Does anyone know if Keystone Locomotive Works ever produced a lath and stave mill in their 9 kit lumber co. series. If so do you know what it looked like. I have been searching for this kit and have never seen it anywhere. They were also to produce a kit for storage yard and tracks which I haven’t seen anywhere also. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ron.
They surely did. I’ve got one.
This kit has “board & batten” siding, complimenting the other sawmill structures. Metal window castings. There are two buildings in the kindling/stave mill. There is a small sawing shed that measures a scale 21’ by 22’. Then there is an elevator that would transport the sawn wood up into the drying building, which measures a scale 32’ by 55’. That drying building is about three stories high, and has the appearance of having a very tall central clerestory. I understood that steam heat would have been used in the drying process, so I added some steam pipes going into my drying building. The whole assembly then covers a footprint of about 5" by 17" (actual size).
Keep prowling train shows. I have seen one of these kits at the Great Scale Model Train Show (Timonium, MD) recently.
Bill
Can you post a picture?
Peter Smith, Memphis
Can you post a picture?
Peter - Sorry. I am still fairly new to the digital photography world and haven’t set up a Photobucket account to be able to do that. Bill
Just takes a few seconds, no charge! Go to www.photobucket.com
pick yourself an ID and password and you’re in! Upload photos to your account, then point your mouse pointer to the links below the photos, the one that starts with [ IMG ], click on it and it will automatically be placed into your computer’s clipboard. Post a message and where you want to insert the image, right click and choose “Paste”. That’s it!
Okay Bob - this is the point for “old dogs and new tricks” jokes. BTW, I have always greatly enjoyed your highly detailed photos, especially of backwoods engine servicing facilities, in the magazines over the years.
I just cleared some room on the workbench to show this Keystone Kit - assembled. I built it on a piece of thin plywood which allowed me to build it on the workbench and then I mould scenery around that base on the layout. My basement layout in Virginia (roughly 12’ by 14’) was dismantled late in 2006, and tracklaying is now underway on a 3-wall shelf layout in South Carolina. It appears that I will be able to lay out all of the sawmill structures in a logical order, although it will be a little cramped. Who needs a huge mill pond anyway?
I hope that these help define what the assembled kit looks like, or at least in the fashion that I read the instructions.
Bill
Thanks for posting the pics Bill. Unfortunately that isn’t the kit I am looking for. That is the kindling mill. That kit is still in production but sold out in most locations. Keystone produced their limited edition lumber mill as follows. #1 Bandsaw mill, #2 Company houses, #3 Planing mill, #4 Kiln, #5 Boiler & Power house, #6Lath & Stave mill, #7 Storage yard and tracks, #8 Kindling wood Factory, and #9 Company Store. I have the bandsaw mill, planing mill, kiln and kindling factory. I have seen the company houses and store for sale many times and the boiler house a few times, but never the Lath and stave mill or the storage yard. I am wondering if they were ever produced. I want to build the entire complex but don’t know what the Lath & Stave mill look like. I thought if I had a picture I would scratch build it if necessary. Thanks for taking the time to post a reply. Ron.By the way the Kindling factory looks great.
Sorry I got your hopes up… you are correct. The box for my assembled kit is long gone, and in that it is still relatively rare, I thought it might be the one. No, I have NOT seen a kit for Keystone’s true Lath and Stave Mill, but recall those ads saying that one was planned.
I have the sawmill kit (still to be assembled), company houses (one with a completely detailed interior), Power and Boiler house (power house has interior detail), planing mill (with interior detail and a plexiglass roof), and the pictured kindling wood factory. I have added to the complex with a Gloor Craft warehouse structure that has similar lines. I also have a B.T.S. “Company Office” kit still to be assembled to go with this complex.
When I moved, I disposed of almost all of my old Walther’s catalogs, so I don’t have a ready source to see if they ever issued a sketch. There was a good series of articles in Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette on sawmill construction entitled “the sawmill chronicles” in about 1984-85 that provides lots of insight into these structures. The Logging Railroad Era of Lumbering in Pennsylvania book series by Thomas Tabor & Ben Kline (et. al.) is likely the best collection of photos that would show structure ideas for sawmill towns.
Bill
Beach Bill, you could set up your sawmill site so you’re standing in the mill pond. Just show the edges of it on the layout. Just my[2c]