Thanks for the info and advice.
I'm a model railroader and I love to scratch build stuff. A guy I know has gotten me interested in modeling a pole road. This is a very obscure type of thing to model and there are no wheels available in the current marketplace.
No one makes wheels because the complexities of modeling a pole road are challenging to say the least.
What is a Pole Railroad? Well let me tell you. You see along about 1880 until around 1920, small logging operations were a viable way to make some good money. Some of the smaller operations saved money by having trains that ran on wooden logs instead of iron rails. No cross ties were used. The logs were held in place by long wooden stakes driven through holes drilled in the logs.
So a crew could go into the woods and fell trees to build the pole road as they went.
See photo here This next pic is of the engine my friend is modeling and I am making the wheels for him. I was going to turn them on the lathe, but they have spokes. So I plan to cast them and then turn the concave wheel tread on the lathe. If I get the RTC casting silicone I want then I will just have to clean them up on the lathe and drill the hole for the axle.
As you can see, a lot of these locos were built in the logging company's black smith shop. A real catch-as-catch-can sort of affair. Often built with what was on hand.
My friend models in "O" scale (1-48) and I model in "HO" scale (1-87). I think I have figured out how to supply electrical power to the engine, but this will take some experimentation. No, not with a radio controlled battery powered unit either. That would be too easy and besides, dealing with batteries is a pain for something like this.
He wants 16 wheels for his engine and rolling stock, so the best way is to cast them.
I have done casting before and I think I am up to the challenge.
Christopher
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