Ken's Railroad

[Ken Huck]

Thanks Russ, those are Jordan vehicles and I sure wish I'd have bought more
when they were available.

Ken

[Ken Huck]

Time for a little update.  Been working on buildings for my mining area.
First five pics show the tedious process of using bamboo skewers for logs/shakes/and stringers.











These next five photos show the building I'm working on.











...and one more picture showing one of the more popular establishments of my layout.



That's it for now, more to follow.

Ken

[jonathan]

Sweet Betsy from Pike!

Do you make your own glue, too?

Ken, I bow in your general direction. Blown away, sir.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Terry Toenges]

Great job. Your patience far exceeds mine. I couldn't sit down and make shingles like that. I love the buildings.

[Grumpy468]

WOW. Thank you for sharing this Ken, that is an amazing scratch built kit.

[Len]

Wow!

If you're going to keep splitting bamboo skewers for shakes, maybe you should turn an Excel/X-Acto #26 Whittling Blade into a Japanese style Take Wari bamboo splitting froe. Something like this:



Len

[Ken Huck]

Thanks everybody for your comments.

Len, I would dearly love to have a look into your toolbox ! ! !

Ken

[Len]

Ken,

I did two tours in Japan, totalling 5-1/2 years, so there are a lot of Japanese tools in my woodworking toolbox. I really like their pull style saws. They make it much easier to stay on a straight line than using a push saw.

Len

[Ken Huck]

Thought I'd slip one more picture in here showing how everything comes together.
The 'log' building on the upper right still needs a roof and maybe a couple of catwalks.
That's my next portion of construction.



That's it for now, more to follow...

Ken

[Grumpy468]

Very Nice Ken. I love the weathering on the 2 Locomotives.

[Ken Huck]

Since my last post, I've been working on 'the new roof' for the other half of my mining complex.
This is what it's going to look like:



Here's the two buildings side by side.  They'll be positioned like this on the layout.


Still have to remove a couple clothespins that I use for temporary clamps.

Here they are on the layout for a test 'fit'.  I'm going to have to move the tunnel a bit further
to the right.  Otherwise, the 'mine shaft' will go directly into the tunnel portal.



Here's just a couple more photos from different angles.




You can see the big gap in the back drop where the tunnel portal used to be and how I'm going to have
to carry the 'mountainside' a bit further to the right to create a bit of separation between the tunnel and
the mine shaft.

More to follow

Ken

[jonathan]

Great stuff!

I enjoy watching a portion of your layout taking shape.  Thanks as always.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Ken Huck]

Spent most of this week rearranging and removing a mining stub.


There's only three mining stubs and the third (on the left) is also used as a switchback
for the team track that off-loads at the four locations in town.


I've got the tunnel portal back in the original position by removing the fourth mining stub.


This is the 'back' side of the two facilities.  I've got a lot of ground work to fill in and most of
the mountain where the mining actually takes place.


Just another angle showing how the buildings are positioned to one another.  I may
have to connect them with a catwalk, or add more stairs and ladders.


A distant shot showing temporary scenery.


One last wide and distant shot.

More to follow.

Ken

[Len]

Looking good!

Len

[James in FL]

That's good stuff Ken!