Sawmill soiree, Final (Part 8)

[Beach Bill]

An irregular series on construction of an HO bandsaw mill kit from Keystone Locomotive Works:

I'm calling it "complete".  The jack slip is finished and workmen are in place to operate the mill.  A few additional workers may be added later, but I am calling my winter project complete.  There was a need for some HO scale sawdust, which gave me pause for awhile.  I did have a small packet of some finely ground sawdust left over from a JV Models kit for logging bunkhouses (where it was provided for use as groundcover).  With some full strength matte medium carefully applied, the fine sawdust did well to at least point out that these mills would have been covered with the stuff.

My workmen were happy to get out of their little bubble-wraps, but they don't know how long their shift will be!  In constructing this kit, I did think some about those workers "back in the day".  We have all read about the dangers of logging railroading, with shifting log loads, wet rail, and link & pin coupling.  When one looks at the photos of the old sawmills, however, and thinks about all of those exposed shafts, gears, and belts (not to mention the blades themselves), it is a wonder that any of those workers had any extremities undamaged.

I will still have to learn how to make a log pond, as I now just have a Homasote hole.  Also, I still have to construct the elevated tramway to allow pushing the lumber carts down to the planing mill and storage area.  B.T.S. is now offering a kit for the tramway, but I will construct mine from scribed wood and stripwood.  I've got some "Z gauge" track and I can strip the rail off of that for the tramway.  After focusing on this sawmill for several months, though, I will likely try something else for just awhile.

This photo is of the sawmill in place, and the blur in the left of the photo is the boom of a Barnhart loader that is used to unload the log cars into the pond.  The outset blue backdrop seen in the background allows my "connecting" Clinchfield RR train to back out of sight (aka "staging").

Just a couple final observations from this project:

• Many of us have some of those stockpiled kits, and they can provide a great deal of pleasure and challenge.  My sitting on this kit for 30+ years before assembly is likely at the outer limit of stockpiling, but I was able to model all winter with the only cost being some glue and a couple bottles of fresh paint.
• Those old kits can often be upgraded now.  I am very pleased with the working sawmill sound added to this kit with the sound effects module from Innovative Train Technology.  Such things weren't around when the kit was released, but the sound module really enhances the model.
• On a complex kit, taking time for assembly can be beneficial.  There were a number of times during construction where I would pause overnight and then realize "I need to paint that before gluing this" or otherwise recognize and avoid some potential problem.  Thinking, considering, and test-fitting are part of the fun.

Spring has arrived and the demands of yard work are increasing.  The sawmill was a great wintertime project and utilized all sorts of skills that I had developed over the years.   Don't be afraid to tackle a big project.

Bill

[Anonymous]

LIKE YOU I HAVE BEEN COLLECTING KEYSTONE KITS AND PARTS FOR YEARS. I HAVE COMPLETED MY COLLECTION AND NOW WANT TO BUILD MY SAWMILL. JUST DISCOVERED YOUR SAWMILL SOIREE SERIES AND LOVED IT. DO YOU KNOW OF WHERE I CAN OBTAIN COPIES OF THE KIT FLOORPLANS AND OBTIONAL BOTTOM FLOOR LAYOUT OF EQUIPMENT? 

[scottgperry]

Amazingly I found one of these kits at the Asheville, NC trainshow yesterday and bought it for $26.  Apparently no one knew what it was.  I've seen them on Ebay for as much as $399.  My plan it to build it for an HOn3 project.  Thanks for the great write up!

[DigitalGriffin]

Try here:  (Not keystone, but a nice option B if you can't find what you are looking for)

http://www.btsrr.com/millplan.htm