Pete's Pumpkins at a Glance

I spent some time and compiled a small gallery of images that document progress of the Pete’s Pumpkins model railroad over the course of the last two months. Before I started this project, I doubted that it was possible to build a model railroad in such a short time – however having completed this railroad in 9 weeks has left me happily enlightened.

The project was a great learning experience, and I believe it highlights some of the winning characteristics of constructing a micro/small model railroad. First, space is easy to come-by as any model railroad two square feet of less can be easily stored and transported – which in my case allowed me to casually work while surrounded by my family. Second, the small size lets you experience all the aspects of model construction in much shorter time frame. This lets the builder sample each phase of model building and gain an appreciation for the challenges each area presents. Likewise, it lets the builder learn what they have a natural affinity for – be it scenery or motive power – which might help to shape the choices they make on future projects. Third, the inherently ‘absurd’ nature of a micro/small model railroad lets the builder take creative liberties and create a fictional pike that isn’t bound by prototypical rigor. The builder can experiment, take chances, and ‘imagineer’ as they wish as there’s no real-life example to keep them accountable. This freedom ultimately shapes my fourth point; micro layouts are fun! Despite my limited experiences, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed building Pete’s Pumpkins as much as any other project I’ve tackled. I’ve learned a great deal over the last two months and I’m eager to apply these new found skills on other projects.

So what’s next?

Pete’s Pumpkins will likely go into storage, although I am considering retrofitting his pumpkin industry with firewood (the pumpkin market just isn’t as lucrative as one might think!). I have some larger model railroad projects that I’ve been working on at www.modelrailroader.ca and I’m eager to start making progress on those projects as the winter months upon us.

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Halloween!

Picking Up Pumpkins

A reader left a very pointed comment that asked a very good question – 'how does Pete unload the pumpkins?' I went hunting to see if I could find some 1/32 tractors etc. But they were rather costly – at least for this project's budget. I decided that Pete, being a frugal farmer, would have likely rigged some sort of 'block-n-tackle-hoist-thing' from junk lying around the barnyard, so I decided to do the same. Using a pencil, a bamboo skewer, old n scale wheels and some scrap styrene, I 'imagineered' a yard hoist. The boom on the hoist actually swings, and the line will pull through the pulley. It’s not the front-end loader that I envisioned the farm having, but it will do the job!