Blending my 2 hobbies

[Pete Leach]

I have been building models since I was 10 years old (plastic kits to wood kits to scratch building) in various subjects (cars, planes, ships, and railroads). I was really into ship and boats in my teens and early 20s. I have focused my efforts on model railroading over the past 35 years but found a way to blend model railroading with building watercraft. For the past 12 years I've been building a bedroom sized operational model railroad layout in O scale based on the Maine 2-foot gauge Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway as it may have looked in 1925. The blending comes from the waterfront and wharf in the seaport town of Wiscasset, on the Sheepscot River. I have constructed a model of the RR Wharf that was served by the railroad and coastal vessels. Here are some photos of my results.
This is the Horatio being loaded with sawn lumber at the wharf in Wiscasset. The photo is curtesy the WW&F Ry Museum.

This is my modeled version using plans from Blue Jacket for the Smuggler 2 masted schooner. It was scratchbuilt using the POB method. I've named her Dorothy Glynn after my late mother.

Here is a view of the wharf without the schooner. There are 2 railroad spurs for railcars to be placed on the wharf for loading/loading. The wharf and structures were scratchbuilt.
I have been spending more time on boat building than railroads lately.
Cheers!
Pete

 

[Graham]

Excellent work.

 

[Uwek]

wonderful work - very realistic

 

[RogerD]

Very impressive with excellent detail. You should be sending photos to Model Railroader magazine.

 

[Pete Leach]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and likes. I have found there is a different set of "goals" for building a model for a railroad layout versus for display. I rely on many techniques used in boat/ship building for construction while turning to model railroading for finishing (weathering). Everything on my layout is weathered. These were tuff times for folks in rural 1925 Maine. The schooner represents a "coaster", hauling lumber or other bulk items along the eastern coast. They were a marginal business operating with a small crew of 2 - 4.
RogerD: my layout has been featured in the Nov/Dec 2020 "Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette". It is scheduled to be covered in Model Railroad Planning in either 2024 or 2025.
Cheers!
Pete

 

[gene438]

I admire your work....very detailed and realistic.

 

[Pete Leach]

Here are a few more photos of my wharf scene on my O scale Maine 2-foot gauge railroad.
This photo shows the schooner and a passenger steam ship at the wharf.

The steam ship Salicia is a condensed version of the real one. I had to reduce the overall length to fit the space on the layout. This is something model railroaders call selective compression.

The steam ship model is removable so I can view the wharf area with the pier station. This is a scratch built scale model of the actual station that was on the wharf.

And finally, here is the other side of the wharf with the schooner removed. The structure on the left is a coal storage shed. Pennsylvania coal was moved by schooner, unloaded here, and shipped by rail to a textile plant.
I had great fun building this scene that is part of a 10-ft X 12-ft operating layout in a spare bedroom.
Pete

 

[rsalings]

Very nice work!

 

[Uwek]

I love it - looking very realistic

 

[Dave boatswain]

Simply great!

 

[Pete Leach]

To the right of the wharf is the waterfront in Wiscasset, Maine. A long trestle carried the railroad along the back of the buildings.
Here a train is headed north and approaching the crossing of the Maine Central.

To add interest, I built a couple of boats for the water. Here is a dory with a lobsterman readying to tend his traps. The dory is a kit with details I added.

Next to the dory is a Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack. I scratch built it as a waterline model using lines from an Chappelle book.

Finally, here is an overall view with both boats and a train passing by in the back ground.

I hope you enjoyed the visit to 1925 Maine!
Pete

 

[Uwek]

It is looking so realsitic - I can hear the seagulls shooting

 

[BenD]

That is a great mix of Rail, Sail, and Diorama. Worthy of being in a museum.

The weathering on all of the wood is excellent. It really looks like old piers at the seaside.

 

[Bob sav]

Very nice Being from Maine I can tell you really nailed it, So realistic !!!!

 

[Phoscar]

Je suis absolument émerveillée par votre travail qui mêle à la fois modélisation et ethnologie maritime. Nous avons en France une revue qui s'appelle « Chasse-Marée » où votre travail trouvera toute sa place.
Cependant, je me permets de vous poser une question, que signifie construire un modèle avec la méthode « POB » ?
En tout cas merci pour cette magnifique démonstration de savoir faire.

 

[paul ron]

wow! thats beautiful.

 

[Jwallkc]

POB = Plank on bulkhead

Per Google translate...

POB = Planche sur cloison

 

[fourseas]

Thank you for sharing your beautiful diorama with us. Usually we have to go to a museum to see this type of quality workmanship.
Jim

 

[Roger Pellett]

I have been building models since I was 10 years old (plastic kits to wood kits to scratch building) in various subjects (cars, planes, ships, and railroads). I was really into ship and boats in my teens and early 20s. I have focused my efforts on model railroading over the past 35 years but found a way to blend model railroading with building watercraft. For the past 12 years I've been building a bedroom sized operational model railroad layout in O scale based on the Maine 2-foot gauge Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway as it may have looked in 1925. The blending comes from the waterfront and wharf in the seaport town of Wiscasset, on the Sheepscot River. I have constructed a model of the RR Wharf that was served by the railroad and coastal vessels. Here are some photos of my results.View attachment 427856
This is the Horatio being loaded with sawn lumber at the wharf in Wiscasset. The photo is curtesy the WW&F Ry Museum.
View attachment 427857
This is my modeled version using plans from Blue Jacket for the Smuggler 2 masted schooner. It was scratchbuilt using the POB method. I've named her Dorothy Glynn after my late mother.
View attachment 427858
Here is a view of the wharf without the schooner. There are 2 railroad spurs for railcars to be placed on the wharf for loading/loading. The wharf and structures were scratchbuilt.
I have been spending more time on boat building than railroads lately.
Cheers!
Pete

Great job!

 

[Pete Leach]

Here is another project showing how I can combine my boat building with model railroading hobbies. A friend of mine wanted to duplicate this scene in Marbles, Maine in the early 20th Century on his 1/4" (O) Scale model railroad layout. The boats are called Rangeley boats and were used by folks on holiday in the lakes region of Maine to go fishing. A narrow gauge railroad brought folks to the stone station along the shore of Rangeley Lake.

Unfortunately, there were no kits available so I thought I would try to scratch build a few using the plans and offsets in John Gardner's "Building Classic Small Craft" book. He showed a version with a transom so I started with that. I built a form using styrene hoping I could build the boats from wood and get the off of the form.

I used small scale lumber I have on hand from my model railroading supplies to build the hull. I fine HO scale wood is a great source for 1/4" scale. A scale 1X6 works out to be about 1/2" X 3", perfect for planking this small boat. This view shows the completed hull with the cutwater being bent to the stem.

Building the hull from wood using yellow glue over the styrene allowed me to remove the hull and not destroy the form. These boats had ribs so I used strip wood that measured 1/2" X 1".

I finished the model by adding the inner rail, floor, and thwarts to the interior. I painted it white with some dark green trim because I thought it looked like Maine.

Since most of the boats were double enders (like a canoe), I build a 2nd form and make that version. In fact, I made 4 double enders and 2 with the transom.


They now reside on my friend's layout. But 6 are not enough so I have 6 more in various stages of construction.

I leave you with the scene, so far. This is great fun! And that's what it is all about!
Pete