As summer begins (along with my retirement) my next project is another mine, tentatively called the Bitter Creek 2.
This is going to be a scratchbuild, based on a two-part series by Allen J Brewster that ran in Model Railroader Magazine in 1975. His model was based on plans of a mine in Leadville, Colorado that appeared in Slim Gauge News in 1972. I have copies of all three magazines.
I built this mine in HO scale back around 1980, for an HOn3 shelf layout that I had in our apartment. The picture was scanned from slides I took at the time. The model was damaged at some point and most of it was discarded or broken up for parts. I think I still have the ore bin in a box somewhere.
This photo from the California State archives is identified as part of the Russell property in Lockwood Valley. It appears to be a smaller operation -- maybe an exploratory dig -- but kind of has the same feel as the mine I'm modeling.
I've worked up a supply list, and in the last couple of days I ordered some supplies: corrugated roofing and a mine chute mechanism from Wild West Models; Tichy doors, windows, and nut-bolt-washer castings; a Grandt Line bullwheel; and some stripwood.
When I built my HO model I used Northeastern milled board-and-batten siding. This time I'm going to closely follow Brewster's construction method, building a core from mattboard, then applying prestained individual boards and battens.
I have the stripwood I need to build the ore bin, and probably enough NBW castings, so I'll start there while I wait for the other stuff to arrive.
I will probably build a temporary foam-based diorama for this, as I did with the recent depot build, but eventually this will become the centerpiece of the new Frazier Borate layout. Here's the latest version of that track plan:
This plan is also designed to use the Peco switches I have on hand: 2 lefts, a right, and a wye, so I probably only need to buy a bundle of 5 lengths of flex track.
5/25/26: I started with the ore bin, since I have the materials on hand.
Lots of cutting to do. To speed things up, I bought a cheap mini miter saw from Harbor Freight. For $35, quality is so-so, but it beats cutting all those parts with a razor saw.
It's hard to see in this picture, but the frames include music wire tie rods with nut-bolt-washer castings at the ends. I need to build one more frame, but then probably pause a bit. I am short on music wire, and I need to prep more timbers -- I underestimated how much I'd need. I should probably also wait until I get the ore gates from Wild West Models, since the frame may need to be adjusted to fit. I may start work on the head frame in the mean time.
6/4/26: I'm still waiting on the ore gate from Wild West Models, but I have everything I need for the head frame, so I've started on that. The wood parts are done and I've started to install tie rods and NBW castings. I have a Grandt sheave, but I need to scrounge up some 1/16 rod for the axle.
I messed up on the measurements, so I'll have to adjust the building a bit; I think it's going to end up about an inch (four scale feet) shorter than the plan, but that's not a bad thing.
Cumberland shops crewman for scale. This thing is big.
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