Hi all
I am in the planning stages of a new layout. I want to have two main themes, loggin and minning. I want to model the story from the wilderness to finished product. I will be modeling the 1930 to 1960 era. The location will be the Pacific North West.
Living up in the north of Canada there isn’t even a train shop within 500 miles of me, so what I need are suggestions of books and resources which I can research to make this project come to pass.
My new layout also is logging & mining related, based on Adirondack prototypes. It’s taking a bit of research to track down info but have found a few books and websites that are specific to my area. If you can pinpoint a specific area, you can focus your research on a few specific prototypes to learn about their operations and facilities. Even if you don’t wio “duplicate” the prototype, picking one or more to study will give you an overview of the flow of resources to production and then to market. This will give you the background info you need if you wio move trains in a logical manner.
Don’t rely on a hobby shop for research. The web is the easiest, most immediate resource, though libraries and historical societies and museums as well as knowledgeable individuals will offer the greatest wealth of info. For example, the Adirondack Museum has the records of the prototype logging railroad company I’m researching. Through another model RR forum, I met someone whose in-laws purchased the company’s office building and has offered a lot of site-specific info. I’ll be spending some time at the old sawmill site and RR right-of-way to get a better feel for the operation.
It’s been an interesting project for me so far, and a bit difficult since the operations I’m interested in have been gone since the mid 1900s and tracking down info has been a challenge. In the late 1890s, nearly a quarter of the iron ore production in the US came from my little corner of the wilderness, yet very little is published about it and readily available. A month ago I couldn’t tell a separator from a sintering plant from a furnace. Certainly had no idea what a catalan forge was though the largest one in the world was in operation just north of here until 1893. I’m certainly not a mining or logging expert by any stretch yet, but the research has increased my interest in the industries and hopefully my modeling efforts will benefit.
A general website that I’ve found useful for old steam-era loggin
There is a site that is called “Historic Rail” at (http://www.HistoricRail.com/), which has books about Pacific Northwest railroads. One book, on that site, is “Kinsey Photographer” which includes photos of steam locomotives used in the Pacific Northwest, and the companies they served, from 1890 to 1940. Another one is the “The Pacific Northwest,” which has photographs of all railroads in the Pacific Northwest between 1930-1970. You can also purchase trains from them. Another site is “Walthers” at (http://www.walthers.com/), one of several large mail order suppliers, carrying books, videos, trains, and supplies. Libraries, if accessable, are also a good source, some can be accessed online. Lastly, try “RailroadData.com” (http://www.railroaddata.com/), they have a large list of railroad information.