L&N somewhere in Eastern Kentucky

[basementcalling]

Yummy Alcos. I must need a snack because those out of focus tan areas sure looked like sugar cookis to me.

Love the Kudzu covered hillside.

[bradb]

Second application of wood chips to shape the pile. This is challenging, the alcohol & glue distort the shape and discolor the chips....I think this is a bit to conical anyway...

Your picture brought back quite a few memories for me... my late father spent his adult life working at the Boise Cascade paper mill in Salem so I've seen a prototype more than a few times in operation (I've seen Albany, Oregon as well) and in the summer of 1981 I actually worked there a few months before going to college (used to be common for the plant to hire summer help that were children of employees). 

Unfortunately I remember more about the mind numbing job of operating a paper cutter for 8 hours and how much crap they gave me for my beard (due to the use of gas masks in an emergency) than I do about operations and how the plant was set up.

Anyways a few thoughts about your chip pile...

First off, the piles I saw were about the size of a football field.  I believe the typical chip pile - if at all possible - is a scenic feature that is best close to the edge of the layout to save space and allow the viewer to imagine how big the pile really must be.

The shape of the chip pile always reminded me of a cupcake that had been smashed upside down - mostly flat on the top and the edges looked abnormally steep.

Around the edges of the pile were a series of elevated pipes that ended in a conical shape and were almost always spraying chips into the pile.

The pile was mostly flat because there was a D-9 cat running around the top of the pile smoothing everything out and re-distributing the chips as they were blown into the pile.

You could see conical piles (like yours) in the spots where the chips were being blown (and before the cat came and moved them around).

Lastly the place was lit up at night like a Christmas tree.  I'll always remember riding along side the chip pile in the car at night and seeing the cat moving chips around and it being like the "grown up" version of me playing in the backyard with my Tonka toys (well I was only 7).

So I guess when you decide on the shape of your chip pile you should consider how the chips end up in the pile?

Just a few random thoughts that might help. 

Regards,

Brad.

[LIRR]

Thanks for the comments brad. I didn't want to make the pile too large because I didn't want it to make the mill building appear smaller and I really couldn't anyway as there is limited area I the location at the end of the bench. I may flatten the cones a bit, theoretically the pipes dropping the chips on the pile are in the aisle, where the chip/pulpwood track theoretically extends after it goes off the end of the layout.

[TLOC]

HI--I love the papermill and the scene it creates. The woodchip pile while I understand what Brad is saying does seem right for the area. If you Google images of papermill wood chip piles you will find quite a few that ft what you are modeling.

When my woodchip pile is done, I will post my pictures. Again. love your work.

[Santa Fe Guy]

Yep I agree, that scene is getting better all the time.
Rod.

[Philip H]

wow.

just.

wow.

[bradb]

I didn't want to make the pile too large because I didn't want it to make the mill building appear smaller and I really couldn't anyway as there is limited area I the location at the end of the bench. I may flatten the cones a bit, theoretically the pipes dropping the chips on the pile are in the aisle, where the chip/pulpwood track theoretically extends after it goes off the end of the layout.

I hope my post didn't sound negative - I've really enjoyed your work and I follow this thread with considerable interest.  Very fine work indeed.

Regards,

Brad.

[LIRR]

not at all brad....just commenting on you comments....
thanks

[ljudice]

Amazing stuff - this was just the inspiration I was looking for...

- Lou

[LIRR]

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. Been working on the branch. I decided it was easier to work on it on the work bench instead of on the wall. Easier to wire, better lighting, much easier to mount the blue point switch machines...




Much easier to attach the facia as well.......

[svedblen]

... I decided it was easier to work on it on the work bench instead of on the wall. Easier to wire, better lighting, much easier to mount the blue point switch machines...

I have come to the same conclusion. The shelf layout I am currently working on rests on brackets, and I simply lift it up and put it down on the bench below when I shall work on it. Much easier that way.

Otherwise, great progress as usual 

[Blazeman]

How long is that extension?

[LIRR]

the photo shows two 4-foot sections bolted together. when finished, the branch will extend about 17-feet from the switch in the street

[LIRR]

The hillside leading to the paper mill has been bare for a few years. I finally got around to scenicing it....

[Santa Fe Guy]

I like the way you have covered that corner with trees. Can you explain what you used please.
Thanks
Rod.