The Beaver Hole Hardwood Company Begins

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RustyRatRod

RustyRatRod

I was born on a Monday. Not last Monday.
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After years of being on the back burner, I have finally started laying track for my On30 layout The Beaver Hole Hardwood Company. This track plan was originally designed by a friend across the pond, Paul Templar (RIP) for another friend, Fred Miller, from the Joplin Missouri area. Fred fell on hard times and has never been able to build this layout. I asked him several years ago if he would mind if I built it and I more than got his blessing. While this looks somewhat messy, you can see the track that I have laid down and ballasted so far. I am making one change by eliminating that turnout connection at the top in the center, because I want to force the inside line to go all the way around to the right, to end up getting to the logging camp on the left side, where the switchback is located. And yes, the switchback will have several inclines of 4% to reach the top of the mountain on the left side, where the logging camp will be located. I've been really patiently waiting to get my train room back from Kitty as I let her use it for storage for a while. Now I am back at it. Here is the track plan and a picture of progress so far.
BEAVERHOLE.jpg


BEAVER HOLE.JPG
 
I know less than nothing about model trains, my step dad has a pretty nice setup in the basement, but I couldn't tell you anything about it.
Good luck with it and have some fun!
 
I always wanted to run track a foot or so from my ceiling around the whole house tunnels through walls.
 
ch1ll said:
I always wanted to run track a foot or so from my ceiling around the whole house tunnels through walls.
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I've thought of that, but hell, you caint see it. lol
 
It’s been so long since I played with trains, but every time I see one at goodwill or family sharing, I buy it.
 
barbee6043 said:
Admit it!! This is an excuse to stay in out of the heat!!!
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Yeah it's one of um. It's still really hot back there, because we don't have central air. The compressor tore up like 15 years ago. All we have is a window unit in the front of the house.
 
When I saw the thread title I thought this thread was going someplace else and maybe should have been in the naughty section.
 
There is a guy who lives between me and town who has a small mountain in a building with multiple size trains and tracks from table level to top. Some of the Swiss and German train cars he showed me we extremely small and very intricate.
He has a restored steam powered ride on for kiddys on his properly too but it has been modified to run on 2 cars of bottled compressed air. His income comes from travelling to those retail stores, restaurants, etc,,, to maintain and/or repair their trains that run around an overhead track. Anyway, looking forward to your progress reports w/pics of course.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Yeah it's one of um. It's still really hot back there, because we don't have central air. The compressor tore up like 15 years ago. All we have is a window unit in the front of the house.
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Heck, I lived in Mo. for decades with just a wood stove for heat and a window unit, and even on the hotest day, it never got turned on till well after lunch. It an get hot in Mo. but usually less humidity and more wind.
Heck even here in this hot spot in Tx. we turn on the central about about 5 or 6 in the afternoon, keeps house cool all night till we get upin the A.M.and turn it OFF! But were are country bumkins!
 
The brainiac who mathematically proves our air conditioning is a major contributor to global warming will surely be in a comfortable air-conditioned room while doing the work LOL
 
RedFish said:
The brainiac who mathematically proves our air conditioning is a major contributor to global warming will surely be in a comfortable air-conditioned room while doing the work LOL
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Heck everyone knows the issue is cow farts!

But look at what Demanrk and other European countrie are trying o do with their ag. Look at what Biden and Co are NOW trying to do with BLM land. Look at waht The Az. governor just did to 1 million acres around the Grand Canyon. Noe a National Monument. All 1 million acres. EPA. The list is long. Control.
 
It looks awful right now, but this is the switchback going up the side of a mountain. I have one more leg to add that will come back towards the camera almost against the wall. It will be the highest. It looks like we will be painting more mountain scenery on that wall. It will make more sense once all of the weights are off the track and the rest of the track is laid.
BEAVER HOLE SWITCHBACK.JPG
 
RustyRatRod said:
It looks awful right now, but this is the switchback going up the side of a mountain. I have one more leg to add that will come back towards the camera almost against the wall. It will be the highest. It looks like we will be painting more mountain scenery on that wall. It will make more sense once all of the weights are off the track and the rest of the track is laid.
View attachment 1716131850
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At only one cup of coffee in, I can't think of a dang thing that don't look awful in earliest/embryotic stages.
Your workbench looks like homemade from the red dirt I try to grow a lawn in. LOL
 
What's the operational scheme?

I assume logs are the primary cargo.
Will you be manipulating "live" loads (IE moving scale logs on and off of the cars).

I see it is "point to point", a much talked about design goal in the MRR press.
However, have you considered a lift out, fold down, or otherwise removable section to enable continuous running?
I am a fairly hard core operations guy, but sometimes I find (particularly If I'm working on something in the room but not operating), that I just want to watch a train run by occasionally which is MUCH easier to accomplish if you don't have to keep stopping and reversing it.

I sure am glad 95% of the stuff I need to finish my setup has already been acquired (although I'm considering a temporary change from 1948 Ohio branch of PRR to 1995 FL industrial park regional Pinsley). PRICES are crazy right now. One new HO scale car is averaging $50!
 
YY1 said:
What's the operational scheme?

I assume logs are the primary cargo.
Will you be manipulating "live" loads (IE moving scale logs on and off of the cars).

I see it is "point to point", a much talked about design goal in the MRR press.
However, have you considered a lift out, fold down, or otherwise removable section to enable continuous running?
I am a fairly hard core operations guy, but sometimes I find (particularly If I'm working on something in the room but not operating), that I just want to watch a train run by occasionally which is MUCH easier to accomplish if you don't have to keep stopping and reversing it.

I sure am glad 95% of the stuff I need to finish my setup has already been acquired (although I'm considering a temporary change from 1948 Ohio branch of PRR to 1995 FL industrial park regional Pinsley). PRICES are crazy right now. One new HO scale car is averaging $50!
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Logs and whores. Not necessarily in that order. I just gotta figure out what to do about a whorehouse. It caint be too fancy, as this is a really low budget logging line. I think I'm going to use Bachmann's Plasticville trailer park set and make them seedy lookin. I have a whole set of ahem......beyond r rated white metal figures to use. The woods will be on the left side as you walk in the room and the sawmill and "whatever" town happens to pop up around it will be on the right. Kitty's trailer park of ill repute will have to be stuffed in a corner somewhere on the "wrong" side of the tracks. It will be set sometime in the late 30s or early 40s. I haven't nailed it down, yet.
 
You got 1930's trailers?

There's a surprising amount of "adult" stuff available for MRR, especially European stuff.
 
YY1 said:
I sure am glad 95% of the stuff I need to finish my setup has already been acquired (although I'm considering a temporary change from 1948 Ohio branch of PRR to 1995 FL industrial park regional Pinsley). PRICES are crazy right now. One new HO scale car is averaging $50!
Click to expand...
Yeah no kiddin. I've had all this stuff for the better part of twenty years waiting to build it. There's no way in hell I could afford it all now. The "fanciest" locomotive I have is an On30 Spectrum 2 truck Shay that I snagged off ebay. The guy thought it had the obligatory split gear syndrome since it wouldn't move. Come to find out, it had one wire whose soldered connection had broken. After I fixed it, it runs fine. I don't even remember what I paid for it, but it wasn't much because I bought it. lol I have one other OLD 4 wheel diesel locomotive and those two will be the two I will use. I have the layout blocked into three sections. The switchback, the center and the inside run on the side of the sawmill. So two locomotives is really all I need operating. I may run a rail truck with whores in the back pulling a flatcar with more on it. The boys gotta have their fun.
 
YY1 said:
You got 1930's trailers?

There's a surprising amount of "adult" stuff available for MRR, especially European stuff.
Click to expand...
Yeah. The Plasticville stuff is modeled after trailers "about" from that era. It's close enough I can make um work. Trust me. I can make it happen. lol
TRAILER PARK.jpg
 
YY1 said:
You got 1930's trailers?

There's a surprising amount of "adult" stuff available for MRR, especially European stuff.
Click to expand...
You should look at Jimmy Flintstone and Dr Flintbone stuff.
 
Jimmy Flintstone the resin 1/25 scale car body MFG?
 
RustyRatRod said:
Yeah. The Plasticville stuff is modeled after trailers "about" from that era. It's close enough I can make um work. Trust me. I can make it happen. lol
View attachment 1716132062
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IF THIS TRAILERS ROCKING DON"T COME KNOCKING There's yer sign. Maybe you could make one of them rock?
When reading a previous post I saw, "one wire whose" and my old brain went to "woose" like a toddler might pronounce "loose". LOL
The one trailer has a picture window. You got to have at least one teenage boy peeking in from a perch atop the water tower. I've got one of the little figurines called Homies who is looking through binoculars. It a middle-aged man, I'm guessing a bird watcher. Those may not be the correct scale.
In reference to Gunsmoke series, Miss Kittys was the saloon and hotel. I guess the trailer park came years later.
There is such a trailer park in the film titled Crossroads, or maybe its in The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia. One of the DVDs I have here.
 
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