a Flour City 40-60 Kerosene Tractor to power it,
and other logging related stuff
Many years ago, when I was is High School, I built a model sawmill. Sadly, it was accidentally destroyed shortly after it was finished.
In the summer of 2009 I decided that the time was right to revisit that project. The broken parts were long gone, but I still remembered how it was made. So, with the help of some old Frick catalog scans, and detail pictures of a restored mill, I started to build.
First came the heart of the mill, called the 'husk', this holds the main shaft, and the mechanism to drive the carriage.
Next came the main and mud sills
The parts of the carriage drive and flooring. The pulleys are wooden spools and Ozark Miniatures castings
The carriage itself was made from a lot of very small bits, and took several tries to get what I wanted.
Installed on the main part of the mill
I decided to model a top saw as well. These were used when very large logs were to be cut.
Our sawyer, you can call him Tom
First log! And last - it's glued in place.
To power the mill, I wanted something unique. I've always found the huge prairie tractors fascinating. A company called Kinnard & Haines built one they called the Flour City back in 1917.
No model company makes anything remotely like it. So it would have to be almost entirely built by hand. Luckily, I was able to find not only catalog scans, but pictures of a restoration in progress online.
The frame is Plastruct I-beam and angle:
The engine was built up from many bits of odds and ends, including Lionel crates and two disposable cigarette lighters
The primary drive and clutches are made from wood plugs and spools.
Constructing the wheels required making a homemade jig
The front axle was built up from wood and styrene
The gears were purchased from an R/C store.
The radiotor was a modified wooden washboard from a dollhouse store
Fenders were fabricated from PVC pipe and acrylic
Completed Flour City views
Now that I had a sawmill I needed a log truck. An old Monogram Mack AC stakebed kit fit the bill....
And since it was for a garden RR, I needed log cars. These were based upon the ones at Pisgah, NC
And a kitbashed side door logging caboose to bring up the rear
Thanks for looking!
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