I was reading a book on offbeat musems. One chapter was on Ernest “Mooney” Warther who works in his hometown of Dover, Ohio. His main interest is carving steam locomotives. Apparantly he’s carved dozens of them out of wood or ivory, some with detailed functional engines with hundreds of moving parts. One was a working model of a New York Hudson that looked as if it could pull away at any moment. Another was a Great Northern locomotive that took 7 months to complete & had more than 7,700 moving parts. Anyone here familar or seen Warther’s work?
I had never heard of him but I found this web site. A talented artist [8D]
You can say that again! I’m lucky if I can cut out and fold a box out of a piece of paper. Some of those look amazing.
There was a major article about him and his museum decades ago in Model Railroader. Worth looking up. What I recollect is that there was also an example of a locomotive that had self destructed because the various woods he used expanded and contracted at different rates.
I am thinking this article appeared in the 1970s and that Warther was an elderly man even at that time. I am certain he is long since deceased.
Dave Nelson
Cool link! Thanks!
Mike
Yep. Warther’s museum is, indeed, amazing. But I looked and looked at his carving of a UP Big Boy, thinking “something doesn’t look right, here”.
I finally figured it out - he’d put spoked drivers under the thing. Seems to me that the Box-Pok drivers the engine actually had would be easier to model . . .
But that museum is a must-see, if you’re in the area. They make pretty cutlery, too.
Old Timer