Buffalo Canyon Mining Company in On30

Started by friscomike, January 30, 2025, 09:41:22 PM

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friscomike

Howdy folks,

Thanks Larry and Ron.

I just received four Inter-Action Enterprises Model T panel truck kits and can't wait to start one. 


The fire truck needs company.

Have fun,
mike

PRR Modeler

The bell tower and fire engine look terrific Mike.
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

Philip


Rick

Mike, thanks for sharing all your fabulous modeling with us.
A great job on all of it.

ACL1504

Howdy there Mike,

Looking forward to your build thread. Its tough to start over. I did it when this forum closed two years ago and I started over on RR Lines.

When Jim Donavan revived this forum and took over from Jimmy D. I was stuck between the two. I'm sad that the RR Lines is over but I'm happy in that having only one forum will save me a lot of double posting as well as a whole lot of time.

Tom 
"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson

Tom Langford
telsr1@aol.com

GPdemayo

Excellent work Mike, I'll be watching..... 8)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

friscomike

Howdy folks,

Thank you Curt, Philip, Rick, Tom, and Gregory.  Your comments and critiques are welcome.

I too started here years ago and moved to RRL with the first outage.  I had to refresh my memory about how to add photos, but so far it is a clear track ahead. I find the gallery easy to us and like the ability to add subcategories.  My goal is to add at least one build a day until I am caught up with the current build.

Hats off to Jim and the admins for hosting a fun place to hang out.

Have fun,
mike

friscomike

#37
Howdy folks,

The next structure in chronicle is Palitti Tannery. 

The next structure build was Morgan Hill Models stone factory kit. Surprisingly, it looks just like a Thomas A. York kit.  Several famous modelers have created beautiful dioramas with the structure. This was my take, perhaps borrowing a few ideas from the masters.

Morgan Hill Models pilot structure


This build was a tribute to a couple of fantastic modelers and wonderful people, Lorrie and Leo Palitti. Sadly, Leo caught the Special several years back, but his modeling remains and inspires us all. Lorrie is a modeler in her own right and maintains their fabulous layout. One of the kits the Palitti couple built was FSM's Tannery. It was a big inspiration to all who saw it on the Texas Western Model Railroad Club's layout. So, this MHM kit was dedicated to the Palitti's and called Palitti Tannery. Of course, there is a backstory about the Tannery...


Backstory
The old stone and wood building is located between a spur of the Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railroad and at the end of the primary Quitaque street appropriately named Main Street. The building was originally built in 1870 by Terry Morris as a railroad supply and light manufacturing company. Business boomed at first while the Clarity tunnel was being built and Mr. Morris was so busy that he never got around to painting the building's wood. Over time the wood greyed a bit but mostly took on the rusty brown and yellow colors of raw wood found out west.

After the gold played out, the hard times of the 1880s eventually forced Mr. Morris and his business partner Stephen Paroisse to declare bankruptcy and move back to Dallas. The building remained vacant for the following 30 years. Heavy timbers and a concrete floor probably contributed to the excellent structural stability of the aging building. These features would attract the attention of a future buyer.

Lorrie May and Leonis Palitti owned a catalog business in Fort Worth selling novelties and cooking utensils. Leo heard how large tanneries were shutting down everywhere although there was still a demand for leather and fur coats. He discussed establishing a smaller tannery with Lorrie May and they decided to make a go of it. With the decision made, the Palittis started looking for a place to set up the tannery.

Fort Worth was growing too crowded for them, so they explored Texas west of Fort Worth. The business would need a good supply of water, chemicals, hides, pelts, and access to the railroad to get supplies and sell their products up north. News of an old but sturdy building in Quitaque caught their attention. The building was located in town, near a river, and next to a railroad spur. The Palittis immediately headed west to Quitaque. Briscoe County owned the vacant building and after fierce negotiations sold it to the Palittis for $30 dollars.

As the story continued, Lorri May traveled to Kansas City to learn the tannery trade. Leonis started to repair their old building and construct the large vats they would need for the business.



Well, that's the origin of the Palitti Tannery. I only hope I can do it justice in tribute to these fine modelers.

Have fun,
mike


friscomike

#38
Howdy folks,

The stone factory is now Palitti's Tannery. The wood walls are an experiment in Western raw wood coloring. When I visited New Mexico and Colorado, there were quite a few mines and outbuildings that were ochre-steaked black and brown. I tried for that look with pigments and alcohol. In the process, I managed to spill black soot pigment on the floor. It took an hour to clean up and so it goes.

Here are a few shots with the stone walls placed in position.

Front wall (lower door surround is not finished.)



Back wall


I left the wood colored like that for a while and made adjustments and changes later.

Next I worked on the three big doors and the roof. Putting shingles on a roof is tedious, so I only got one half done before my back gave out...

Here are a couple of photos of the work.


The roof is covered in cedar shingles from Rail-Scale-Models. I've used them before and really like them. The quality is top-notch. I'll finish the roof with grey and black stains, trying to let the wood grain show through.



That's it for now.

Have fun,
mike


friscomike

Howdy folks,

I finished assembling the tannery walls, windows, and doors. The roof is finished, but I haven't decided how to color it, whether old or new. The ends of the roof will get flashing.

I tried a new technique for window glazing (observed on a Dave Meeks video). I applied 360 canopy glue diagonally across the windows. The window passes light, looks realistic, and obscures the interior. The result was satisfying to me.


I didn't add the final details to the tannery waiting for it to be situated on the layout. So far, I have planned sheds, water and chemical tanks, a boiler, and a porch.

Here are some photos of the current state of the tannery.

Front
  

Back


End


Well folks, that's finishes the Palitti Tannery for now.  Morris Mining Co. - Little Creek Mining Co. by Banta Model Works is next.

Have fun,
mike


friscomike

Howdy folks,

Little Creek Mining Co. by Bill Banta is the next build for the layout.

This is a nice kit with plenty of templates and jigs for all the structural parts. The kit is mostly laser cut and individual strip wood.

If I followed the plans, the mine would be 16" long and the ore bins would face the wrong way for the ore cars on the siding. I'll do a bit of modification to turn the ore bins and put a wye in the buggy dump track. More about that later.

The original plan was for the mine will be situated on top of a stone tower in the center-right of the layout. Access is difficult because the original access route was blasted away to make room for the New Main Street. The city planners didn't want the mine in the middle of their new downtown anyway, so complaints from the furious miners fell on deaf ears.

Box


Here is a view of all the parts in the kit


Winch house frame
 

The individual board siding was stained and is now drying. I'll fill in the mine's back story in a subsequent post.

Have fun,
mike

Philip


friscomike

Howdy folks,

I finished the main ore bin structure. For the next few days, I'll be at the computer designing rack and pinion gate mechanisms for the ore gates. I prefer something other than the simple cable and wood gates in the kit. Hope the 3D-printed versions come out okay. This is a really small mine, so nothing too fancy would have been used.

Once again I say hats off to Bill Banta for designing the terrific jigs to speed assembly of the model. They sure help make a nice square product.

The small boiler I ordered from Wiseman Models arrived today. It is perfect in size and what I envisioned for the mill house. The winch and single-cylinder engine, also from Wiseman, also loom in the shadows. Lots of detail work ahead should keep me out of the bars.

Here are a few photos of the mine structure.

      

The mine is finished for now.  I'll add details when I plant it on the layout.



So far the plan is for a steam winch and boiler. Both are on my desk for assembly.

On another note, I've decided on the next structure build, Homer's Place an old-fashioned saloon.

Have fun,
mike

PRR Modeler

Those are 2 very nice kits that you have done a wonderful job on Mike.
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

friscomike

Howdy folks,

The next build was Homer's Place Saloon. While I was in school, I worked at a bar and grill in Lawton Oklahoma called Homer's Place. Hence the name of this build, in memory of the fun times I had there. The model is Rich White's 3 Brothers structure.

Backstory
The Homer's Place proprietor Conrad Graikowski, began business in a tent when the railroad was originally built in 1870.  Later, Homer's was converted to an all-wood structure. Business had been good, so when a diner went bankrupt on Main Street, Mr. Graikowski purchased the old diner and relocated the saloon there. He kept the original saloon's name, Homer's Place. Homer's only served beer, tequila, chili, and cornbread so it was indeed a bar and grill.

Homer's is 6 1/2" wide by 5 1/4" deep and constructed of plaster, wood, and plastic. I began the construction by priming the castings with white primer.  Next, I colored the stones and lightly washed the stucco with a light tan.

Plans
Signage: I am still deciding on the signage, and am on the fence about signs on boards or signs painted directly on the walls. The main sign will say Homer's Place and SALOON, and the three vertical walls on the sides of the doors will say BEER, CHILI, and TEQUILA.
Front: In the front, I'll block one of the doors with a bench, add a spittoon, and an exterior light. Common for the period would be a canvas awning, but I am not sure I want to block the fancy brickwork over the doors.

Back: In the back, I'll make a small dock with relevant clutter like empty beer barrels, sacks of beans (yes, I know Texas chili has no beans, but the sacks will look cool), and a delivery truck. I ordered a panel model T from Interaction Hobbies which should be interesting to build.

Top: The plan is for one smoke stack for the potbelly stove routed out the top of a side window and a bigger chimney on the roof for the cooking stove. I plan to cover the roof using a brown shade of rolled roofing similar to the one I used on the Sheepscot Gulf Sand and Gravel. There I used green chalk on flat black sprayed 600 grit sandpaper.

Raw castings after primer
   

Painted castings


Next I finished the interior of the walls with wainscot and added a divider between the bar and kitchen.

Bar side
 

Kitchen side


This photo shows the divider wall


That's it for now.  Next will be the lighting and wiring.

Have fun,
mike









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