The Little River Rail Road in Eastern Tennessee constructed these "set out" cabins for its hard working loggers and their families.
They would haul them to a camp site and "set them out" in what were frequently called "string towns" a line of buildings along the rail road.
Interestingly one of the original set out cabins is still in existence 85 years later at the Little River RR museum in Townsend Tennessee. I was there this past summer and photographed the prototype. I was able to get a one foot ruler at a local store and did my first field research photos of a prototype structure I wanted to recreate in 1:20.3. Amazingly the planks used in the prototype are one foot across and speak to the huge trees that were cut in this area, now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
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I have read a lot about using clear acrylic "plexiglass" plastic here on this site and thought I would give it a try in my attempts to model a set out cabin.Here are some first shots of craft sticks cut to 1 foot width in 1:20.3 and two of the acrylic end pieces I made using the score and snap technique. The wood pieces have received an India Ink stain and Thompson's Water Seal treatment.
I am very interested in your comments on constructing models using acrylic plastic sheathed with wood. I would love to hear your experiences in this technique and advice regarding adhesives used etc. If there is a past article here on how to do this please let me know. I tried the search engine and only got a little.Doc Tom
YHome
i'm trying the same thing. I salvaged a stack of plastic 3/8" X 4" X 48" that was used to skirt a therapy pool for a client. It's made to resemble 1"X4" T&G bead board. It's not a recognizable "Type" of plastic.I took a sample to the local plastic supplier and they recommended E-6000 as an adhesive to glue the plastic building pieces together and to bond the cedar siding I made to resemble ship lap siding.The cedar was 2"X4" trim that came from around the windows of a clients house when we redid the windows.
It takes a while for the adhesive to completely set but so far it's working well.I glue the plastic "Hull" of the building together then apply the siding.I use Titebond 3 for the wood to wood connections. I haven't had anything outside yet so I can't say how it will hold up to weather and sprinklers.
Bill
Don't believe everything you think!
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the note.
Multiple members of other Large Scale fora are also recommending E6000 as the adhesive of choice for acrylic to acrylic and acrylic to wood bonding. They have strongly recommended that the wood not be painted, stained or treated until AFTER the wood is applied to the acrylic.
I am glad you are having success with it.
I will be purchasing a tube soon at our local Hobby Lobby.
Doc Tom
After a lively discussion and tremendous input from the wood and glue experts in the Cyber Large Scale train club, Boss Crumb thought he better get down to the shops and set the workman straight on the correct way to laminate acrylic. It seems the best way is to glue the raw wood to the acrylic as seen in the photo above which will be the "inside" of the logger's cabin and represents the end pieces.Prior to "edumacation" the workers were laminating stained and treated wood to the exterior as seen on the left in the photo below. Now the boys have got the hang of it and stains and water sealing will occur AFTER the planks are glued to the acrylic as in the picture to the right. Thanks to all for the higher education on this little project.......now on to a saw mill, commissary store and the rough homes that Tennesseans love so much.Doc Tom Doc Tom and the Little River Rail Road in Tennessee
The E-6000 is cheaper at ACE or other hadware outlets.
El Cheap o Dave
The head is gray, hands don't work , back is weak, legs give out, eyes are gone, money go's and my wife still love's Me.
Hi Dave,
I could not find the E-6000 at the local Lowe's. I may try a regular hardware store. Thanks for the tip!!!
Tom
It is cheaper at the hardware store. I got the first tube from Tap Plastics.
Here in Calfabulous it's cheaper at Orchard Supply Hardware.
Ace Hardware always seems to be full retail plus 100%!
Walmart sells it too for a decent price. (I use it for all sorts of projects.) Depending on the store, it's either in the adhesives section--or sometimes in the crafts area.
Rene Schweitzer
Classic Toy Trains/Garden Railways/Model Railroader
After the educational courses on gluing and staining the boys settled in to some good work and laid down the floor and hung the first wall of the set out cabin. Paul B. and Andrew the accountant stopped by the shops to see how the new domicile was progressing.
Boss Crumb enjoys the 1926 pin up that Timmie put on the wall.
Here are some prototypical interior shots of logging set out cabins also know as "skid shacks", or "bunk houses."
The hard working loggers sure had a Spartan existence in their very tight quarters!!Doc Tom
A little more work done on the "set out" cabins for the Little River loggers.
Lars, the Swede, was getting bored with the company photography sessions and wanted to practice his axe swings. Art, the company bookkeeper, wanted to keep tabs on how many board feet is going in to the cabin so he can figure how much he can charge the future occupants per month in company scrip. And Timmie, just loves having his picture taken.
Forgot Something.Paul Bee and his logging crew had an enjoyable chat with Boss Crumb and wanted to thank them for getting the set out cabin offloaded and placed at the log landing.
It seems they forgot something in the construction. While the four walls and door look pretty tough, without a roof the upcoming winter snows could be hard to deal with even for these tough loggers.
So after a few choice expletives Boss Crumb set the set off cabin back on the flat for a trip back to the shops.
Great work! Reminds us of a trip my wife and I made across Nevada tracking the Pony Express route. Some stations were merely rock walls with window openings. They told us that there were locations that had little or no weather. The walls were for wind protection. Have fun, Rob
The boys figured out how to place and tar-paper a roof and are feeling pretty good about finishing the set out cabin for the loggers up the Little River.Here are a few shots of the 1:20.3 model outside of 1:20.3 Townsend Tennessee and compared to the prototype shack at the Little River RR museum in prototypical Townsend Tennessee.
The completed shack was last seen heading up the line on a flat car to shelter the loggers at Elkmont from the coming winter snows.
Here is the prototype doing the same in the 1920's.
Thanks for looking and HAPPY NEW YEAR.Doc Tom
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