post, the logs are very small Ponderosa pine twigs, gathered from the forests of northern Arizona. I wish I could find miniature trees as well!
Excellent, Verne. I am trying to detail some like that right now. I am going to look for mesquite twigs today. I have used them before and you can indeed see the tree rings, even in small branches. Also, I see that military spur in the background? Looks good.
Great way to set up a new shipper for your RR. I'd imagine this quickie method might be beneficial to many layouts. Boxcab E50
Also, I see that military spur in the background? Looks good. </font>[/QUOTE]Flash, the chain link fence is the perimeter of my very minimal model of the Navajo Ordnance Depot, a huge complex built by the Army in 1942. It is now operated by the Arizona National Guard, but has been a key customer of the ATSF, and shipped millions of tons of ordnance to the Pacific theatre in WW2. It still sees some activity today. I just have a single track spur passing a security gate and disappearing into the pines; the prototype has more than 100 miles of 'industrial' rail in the Ponderosa pine forest, connecting to hundreds of munitions bunkers.
Neat scene, Verne! At least they've got a "skidder" to help them. Back in the early 70s in Maine, when my ex-brother-in-law was clearcutting for I-95 north of Bangor, the two of us would manually load four-foot lengths of pulpwood into a truck about that size, then manually unload them at the pulpwood plant in E. Millaknocket (sp?). About six tons a truck. A four-foot length was considered a reasonable two-man load. The mill preferred much longer logs, shipped by truck.
Thanks Pete, sounds like backbreaking work! Since Model Railroading is supposed to be fun, I thought I would cheat a bit and give the little guys a break...
