Peckforton sawmill

[philipy]

I'm sure this website is familiar to most modellers on this forum, but just in case anyone has missed it it is a mine of information about freight handling.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/gansg/index.htm#loads

Rik

I've never come across it before, Rik.
At a first quick glance it looks to be a mine of info on all sorts of subjects, so thanks for the link.

[tom_tom_go]

This has improved my model making no end Rik:

https://www.clarkeinternational.com/sho ... isc-sander

I can build stuff square now!

[ge_rik]

This has improved my model making no end Rik:

https://www.clarkeinternational.com/sho ... isc-sander

I can build stuff square now!

Thanks Tom. Now on the Christmas List

Rik

[ge_rik]

Just written-up how I detailed the interior of the mill. Hopefully, there might be something useful there if ever anyone wants to travel a similar path (or do it better).
https://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2018/0 ... wmill.html

Rik

[pandsrowe]

I've just spent a while reading the build of the sawmill on your blog Rik and I am totally in awe of your attention to detail in making it look right. Yes, I'm sure there are parts that are not correct from an engineering perspective but that doesn't matter, it just looks so right. You must be very proud of what you have achieved, I can only hope that others appreciate the efforts that you have put in to create the blog for their enjoyment.
Until I read the blog I didn't realise quite how big this is, reading about the construction over a period on this forum I had failed to appreciate it's overall size and I look forward to seeing more photos in the future when it becomes part of the railway infrastructure.

[ge_rik]

..... I look forward to seeing more photos in the future when it becomes part of the railway infrastructure.

Thanks - it's probably a bit too small to be realistic but its size was dictated by the available space. I'm just landscaping and ballasting the station area and so (weather permitting) hope to take a few more photos of it (and the gantry crane) in situ shortly.

Rik

[philipy]

Thanks Rik
I too had failed to appreciate the overall size of this wee beastie, despite avidly following the thread!

I'm also eagerly awaiting the in situ photos with gantry crane et al.
You can be extremely proud of this achievement, IMO.

[ge_rik]

More or less finished the landscaping and re-ballasting of the station area so here are a few pix of the sawmill and gantry crane in their natural setting.

A view from the end of the sawmill sidings.

IMG_7810.JPG (198.77 KiB) Viewed 4962 times

The HGLW loco seems quite at home pottering around the sidings moving wagons under the gantry as needed.

IMG_7811.JPG (172.68 KiB) Viewed 4962 times

View from the head of the sidings.

IMG_7812.JPG (171.27 KiB) Viewed 4962 times

Moving in a bit closer. I need a few more stacks of sawn timber and a fair bit more clutter to finish off the scene.

IMG_7813.JPG (175.9 KiB) Viewed 4962 times

The boilerhouse for the mill engine will eventually be placed in the bottom left of this pic.

IMG_7817.JPG (199.32 KiB) Viewed 4959 times

Rik

[philipy]

I think I've run out of superlatives now, but you deserve all of them. Fantastic!

Next time you have the camera out, a distant view showing it in context would be good, please.

[Peter Butler]

Just wonderful... it looks so well placed and functional. The detailing would be hard to fault as you have clearly thought of every operation in the process of machining logs into planks..... Exceptional!

[mymodeltrain]

More or less finished the landscaping and re-ballasting of the station area so here are a few pix of the sawmill and gantry crane in their natural setting.

A view from the end of the sawmill sidings.
IMG_7810.JPG

The HGLW loco seems quite at home pottering around the sidings moving wagons under the gantry as needed.
IMG_7811.JPG

View from the head of the sidings.
IMG_7812.JPG

Moving in a bit closer. I need a few more stacks of sawn timber and a fair bit more clutter to finish off the scene.
IMG_7813.JPG

The boilerhouse for the mill engine will eventually be placed in the bottom left of this pic.
IMG_7817.JPG

Rik

Am I looking at a real scene ? can't distinguish anymore.

[pandsrowe]

I can't seem to find any suitable words to express my admiration for this whole project, it's just sooooooo.....
On a more mundane note, what are you using for the ground surface finish in these shots? Again it looks so real and seems to be a perfect scale match, just like the real thing.

[ge_rik]

.... what are you using for the ground surface finish in these shots? Again it looks so real and seems to be a perfect scale match, just like the real thing.

Thanks Phil

Basically:

1. I use concrete to bring the 'ground' up to sleeper height (or near rail height in the sidings)
2. Let that set (a week at least)
3. Dry-brush a mix of coarse sand, fine chicken grit, sifted potting grit, sifted soil and cement over the area
4. Water with a fine rose
5. Dribble SBR over everything (thanks to @Peter_Butler for that tip)
6. Leave to dry (a couple of days)
7. Daub watered-down cement dye over it all (thanks to @GregH for that idea) - I use black and brown separately and blend them as I go

I am constantly scanning the bagged sand and grit areas of local garden centres for 'interesting' concoctions - the RHA coarse sand is my latest discovery. I also sprinkle crushed coal in areas where it might be found - eg loco coaling areas, sidings where coal is unloaded. It's a bit like painting a canvas, except a bit grittier.

There's a bit more information about my technique here - https://riksrailway.blogspot.com/2015/0 ... crete.html - though I've developed it a bit more since I wrote that.

Rik

[gregh]

Looks really perfect in situ. It will generate a lot of traffic for the line.
I hope there's a big forest somewhere. Lucky it's the 1930s so no Greenies to complain about logging.
I like the way you let your sidings 'splay' out. Too many of mine (and others) are always in parallel. Yours give a much better look.

[tom_tom_go]

Rik this is brilliant and far from anything I will ever achieve as I would of lost interest and moved onto something else. Using real wood for structures outside makes all difference.

I feel like an bottom saying this though but those plastic logs are the only negative for me as they look like they belong in a Playmobil scene.

Have you got a local wood you can go and grab some dead wood from the ground and cut up? You can then scatter the sawdust around the timber yard.

[ge_rik]

I feel like an bottom saying this though but those plastic logs are the only negative for me as they look like they belong in a Playmobil scene.

Have you got a local wood you can go and grab some dead wood from the ground and cut up? You can then scatter the sawdust around the timber yard.

Hi Tom
I'd like to improve their appearance, sure. Their advantage is they are lightweight for wagon loads and weatherproof. I have tried various branches and twigs, but I find that if I leave them outside for a couple of months, the bark falls off and they end up looking,....... well, like twigs. I could probably use a couple on the loading platform for the saw carriage (underneath the gantry) as I take that inside when not in use, but I would like to have some permanent stacks of logs left outside.

If anyone knows of branches which have bark which is weatherproof, the please let me know. I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem.

Rik

[Dwayne]

[laalratty]

If anyone knows of branches which have bark which is weatherproof, the please let me know. I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem.

Rik

I've got a stack of logs made from offcuts of various dwarf conifers, and they seem to have kept their bark over the course of nearly 18 months.

[ge_rik]

I've got a stack of logs made from offcuts of various dwarf conifers, and they seem to have kept their bark over the course of nearly 18 months.

That's useful to know. Annoyingly, I had a couple of rogue leylandii removed from the garden a month or so ago and they took all the brushwood away with them. Looks like I may have to prune some of my better behaved conifers.

Rik

[laalratty]

Some of mine seem to excel at growing too big by themselves, to the stage where I am considering taking them out entirely, but it has produced quite a few scale logs whilst I try and keep them in check.