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pipopak
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Found this pic of a waterwheel-powered (mill?) that would be the perfect excuse to have a very small stream going around:
Jose.
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mwiz64
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Now that baby is cool, Jose. Building that water wheel would be a ton of work but it sure would be impressive!
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Mike
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pipopak
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Yeah, definitively not in the shake-the-box category.... Jose.
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W C Greene
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Ain't no hill for a hi stepper...Get out the stripwood. Another great find, Jose. Keep em' coming.
Woodie
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Milocomarty
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Great ! Copied and saved..
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Regards Martin
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Huw Griffiths
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I like that - a lot.
I also agree that it wouldn't be a "shake the box" special.
Saying that, there have been small / simple water wheel kits done in some scales - like one undershot design offered in OO (1:76), for the UK market:
Wills CK22 watermill kit.
Wills SS84 water wheel & sluice.
This one is the sort of kit I might once have fancied building, just for a challenge.
Although the "wheel" - and "sluice gate" - parts of this kit are injection moulded (and would more or less throw themselves together), the "building" part of the kit is rather more fiddly to build.
As with all Wills "Craftsman Kits", the building is actually supplied as a number of slabs of moulded stonewall section, which need to be accurately cut, drilled and joined in accordance with a supplied drawing.
About 20 years back, I tried building another kit in the range - and can confirm that it's actually more difficult than it sounds (a lot more difficult). At the time, I didn't get very far - but the parts I damaged are sold in lots of UK model shops. (They also do pieces to represent similar boarding to that shown in the photo.) I think I'd now be capable of doing justice to one of these kits, but I'm not looking for OO or HO buildings these days.
It's probably fair to say that "how to" articles about Wills "Craftsman Kits" often seem to get requested by readers of UK model railway magazines. They also get mentioned on UK forum sites (especially ones connected with model railway magazines) - when this happens, the general consensus seems to be "fine for experienced modellers; probably not recommended for novices". It's certainly possible to build some very attractive models using these kits - but I think I'll pass for now.
I think that's enough about UK kits - related or otherwise. I'm not aware of any kits that would come close to what's shown in the photo - so it would probably be scratchbuilding time.
I've always been fascinated by these things - but I've never built one (no permanent layout). I'd guess it would probably be one of those models where a good set of drawings - obsessive attention to detail - and endless patience - would come in rather useful.
That aside, thanks for bringing this one to our attention - it's greatly appreciated.
Huw.
Last edited on 7 Aug 2013 07:10 pm by Huw Griffiths
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pipopak
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I found that sometimes is easier to scratchbuild rather than dealing with an overly complex craftsman kit, and the end result is almost the same. But your mileage may vary. Jose.
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Herb Kephart
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Si-
Here is some pix of a water powered grist (grain) mill--the stone building, and also a water powered saw mill.
http://www.freerails.com/view_topic.php?id=2282&forum_id=19
The grist mill has two 14' overshot wheels enclosed in the building, on the side that the sawmill structure is on. In colder areas of the country, the wheels were often enclosed to prevent a buildup of ice in bad weather. Ice threw the wheel out of balance, and at least most of it had to be chipped off so that the wheel (and the grind stones that were driven by) it would run at a constant speed. Constant speed was even more important with the "roller mills" which replaced the stones with cast iron rollers the the grain passed between. Steel water wheels replaced wood ones about the turn of the 20th century--a wood wheel was only good for about 20 years, while some steel ones have lasted a hundred--with a couple replacements of the sheet metal buckets. Later still, wheels were replaced with water turbines in the basement of the mill--a much more trouble free arrangement for power.
Incidentally, the wheel shown on the wood mill that Jose posted, is a "pitchback" wheel, one of the most efficient. The wheel in that pix would turn clockwise, whereas, in the more common "overshot" wheel, the water would be dumped onto the buckets past the centerline of the wheel (left in the pix)and the wheel would revolve counter-clockwise.. The difference in efficiency comes from the fact that the bottom of the wheel sometimes becomes submerged in the "tail water" which flows away from the wheel. With an overshot, if the bottom of the wheel is submerged, a condition occurs called "backwatering" because the bottom buckets are pushing the water against the discharge direction. A pitchback pushes the water away. Problem mostly in the time of the Spring thaws--when the streams are high.
If you all behave, there won't be a quiz on this .
Herb
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Bernd
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Herb,
Those are some nice detail pictures of the grits mill and saw mill, Very modelable in a small space. It be great fun or frustration doing the stone work.
Bernd
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Bernd
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mwiz64 wrote:
And for something interesting, similar but different, here is the Falkirk Wheel in Scottland. It ain't super old but it sure is cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVYGG9TqsT4&list=TLCBiLb8_yG3A
Hey, how about adding tracks to get from one level of the railroad to the upper level. You could do a whole train.
Bernd
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Herb Kephart
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Mike--
The wheel may be turning, but there is no way any work can be done in the mill with that little amount of water.
When the mill in my pix is sawing, the waterwheel is going about 60RPM and is flooded with water. It's a lot smaller in diameter, of course.
Herb
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mwiz64
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If you read the caption below, Herb, the lady said that the mill no longer functions but the owners keep water going over the wheel so that it turns.
Here where I live we have lotsa mills that no longer function but are now neat stores and such. There is one that still makes flour and sells bread but it doesn't look very interesting from a modeling standpoint.
Bernd, your right. A Falkirk Wheel type mechanism for trains would be cool but making one would be way beyond my ability
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Mike
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pipopak
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mwiz64 wrote: Bernd, your right. A Falkirk Wheel type mechanism for trains would be cool but making one would be way beyond my ability .... and my available space.... Jose.
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Junk is something you throw away three weeks before you need it.
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mwiz64
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Well, I could find the space in the yard, like Woodie does but I ruled that out a while ago. Living in Michigan makes outside model railroading less than desirable.
That said, I have seriously considered building the mill in the OP... At lease enough to start researching water wheel construction.
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Mike
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mabloodhound
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Nice find Jose. That's the Bale Grist Mill in St. Helena, Napa Valley, CA
I liked it so much I downloaded a bunch of photos to build it....I hope.
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Dave Mason
D&G RR (Dunstead & Granford) in On30
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” ~ Thos. Jefferson
“Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not.” ~ me
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