Project Information
I was noticing one day a picture of old time locomotive and realized that many of the parts of a model train could be made on the wood lathe. It kinda started out as a small toy for a child but the more I thought about it the more I decided to make it more elaborate, loarger and with more exotic woods. I drew plans of each part and set about making each piece using different exotic and domestic woods I happen to like.
The woods I chose include Mesquite, Peruvian Walnut, Purple Heart, Yellow Heart, Padauk, Poplar, Bass Wood, Cherry, Red Oak, and Sycamore. After the train and track section were complete, I was going to get a piece of plywood to attach the track to and then do landscaping around it much like model train folks do for their displays but I got to thinking about where I would display the finished project. I thought of a table just the right height but I didn't have a table. That meant buying one or making one. Then I saw a photo of an old wooden trestle in a book and decided to make that for a display stand instead of a table. Back to the drawing board to design a realistic looking trestle based upon some old engineering drawings I found on line.
The project is assembled entirely with glue, woodwork joints, wood dowels, etc. No metal fasteners were used. The finish is wipe-on poly. Each piece was finished before assembly. When in the course of making this project I found a photo in my file of a train engine that was taken in a train museum in Pennsylvania while I was on vacation. The engine had the name Tahoe and it looked strikingly like my project so I then carved that name in the side of the cab.
The caricatures of the engineer and the fisherman were carved and painted by my good friend Lloyd Claxton.
The woods I chose include Mesquite, Peruvian Walnut, Purple Heart, Yellow Heart, Padauk, Poplar, Bass Wood, Cherry, Red Oak, and Sycamore. After the train and track section were complete, I was going to get a piece of plywood to attach the track to and then do landscaping around it much like model train folks do for their displays but I got to thinking about where I would display the finished project. I thought of a table just the right height but I didn't have a table. That meant buying one or making one. Then I saw a photo of an old wooden trestle in a book and decided to make that for a display stand instead of a table. Back to the drawing board to design a realistic looking trestle based upon some old engineering drawings I found on line.
The project is assembled entirely with glue, woodwork joints, wood dowels, etc. No metal fasteners were used. The finish is wipe-on poly. Each piece was finished before assembly. When in the course of making this project I found a photo in my file of a train engine that was taken in a train museum in Pennsylvania while I was on vacation. The engine had the name Tahoe and it looked strikingly like my project so I then carved that name in the side of the cab.
The caricatures of the engineer and the fisherman were carved and painted by my good friend Lloyd Claxton.