The price is good, I'd say - if you mean this one. Faller's price here in Germany is 30 Euros.
Harry
I've built this in n-scale, and I know I've seen it on several screen shots / movies posted around here.
IMHO it is a difficult "starter" model. However if you have the patience then I'd say go for it. I had to bash mine some because the roof didn't line up "just so" for me.
I bought mine at the LHS, I think it was $30.00 USD but they just happen to have it in stock.
That's a great model, but it may be a little much for a first try. I remember you have to bend the walls for the upper part of the mine where it angles toward the back. I built it as a young teenager, and all I had was that thick model cement which dripped everywhere. It was sold by Tyco at the time, and I guess it's been marketed under other brand names.
It's up to you what you think you can tackle, but personally I'd work my way up from something simpler.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
For all you youngsters, that's the Jack Work Coal Mine, featured in MR back in the mid 50's I think. Probably an article on how to scratch build it, too.
Bob Hayes
I did the HO version. Not all that hard but takes some imagination to guess what the instructions mean. Its not too hard. It just will take longer because it really is about 4 models in one.
It does take a very large foot print. I have not found room for mine yet.
ARTHILL wrote: It does take a very large foot print. I have not found room for mine yet.
Can you give me the approx. size?
Bob Hayes wrote: For all you youngsters, that's the Jack Work Coal Mine, featured in MR back in the mid 50's I think. Probably an article on how to scratch build it, too.
Bob gets a cigar for recalling that one. The coal mine under discussion here is indeed based on a coal mine scratchbuilding article by Jack Work, appearing in the Oct., Nov., and Dec. issues of MR from 1959, later to be offered as a plastic kit by AHM and several other companies since. Work's article was from back in the days when MR regularly ran detailed constuction articles for the hobbyist...unlikely the abreviated outlines of recent years. The coal mine article stretched over 22 pages, with explanations of the prototype, assembly diagrams, materials lists and building tips! Jack's coal mine also included several auxiliary buildings that, to their detriment, the plastic kits omitted.
CNJ831
CNJ831 wrote: Bob Hayes wrote: For all you youngsters, that's the Jack Work Coal Mine, featured in MR back in the mid 50's I think. Probably an article on how to scratch build it, too.Bob gets a cigar for recalling that one. The coal mine under discussion here is indeed based on a coal mine scratchbuilding article by Jack Work, appearing in the Oct., Nov., and Dec. issues of MR from 1959, later to be offered as a plastic kit by AHM and several other companies since. Work's article was from back in the days when MR regularly ran detailed constuction articles for the hobbyist...unlikely the abreviated outlines of recent years. The coal mine article stretched over 22 pages, with explanations of the prototype, assembly diagrams, materials lists and building tips! Jack's coal mine also included several auxiliary buildings that, to their detriment, the plastic kits omitted. CNJ831
Jack's articles were always great because he literally built almost everything..even parts like nuts and bolts that most of us buy. Even if you weren't going to build all the little fiddly bits yourself, you learned the way to do, so when you had to fabricate an odd ball part, you had some idea how to proceed.
Jack's article on the coal mine is well worth hunting down because the out buildings really add to the impression of a working mine. By the way Jack also built the main building in reasoanbly good shape, not the rickety structure of the old AHM kit which has always looked to me like an abandoned building. Why do European designers think American industrial structures have busted windows and safety railings, and big holes in the roof? (Perhaps the mine is a non-union operation?...definitely pre OSHA!)
Most of the AHM kits were designed to sell at low cost. As a result, the die work was less than steller. They always required a bit of fussing and fitting to get things to line up properly. I doubt if time has improved the dies no matter who is selling it these days. The instructions were intended to reach people in many countries, so they were pictures with little or no writing, and somewhat vauge at that. Perhaps the present manufactuers have improved the instruction sheet. I wouldn't discourage you from assembling it, especially if you have some model building experience, but be prepared for a little extra work.
Generally speaking the old line of Atlas structures and the ex-Revell structures (which have since been manufactured by several foreign companies) featured top flight die work and were of better quaility and easier to assemble than the AHM kits.
JBB
I finished the n-scale model of the coal mine today; it really wasn't very difficult. I spent more time for the glue to dry, and painting, really, than anything else. Finished in 5 days, an hour or so an evening.
(Just a quick snapshot with a cellphone camera)
This will really add a lot to the layout when I add some details to the surrounding mining area. I was very pleased with the relative ease of assembly, the fit of the parts, and so forth.
This is a more modern mine on my layout. It is built into the side of a mountain and has three loading tracks.
Faller's "Old Coal Mine" - Kit Reg.price $51.99 Sale price $39.9 Walthers Measures: 16-9/16 x 14-9/16 x 7-1/2" It's a nice kit, but requires a bit of intuition to build. If this is your first kit, why don't you build a styrene plastic business or residential structure, (which, also, requires Styrene glue, an exacto kinife, a fine tooth file or sandpaper.) A "rail cutter" pliers is handy to use for cutting the pieces from the sprues. The model is meant to be placed next to the mountainside mine, with a spur track passing under the mine. It is intended to be an abandoned mine, that is falling apart.
Bob
I purchased one of these from an e-bay seller several years ago. It was already built and when I got it I found it to be quite poorly constructed. I also decided that it really did not fit my era as I wanted more of a working mine. To be honest, I find this structure to be a bit fanciful as a real coal mine. In the end I hacked it apart and constructed this miners changing facility/storage shed from it. So it now sits next to my modified Walthers New River Mine structure.
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
David, the Walthers New River Mine is not a bad building. It is probably a little modern for circa 1900 but not by much. I used it as the basis of a mine in Illinois and have photos from the 1920's and 30's that have a mine structure of a similar type.
Here is my version of it.
Simon--
Nice work on miner's changing area building.
Just a bit more about the Jack Work coal mine series in Model Railroader. The original model had corrugated siding, which, if I recall correctly, Work created by running a pocket comb over aluminum foil. From what I remember of the photos, it was an exquisite model, thoroughly up to modern standards.
I read somewhere that when the plastic kit version was first produced, there was a deliberate decision made to use simulated weathered wood siding instead of corrugated metal, with the idea being that it was more respectful of a great modeler and a great model if there weren't hundreds of plastic copies showing up on everyone's layout.
I pretty sure this series was published before my brother and I got into serious modeling, but we ordered back copies that included it because people were still referring to it frequently as a real landmark in modelling. We also made sure to get Alan Armitage's series on kitbashing two Revell engine houses into a longer structure.
Just a bit of nostalgia.
Oakmont59