Iron Ore Mine & Steel Mill in N

Well I received another kit for my harbour region of my layout: the Walthers bridge crane. Like the ore dock, the bridge crane is a HO kit, and yes, I am doing an N layout. You’re just going to have to trust me that I’ll all live together in seamless perfect harmony one day.

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I have the ore dock because my world-class iron ore mine will be producing well in excess of what my steel mill needs and most of the iron ore will be exported via bulk carrier ships. However coal and limestone will have to be brought in for those critical carbon atoms needed to transform iron into steel, hence the ore bridge.

Perhaps one day I’ll scratch together a hulett unloader, or even better get a kit if any one ends up making one!

In other news, I also got my turnout point switch machines… yee haw, time for some serious wiring now.

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...fits like a glove.

I haven’t got nearly as much work as I’d like to get done on the layout over the holidays because my wife, baby and I all were sick with the flu. No that we’re all on the mend, I think some serious work will get done this weekend.
 
Hello Dr.G.
For your Huletts Unloader see following sites:
daveayers.com/Modelling/Steel_Huletts.htm
on the right hand side part way down click on the plan shown for a full screen look
Bearco.marine.com
sells blueprints and kits for the Huletts
Railroad Line Forums
There is a nine page article on building a Huletts Unloader.

Hope this is of some help.
Cheers from the Heart of the Continent
MT Hopper
 
I'm actually moving in three weeks so I've been busy packing it all up. Also been busy with work, but after the move, I should have some real time to get back into it.
 

DrGeologist said:
I'm actually moving in three weeks so I've been busy packing it all up. Also been busy with work, but after the move, I should have some real time to get back into it.
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DANG! That means three more weeks before I can get working again. Your layout is VERY motivating for me, seeing on how we are doing similar things. I was SO excited when I saw a reply on here, and than it read "3 more weeks". Bummer. Maybe Ill have to get a jump on it tonight.
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Pan Out

MT Hopper said:
Hello Dr.G.
For your Huletts Unloader see following sites:
daveayers.com/Modelling/Steel_Huletts.htm
on the right hand side part way down click on the plan shown for a full screen look
Bearco.marine.com
sells blueprints and kits for the Huletts
Railroad Line Forums
There is a nine page article on building a Huletts Unloader.

Hope this is of some help.
Cheers from the Heart of the Continent
MT Hopper
Click to expand...
Dr G
Was this info of any use??
MT
 
Alright, so it’s been like almost a year since I last placed a proper post. I have been a bit busy with work, and our little baby has left me with much less free time that I had anticipated.

The project has actually taken a few steps backwards since my last post as well, because I have moved into a new house and my layout wasn’t designed to be modular. After a bit of quick work with a pruning saw and pry bar, I soon corrected that.

My new garage doesn’t have as much space as my old one, so I had to readjust the configuration of my layout. Before where it was a bit ‘J’ shaped, I have taken the long perpendicular top section and turned it now that I get a continuous 18 foot long section.

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I’ve kept the harbour area and oredock where they are, ad well as the triangular section where the steel mill will be located. I have opted to scrap the iron ore mine idea, and instead use the huge long section area for the stockpiled iron ore and other raw materials.

I’ve been very lucky to get a model bucket wheel excavator which I will still use, but now will serve as a stockpile reclaimer.

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Anyways, now that my son has just turned one I find myself with a bit more spare time, also now that the Australian winter is coming to and end for another year, it’s now getting warm enough to start spending some evenings on the layout.
 
Hello Dr. Geologist,
Glad to hear your able to have a little R 'n R time. That bucket loader appears to be quite the kit!
One word of caution from (gee! It was only ten years ago!) field experience. Always hold a cloth over the lower area when removing and replacing male childs diaper (Look! A fountain!) as I learned the hard way. But most importantly to quote the title of my unfinished book, ALWAYS carry a damp cloth! A face cloth in a zip lock baggie.
Cheers from the Heart of the Continent
MT Hopper
p.s. got thrown by a posting farther down from Dr. G.
 
WOW Awesome Set-up!!!!

I love that ore dock!!!

And that Bucket Wheeled Excavator is amazing!!!! Where did you find that? How much was it?? I want one if i can still find one :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :mrgreen:
 
I got it on EBay last November. I couldn't believe it when I saw it myself. It's 1:200 so it's not quite n scale, but it's close enough for me.

I did end up paying ALOT for it... I'd rather not say for fear my wife reads this forum. Let's just say it was the same price as my two blast furnaces and ore dock combined.

It is a huge kit with alot of pieces and not many instructions. I'm going to wait a while before attempting to construct it so I can develop my modelling skills.
 
Glad to have you back! Ive been waiting (impatiently) for a new post on this thread! Great work on the new setup. Looks like a great size for N scale. Everytime I see a pic of your ore dock I wish I had the cash for one on ebay, but they are like $280! Get some more work done and post pics!:thumb: Were ready to see them!:mrgreen:
 
I’m still slowly progressing on the ore dock. There’s plenty of painting and gluing to be done. I’ve got it to a stage now where I couldn’t help myself and just haphazardly tacked some main pieces together, enough just to lay some track on top of it and see how a train looks on it.

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Keep in mind that this is a HO scale kit, and I’ve received a bit of criticism that the dock just won’t look right in N, even though the kit is much smaller than the prototype. I really don’t care to be honest, and in my opinion the N scale coal cars and GP38 don’t look out of place.

While I had my rolling stock out, I figured I’d take a gratuitous happy snap.

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In other news, I’ve had a bit of a think about my new track plan now that I’ve changed the configuration of my layout and have decided that I need to re-do my inclines. So, I headed down to the hobby shop today to order a couple of Woodland Scenics 3% incline sets… should have them in four weeks… one of the drawbacks of living in outback Australia. Oh well, I should have my ore dock completed by then.

I also ordered some kits that I will use to kitbash together what will be my gas blowing engine house for my blast furnaces. This will be my next project as it should be nice and simple for a beginner like me.

I’m also keen to get some close-up pics of an ore stacker. I’ll probably have to kitbash / scratch build one of these to go with my reclaimer in the ore stock pile yard.
 
I'd love to, but I'm still figuring out my trackplan myself. I know the overall layout but the final details still need some work, especially the trackwork around the furnaces for the hot metal and slag. I will post something when I get the details ironed out, but it will no doubt change as the project matures.
 
Hello DrGeologist,
Since you are also a railroader I thought I might ask you this question. As a modeler I am interested in the colour of soils and rocks. Rocks aren't always a problem but even though one knows the rock colour, the soil colour can vary quite a bit,( I presume dependent upon the nature of inclusions in the mother rock and the nature and extent of organics included). I am currently doing a sugar mill in Cuba. The soils are reddish limestone BUT it "seems" as if the variation can be quite broad. It is difficult to tell from photos but it "appears" to vary from a beige yellow colour up to a North Shore of Lake Superior red. Can you recommend any source/s with photos that display soil colours in different world locales?

Cheers from the Heart of the Continent
MT Hopper
 
DrGeologist said:
I'd love to, but I'm still figuring out my trackplan myself. I know the overall layout but the final details still need some work, especially the trackwork around the furnaces for the hot metal and slag. I will post something when I get the details ironed out, but it will no doubt change as the project matures.
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Could you just send me measurements of the benchwork?
 
I decided that I would start to build my two blast furnaces today. I’m sure these photos will conjure up reminiscent memories for any of you who have constructed this brilliant kit before. I’m finding the instructions overall pretty good, but there have been a couple of errors where the part numbers in the text are wrong and the actual parts are a different number all together. I’m thankful that I’m building two at the same time (rather than one after another) so I don’t have to figure it all out again for a second time.

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I’ve also decided to go ahead and start the bridge crane. I know, I know, it’s another big HO kit that I’m trying to blend into my N layout, but I’m a sucker for gargantuan steel structures …on that note, the ore dock is still progressing along, but is very stop-and-go.

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Overall, things are ticking along nicely. I should have a couple of kits come in that I will use to construct the gas blowing engine house.

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As for your question Kevinkrey, here are the measurements of my benchwork. Sorry for the metric system, but I’m an ex-Canadian Aussie. The longest dimenion works out to be around 17-18’.

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Good start on the Furnaces. i remember building the Blast Furnace, I spent over 35 hours on that kit alone, and i did only one!!! lol That included painting and weathering too.

Dont know if you saw my threads on building my N scale Steel Mill Buildings from Walthers:

Blast Furnace

Rolling Mills

Coke Oven & Quencher

ive since sold them off, but i will one day re-buy them all and make BIGGER ones for a new Steel Mill in the Furture :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Great work so far, cant wait to see more :thumb: :thumb:
 
I'm quite familiar with those threads. You've done a fantastic job and have done all of us a great service posting your progress from one stage to another. It's always nice to have an additional resource like that when something in the instruction sheets isn't clear.
 
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