Cayce SC Brick Kilns

[eTraxx]

The other day, Andrew Gillette told me of some brick kilns in Columbia SC (actually Cayce). Andrew gave me a link via Yahoo maps. Cool. Love the internet. Here is the overhead view of the ovens via Google Maps.



Yesterday I was 'out and about' with my friend Gary and his wife Linda. We went to a Train Show in Columbia, a CSX yard and finally the brick kilns. We took photos .. and were visited by a policeman. Seems that the area was 'supposed' to be blocked off to traffic/people. Oops. Anyway, I posted the photos up to Fotki .. so enjoy. (the track you can see in some of the photos is 2' narrow gauge!)



Cayce SC Brick Kilns

[james_coldicott]

Ed et al,

kind of surprised there were no replies here- thanks for the pictures Ed! For anyone interesting in modelling this prototype I'm attaching a few photo's taken at the Leighton Buzzard Railway during my trip last weekend (a quick thanks here to Malcolm for offering hospitality during my stay!)

These are 2 foot gauge brick kiln cars which would suit perfectly.

Principle dims are:

80.75" body height
34" body width
8.25" diameter wheels

by the way the railway is shut during the winter months but is a fantastic place to visit if you are in the UK during the summer- there are dozens of 2 foot gauge tippers and cars from all eras and over a dozen small petrol and diesel critters from the early to mid 20th century plus half a dozen steam loco's including a WW1 Baldwin 4-6-0- all restored and operating. This was my first trip and I was very impressed both by the equipment and the helpful staff at the Stonehenge Works who gave me permission to roam and take photo's in a normally off limits area of the railway.

Enjoy!

James

[james_coldicott]

...and one more.

J

[eTraxx]

James. Yeah .. I was wondering why no one replied. The link has some great close-ups of .. if nothing else .. old brick-work. Looking at your photos of the brick kiln cars, reminded me of one of the photos I made through the barred doors of a kiln. You can see 'some kinda' cars stored inside. I went back and pulled a close-up ..

[finescalerr]

I'm replying. Is anyone going to model something similar? -- Russ

[gin sot]

Is anyone going to model something similar?

This guy, right here!

I need a cylindrical brick assemblage in HO scale (similar to the brick kiln but smaller and without the reinforcing iron bands, but with the complications of a few rectangular projections), and haven't yet figured out my approach.  The result needs to be reproducible, probably through plaster cast in RTV mold.  The options, as I see them:

Option 1: Create a blank out of foam or plaster and carve away excess material, then scribe in mortar joints.  This would demand very accurate scribing around the circumference of the blank to describe the brick courses, and I'm not sure how I would accomplish that.

Option 2: Wrap a sculpted core with paper or vinyl brick sheet.  Might be marginally acceptable appearance-wise (on the lower end of the scale, IMHO), but would not allow reproduction via mold and casting.

Option 3: Recreate in miniature with individual scale bricks.  Might be the most prototypically accurate, but would probably be the most tedious and time-consuming.  I'd also need to figure out a good way to obtain HO scale bricks.

[eTraxx]

If you were creating a cylindrical form as opposed to the hemispherical kilns I would suggest using a vinyl(?) sheet and wrapping around a cylinder. To scribe around an object like a hemisphere .. and doing it accurately ... how about  putting the 'scribee' on a lazy-susan and using a surface gauge for the scriber ..

[gin sot]

Good plan . . . is there an acceptable way to assemble a surface gauge from common household items?  I have plenty of time and materials, but zero (0) dollars to devote to tooling up right now.

[eTraxx]

You can get one from Amazon.com for $15 ...

http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-H2713-Surface-Gauges-12-22/dp/B0000DD3BK

Look on eBay .. they have some there for $10

it would cost you prob that much in materials to replicate one

[Ray Dunakin]

I've often thought about modeling a brick kiln just because I like the way they look. But it wouldn't really fit into my theme (not to mention my space).