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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.

Gallery

Comments

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37 Posts
Simply. Gorgeous.
 

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9 Posts
You have done a fabulous job! WOW!
Love the attention to details.
 

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107 Posts
That is amazing work! Thanks for sharing!!
 

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100 Posts
really nice, beautiful!
 

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Very nice…I bet that we will see more train cars in the future.
 

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841 Posts
Very nicely done-a real eye catcher.
 

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21 Posts
Very cool!
 

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14 Posts
This is really beautiful. I've been looking for a design of a train to build. Could i talk you into sharing the plans?
Leonard
 

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Sorry Leonard5 I do not plan to release these plans to anyone.
 

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OK, I can understand that. It's is a beautiful design.
 

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215 Posts
wow beautiful work. That is a complete package, a great looking locomotive, tracks and display stand.
 

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1,839 Posts
More than a beauty.
 

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Your English works, Dutchy, I speak Texan myself and lots of people cannot understand me. Your chip carving was especially nice by the way for being only your second attempt.
 
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