I just got back from the 2005 Steel Mill Modelers’ Meet in Medina, Ohio. We all toured a number of regional layouts based in a steel manufacturing theme, and here are some of the photos I shot. I’m posting them as links rather than embedded images as a courtesy to our low-bandwidth friends. Enjoy!
WOW! AWESOME
geez that is so detailed gosh its really cool awesoem pics, steel mills are very interesting there is alot of detail to model and these guys have it down pat!!!
WOW![bow][bow]
Sorry i missed you Ken. I was looking forward to meeting you in person. Of course at the last minute everything went haywire. Maybe I’ll have to make a trip to your parrt tof the woods. Glad you enjoyed the trip. What did you think of Gary’s layout? I need to go pay him another visit.
Andrew
Was it just good paint work, or how was the effect created to make the ‘steel’ glow? I’ve seen an old MR where the same effect was done with chirstmas lights lighting up in sequence to simulate molten metal flowing along a whatever you call them, thing a me gigs, where the slag goes.
Thanks again heaps. DD
You got that right! It’s one of the few real-life places where spaghetti-bowl trackwork can be found.
Ryan, drop me an e-mail if you get a chance!
It’s in boxes, under my benchwork, just waiting to be put back on my layout![:D]
Rex, glad you enjoyed them, I’ve caught glimpses of your blast furnace. I think one of the guys at the Meet was from your area - his model locos were lettered “Birmingham Southern” and “Fairfield Works”.
Thats OK Andrew, we were in 8 separate carpool groups and were in-and-out of each layout faster than the blink of an eye, there wouldn’t have been any time for meaningful conversation. Gary’s layout is phenomenal - I was amazed to learn he built the whole thing in less than 3 years![:O] I’d be happy to have you visit [preferably AFTER I’ve placed the structures back on my layout] - maybe your trip could coincide with one of the quarterly Great Scale Model Train Shows in Timonium (30-minute drive from my house).
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QUOTE: Originally posted by dannydd
Was it just good paint work, or how was the effect created to make the ‘steel’ glow? <
Great photos, and thank you from one of us dial ups for imbedding the pictures the way you did. Steel mills are such great industries as a source of shipments as well as deliveries, plus all the inter plant traffic, got to love the spaghetti bowl!!
Tahnk you again
Will
Excellent coverage of the various layouts
If you like this stuff I recommend two books:
Dean Freytag’s book on Steel for Walthers. Maybe out of print but frequently seen at swap meets. Great prototype and model photos and an expert text.
Dean Freytag’s book on Industrial Modeling. It is virtually an advertisement for Plastruct. I think it is still in print and is well worth the money. Freytag makes amazing use of cheap toy trucks and all sorts of kitbaches and scratchbuilding. The emphasis is very much on steel mills but the techniques are valid for any number of heavy industries.
Dave Nelson
NICE !!! I wish I had room for a steel mill on my layout !
Those pics are like Lays potato chips… you just can’t eat one, you end up
eating the whole bag ![8D][:P]
That book is very highly coveted, I’ve seen it fetch up to $300 on eBay! Walthers will not reprint it, nor sell the publishing rights to it[banghead]! I’m so glad I bought my copy when it first came out…
Interesting you noticed that, Dean is actually a licensed Plastruct dealer. He can get that stuff for people at ~30% below retail if they order it thru him. He also has a number of complete Plastruct ‘kits’ to help people learn to do scratchbuilding.
Glad you enjoyed them Jerry, what really surprised me about Dean’s layout is that it doesn’t occupy a huge basement area - but it is simply jam-packed with structures that have enormous amounts of detail on them, more than I could ever hope to do in my lifetime!
Be careful using Freytag’s BOF as inpiration. It is a unique shop and no other has the vast amount of opening at the top. most have monitors but not open structural work. Agree photos are great but that BOF is an oddball.
Ken, You would have been eveen more surprised to see what he had done after 6 months. He had all the major scenery done except for his city scence and one corner! And I mean MRR article quality. He completed more in that time then most will in their entire life, and six months of those three years was spent resting after surgery.
Andrew
