Air Power: The O gauge Windmill from Woodland Scenics

The Windmill set from Woodland Scenics comes in "new" or in-use versions and a rusty and dusty version right at home in Death Valley.

I have never tried modeling farming on my layout. I do, however have two ceramic barns (bought cheap) as filler for odd spaces left over from mainline curves. I always thought a farm would require too much real estate on an O gauge railroad. Until now, that was the end of my interest in three-rail agriculture. But not so much these days.

The bolt out of the blue is that you don’t need a farm to use this. A green patch and a few cows or horses will work, or even a run-down, abandoned log cabin. How so?

The windmill comes in two flavors: The nos. BR5868 “new version,” and the BR5867 “old and rusty” version ($54.99 each). The new version will work for an active farm or cattle field, while the rusty version can work for an abandoned mine, obsolete farm, or even a ghost town.

The windmill is just over 9-inches tall and has wood texture and “steel” structural supports. While the rear fin is immobile, the blades fully rotate. A pipe rises to the top, and another juts out at an angle for you to place near the water trough or even a little pond. It also has a hay rack for your cows when they get the munchies.

The vintage version has a hand pump, a small trough, and two oblong stock tanks.

So I think this is a pretty handy little accessory that has a lot of uses, and a very small footprint. If you have a square foot of real estate, you can probably come up with a dandy diorama that tells a tale about your layout’s history.

You can see rivet and wood texture on the base of the windmill.

This is an attractive structure with natural wood colors and a dramatic red and silver paint scheme on the mill's blades.

A pipe runs out from the structure to "fill" the water tank.

No cows? Noted TV star Earl Sinclair showed to test out the chow. Be creative and fun.