Let’s Build a Paper Mill complex for a Friend

[logandsawman]

Dave thanks for reading and commenting. I know just enough about paper mills to be dangerous to my modeling of one. There will be a wood handling complex. The unloading of pulp logs, a storage yard, a possible log conveyor to the debarker and movement to the chipper. I have mentioned it too much as it’s still being sorted out. Even with a large linear space I could use more depth. When has a model railroader ever been happy with the space they have. From the digester to shipping I am using up 144” of space. There is roughly 8’ to the left/west of the digesters to 12’ right/east of the shipping department, but unfortunately some of it is off limits.

If you have pictures of logs being unloaded, please post them.

It looks like the Hough H100 would have been the largest in 1965.

They would outfit them with "forks" and a big hydraulic tooth that would hold the logs on the forks . No bucket. May have had to unload a semi flatbed with tree length or pole trailer with 2 or 3 bites

Picture are in my head, could not find them on the Internet (yet)

 

[TLOC]

It is inside the house Christmas decoration day.

I have been told my temporary work space for the paper mill build and Swing bridge project is being reclaimed till January

It looks like the Hough H100 would have been the largest in 1965.

They would outfit them with "forks" and a big hydraulic tooth that would hold the logs on the forks . No bucket. May have had to unload a semi flatbed with tree length or pole trailer with 2 or 3 bites

Picture are in my head, could not find them on the Internet (yet)

No issue thanks for the history info

 

[TLOC]

I researched some on the Hough H100. It definitely fits the 1965 era but of course no commercially available units in HO scale. It’s beyond my skills.

There is an older Hough unit Stewart Models white metal kit on eBay that I could add the log grapples from Coastmans Scenic Models to be a very convincing unit. But adding those details to the paper mill is at least 9 months away

 

[ctclibby]

I researched some on the Hough H100. It definitely fits the 1965 era but of course no commercially available units in HO scale. It’s beyond my skills.

There is an older Hough unit Stewart Models white metal kit on eBay that I could add the log grapples from Coastmans Scenic Models to be a very convincing unit. But adding those details to the paper mill is at least 9 months away

Tom: FWIW - MR is putting out "The Paper Industry; A key source of rail traffic" - Trains.com Store has it. Probably more orientated to MRR with smaller ( or selective compressed ) physical plants. Might be some additional ideas for ya?

L8r

 

[TLOC]

Tom: FWIW - MR is putting out "The Paper Industry; A key source of rail traffic" - Trains.com Store has it. Probably more orientated to MRR with smaller ( or selective compressed ) physical plants. Might be some additional ideas for ya?

L8r

Thank you, I appreciate it. I forwarded it on to the son as I’ll need a present for New Years. You never have enough info for a model railroad industry.

 

[Bruette]

I worked my way backwards, then started over, now I get it!

The explanations and plans were excellent, but as someone new to building projects, it took me a little while to fully understand what I was seeing.

I especially enjoyed all the background information.

 

[TLOC]

I’m still here. But the paper mill is in limbo. Just a hiatus as I delivered the swing bridge on 12/10/2025. The friend/owner will work to complete that river crossing scene by year’s end

I per request have shifted my focus to that concrete pillar to the right of the river scene. That is 9” wide x 19” deep x16” high and will become a coal fired power plant. 34” to the right of the pillar is where the paper mill starts

Thanks for stopping by

 

[TLOC]

The paper mill continues to be on hiatus. Need to finish the power plant and cover the big pillar. Hopefully back to the paper mill by 2/2/2026 but who really knows. Meanwhile

 

[Bruette]

Meanwhile

A beautiful image!

 

[TLOC]

Good morning and Happy New Year to the followers here. Just a FYI for now.

I have I now believe most of the materials I need for the 90” of the false front facade for the paper mill. I have however got 2 other projects for this layout going. A power plant that basically was just supposed to wrap a concrete pillar 9”x 19” deep x 16” high. That has taken on a whole life of its own. If it comes out the way we think it will be a nice building.

I also am finishing a small engine shed that will reside out in the pulp storage yard. Finally there is my regular commission weathering, that has started picking up again. So bear with me as it maybe at least a week and most likely 2 before I start posting again on this build.

Not part of the 90” of false front facade structure is the shipping/warehouse. This part of the paper mill will be 10” deep x 30” long x multiple heights! 3 truck docks under a canopy and the rail dock which will enter the building next to the truck docks. About 1/2 the roof will be removable as someday the owner will detail the interior!

That’s where I will start. Reversing the production flow! No, the real reason is once the Shipping/warehouse is installed the track work can be built. Hand laid code 70 that thankfully I was not asked to help with. I finally (with help from a retired railroader) we convinced the owner to wait on the track work. Wait for shipping to be done. That building defines the track flow. We are still looking at 31 spots for rail car movement within the paper mill complex not including the 8 coal coal unloading on the mills edge by the power plant. If it goes to plan this will be a busy but uncomplicated part of the layout to work

Besides the power plant walls I have 3 easy projects I want finished before moving back to the mill. A coal car dump pit and hoist house amd 2 unloading spot pads for chemicals delivered to the paper mill.

I have decided to break my modeling time up. For those of you who have followed my weathering thread you know I can lose myself in a project. So I will limit my time at the benches to no more than 6 broken up hours over a day. Depending on life we are hoping the paper mill will be operational by the end of Summer 2026. Ground cover in by Christmas 2026 and details by end of life!

Be well

 

[TLOC]

The engine shed, big enough to house a gp40-2L but built to hold a SW1000 switcher.

The ties and base will be covered in hard packed dirt.

The inspirational Ai rendering that started this…

The plan is this shed will be out in or at the edge of the pulp storage yard

 

[TLOC]

I have been working on the hard packed dirt floor inside the engine shed.

The 1sr layer to cover the floor and ties was just straight from the bottle Golden Molding Paste. I did that

last week and it took a few days to dry. I cleaned the rail head and inside of the rail ASAP, then ran a wheelset over the rails. Then moved it aside

2 pictures above just showing prior to the 1st layer

This morning I created a slurry of the Golden Molding Paste, water, fine earth turf from WS. and some Arizona Rock and Material fine dirt and covered the floor again. I did tape down some Evergreen Scale Models #293 angle to cover the rail head and give the wheel path in the harden dirt.

Applied with a wooden tongue depressed the slurry. I have the timer set for 45 minutes to smooth out the mixture some more and probably with a wet finger.

This is what I’d like to get close to for the floor

 

[TLOC]

The engine shed

I used Golden Molding Paste with a few drops of Model Color #70.872 added and then water to create a slurry to cover the styrene floor and the ties. Done in 2 pours and 72 hours between the pours. I did cover the rail heads and create a groove where the wheel flanges will roll. I used Evergreen Scale Models angle

Today I started adding the 1st layer of the dirt floor. I wasn’t that careful smoothing out the Golden Molding Paste as I knew the packed dirt floor will even the floor, sort of self leveling.

I wet the floor with a spray of 75% tap water mixed with the 70% concentration of Isopropyl Alcohol for the other 25% of the mix. Then I took Elmer’s white Glue All and spread it on the wet surface. Took my custom mix of dirt and with a spoon lightly spread it over the glue. I divided the shed floor into thirds and did each section the same way.

Tomorrow morning I will vacuum the loose dirt. Depending on how it looks will decide if I need more of this base dirt or I can move to the next color

Here are the ingredients of my custom mixes of dirt. Ignore the labels on the bottles. The cards inside each bottle have the products used and the ratios of the blends

Then I write on the bottle for easy id

The floor of the engine shed

While the paste portion of the floor looks and is rough, the dirt is sort of self leveling. Here I had added the glue as described above and then added the earth. Did each section individually

I added the shed just make sure nothing had gotten out of alignment.

 

[TLOC]

The paper mill itself! Wow, remember that?

Lots of delays for so many reasons but mainly owner indecision who stopped the project of the false front facades as I was getting ready to cut the framing. He is in a good place mentally and physically (he’s in Hawaii) now and said yesterday, “just build it”. So I will.

Most of the paper mill structures are false front facades with little depth.Here’s a list of the structures

I have completed the bases each structure will sit on. You can see on the list the length of the building, the height and the depth and of course a name for each structure

So where to start? There are 2 true 3d structures, the Digester/Recovery boiler complex that will take forever to build and will be the final piece of this puzzle. The other 3d structure is the Warehouse/Shipping building. This is 10” deep x 30” x multiple heights from 3.25” to 6” for the shipping department with the warehouse topping out at 8”. The roof over the shipping truck docks and partially over the 30” rail dock will be removable for detailing someday by my friend/layout owner.

Here is a mockup of the 10” east wall which is the action wall! 3 truck docks 46” high to the back of the trailer doors, a personnel door that needs steps and a landing to access shipping. Finally there is the track going into the building. The track is long enough to comfortably hold 3 box cars 60’ long under cover of the roof

The black is Sintra PVC board which I use as the backer for laminating the styrene panels bending used for the siding cladding

I then cut the black Sintra for the backing, added a strip of .060 plain styrene to create the poured concrete foundation of the shipping department. Dry fitted the corrugated siding from Evergreen # 4528. Thought it was ok! So I trimmed the cladding

and messed up a bit! But it’s getting a Z channel on the concrete so it should be alright

Progression of coloring and slightly!!! weathering the concrete

Deciding the progression of the 3 photos of the concrete foundation was too rusted for concrete maybe 20 years old in 1965 I toned the rust down on the concrete. I will lighten the the 3 concrete expansion joints as dripping rust is still too dark for my tastes. It looked great wet but seeing it dried, it’s too dark! This wall is in the dehydrator over night so it should be ready to be worked on and sealed. It will stay in the dehydrator 48 hours until Sunday when I will mask off the concrete and spray a primer color over the white styrene

Mean while I have 2 more walls the same size of this wall minus the openings. 1 is the inside the support wall for shipping and the other is the West plain wall that is the connection to the of the rest of the paper mill. I am working on the framing for the Shipping department

Here is the location of the shipping/Warehouse. Hiding another pillar (see the power plant build thread). 7.5” deep and 9” wide. It will be part of the warehouse/shipping complex and of course hidden!

So that’s some of the day’s actions



Next

 

[TLOC]

Since the thread is only 4 pages long I went back and read it again. 1st thanks for the likes, views, help and comments.

I can’t believe how far away from what I thought we were going to build to what I have started to build. Heck, I’ll have fun trying to keep up with the changes

1st off any Ai generated picture except for the Engine Shed have been deleted from my build folders. Ai thinks everyone is a master scratch builder and the tougher the design the more fun it must be. I experiment with 5 different Ai apps. All the AI’s I tried have issues with rendering (if they can even do it) to scaling measurements. It’s pencil and graph paper for this guy.

2nd, this will be a slow and INCOMPLETE build. I doubt once I have a structure on the layout that we will see it again on my workbench.. I am responsible for getting the false front facades designed (done), built, painted, weathered and installed. Piping, electric ( they will be lit) and detail items are not my responsibility. beyond some absolute basics.

It’s going to be a ride and please don’t be afraid to comment. I can take it if it’s constructive

 

[TLOC]

Not a good beginning for the Warehouse/Shipping structure. 10” deep x 30” long and multiple heights and roof slopes. The plan is to build it in 3 sections. The 1st is 7.5” x 20.5” and is the main feature with detailed interior and removal roof. Section 2 is 7.5” deep x 9.5” long and basically covers a pillar. The 3rd section is a lean to looking thing 2.5” x 30” which will cover the loading dock for 3 box cars

1st I laid out the framing supports for the styrene floor incorrectly. I reversed it which became interesting when adding the roof trusses support beams. Unfortunately I didn’t realize it until I installed the styrene floor

The floor coloring is a mix of Vallejo colors, a Badger light concrete coloring and a wash of a Mission Models grey wash.

Tire wear and tracks are a Vallejo wash for grey colors

The issue surfaces. Those are 60’ cars not the 50’ car that will be in use here. The pencil indicates where support beams are right in the middle of the box car doors, on 50’ cars

It’s not right and it’s just easier if I start over. While typing in the diner I decided this will become the exposed floor of a 48” long cold storage warehouse I need to build some day for this layout!

What I am finding during this adventure is I am making rookie mistakes. I have the plans but having done these builds many times don’t always double or triple check. I laid out the supports for 60’ cars that he won’t use on his layout. The frame supports I just built reversed and wouldn’t have been an issue if the roof didn’t need to be removed. I’m not in a hurry so I’m thinking maybe my age is starting to factor into some of my mistakes.

After hockey this afternoon I will venture over to the LHS and buy out his styrene supply, again!

I will keep showing the good with the bad as this adventure moves along

 

[TLOC]

Good morning. I’m feeling a bit under the weather so instead of doing something constructive at the bench I’ve been creating cost estimates of what the paper mill would cost if I was billing it out as a commission. If this was a commission after the finalized design and approval this is where I would tell the potential client what the final costs will be minus whatever shipping costs.

Some behind the scene info

The paper mill is divided into 6 segments. There is a power plant that is 3 individual segments (walls) that technically is not part of the paper mill, so I’m not including it.

We have a design, approved for a sort of complicated box that is called the Warehouse/Shipping. It consists of 3 separate parts that will be combined into a building footprint 10” x 30” x multiple heights. Also as part of this portion of the build and estimate because it’s so intergal to the warehouse I included the final inspection/Wrap segment. That is 14” long x 10” high with a depth of 2.5” it’s all being built on a 3/8” thick base platform. It’s a sanded piece of plywood that follows the base of the foot print. This was supplied by my friend already primed and waterproofed. So no cost on that!



Just material pricing

So is it cheaper to build material and build it yourself? Oh absolutely if YOU BUILD it because you will get what you want to fit the space. But to have someone do it for you? If you don’t have the time and skill only you can answer that. The prices I showed are my costs for Evergreen Scale Models styrene. In a commission I’m going to cost that out at retail and then add my estimated build time. You’ve already paid a fee to design the building.

So think twice if you want something custom built for you! This is 44” of a 120” build

Sorry for using the unedited screen shots of the pricing pages and segment list. I’m terrible at editing, so I don’t.

I do use Ai specifically Google Gemini to compile my material listings for me after telling it what parts I want to use. A material list I always used to do on the corner ledger of the graph paper design. Now it’s a chart. It also tracks my inventory online instead of my Excel sheets

Remember, this is 2 segments of 6. Each segment would be individually priced.

Side note:

Plain sheet .030, .040, .060 and .080 are purchased as 4’x 8’ sheets cut into 2’ x 4’ pieces. 1/4 square is a 2’x2’ sheet cut into 1/4” square. I buy those at the local plastics distributor for significantly less than the Walthers pricing I get from my LHS. But I use Walthers pricing in my estimates

 

[TLOC]

As you know from just the title of the thread I am building a paper mill for a friend. Over the next 9 months the plan is to complete the structures but not necessarily the final details. But I am back to doing some weathering commissions and I did finish a cost estimate for a modern 2000 era paper mill based on a mill in Biron, Wisconsin. This is up and across the Wisconsin River by maybe a mile from the unbelievably to me now a torn down in 2025 paper mill. Consolidate Papers and the Mead Family in 2000 sold it to Finnish paper company Stora Enso for almost $5 billion. That was a super huge story in 2000 in Central Wisconsin and the start of some real anxiety in Wi. Rapids.

I helped a client years ago build his paper mill that was a representation of Consolidated Papers of 1990’s being serviced by the Wisconsin Central. He reached out a few years ago asking me to design the Biron mill across the river. Here is a screen shot of a preliminary design. After the frame work was build he became medically incapacitated.

I submitted that idea to a now current client back in November 2025 and he recently said yes. But he informed me that he enlarged the foot print to 52” x 132” and the frame is built. It was 30” x 88” with huge aisles. So I am gathering pictures of more modern paper mill structures. I may occasionally toss this build in just for some variety over the next few months. Later today I will start fitting the old plan into the new footprint.

Here is the Biron Mill (9 Dragons now owns it)

Some screenshot pictures from my library of paper mill videos from YouTube

 

[jjames25]

Great shots and great info in this thread. I appreciate you posting it!

 

[TLOC]

Great shots and great info in this thread. I appreciate you posting it!

Thanks for following along