Steam shovel loading a flat car

I acquired this vintage photo long ago.  It has minimal identification - just says North Western RR.   It shows an early wood sheathed steam shovel loading a flatcar with dirt or something along the right of way.  The loco has an old balloon style stack.  The scene appears to be some time in the late 1800s.

The photo is somewhat distressed, but it is interesting.

Gas and Steam show April 14th

I attended the local annual Gas & Steam show at a nearby agricultural park last Sunday.  As usual there were lots of vintage tractors and vehicles, plus a variety of old steam and gasoline pumps and weird machinery.  It is close by and usually has something new each year.  This year there was a really neat old 1914 police truck that was used in New Hampshire until 1927.

This truck is in great shape and runs nicely.

Another item at the show that I found interesting was a 1937 farm dozer.  Just a little older than me.

This little guy was used just like a regular farm tractor but had better traction and a pulley on the rear for operating other machinery.

Of course there were a few nice Peerless steam tractors as usual.

Another old unusual gasoline tractor.

And I had to take a photo of this tractor - the money pit.

These guys buy old tractors and restore them as a hobby and it is not inexpensive, hence the slogan on the side of the tractor.

This event is always fun and each day concludes with a parade of the tractors a vehicles.  Of course I always buy a plate of funnel cake to eat while watching the parade.

Turpentine Company Model

I finally finished my turpentine company model.  It is somewhat of a composite of photos I found in my old industrial books and on the Internet.  The industry is correct for my modeled timeframe of the 1930's.  The still heats rosin from slash pine sap, with the vapor being condensed into turpentine.  The firebox heats the attached kettle (in the back of my firebox under the platform).  The turpentine is collected in the large barrel on the left side of the still, and then tapped into smaller barrels for shipment.  This company is served by trucks as it is too small for rail service.

This was an enjoyable modeling project despite a lot of fumbling as to the construction.  One of the books I consulted, printed in 1937, talked about the advantages of using asbestos mortar and asbestos sheeting - we live and learn.  These businesses typically included a water tank and I may add one depending on availability of space where I place it on the layout.

I thought I would add one of the vintage turpentine mill photos I used for inspiration for this model.

This mill was located in Florida - the book with the photo was published in 1937.  I found others via Internet search - each a little different but in general similar.

I appreciate the nice comment just posted.

Vintage railroad trivia

I am building a model of a vintage turpentine mill, so here are a few vintage railroad photos while I complete the model.  Below is a photo of a boxcar that evidently over-ran the stop on a roof top siding in Rochester, PAg. The caption boasts that the wrought iron brake rod kept the railroad car truck from dropping to the ground, though it is not evident that would have been a problem.

It is kind of an interesting scene.

Another photo below shows a boxcar sitting on a Fairbanks standard railroad track scale.  This is from a 1909 ad and shows a cut-away of the scale mechanism.

The model will be posted in a few days.

World circus wagon model

I have had the kit for this sitting around for years.  Do not recall where I got it but it had no instructions and no identifying box so I do not know the manufacturer.  The primary value to this kit was some nice cast metal sides and ends.  I used some on-line photos to figure out how to build it, and paint it.

I added some flags on the top to approximate the flags on the prototype.  This wagon joins 5 others I built long ago when I was infatuated with circus models.  They are just decorations on a shelf on the wall.  At best I will use them as loads on flat cars on the layout.

Fishing boat model

For a change of pace I built a fishing boat for my harbor.  It will be docked next to my cannery.  I started with a wood block hull from a crude boat model of unknown origin.  The rest of it is scratch built.  The cabin is built from sections of scribed wood.  The mast is from a tapered dowel.  The lifeboat is a commercial casting.  The fishing net on the rear deck is some fine bundled up netting to which I added several small floats made from plastic dowel.

I added a figure leaning against the cabin.  I also added two small boxes of fish - I used boxes so you can actually see the fish.

This was an interesting project and probably the last boat I will build since the harbor is only 2' x 3', and it already has a railroad car float.

Grain car photos 1903

Here are some interesting photos from 1903 of grain car situations and solutions.  It seems one of the major issues of the time with grain boxcars was availability of the cars.

This car arrived in Chicago loaded with grain.  This type of situation was one of the reasons for shortages of grain cars.  This situation would make an interesting scene on a model railroad.

One solution used to alleviate the shortage of grain boxcars was to use refrigerator cars.  The car below was loaded with grain in both the regular storage area as well as the ice boxes.

Another unique solution to the boxcar shortage was to use hopper bottom boxcars - a solution that also enabled fast unloading by opening the lower hopper doors by means of a lever on the outside end of the car.

Above shows the hoppers opened and below is the car with the hoppers closed.