R COX LUMBER COMPANY
1:48 Scale 16.5mm Gauge (ON30)
Ron Cox formally from Bristol, England settled in the American Northwest, and founded his Lumber Company in 1898. With access to thousands of acres of virgin forest on the Cascade Mountains, and an outlet to the Ocean via Puget sound. It was a recipe for success. He soon had a lucrative contract to supply ties to the Canadian Pacific Railway at Vancouver and timber for the fast-growing metropolis of California.
The model depicts his original Mill and Planing Sheds just north of Bellingham.
The layout which is 12ft x 2ft with an 8ft scenic section, is mostly scratch built from wood. The trackwork is hand made with code 75 rail, spiked onto Basswood Ties (sleepers), the buildings are balsa wood on 6mm foam core structures and the same foam is carved to make the stone retaining walls.
The wharf is made from lime planks, which is much more durable than Balsa.
The stock you see on Cox Lumber is a mixture of Scratch built (Skeleton wagons) Kits (Disconnects, Freight Cars) and Ready to Run (Bachmann locomotives). All items are heavily weathered, and customized with Cox Lumber Co. sign writing.
The layout is DCC with sound fitted to locomotives and stock.
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