Moss Lake Lumber Co. (N)

[Russ C]

Hi everyone. This is a bit about my 40+ years of adventures in logging.
My logging railroad, in all it's scales and iterations, has been called Moss Lake Lumber Co. It stemmed from a NG&SLG photo of Woss water tank on the Englewood logging Railway on Vancouver Island, BC Canada. I just turned the W upside down to make 'Moss'
The HO and first foray into N scale were based in 1950s west coast logging mainly because of my interest in late steam/early diesel era.
Now, I've gone way small, currently working on a sawmill area of only 20" X 49" and it's all foam.
And...and it's set in 1890-1900 Pennsylvania. I'll load some photos when I work out how...

[Guest]

Looking forward to seeing the photos!

[herronpeter]

Wow, logging in N scale will be challenging for you. My narrow gauge (On30) shays and climaxes are quite small so I can’t imagine what N scale versions will be like. Hats off to you!

[Russ C]

Thanks guys! I've got the photos sorted and posted some locomotive shots in the gallery.
The hardest part is finding information and period figures. There was a series of books produced ages ago -I'm talking 1970s?- called the Railroad era of lumbering in Pennsylvania that is an excellent reference source. I got a bound, 3 volume set for my 21st birthday (I'm 63 now so I've had them for a while lol). They're proving some interesting information...

[Russ C]

I found some old 1990s photos of my HO efforts and thought you all might enjoy them...

[Russ C]

This is my sawmill yard 'module' (for want of a better name). It measures 20" X 49". The base is 25mm (1 inch) thick foam with 25mm square aluminium tube framing it. Next another 25mm foam sheet was laminated to the base sheet. This is the base or ground level of the layout. The blue area on the left is the pond which will be applied directly to the blue foam. Two 3mm thick foam sheets were glued next, giving the ground level above the waterline. The track is fixed to this foam sheet. More 3mm foam will fit between the track to bring the ground up to tie top as I want the impression of old track, sunken into the ground. The yard is kept pretty simple as it's meant to be a basic, low cost operation.
There's two MDF boards, 3mm thick and recessed into the top layer of foam, both painted in a flat grey primer. The front left board will be for the 2 track engine house. The second one, at the left rear will be the old sawmill. And when I say old, I'm thinking it's built date is about 1860 or so. And it's water powered.
I'm using this kit from RLW for the mill-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EKErQJiW2A
https://www.republiclocomotiveworks....tem=RLW%201650

Another reason why there was the second 25mm sheet, to get the needed height for the log dam. So, that's where I'm up to right now. I've carved channels for the wiring and have most of the track connections soldered. Just have to connect it all to the 2 bus-bars under the engine shed board....Photos to follow

[Paul S.]

Great to have you here, Russ!

N scale and logging -- brings me back to my early days in the hobby.

[Russ C]

Thanks Paul, happy to be here!!

[Paul S.]

Hi everyone. This is a bit about my 40+ years of adventures in logging.
My logging railroad, in all it's scales and iterations, has been called Moss Lake Lumber Co. It stemmed from a NG&SLG photo of Woss water tank on the Englewood logging Railway on Vancouver Island, BC Canada. I just turned the W upside down to make 'Moss'
The HO and first foray into N scale were based in 1950s west coast logging mainly because of my interest in late steam/early diesel era.
Now, I've gone way small, currently working on a sawmill area of only 20" X 49" and it's all foam.
And...and it's set in 1890-1900 Pennsylvania. I'll load some photos when I work out how...

Hey, Russ, if you can drop a photo in with this first post, I can "feature" it on the homepage.

[Russ C]

Ok, what about one of my HO photos? Will that work Paul?
Or my Avatar photo of my N scale 13 ton Climax...

Ok, got one of the HO pics with it now...

[Paul S.]

Sure, Russ, and maybe later as you progress on the new project we can put a different photo in.

[Russ C]

I put one of the HO pics up.
Yep, great idea!! hopefully I'll get some progress done over the next week or two...