# HO Logging layouts... whose doing one



## CF-DRG (Apr 13, 2020)

Just wondering who is modelling a Logging layout?? and what you have done to get those beautiful United Brass Shays and Climaxes converted to DCC... I must say not much room in there once taken apart..!!! Plus some pics of your layout. I'm new to model railroading ( started a layout in Sept 2019 with a Rivarossi ) but have always wanted to do Logging one.. I grew up on Vancouver Island and Logging was king here in the 30's and 40's... Heislers, Shays,( Willamettes) and Climaxes where abundant .. In fact the United "Hillcrest" shay is of one here.. There is a forest museum here that has a collection of Shay's and Climaxes so anytime i need some details I pay a visit,,... gota love those geared steam


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

I have plans to include a narrow-gauge logging route on my layout with a couple of 2-truck Shays, but unfortunately I don't have any equipment yet. The plans include some track winding along the mountain, with trees being transported to the mill in one town, then the rough-sawn lumber transported to another town for final processing where it can be shipped from a standard-gauge line. I've set myself up for some interesting timetables when the Shay is moving along one of the mainlines to bring loads to the mill.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I had (and will have again) a small logging operation on my layout, but it's only one industry and the layout isn't devoted to logging operations.


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## Jscullans (Jul 8, 2019)

I have thought of a logging area on my layout but I haven’t come up with a good way of doing it yet


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## hershey2 (Apr 16, 2020)

CF-DRG said:


> Just wondering who is modelling a Logging layout?? and what you have done to get those beautiful United Brass Shays and Climaxes converted to DCC... I must say not much room in there once taken apart..!!! Plus some pics of your layout. I'm new to model railroading ( started a layout in Sept 2019 with a Rivarossi ) but have always wanted to do Logging one.. I grew up on Vancouver Island and Logging was king here in the 30's and 40's... Heislers, Shays,( Willamettes) and Climaxes where abundant .. In fact the United "Hillcrest" shay is of one here.. There is a forest museum here that has a collection of Shay's and Climaxes so anytime i need some details I pay a visit,,... gota love those geared steam


Well I got a start...been working every day on the layout...inherited a lot of cars and track from my late cousin. 








Started in late Feb/early March.....




































Still got a lot to do...got all the track down except for two sidings which will happen today...in the plans yet to be built is a Sawmill using Slaty Fork as an idea, and a icing platform....


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## CF-DRG (Apr 13, 2020)

Nice pics Hershey , I see you might have a line with a grade.. So what can we expect as a maximum grade to go up for these engines ( Spectrum Climax , Shay ect) ??? And with maybe 7-8 log cars in tow?? 
It's funny i still have to rap my head around some of the scale sizes ... for example, my trees can be 1.25 " in dia and 24" tall.. Thats a 8' dia 160' tall tree, common here in the 30's.. I even see some like that today... Still learning the DCC stuff ( have a NCE power cab ), and I went with Micro Engineering code 100, I do have a spur line and tried code 83 but wanted to be safe with running older cars and engines.. Here's some pics .. I tried something different, I built cabinets for under the layout (3/4" ply from Home Depot ) and the layout is basically the counter top. Thanks to Bob Ross ( Joy of Painting TV show), A fan brush and some cheap acrylic artist paint I painted the back drop.. . Other pics are of some of the sections iv'e worked on.. I must say, this Covid thing has allowed a lot of time for this..


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

This Rivarossi Heisler in Comox Logging & Railway livery will eventually ply the switchback to a sawmill and to a coal mine further up grade. The steepest grade, near the trestle, is 8%.


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## hershey2 (Apr 16, 2020)

CF-DRG said:


> Nice pics Hershey , I see you might have a line with a grade.. So what can we expect as a maximum grade to go up for these engines ( Spectrum Climax , Shay ect) ??? And with maybe 7-8 log cars in tow??
> It's funny i still have to rap my head around some of the scale sizes ... for example, my trees can be 1.25 " in dia and 24" tall.. Thats a 8' dia 160' tall tree, common here in the 30's.. I even see some like that today... Still learning the DCC stuff ( have a NCE power cab ), and I went with Micro Engineering code 100, I do have a spur line and tried code 83 but wanted to be safe with running older cars and engines.. Here's some pics .. I tried something different, I built cabinets for under the layout (3/4" ply from Home Depot ) and the layout is basically the counter top. Thanks to Bob Ross ( Joy of Painting TV show), A fan brush and some cheap acrylic artist paint I painted the back drop.. . Other pics are of some of the sections iv'e worked on.. I must say, this Covid thing has allowed a lot of time for this..


Wow, just wow!!!! I feel like a piker after looking at your work...
Haven't measured the grade yet, but have run an 0-4-0 with 4 cars up it to test...I'm planning on sending my Shay and Heisler out to a DCC shop for adding decoders...haven't done that yet...been running on old DC to check track etc..


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## CF-DRG (Apr 13, 2020)

A Rivarossi Heisler... nice .. I'm about 3 hours from Comox 😉.. let see some more pics ... mesenteria..


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

Well, I got one on HO track, does that count.


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

Ive been thinking of adding a branchline with a logging operation. But not sure yet😞


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## Chaostrain (Jan 27, 2015)

I have a branch line planned. Unfortunately things are on hold and packed away for moving. Ugh, now there's a nightmare.


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

Chaostrain said:


> I have a branch line planned. Unfortunately things are on hold and packed away for moving. Ugh, now there's a nightmare.


Ouch, i hate moving. It must suck for people that have a permanant layout😦


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## Riggzie (Dec 24, 2019)

Chaostrain said:


> I have a branch line planned. Unfortunately things are on hold and packed away for moving. Ugh, now there's a nightmare.


this is why im not doing much... 
i have a 10x6.6 with 0 on top as im learning how to wire o22 switches, run them, multiple throttles, etc... all buildings, coal and logs boxed up...
under the table i just threw together a 4x6.6 small gap then another 4x6.6 to run some H/O.. once again. to mess with how dc switching works, etc... 
been fun but cant really setup much as i am working on our house and in 6m - 1y i want to move...


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## Chaostrain (Jan 27, 2015)

The USRA Guy said:


> Ouch, i hate moving. It must suck for people that have a permanant layout😦


Yes, it does. We had a 8'X12' N scale with all track down and just started landscaping when we had to move. Sadly by the end of the move the layout looked like it had been moved by a tornado and shoved in the garage by a hurricane. I swore never again. Our current layout is HO on 6' folding tables.


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## CF-DRG (Apr 13, 2020)

Here are a few pics of my layout so far....the start of a small hill and a pond to the left of the hill..


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## The USRA Guy (Apr 26, 2020)

CF-DRG said:


> Here are a few pics of my layout so far....the start of a small hill and a pond to the left of the hill..


Looks great. Keep up the good work!😉


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## Magic (Jan 28, 2014)

Looking very nice indeed  

Magic


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

That looks great. I love mountain railroads.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

CF-DRG said:


> Here are a few pics of my layout so far....the start of a small hill and a pond to the left of the hill..


In your last picture you have what looks like a small work car? I recognize that style as something commonly used with a crane and steam donkey mounted onboard, but haven't seen it used for anything else. Is there a name for that style? Could you provide a little detail about how your railroad is using that car, or maybe some ideas of what other purposes they could fulfill? Thanks!


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## Andreash (Dec 30, 2018)

Very nice work....cheers


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## CF-DRG (Apr 13, 2020)

That work cart is what i would call a general maintenance car.. I got these 3 at a train show ( $25 for all 3 ) .. I would like to think that some of these type of cars would have worked in the woods... Will get a flat car and build a Donkey on it, when I have time...


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## railandsail (Jan 28, 2009)

*Logging Locos, Logging Track Plan, Logging Mill, Mainline Pick-up*



Quite awhile back I set aside some spaces on my new double-deck layout plan to have some logging scenes.

I labeled them Logging Tracks & Logging Interchange

Even though both of these 'scenes' are interconnected, they both require individual design attention:

a) to the logging trains that gather up the downed trees and deliver them to the lumber mill,
b) the mill itself,
c) and finally placement of finished product on mainline cars for retail distribution.























On this upper level I am proposing to put some logging tracks and trains running out the peninsula to its tip. There might be a very tight loop at the free end of the peninsula for the short logging locos to run. Or it might be just a back and forth operation for them. They will bring logs back to the saw mill scene at the trunk end of the peninsula (logging interchange). I have the whole Walthers saw mill kit(s) and would like to make this scene some sort of transfer of logs to cut/finished product that would be loaded onto mainline log cars and center-beam loaded cars, and a number of other wood carrying cars


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## railandsail (Jan 28, 2009)

*Foam 'Deck' Under Logging Area*

Most all of the 'deck structures' of my double deck layout are made of 3/4 plywood. Considering the relatively light weight of the structures and tracks that will compose my logging area, AND the fact that this basically 2 foot wide rectangular area will be supported by 2 steel beams down either side, ...yellow outlined area










I first considered cutting this deck piece from a 1/2 inch thick piece of plywood, then adding the various ground/track elevations by gluing on multiply pieces of foam.

A second thought occurred to me, why not make that rectangular piece of deck out of 2" thick foam, then carve out the reliefs I need for the structures and track? I had a few scrapes of 2" foam I placed up on the 2 support beams to investigate the ideas. (NOTE: remember that the track plan down below in these photos is actually the track being planned for that upper deck)


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## eidsvolling (Dec 27, 2021)

I don’t have anything worth posting pictures of yet, but I do have something interesting for the originator of this thread.

Before Merrill & Ring established themselves in WA and BC, they were a major player in Maine, then Michigan and finally Minnesota before heading to the Pacific coast. It’s the stop in my hometown and current residence of Duluth, MN, that snagged my interest, in particular their subsidiary, the Split Rock Lumber Company.

A hundred and twenty years ago, 400 loggers toiled for a few years to cut big white pines, haul them to the shore of Lake Superior with a couple of Climax locomotives and then drag huge log rafts to the Merrill & Ring sawmill in Duluth behind a 115-foot tug. The tug had already burned once and sunk before they got it. (Being descendants of Huguenots who had to flee France with their lives, the Merrill family knew a thing or two about making fresh starts.)

My intention is to represent the operation in HO scale, including the railroad, the landing and the tug. Did I mention the McGiffert log loader they had, designed and built right here in Duluth?


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## eidsvolling (Dec 27, 2021)

This is all that remains of the Split Rock Lumber Company:


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

There will (dventually) be an area on my layout where logging is taking place, but the layout is not dedicated to it. It will be small: a couple of guys, a skidder and an old steam powered sawmill.


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## BigGRacing (Sep 25, 2020)

I know I would like a small lumber mill on mine as well, 2 of them in my community, 1 of which while growing up always let our troop camp on their properties. Barretts lumber are still a sponsor of one of the scouting troops in their area from what I recall.


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