This year we only brought out the N scale train to run around the top of a table. It was still fun having a train out for Christmas. Nothing like the old days of 20+ trains running at the same time though.
2021 Christmas train at Forked Meadow
Building an N scale log cabin from scratch using twigs
I decided to try my hand at building a little 15×20 scale foot log cabin in N scale out of some twigs that I found in the yard. With the current global situation, rather than going to one of the local chain craft shops, I figured I’d try and scavenge materials. Aside from one chunk of tooth pick to make the chimney, the entire log cabin is made out of twigs from the yard and some Elmer’s wood glue.
I wouldn’t necessarily want to spent more than a few days in this cabin. It would be a wee bit drafty. But overall it’s a very passable little N scale model.
I built this over two days using about seven or eight hours total while watching model train YouTube videos in the background.
Let me tell you… making individual shingles is hard work. But the effect is great. Looks pretty prototypical from photos I found online of old miners cabins. Some of them used big slabs of wood as shingles because that’s what they could get. My shingles are about one scale foot wide on average.
All in all, I think the little modeling experiment turned out pretty well. It’s pretty fun to build something like this from scratch just based on the materials I have on hand around the house or out in the yard. Now i have to think about what I might make next. I was considering a simple tipple or similar. However, I don’t have dimensional bass or balsa wood so that would be a bit of a challenge. Maybe I could start working on a little diorama to put this cabin into and eventually install on a Nn3 (narrow gauge N scale) model train layout?