An Appalachian Coal Mine

[Mik]

 Probably E-6000. I prefer Welder when I can get it. I stinks less and lasts longer outdoors

[PJM20]

What glue did you use in the picture showing the blowing house being built? Looks great. - Peter

[Mik]

 I made a little more progress on this over the last week.  The most noticeable is a 'boney' or tailings pile. 3 parts real boney, 1 part cement.  In the real world, the piles can be a eighth mile or so long and over 70 feet high... so the rest is off layout.... You can also see the new blower house upper center part of the pic

 The blower house was made the same way as my 'beginner's boiler house'

 

close up

 

I also started putting together 8 NoS Delton wooden hoppers -- only to find a bunch of truck sides have gone missing.... So I only have 3 completed cars at the moment. (yes, this one needs couplers, yet)


Under the tipple. I'm considering single tracking it and adding a 32mm track to serve some coke ovens instead.

[Mik]

 The wood was just stuff I had here left over from other projects. 1x2, 1/2 x 3/4, 1/2 quarter round, 1/4 x1/4, coffee stirrers - white pine, poplar, basswood... If you need to buy, look for the broken stuff at Lowes, they'll give you a discount on it.

[PJM20]

You my friend are a very creative and exellent modeler! Well done on your project. What type of wood did you use and what are the dimensions? - Peter

[Mik]

 This is a major multi-structure project that I decided to start this spring. The idea was to build a realistic looking Pennsylvania coal mine. Even compressed and not quite finished, this thing takes up quite a bit of real estate!

 

For a brief overview of the entire project, including historical photographs, you can go here: http://www.the-ashpit.com/mik/coalmine.html I will be concentrating more upon the 'nuts and bolts' in this thread.

The entire mine sits is a depressed 'valley'  with looselaid rock and cinder block walls, and a cement floor.

I used Acrylic sheet and wood - held together with construction adhesive and screws, to make all the buildings.The trim wood is just coffee stirrers

A simple solution occurred to me for the boilerhouse smokestacks. I used inexpensive solar garden path light stakes The heads I utilized to light other buildings without wires! A single screw suffices to  hold the smokejack firmly in place. Guy wires will be added for looks, but aren't needed for support.

 

 

 

What is a mine without a tram?So a 32mm tramway was devised using sectional track. I need 3 more hard to find turnouts to make it completely operable, so a running loop will have to do.

Scratchbuilt jennies and a kitbashed Faller 'e'-train locomotive made for the perfect rolling stock. 

Again, they are just acrylic and wood, with plastic o-gauge wheelsets. Nothing fancy -- just fast, cheap and durable

 There you have it; How I managed to use up 18 square feet and a couple weeks time. As always, questions and comments are welcome.