Dynamite shed model

Here is the dynamite shed associated with the Mining Supply Company.  It is a simple model composed of hydrocal stone walls, a steel sliding door by SS Ltd, and a wood roof.  These masonry sheds were designed to protect surrounding facilities and personnel from accidental explosions, with the walls constraining the explosion and the wood roof providing a relatively safe avenue for the blast.

The following photos show the proper means of shipping dynamite or other dangerous materials by rail.  These photos are from 1928 and thus show wood freight cars.

This photo illustrates a proper means of securing a small LCL dynamite shipment.  I find it fascinating that there is a chair at the end of the car (hope it is secured so it does not fly around in the event of a collision).

This photo illustrates how to secure a larger dynamite LCL load.

This photo illustrates a recommended means of securing barrels or cylinders.

And last but not least, this photo shows a properly loaded flatcar with a load of carboys (jugs) of acid.       No matter how well this load was secured, I believe it would be very dangerous in a collision.

My next project.

I am evaluating doing a larger industry than what I have been doing recently.  I am in the design phase for a steam pump shop.  It will give me the opportunity to use some of the many SS Ltd machinery kits I have accumulated over the years.  I am working on some of that machinery now.  My thought is to fully detail and light the interior of this shop, perhaps with a removable wall or two.

TBD

Mining supply company completed

The mining supply company is complete - unless I decide to add more details.  I named it Diggers Mining Supply Company.  The building walls are individual boards with scale 1x2" caps to cover the gaps between the boards.  By using separate caps I can show them with gaps, breaks and loose boards.  The roofs are corrugated metal rusted using paints and chalks.

In addition to the pillar crane, I added various detail parts to the platform including barrels, a cable spool, a scale, and a mine dump car. There are figures on both the main dock and rear platform.

I modeled the rear door open both for effect and to aid in seeing the interior.

This was an enjoyable project.

My next project will be to build a small dynamite shed to adjoin this structure.  After all, many mining projects require dynamite and it would be a really bad idea to store it in this building.

Mining supply company model - interior

I am perhaps half way through construction of my mining supply company.  I have completed the dock and the structure that sits on one end.  I spent a good deal of time creating an interior as the front sliding doors of the structure are open and will reveal the interior.  How well you will be able to see the interior after I add the roof is yet to be seen.  I like doing interior detail but it too often becomes hard to see when the structure is complete.  Some of the interior detail is a little crude since it will be hard to see anyway - I did not use any detailed castings in it, but rather mostly things I made or rough boxes and barrels.

Above is a view through the doors from the external dock area.  The rear shelving is made from card stock with bits and pieces of junk on the shelves. In the rear are some crude plastic sacks from my parts boxes.  There are also some minimally detailed plastic barrels and boxes.

This next photo is shot from above the structure.  There is as yet no rear door - that will be partially open.  At the upper left are three shovels hanging on the wall which are made from wire and paper.  Since the upper part of the walls and the underside of the roof will not be seen they are not detailed.

This structure is a mixture of scratch building and use of parts from an old SS Ltd Tool House and Pillar Crane kit.  That kit consists of the usual nice metal castings and a batch of various sizes of strip wood.  What I am building has little resemblance to that kit.

Woolery Giant Octopus weed burner

This Woolery Machine Company Giant Octopus weed burner was a hot deal in the late 1930's to early 1940s (pun intended).  I was not able to find much information on the Internet about either this machine or even the company, which seems to be out of business.

The speed while burning was apparently 8 mph or less.  It had two 90 hp, 6-cylinder Ford engines with a 100 gal gas tank.  The fuel tank for burning was 1400 gallons.  Each burner was individually controlled by a valve lever.  The driver apparently sat on a seat above the fuel tank in what looks kind of like a wagon bed with a roof.  This would make an interesting model but I probably will not build one since it would not fit with the image of my model railroad.  The burner tubes are 10 ft., the power car is 16.5 ft., and the tank car is 13.7 ft.  All 4 wheels on the power car are drivers.

My next build project.

I am working on a structure with a dock, a crane and an attached covered structure.  I have tentatively  decided it will be a mining supply company but that could change.

Vintage frankfurt wagon model

For such a tiny model this took way longer than I anticipated.  My inspiration came from a photo in a book on diners.  The model is similar to the photo but not exact.

The model is primarily made from card stock.  It is less than 2 inches long.  The commercial parts are the wheels, the figure, a case of bottles and a cast metal part I used to simulate a coffee pot inside.  I put a lot of details inside so I made the roof removable.

Inside there is a case of coke bottles, a box of franks, a box of buns and the coffee pot.  I modified the figure so his arm is at the window and I made a frank in a bun sitting on the window ledge for  buyer. The frank is a section cut from a thin reddish-brown plastic tube and the bun is made from two small pieces of manila colored card stock rounded on each end.  It is unfortunately hard to see since it is so small but up close it looks pretty good.

The rear side and end door.

We got more snow today.  I am really tired of this winter and physically tired from clearing the snow off my long driveway.