Designing a place for my logs to be processed...
OK, Things Just Got Real...
So far in my model railway adventurers I've kinda (x) had a loose idea about what I want to do, layout design wise. Even the two buildings I have made, so far, didn't turn out so bad (for a beginner).
Unfortunately, the first two models I made - the station and the gas station - were pretty simple concepts which everyone is quite familiar with, but my next model/s won't be so easy. Put simply, I do not know anything about how a saw mill and timber yard works!
I love the idea of having a saw mill, it gives my planned layout one of it's two commercial facilities, plus it gives me a train of traffic for my lines (hence, the easy part of making model logs and freight wagons). But, while I sorta understand that logs don't magically become lengths of finished commercial timer, and that sawing is involved in the process... That's a bout it!
Soooo.... Internet to the recue. Let's find out what a saw mill involves!
The Process in a Nut Shell...
The above diagram encapsulated the information that I found online, no need to write a rambling explanation. The 'dressed' logs go in, they are debarked, sawn up, the resultant 'planks' are then stacked into bundles and dried before being shipped out.
This is true whatever the size of the mill, it's just the size and complexity of the machinery and facilities involved that differs. I just want a 'cottage industry' yard and the a large industrial complex illustrated above. In other words NOT this...
But, rather, something a lot more like THIS (or maybe somewhere between the two)...
It does - practically - all the same processes, but in a much more modest and compact 'package'!
Shopping List! ...What My Little Mill Needs...
1. Cutting the Logs to Manageable length... Double Shaft Log Trimmer
4. Air Drying Shed
Well, there is more, but that should give me a start, and here's a little pic I was sent by one of the nice chaps [Paul Lilly] from the very useful N GUAGE FOR BEGINNER'S Facebook Group showing his timber yard!
Let's Doodle!
OK, I need to match any idea of the footprint of my mill to the area I have earmarked in my modest layout and the best way to start this off is to doodle a plan...
I was quite pleased with how this turned out, I especially liked the detail of the saw cutting table... BUT ... I immediately saw a slight problem.
The logs I made for my timber freight wagons were a lot bigger than the saw table was designed to take. Of course, I could make a log trimming machine (see equipment list above) to represent a means of cutting the log lengths down to a size manageable on the saw table... BUT...
This made me realise that my original idea for a small scale saw mill didn't match the larger scale of log movement that I had in mind with my log wagons. In short, why would a SMALL timber yard have it's very own rail line with the capacity to bring large numbers of log to it??? It didn't make sense.
To match the capacity of my rail spur it would make much more sense to have a MEDIUM sized timber factory and mill. My small mill could have just been served by a small fleet of trucks instead (like Paul Lilly's little yard, see above).
So, back to the drawing board for idea Mk. 2...
It sorta feels like it's 'back to square one', but this whole process has clarified the sort of facility that I am looking for that justifies a spur line running to it.
NEXT: Finding a 'medium' sized saw mill building.
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