Looking for?

[Pullmancar9988a]

Hello, I'm Russell, I,m looking for Plywood, Lumber, for my HO layout?  I have 4 Lumber Mills, 1 Planning Mill, A Small Stockyard, A Farm w/Grainery, A Small Coal and Gravel Mine on a 10' x 6' Layout.  The problem is I can't seem to find any Lumber, Plywood, Poles, or Post for my 4 Mills.  I'm trying to model each and everyone of those Mills that are in the area.  Each one of them do any of the products listed above.  I have tried every Hobby Store in the State of Oregon, They can only supply 1-2 boxes for me.  I'm also modeling 2 Small Logging towns for my layout as well.  Can you point me in the right direction to where I can get a good deal of the above Lumber, Plywood, ETC, So that I can make my layout more realistic.  Any help would be greatly appreciated in finding those items for my R.R. layout.  I have lived around these types of Industries for many years and am tryying to model them as best as I can remember them in their last surviving years in the area.  Being since I'm redoing my layout from a 5' x 6' I figure that I should try to include all of these Industries on my new layout 10' x 6'.  Plus I want to put in a small R.R. Yard with a Turntable for some 13 Locomotives for some are 1/2 Steam and 1/2 Diecel.  Also am looking for some Roundhouses or Individual 1-2 stall houses.  Please can any one here HELP me?

Sincerely

Russell C. Brenchley

[riogrande5761]

Why not say in the topic summary what you are looking for?  You might get more help.  Just saying...

[BigDaddy]

I agree with RioG specific titles are better than cute titles.  Paragraphs are better than a big block of text, especially when roundhouses and engine houses are a separate issue.

As for plywood  Northeast Lumber

Kapler lumber

As for turntables, like the world once needed a good 5 cent cigar, it needs a good turntable.  Do not buy an older Walters turntable at a train show.  The newer ones are better but support is poor and I'm not sure I would want one.  Custom Model Railroad makes a decent one.

This Ebay link will give you an idea of what's available for engine houses, depending on your time period. This for roundhouses

My sense is that for big roundhouse, people in the forum use Walthers.

[doctorwayne]

to the Model Railroader Forums, Russell.

Are you looking for actual lumber and plywood to build your layout, or are you looking for representations of said items in order to model the products made by the mills in your area?
If you want wood for model-making, basswood is a popular choice, and one source is Micro-Mark.

While at one time I did use basswood for modelling making, once I discovered styrene, I gave-up on wood completely.
Evergreen offers styrene in clear, white, and black sheets, in a variety of thicknesses, including representations of various types of wood and steel siding, along with strip material in white plastic, and in a plethora of sizes.  They also offer styrene rod and round, square, and rectangular tubing, along with representations of steel structural shapes: angles, channels, I-beams, H-columns, etc.

Styrene is is very easy with which to work, and can be made to look like wood, too.

I modelled a small lumber yard, based on a real one, on my layout, and all of the structures (two kit-built and two scratchbuilt) are styrene, as is the piled lumber...

(Click on photos for a larger view)

Wayne

[RR_Mel]

I have a 135’ CMR HO turntable and very happy with it.  The CMR Kits are laser cut Acrylic and the best kits I’ve ever assembled, every piece fits perfect.



It didn’t come with a superstructure type bridge so I scratch built my bridge.  Double click on the pictures to enlarge them.

I kitbashed a Korber Roundhouse making the stalls deeper to accommodate my large articulateds.  The stalls came 15” deep (HO scale 108’) and I increased the depth to 19” (137’).







The Korber Kits are also excellent, I bought a second kit to do the kitbash making it deeper for my large SP Cab Forwards.  I cut and spliced the walls to add the 4½” making it 19½” deep.
 

Mel



 
My Model Railroad   
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
 
Bakersfield, California
 
I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

[PC101]

I have used old real wood fruit and vegetable boxs (pint, quart, peck etc.) found cheap or free is better, at yard sales and auctions. Makes good HO Scale 4' x 8' plywood pieces. Some of the wood looks new and some looks old/aged or weathered.

Now-a-days fruit boxs are made of that green paper pulp stuff. 

[hon30critter]

Hi Russell,

Welcome to the forums!    

If you want HO plywood sheets, perhaps these guys would be willing to sell you blank cards:

https://mywoodbusinesscard.com/

I believe that woodworking supply shops may carry them too.

The cards will be larger than a scale 4'x8' sheet but they can easily be cut down. They can also be cut into strips to make boards.

Dave

[Overmod]

Lastspikemike

Just run 'em through the mills. They'll all come out at correct HO scale.

That was truly evil!

I love it, though.

Now we need to give him advice on where he can start "looking for?" functional scale machinery... 

[Deane Johnson]

Here's some HO plywood I've used that works out well in a lumber yard setting.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/20-HO-Scale-4-x-8-Sheets-Plywood-Lumber-Loads-Construction-Site-Wood-Laser-Cut/333595945033?hash=item4dabde2849:g:OBYAAOSw44BYVI13

[hornblower]

I also use styrene to model wood.  You can use .010" styrene sheet to make 3/4" plywood panels or .005" styrene to make 1/2" panels. Cut the styrene into scale 4' by 8' sheets, stack the sheets into a bundel, distress the slightly using 220 or finer sandpaper, then paint with flat acrylics to resemble wood.  You can use this same technique to model stacks of dimensional lumber.  You can use .020" styrene to model 2" by _ lumber.  Cut the .020" styrene into pieces the size of typical dimensional lumber bundle, then stack to an appropriate height.  Scribe the top and end surfaces to resemble stacks of individual boards of the desired width (2", 4", 6", 8" etc.), distress lightly and paint.  Use .040" styrene to model 4" thick lumber, .060" styrene to model 6" thick lumber and .080" is pretty close to 8" thickness.

[Overmod]

Lastspikemike

I'm not saying it's easy but it is feasible to saw your own.

Wouldn't it make better sense to use veneer?  I'm not good enough to make consistent cuts as thin as a veneer-knife setup will.  The flexible-backed stuff might be too thick.

Note that you dampen the veneer to cut it cleanly and form it; with care you can iron it to get warp out instead of having to glue it down to do that.