Amazing! this is HO, correct?

Agreed, keep them coming!

Deen, those look remarkable!

The forum topics I enjoy and follow most are the scratch-builds, anything you post along those lines would be greatly appreciated by this reader.

I hear you on cash-strapped past. My brother and I started modeling in the '60s when we were both paperboys and then started working as soon as we were tall enough, but still underage.  We had money, but Dad made sure we banked our earnings, and took only a small allowance for ourselves. No regrets, we were the oldest in a large family and Dad made sure we all got educations. So, all good. 

My brother and I modeled on a super-tight budget, scratch building with the typical materials of the times: paper, cardstock from steno pads and cereal boxes, balsa, etc.  I even flattened toothpaste tubes to make a tin barn roof as recommended in Kalmbach's Easy to Build Model Railroad Structures. I tried my hand at making corrugated metal for a larger grain mill structure in this book but the suggested method proved too much for my 13 year old patience level.

Life left modeling behind until recently, and while I enjoy a larger allowance now, I still pinch pennies as it takes me back to my 13 year old self.

Additionally. I have accepted the challenge from my 13 year old self and have re-started the grain elevator from this book, this time in O scale.   

.

Great photo of a very interesting building.  Thanks for posting.

It's got some really neat details. I like the tin "brick" siding, I worked on an old 1:1 building with similar siding recently.

I also noticed the nail holes on the metal Golden Tip sign, and the Masterbuilt Shoes sign that sort of flies out into space.  If I had modeled that shoe sign placement, folks woulda asked wt?

Not sure if this is the correct sub forum, so moderators please move it if not.

I was thoroughly enjoying reading Larry C's Sawmill Design thread here tonight and saw labdad's link to a government publication on sawmills. Thank you both for the posts.

I own a Wood-Mizer, which is a modern portable bandsaw mill, and in that pursuit I have made extensive use of government publications both old and current.  Loads of applicable publications for drying, cutting sequence for highest yields, log and lumber weight charts, etc, etc.

I have also accessed older government manuals for my vintage Singer industrial sewing machine (courtesy US Navy) and panel beating courses (auto body sheet metal repair) for my car restoration activities.

From my experience, I  suggest that if you find a useful publication courtesy our Old Uncle, download it, as I have encountered changing links on some old publications.

The purpose of this post is to present another, longer, old publication (1952) about sawmill operations:

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-A-PURL-gpo17291/pdf/GOVPUB-A-PURL-gpo17291.pdf


I think sawmill modelers might find a lot of interesting diagrams and photos in this publication.  Here's the contents page in case you are interested.  Sorry about the poor quality screen capture.

One of my "someday" modeling projects is a sawmill, and the "Sample plans of mill layouts" starting on page 73 (pdf page 77) details suggested machine layout for different sized operations as well as suggested shelter building designs.  Many drawings contain dimensions.

At any rate, for me, the publication is a fascinating read.



There are multiple hosting sites for older government publications, further searching on your own will prove to both fruitful and aggravating, due to AI's Always Irritating Annoying Interference.
 

Deem, ALL your scenery posts are truly amazing in their realism! Additionally, the coastal features are scenic features I haven't seen seen modeled.  Welcome to the forum and thank you for posting.

Quote from: Mark Dalrymple on February 12, 2026, 03:07:00 PMLooking good, Curt.



Typically, the vertical board joins would be cut to line up with the dwang (blocking) lines so that they can be nailed at the ends.  There would usually be two or three rows of dwangs per story.

Cheers, Mark.

Looking very good Curt and thanks for posting!

Mark, I figured out the term "dwang" from your context but was curious to look it up further and I saw "nogging piece, nogging, noggin or nog" as synonyms.  All fun terms.

I worked for a long time doing 1:1 carpentry in the American Midwest and over the years I observed that different carpenters sometimes have different names for framing pieces, especially from other regions of the country.

I've worked on a lot of older homes dating from "balloon framing" days and the blocking (in the Midwest) is often referred to as "fire blocking or fire stopping".  Post-war platform framing styles changed the need for fire blocking and none of the contemporary tract houses I worked on called for it, although we did sometimes install diagonal wind bracing, depending on the sheathing used.

Quote from: deemery on January 30, 2026, 10:53:21 AMNow THAT's a model shop!!!  And some names i recognize in their staff.

dave

Including Wayne Wesolowski!

He's one of my favorite authors.  He and his wife published several books back in the '80s, including one on scratch building.  He's still publishing magazine articles in MRR and Narrow Gauge Gazette, and maybe others that I don't read.  He even has a Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Wesolowski

Following closely, especially as you are scratch building.

Thanks for posting, Mike.

After studying the categories, I was still not sure where to put this so moderators please move appropriately.

While reading Michael Hohn's Winter Challenge-Feed Mill thread, I read mention of modeler George Pierson, and so I went down that WorldWideWabbit hole, and as things go down the WWW, it led to this site:

please note that the below site is designated NOT secure!

http://www.progressivemodeldesign.com/index.htm

One of their pages is "Studio and Equipment" and for guys like me who like to look at other modeler's workbenches, it's totally engaging.

Not sure of this forum's policies on links to unsecure sites, so rather than link to it, the image below is a screen capture.

There are other photos of their 7,000 foot work area on their "Studio and Equipment " page.

Larry, Thanks again for the detailed build thread here.  Like I said, scratch-building is why I came here.

I just wanted to share a bit of real construction detailing from a similar "light construction" shed.  I thought of your shed yesterday when I was in this one.

My father-in-law built this "shed" of sorts to cover his firewood 35 years ago. He recycled old 2x6 outdoor decking for the roof, which he laid board-on-board, no shingles.  It never had walls, it's just a roof over firewood, some years a tarp on the windward side.  It measures 10' by 16' overall, the vertical framing is simply three 4x6 posts on 7 foot centers.

You can see there is but a single 2x4 purlin. 

It's still standing after 35 years,  2 hours north of Green Bay where there is considerable snow regularly.

Quote from: Larry C on January 15, 2026, 05:54:21 PMMark and Rich thanks. Before I started adding the siding boards I went with the idea wherever they ended up was fine; quite the departure from my normal techniques.

I'd like to say that I am really enjoying your thread here, thank you for posting!  Scratch-building is why I am on this forum.

I don't know anything about the original structure other than what's in the photograph.  But I do know something about working with unseasoned lumber, as in lumber strait off the mill.  As part of my 1:1 woodworking I operate a portable bandsaw mill (Wood-Mizer) and a small kiln, so I and am familiar with shrinkage rates as various wood species dry.

This chart shows the range of shrinkages one can expect as lumber looses the water present when the tree was alive.  Depending on how the log was milled and the species, 8 to 10 % and even higher in certain species, is not uncommon.  https://woodbin.com/ref/wood-shrinkage-table/   

It wasn't that uncommon in the past to work with rough-sawn and unseasoned lumber, and it is still an occasional practice if one is careful to calculate in the shrinkage. For certain structures it can be used right away.  An example is fence boards and also board-on-batten or board-on-board construction. One must pay attention to nailing patterns to minimize splitting. Air-drying, kiln-drying and subsequent surface edging and planing all add value to lumber, so unseasoned rough-sawn lumber is relatively cheap in comparison.

Perhaps that real-life shed was constructed with lumber right off a mill, and was put up without gaps.  8% shrinkage across a 12" board is close to an inch after air drying eventually occurs.

Again, I am thoroughly enjoying this thread, Thanks.

Mike, thanks for posting this!

Scratch building is why I am here on this forum, wish there was more!

John, thanks for the reply and info on that roundhouse.  Good luck with your goals!

I'm really intrigued by the roundhouse in Post 1024.  I like it a lot.  If I understand correctly, it's from an older layout.  Any chance on more photos or information?  i.e., was it a kit or a scratch build? 

Thanks in advance, Mark