Hello

Coffee, sodas and French toast your way are available.

76f degrees now 88 later and currently the humidity in my part of Wisconsin has fallen to 98%!

I am heading at 1 to the local layout. We will cut the rest of his Masonite into fascia, plan 3 more bridge locations and lay more cork roadbed

Enjoy your day
Tom

Quote from: deemery on September 02, 2026, 11:10:17 AMTomO:  Do you have any rules-of-thumb about tree trunks/number of wires to start with?  I would think that a taller tree would need a thicker trunk (DUH!), but my question is how thick? 

dave

Dave

Trees diameter from my understanding from a forester many moons ago is measured at 4-5' from ground level.

For birch trees I am creating trees of different ages and of course different trunk diameters and heights. I pulled the  typical diameters and heights based on age from the US Forest Service data for the Michigan UP

HO Tree Age   5 years old         10 yrs old         20 yrs old         50 yrs old        100 years old


Height         10-15'             20 to 30'           35 to 45'          50 to 65'           60 to 75'

Real**         1.5 to 2.25"        3 to 4.25"        4.75 to 6.25"        7 to 9"           8.5 to 10.25"

Trunk dia.      1.0 to 1.5"        2.5 to 3.5"        5.0 to 6.5"        10 to 14"           14 to 18"


Number of twister
Wire for the trunk.   2-3            4-6                 8-12             16 to 22             24 to 30


I definitely try to create the trunks to the sizes above though I may add a wire or 2 but never less. As to the heights I rarely build a tree taller than 10" and usually the heights typically top out around 8". A tree over 10" on a layout is overpowering in my view.

I rely greatly on the USFS data that I will typically screenshot and add to my Gemini and ChatGPT  data bases. It makes the data so much quicker to find than my screen shot journal I used to keep in a notebook

** means I rounded

22 gauge bare wire is .025" diameter

I started building trees because the nice trees from custom builders were way too many $$$ and I want the trees to be taller than a train. Most of the commerical product trees from JTT and Woodland were too small. Hope this helps

TomO

Good morning crew. 73 very humid degrees heading to 88. Though the media weather expert said a good chance of T-Storms I checked radar and I see no way we get anything!

Today has changed. The 2 apprentice painters are not coming after school and Friday's work session on the layout was cancelled. So I doubt I'll work on any trees today.

The high humidity does affect Terry's breathing and she will decide if we do any Farmers markets this morning. I though will visit the Artist Craftsman store just off campus today. Students are back and it's Sales Week. I want some better than Michael's canvases, oils and taskboard. I usually avoid this store as like the LHS for modelers it's addictive

Enjoy the day
TomO

Quote from: friscomike on September 01, 2026, 10:37:32 AMGood morning folks,

Rick, thank you for the coffee, breakfast, and opening.  Wishing you a great hike at the park.

Jaime, congrats on the "no news".

Curt, good luck with the big dock.

Larry, looking forward to the update.

Ron, many of us have felt your pain.  This too will pass.

TomO, what wire gauge do you use for the trees?

Jerry, congrats on wall 4 progress.  Shingle on!

Karl, sounds like the night shift was a good one.  BTW, someone hijacked my post and said I went 90mph...

How is the rest of the crew?

It's a nice morning, but heating to 93F later.  Yesterday I made good progress on the engine shed facility.  I'll do more of the same today.

This morning I filled bird feeders, watered outdoor potted plants, replaced eve light bulbs (didn't fall of ladder), and repositioned a couple of feeders.

Have fun,
mike

Mike. For wire armature trees I normally use 22, 26 and 28 gauge florist wire originally purchased from Michael's but now from Amazon because of quantity pricing. The lower the # of the gauge the thicker it is. I occasionally will use for taller trunks 18 gauge stem wire available from 10-16" at Michael's and sometimes at Hobby Lobby. If the trees are taller I will mix in a couple pieces of 18 along with the 22 gauge to stiffen the trunk.

I'm not reinventing anything in tree making. I started by following the method from You Tube content maker Luke Towan before he moved his new good stuff behind a paywall. He has transitioned and I cannot remember her new name. Boulder creek Railroad is his YT page. He has a slew of still available tree building videos. Also I use some of Boomer Diorama methods from his YouTube pages of the same name. He has I believe 24 videos he created. Towan is a modeler! Boomer (I am a disciple) is a former professional museum modeler but both have useful methods and both produce the absolute best video productions and quality on YT in my opinion

TomO

Good morning. Thanks for opening Rick.

It's 69f degrees with 98% humidity and little breeze at 2 mph! High temperature later is 90 per the guessers.

Trees, trees and more trees! I enjoy making trees but yes they can get boring. I like wire armatures for tree making. I just have never had the success others have had with twigs, dead roots, Woodland Scenic plastic armatures and plants. Plus the start up costs are much less and I prefer trees taller than the trains

Looking at just the birch trees. 90% of these 44 created are trees for the forest, only 5 will qualify for foreground or as 1 of the guys calls them "hero" trees! It's pretty much the same with all the species only 10 to possibly 20% will qualify for being "that" foreground tree. I'm not treating those 10-20% any different while building them but some are just better looking than others when all is said and done.

I'm taking the grandson and 2 of his buddies to the Top Golf facility in Madison at 10:15. 90 minutes for $26 for up to 6 golfers. So it doesn't cost me anymore to bring his friends until we do lunch. Probably Raising Canes on campus. With the students back and with the warm weather the boys (including me) will enjoy the scenery walking by!

After dinner, the conifer and maple tree builders are coming by. Sounds like the conifers are ready for some coloring. I've never built one so I am anxious to see how these look in person. The maples are ahead of schedule too but I'm not exactly sure what we are discussing on those! The UP Michigan layout owner has a medical appointment at 5:30 and should be at the shop around 7pm. He is bringing the found deciduous trees from the old layout but definitely not the puff balls. We will sort those out and then the 2 kids can work on them tomorrow. So not too much has changed on the schedule from yesterday just more precise time slots! I resisted the effort to start another new bridge between tree sessions yesterday. That was hard!

The daughter said the doll house scheduled for the printers and laser cutters this week for Wednesday AndyThursday are delayed as the next part of the deposit is late. So she is going to cut the walls for the bleach plant and Paper machine building for the PNW layout. She will print the wall hangers and other details for the liquor tanks and test if she can print the pipe racks I drew up. It doesn't affect the tree schedule but is impactful down the way.

Enjoy your day
TomO

Good morning. 75 moving to 90 later with humidity you can definitely feel.

Rick, great picture. I got the cushions in just as the rain began. Nothing earth shaking at just around 1/4". Overall we received .75" the last 36 hours. Definitely need it and much more.

Today is the start to 1 project, trees ALL week. Trembling Aspens are at least today and tomorrow. Last night I moved them from the shelf to the bench top. It's so nice to have room to spread things out again. The 44 trunks are cut but I have decided need more shaping. I will start the limbs and branch structures with twisted wire. Depending on how it goes it's possible without interruptions I can get them formed today but they should be done tomorrow. I am not drilling the holes in the trunks for the limbs until my new glasses come in. After the Aspens it's back to the birch trees that need just the leaves and maybe more shading under the canopy. I plan to take them to the layout work session on Friday so the owner has them and he can STORE them. The scenery guy told us Friday he's hoping to install them in October. Since the next Ops Session invitation is the 14th he's cutting it close with his ground work. So the birches are ahead of schedule but I want them delivered Friday. The conifer lady and her maple tree husband want to stop in today or tomorrow to discuss their project. They are flying as she has 120 conifers assembled and trimmed and he has the 112 maples completely configured. Yesterday the UP layout owner found his Deciduous trees from his previous layout that he thought accidentally got throw out. He will stop by with them tomorrow night and the 2 12 year olds when they arrive after school Wednesday can sort and clean them up for us to make decision where to use them. Yep, it's tree week

Curt glad dad wasn't serious.

Enjoy the day

Good afternoon from wet Wisconsin. 1/2" so far when 0 was predicted!

The granddaughters get together today was a bit chaotic. 1st place at 1 rained out. 2nd choice no longer opens on Sundays. 3rd place usually pretty darn good was just ok and not the best service but the place was mobbed because the area soccer games got rained out. But Harper was fine it was the adults a bit frazzled

I'm on the balcony deciding if I should stay out here or not. More rain possible in 20 minutes and it's now windy! The sky has a goofy yellow look directly south but Southwest is sky blue no clouds. We can use the rain but storms are unnecessary

TomO

Good morning Crew. 70f degrees now 85 later but the humidity after being gone almost 2 weeks has returned.

The granddaughter turned 15 yesterday and her party was with 5 other special needs kids. Terry says it went  very well. More adults yesterday which was needed because they all went in the pool for some fun. Today at 1 it's a family and neighbor party for her. She loves her birthday!

Enjoy your day

Good evening from a sort of wet Wisconsin. The hoped for heavy storms so far today has produced 1/4" of rain in the gauge.

Today's Ops Session was excellent except I did feel it was held in Karl's meat locker. Damn it was cold but with 17 operators and the owner it makes sense. I had a great time. I picked the road pool and ended up with 6 trains today. Everything just seemed to flow today...

The firepit is going and s'mores are available. The bar is open but I'm having a diet caffeine free Pepsi. We also have firepit popcorn or in the corner is the microwave if you swing that way with your popping of corn!

TomO 

Quote from: KentuckySouthern on August 28, 2026, 05:12:46 PM

Quote from: elwoodblues on August 28, 2026, 09:21:24 AMGood morning everyone,
Karl, TomO might like the help. 😊

I know I'm qualified but TomO might think overly so. I'll work rather show up for Diet Dr Pepper, especially if it's slushy from being in the freezer a bit to long I don't recall mention of the W word

Hey! Those vegging out projects are tough. All us geezers can handle it. A slushy DDP, damn I can feel the brain freeze!

TomO

Good morning from Wisconsin where it is 55f degrees now and the guessers say 85 later. It's clear and sunny with the humidity at 100% and at noon it might be at 44%. So another nice day.

Larry, thanks for opening and the pop! The diet Dr Pepper is nice and cold. At least 90 minutes before I can eat but I grapped a bear claw for later.

Vegged out all day yesterday and doing nothing all day is NOT overrated. I was though a bit antsy around 6 but we went out for dinner as a last minute decision. It felt good.

Today will be hectic as I'm hosting the work session instead of the Crew going to the layout 17 minutes east of me. There will be at least 6 plus me and possibly 4 more. There are plenty of projects, enough space in the shop and at the bench. The SIL will man the grill to be ready to eat at 12:15 for Hamburgers. Session ends at 3 today. There will be no modeling projects this weekend as the daughter will use the space for a dollhouse show

Enjoy the day
TomO

Good morning. Another nice 81f degree day is being guessed at. With humidity numbers just in the 30's it's been very pleasant.

No one is visiting the shop today and the last 4 days have been hectic so I might just find a book online.

Enjoy your day
TomO

Good morning from a gloomy looking Wisconsin. So different than the past bright and cheery 7-8 mornings but it's 65 now heading to 81f degrees. The guessers are saying via the WeatherChannel app there is a chance of pop up T-storms.

Yesterday there were 4 in the shop working on projects for the 2 layouts. Today just the guy who will paint the structures and trees along with the continuing air brush education of our grandsons. The grandsons start school 9/2 not 9/9 as I wrote. On Monday and Wednesday they will come to the shop after school for a couple hours during September.  Then they will decide to continue or not.

The plumber is due between noon and 4 for a Terry project but she wants me here. The little entrance hallway from the garage to the stairs and elevator need to be enlarged and that will need space taken from the mudroom in the stable. I think this cements the idea we are staying here or I hope. This place is starting to slowly grow on me. I really would like a space I could veg out in but there is none without a costly adjustment.

We saw the movie last night The Rivals of Amziah King with Matthew McCaunethay and it was good and had a few very unexpected plot turns

TomO

The Foss River Bridge in Tonga Washington is 644' long. In HO scale that's 7.1'. We have 7' available so will compress the bridge to fit 5' or roughly 70% of the prototype.

Online uncredited photos below

Good morning from So Central Wisconsin. It's 55f degrees heading to a possible 81. Yesterday was close to the same and absolutely pleasant hoping for something similar today.

Rick, the Foss River bridge is a go. But it has become a group project as have the trees and parts of the paper mills for both layouts

There are 6 of us in the Friday work session group that usually work together. Over the last 5 years we have become good friends. I will lead but not necessarily build.

I will finish the 50 birch trees and 40 Weeping Aspens by 10/7 for the Michigan UP layout but no new projects there for me this season.

The 112 Maples one of the other guys will create. He picked up the supplies at the shop yesterday. The  2 swamp scenes will be done by the Maple tree makers wife. The layout owner will bring the templates down to this Fridays session. She helps our daughter a couple days a week with her dollhouse business, so she has skills

For the PNW layout. The structures for the paper mill are mostly done. One of the guys brought his grandson over to the shop yesterday and his g/s is a slot car friend of our grandson and also know each other from school. They both will be 13 in November. They will under his supervision paint the paper mill 2 days a week. I inspected what they did yesterday (primer) afternoon last night and they did a very nice job. Lightly coated as asked for! They will also paint all the tree trunks and shading under the canopy. They each did 5 trees yesterday and they are just as good as I would have done.

The Cashmere, Wa scene is going to be a custom laser cut cold storage warehouse, bulk oil and sawmill. The 3 piece 18' template base is in my shop and another of the crew the will build the structures here. The drawings are ready for the lasers.

The Foss River Bridge scene consists of a compressed 5' bridge in a 7' space. The owner is creating a template for it and that should be available for pickup on Friday. The trestle kit from Micro Engineering will be at the LHS on Wednesday. I will build it and 2 of the girder bridge spans. I will use the 2 Central Valley kits I have. If they are a good representation of the scene we will proceed. I downloaded from the Pacific Northwest Railroad  Archive site the bridge drawings and specifications and then fed it to ChatGPT the Ai tool I'm using. If the trestles are deemed worthy as is after I build the 1st another of Crew will build the other 13 at his place while he recovers from ankle and leg surgery. I will build the girder bridges but they are 48' and 32' spans per the plans. So some will need kitbashing

As a Crew we work very well together and 5 of us and 3 of our wives have become really good friends. 2 of the guys are widowers. All but 1 is within 20 minutes of the shop.

This arrangement takes what very little pressure I was feeling away. My shop space is big enough for multiple guys to work here if they want. The group chat and project management by ChatGPT will keep us organized. The Ai will also keep track of the paints and ratios to use to stay consistent

It's a good turn of events as the bones of both layouts have been completed and the guys are skilled and getting restless. This helps solve a lot.

TomO