Walther's Wooden Coaling Tower


Myowngod

Pennsy Tuscan Red Blood
I started building the Walther's Wood Coaling
Tower
. Here are some progress pictures of how I built it.

Here is the humble beginnings of the project. The unpainted base.
View attachment 8926

This is painted with Polyscale, Aged Concrete and the rail supports are Grimy Black, with a few washes of Red Oxide and Earth colors.
View attachment 8927

Here's the first piece I assembled, the walls of the coal dump house. The right side has a wash of Raw Umber, then individual painted boards to subtly vary the look. After that I used black and brown chalks to "dirty it up" some more.
View attachment 8928

Now here's all the major parts painted and weathered. I haven't chalked it yet. After they were all done, I sprayed it with testors Dull-cote.
View attachment 8929
 
Well, my wife went to Maine for 4 days. She took the kids... and the camera, so I had plenty of time to get work done on the tower. But unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures until last night.

I am almost done. All I have left to do is the stairs going up the side and front, up to the hoist house on top. I did install some lighting in the coal dump shed, under the main building to light the center tracks, and on the front of the coal tower to light up the main front track. The yard and engine crews have to see what their doing at night.

Here's an overall view of the front.
View attachment 8933

A closer shot of the rigging for the front chutes.
View attachment 8934

A nice silhouette side shot showing all the chutes. You can see one of the light installed to the right of the center track.
View attachment 8935

Let me just say it was a bit of a pain in the rear rigging all of the ropes. I do have to straighten out a couple of the weights.
View attachment 8936
 
I just finished the stairway install. It was the unclearest part of the Walther's directions. Everyone mentions the Walther's instructions are lacking... well this is my first experience with that. I've built a few of their other structures in the past without a problem. The rest of the directions were fine. it was just the stair section I "tripped up on".:D

I'll have pictures up maybe Saturday. It's getting late, and Friday is my train club night.

Thanks for looking.
 
It is completed!

I had a chance to complete the coal tower the other night and I just finished up the touch ups. The stairs were actually the most challenging part of the kit.

View attachment 8978

View attachment 8979

View attachment 8980

View attachment 8981

Here is a video of the kit on Youtube

I really like this kit and I think it turned out pretty well. If you have any questions on how I built the tower, drop me an email. I'll try to help.

I can't wait to get this on my Dad's layout.
 
I install the coal tower on my Dad's layout last week. I figure I should have an ending to this thread.

I really like how it looks against the backdrop.

100_29712.jpg


100_29732.jpg


100_29962.jpg


100_29972.jpg


thanks everyone for checking out my progress. I appreciate the feedback.
 
That's both a mighty impressive structure and a very impressive bit of modeling, there. You obviously took a lot of care on the paint and weathering before you assembled it and it sure shows!

Most wooden coaling tower kits I've seen in the past 30 or so years seem to be based on Rio Grande narrow-gauge prototypes (not that that's a bad thing at all), but this one really looks as if it belongs on a heavy-duty mainline. I like the kit and especially what you did with it!:D

Tom
 
Great job on the rigging and stairs, Ron. Those stairs do look like they were a bear to build. The only suggestion I have is to hit the tower with a few more thin coats of dullcoat. It may be just the way it looks in the pictures but it still looks a bit shiny to me for wood.
 
Ron, nice job with the building. Very impressive.

I just bought the coaling tower kit yesterday. In choosing the kit over the others, I needed to make sure the track spacing that I have will fit the structures. Can you help me? My tracks are 3 5/8" apart, or side to side. Center to center is about 4 1/2". Will the track fit inside? I am using Bachmann EZ track as well. If not is there any wiggle room between the buildings? Does the one track have to be elevated?

I am anxious to start building. Thanks for your help.

Ted
 
Coaling tower is done. Nice kit and very detailed. But like someone said, the stairs were a bear. I would not assemble in the order as in the instructions. The handrails are tough to figure out the exact placement. So I would install them after the treads and risers are in place.

Other than that it is a great kit and looks good on the layout.

Ted
 
Coaling tower is done. Nice kit and very detailed. But like someone said, the stairs were a bear. I would not assemble in the order as in the instructions. The handrails are tough to figure out the exact placement. So I would install them after the treads and risers are in place.

Other than that it is a great kit and looks good on the layout.

Ted

That's great you finished the tower. I would love to see pictures of your version.

Thanks for sharing
Ron
 
I started building the Walther's Wood Coaling
Tower
. Here are some progress pictures of how I built it.

Here is the humble beginnings of the project. The unpainted base.
View attachment 8926

This is painted with Polyscale, Aged Concrete and the rail supports are Grimy Black, with a few washes of Red Oxide and Earth colors.
View attachment 8927

Here's the first piece I assembled, the walls of the coal dump house. The right side has a wash of Raw Umber, then individual painted boards to subtly vary the look. After that I used black and brown chalks to "dirty it up" some more.
View attachment 8928

Now here's all the major parts painted and weathered. I haven't chalked it yet. After they were all done, I sprayed it with testors Dull-cote.
View attachment 8929
Why are the attached photos like 8926 not showing the correct photo. 8926 shows trains on true track on a layout not a photo of the unpainted base. The other attached photos don’t match what should be shown. Is there a way you could fix the attached photos with the correct photos under each different step/paragraph. I Would really appreciate It. So I can see what you did and give me an idea when starting to build my wood coaling tower. Thanks!
Roy Brownson Jr in Syracuse, Utah, USA
 
Great job! There is something haywire about the photo links 8978 through 8991, but I really do appreciate 8978 through 8990, as I am a Burlington Route Zephyr fan from long ago! (Rode the originals as a kid!). If the pictures of the tower weren't in color, and the track wasn't obviously model, I would have thought it was the real prototype!
 
Great job! There is something haywire about the photo links 8978 through 8991, but I really do appreciate 8978 through 8990, as I am a Burlington Route Zephyr fan from long ago! (Rode the originals as a kid!). If the pictures of the tower weren't in color, and the track wasn't obviously model, I would have thought it was the real prototype!
By chance do you have the pictures that are supposed to be with each step/paragraph available? If so could you email them to me in the order they should be under each step/paragraph. It would help me tremendously. My email is roybrownson@yahoo.com
Thanks! Roy Brownson Jr
 



Back
Top