does anyone have or knows of someone that may have a small to med size mining building. Im working on an area that needs something cool and attractive. An mining operation setting would be a great setting for my layout. Thanks, let me know.
Rich Meleski,
Hickory Hill
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I purchased the back issues of Railroad Model Craftsman from December 1976 and January 1977 that describes kit bashing the "Frenda Mine" out of two plastic kits; Bachman's coaling tower, and an AHM store house. I'm re-drawing them in Adobe Illustrator and have them almost done. I can sent you PDFs of the mine when complete. Here's the drawing images.
This right-side view shows a single-level tipple. It also shows a vertical mine shaft as evidenced by the house with the big sheave on top.
The left side view shows a double-height tipple and a horizontal shaft entrance. I'm designing it entirely for scratch-building. I've built a Gloor Craft coaling tower which closely follows the same timber building practice. I like the verticality of the design, I also like that it doesn't take up too much lateral space. I'm going to structure the mountain so this structure will fit right in. The houses will be board and batten siding.
To scale the drawings, I assumed that the door ways were 79". I resized the windows so some Tichy products would drop in.
Hope this helps.
Thanks, trainman, the drawing are wonderful. I was hoping that someone would have a kit or building already made so that I would buy iy from them. But I'll keep the drawings for future use. Thanks again.
Rich
Hickory Hill
BTS mines are magnificent, but they're quite expensive, which is the reason I'm exploring a scratch-build project. I you're interested I can sell you a complete set of drawings when they're completed.
the photos are great, I know that mines are costly, Im in the stage of my layout that the mine scene is just a thought and soon to come to life. But thanks again for the info
Hello Trainman,
I love your drawings, and like you I agree that the BTS kits are sensational, but they don't fit in my budget.....
I would be very interested in getting a set of your drawings. I have a similar issue which is I can give up vertical height, but don't have a whole lot of horizontal real estate available, particularly since it needs to be built on the side of a mountain.
I have already kitbashed two plasticville coaling towers together for my engine coal service, I should take a photo as it's about 90% done, but it's two kits wide and I made it taller as well... Anyway, I'd love a set of drawings. If you are printing them out on something larger than 8.5 x 10, I would also be happy to pay postage for a set of larger prints. Otherwise I should be able to print them on my B/W Canon laser printer.
Chris Ambrosini - Chris a
Middleboro, MA 02346
Hello Trainman,
I know this thread has been inactive for a while, but I was wondering if you might still have the mine drawings and be able to send them to me? I'm building a layout and from the looks of the two drawings in this thread, a mine of this size and structure would be just the ticket.
Thanks!
Yup! I can still send them to you via this post. One is the original drawings in the RMC from 1977, the other has my parts drawn on top for laser cutting or conventional modeling.
Thank you, Sir!
Edit Add: The retention walls are part of the kit. You have a fair amount of work creating the hill side. Here is a picture of the construction of the Cabin Creek model.
Takes some time, and a small band saw to cut parts. I was fortunate there were only two or three foundations to model. Small blocks of clear pine work well/painted.
Note that the model is modular, easy to move and work-on. I've always believed that a very good model foundation is a plus.
This is awesome thank you for posting these drawings. Just wondering if anyone has ever built this and how it came out.
These models are currently on display, Beaver, PA (Vanport) McDonalds, through the holiday season.
There is a glass display case, near the counter. Best wishes for the holiday season.
Korber has a small mining building.
I really like this mine operation and saved the pictures. I made a mock up of the main central 2 story section and it is turning out huge. I can not find any dimensions, are there any available so I can gauge size or am I just missing them? Thank you for this, it is giving me some inspiration.
Joe that looks nice but I am trying to keep in lines with something the Virginian line would have operated on. Something southern West Virginia.
Mike CT
In the coming year I plan to build the first of two BTS coal tipples. First up will be Cabin Creek. Can you give me a rough idea of the time it took you to build your great looking model?
Hi Trainman,
Relatively new member here. I came across this previous thread while searching the forum for info on a mining scene. Do you still have the drawings mentioned above? It appears to be in the size range for my small layout. Have you built it and could you share some photos?
John
Ed:
Cabin Creek took some time (?? may be a month, off and on ??). The base and grade for the two different levels was complicated. Square, level, plumb, all those construction things. Pictures of the build. I had another forum member ask for a template of the grade. Let me know when you get into the project, I'd be glad to forward a template. Mike.
I am modeling in On30 and loosely basing my railroad on the few Narrow Gauge railroads that ran in Kansas the longest of which was the Kansas Central Railway/ Kansas Central Railroad/ Leavenworth Kansas and Western (the railroad after conversion to Standard Gauge.) As I am doing a fictitious railroad running south from a point on the Kansas River between Lawrence and Topeka into Osage County I am modeling a fictitious coal mine as one of its industries. The image I am inserting below is of a real Osage County, Kansas coal mine.
I am thinking of taking the Berkshire Valley small ore bin that I have in O scale and either scratch building or kit bashing a structure similar to this one nested on top of the ore bin. Here is an image of the small ore bin.
On the Berkshire Valley small ore bin in O scale it's real foot print is 3 5/8 inches by 3 1/2 inches with a height of 5 1/4 inches to the top of the mine track's rails. I am looking at running the mine track out of the mine structure to the right as one faces the mine from the spur tracks similar to the landing the men are standing on in the mine photograph in my original reply/ post. For the base track plan the Kansas River and Southern is using a modification of the O Scale Lionel variation of the Gold Hill Central as it is already spaced for O Scale Buildings. The mine will be on the S shaped spur on the far side of the layout from the yard/ passing track. When I researched the Coal Fields of Osage County and Coal Mining in Kansas I found out that most of the mines were near the towns of Carbondale and Burlingame. This part of Osage County is hilly and on the south bank of the Wakarusa River. That terrain down there is almost as rugged as it gets around here with the highest summit being 1300 feet above sea level for Osage County. A structure like the one pictured could be placed on a hillside easily in that type of terrain.
a
And let us not forget the Lionel coal mine kits and the "Sandy Andy" ore tipple.
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