Steel Mill related structures......?

I would like to see the photos too.

Roo.

If you thought the Blast Furnace was to much work how about a Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF) You can still run all kinds of trains in and out of it. Here is how I built mine Build a large building first then it's all detail on one side nothing on the other side and instead of filling the inside with lots of detailed furnaces I chose tracks. I will finish the crane off one day. Sorry have to go more soon. Roo. Pipes and fittings from the Hardware store !

clem k posted:

I have photos from the local HO. club of their steel mill complex. I can post here if you like ?

Clem

Clem,

It would be great to see!

Walthers has a limited edition for sale -  https://www.walthers.com/the-h...y-dean-freytag?ref=1 however it is $65.
Joe

Roo I don't know what went wrong but I'm not seeing any of the pictures in you last post.

These are from the local HO club, they have an ore boat being built.

coach joe posted:

Roo I don't know what went wrong but I'm not seeing any of the pictures in you last post.

Ditto! No images showing, Roo.

Clem.

Great photos and modelling mate sounds like a great club. Roo.

I have been having trouble posting messages and photos not because of my computer but the network. Australia is in the middle of converting to High speed internet connections and where I live we are having it worked on right now and it's turmoil so it's not the computer's fault but the Internet hopefully it will all be over in a few months who knows. I DON"T have a virus in the computer so we can all relax !

Anyway back to the Steel Mill.

When I was doing the pipework which is simplified considerably compared to the real thing I used five drawings and placed them on a board to work from and also numbered them here they are. I will get back to the BOF when I see my way clear with this abominable on and off connection. I hope this helps if you want the pipework to look realistic but not to complicated of course you can add more pipes till your hearts content this is only a suggestion. Roo.

OK hopefully we are going to be "on track" for the next message. The Basic Oxygen Furnace (BOF). It's a simple rectangle building with pipework on one long side only the inside is clear as we have filled it with tracks to fit in with our operation plan so lets try and post some photos. I made a wooden spacer to centre the pipe on the ventilator notice the jig required to hold pipe while cutting holes I had to turn down rings for the large pipe but Plastruc have them would save a lot of work but none in Australia.  Roo. More soon.

You are raising the bar every day!

Awesome work, Roo!  

Those of you interested in Steel Mill modeling should consider joining the Steel Mill Modelers Special Interest Group (SMMSIG).  It is a club under the NMRA auspices, but you don't have to be an NMRA member to join.  The SIG publishes quarterly 32 page color journals annually, provides valuable information for modeling the industry, and holds an annual meet that includes clinics, tours, modeling contests, and tons of fun.  I am an O-gauger but get lots of inspiration and great ideas from the group.  I've been a member since 2013 and last year served on its Board of Directors.

http://www.smmsig.org

Speaking of meets, NMRA Mid-Central Region's annual convention "The Silver Bullet" will be in Boardman, OH from May 2-5.  I will be presenting a clinic called "Modeling Weirton Steel".  For more information:

https://www.div1-mcr-nmra.org/the-acy-bullet-2019

George

ROO:

The thing that stood out the most to me was the fact that you use PVC piping which has to be way less expensive than hobby tubing. How do you clean them up - lettering and scratches?
Joe

Roo/Joe,

I saw the PVC piping also and had the same question Joe had. Typically, PVC piping is too large for anything we do in o-scale other than a silo or tank. In this case, it is a perfect and inexpensive solution for constructing large ducting as in a steel mill.

Roo,

I consider you a true scratch builder. That takes a lot of talent because you are reinventing the wheel every time you do something.

This is a fantastic thread....should be in the magazine!!!

The PVC piping can be cleaned or the printing removed using solvent and very fine wet and dry sand paper about 1000 grade.

The solvent I use and I am hesitant to say this as I think in America it is different going by a previous thread is Isopropanol I suppose rubbing alcohol would do the same job.

More expensive I know but I would rather use Plastruct items if you had unlimited access to their entire range.

Roo.

Thank you all for the many kind words and Alan G a special thanks because I look at your work all the time and admire it you are a great builder.

George.

I try to stay away from those sites you suggested as I am not a scale modeller I try to research as much as possible for my models, but they are just that models, if you tried to get them to work in real life they would not, they are built as a background for my railroad they are scenery only and I am happy with that. I appreciate your posting though, please don't think I am being ungrateful, indeed that goes for everyone else here I appreciate the interest in Modelling Steel Mills.

Alan A.

I assume your statement above includes me as well as others so for me personally, this is the story in public.

I have already refused another magazine to write an article about modelling a Steel Mill and that still stands but I can't stop you using any thing I post here in OGR it is your Forum if you went ahead I would not want any payment whatsoever as I am on a military disability pension and cannot accept any extra monies without first getting permission and that requires to much paperwork which I don't want to do I am getting on in years and want to enjoy myself in my remaining years I have served my country and almost lost my life doing it. I'm happy to give you permission if you want but only under the conditions above.

I have not finished posting photos here I have found some more last night and I am going away next week for seven weeks so I won't be around for a while I will try and post these before I go. Thanks again. Roo. 

Roo, I hope you enjoy your seven weeks away.

coach joe posted:

Roo, I hope you enjoy your seven weeks away.

Thank you very much mate! I'll be careful. Roo.

Tom Q,

I'm no authority by a long shot, but I recall in recent years an article in one the magazines of a Walthers HO Blast Furnace on an O Gauge layout. The builder raised the structure on a foundation to give it more height. It look good I thought.

Rick.

Rick,  Thanks for that reply, now I know I wasn't dreaming  !!  Yes, I recall that too. Trying to find out which magazine. I think it was either last year or year before. I do have the OGR digital so will look in there first.  I will post if I find it.

-Tom

Rick,  Maybe this is what we both read:

http://cs.trains.com/ctt/f/95/t/168601.aspx

It seems that I might have actually seen it done, but can't seem to find anything so far.

- Tom

Tom Q Fan posted:

Rick,  Maybe this is what we both read:

http://cs.trains.com/ctt/f/95/t/168601.aspx

It seems that I might have actually seen it done, but can't seem to find anything so far.

- Tom

Did he ever do it? I'd like to see the result. Thanks Roo.

Rick Bivins posted:

Tom Q,

I'm no authority by a long shot, but I recall in recent years an article in one the magazines of a Walthers HO Blast Furnace on an O Gauge layout. The builder raised the structure on a foundation to give it more height. It look good I thought.

Rick.

Not to be a Debby Downer, but I tend to doubt that would look decent.  The problem is that the Walthers HO blast furnace (and most of their buildings) is undersized;  it's more accurately sized for N scale layouts.    A real blast furnace (unless you're modeling ones from the very early 1900s) are huge.  The old Oglebay layout had an HO blast furnace on it and it looked waaay too small, IMHO.  

I went through this dilemma with my own layout, PRR Panhandle 2.0.  Initially, I wanted to put a blast furnace on it or even half of one, but it just wouldn't fit in the area I had available for it.  To do what I think is a reasonable representation, you'd need a space at least 36" wide and 60" long.  And it would be 50" tall, minimum.

Of course, Rule #1 is "It's your railroad".  You do what you want.  

George

George, Thanks for your thoughts. I think you maybe right about the size of the HO structure. I tried a couple of other HO buildings and tried to make them look O Scale and had no luck. There are plenty of good ideas here that we can work from.

I found more pictures in this OGR forum thread:

https://ogrforum.com/...perations-w-pictures

-Tom

For a long time I wanted to do a steel mill living in western Pa. but too much for my old layout. I was looking in to a backdrop of a steel mill but never did anything with the idea. The basic meal as as back drop with some building flats and partial building in front.

If you look at the drawings I posted you can get an idea of the size of a reasonable representation of a O scale blast furnace with the high line on one side and the blower house behind the furnace. The space is 8 feet by 3 feet 6 inches. Eight tracks plenty of operation. It fits in well looks good and it's built just needs some fine details and weathering not impossible to do I am nothing special just have a passion for what I do.

See you all in 7 weeks taking some time off going on a long walk in the bush. Roo.

Group, I just found this video of the HiRail Modular Train Club's steel mill. I posted some pictures in this thread. I think this is a new video they recently posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw6RAZ1w8Rg

- Tom

The Walthers Steel Mill kits were definitely on the small side of HO and a lot of it appropriate for N scale. I was a member of NVNtrak when Bernie Kempinski was building the AlKem Steel N-Trak modules and aside from door sizes and other detail bits, a lot fit just fine. Bernie later wrote a book published by Kalmbach called "The Model Railroaders Guide to Steel Mills" (ISBN- 978-D-89024-751-8) which I have found a good compliment. 

Growing up in the Steel Valley, you could not go anywhere without passing by a mill or steel related industry. From my Grandmothers house, I could see the waste gas burn off at Dorothy 6 (Duquesne, PA) and the lights and activity at National Tube Works (McKeesport, PA). I wish I had the space for something big, but continuing to model a small switching layout based on a BOF and roo's build is certainly a great inspiration.  

Don't let our great thread die!

Hi, It's Roo just back from the bush last night lost 7 Kilograms in weight walked 400 kilometres and just a sore back no other injuries. Hope to settle down and do some modelling have lots of ideas but the lure of the wild is still with me I hope I can stay home. Back soon.

Best wishes.

Roo. 

Welcome back Roo!

Here are some shots of my Union Railroad MP15 fleet.

Dave, Great pictures.  Buildings and scenery look real.

-Tom

Thanks Tom!

Great photos, great Railroad, I have two books on the Union Railroad.

I also like the fascia on the baseboard. 

Thanks for posting mate.

Roo.

I have started on the new Furnace Yard throat. Roo

coach joe posted:

Welcome back Roo!

Thanks Coach Joe, I had to come back early to many sand flea bites, itching all over the joys of Bushwalking in West Australia. The photo shows the other "joys" Dugites and Tiger snakes!

Anyway it's not stopping me working on the Railroad.

Roo.

Roo,

Two questions.  What's a "dugite"?  And, are tiger snakes poisonous?

Chuck

PRR1950 posted:

Roo,

Two questions.  What's a "dugite"?  And, are tiger snakes poisonous?

Chuck

A Dugite is a snake which is in the photo along with the Tiger Snake both venomous get bitten you need hospital treatment within ten hours or less.

Away from snakes and onto tracks I now have the track in position and nailed down next is the feeders and the wiring. Study the photos the top is the new track the lower photo is the old trackwork. We now have an extra dead end siding and more ease for the loco to run around the train to switch the highline.

When my health improves I will post the new control panel that is waiting to be fitted right now I am going back to bed!

Thanks Roo.

After (new)Before (old)