You may have read that I am making some toy trains for Noah and Charlie. Ryan contacted me a month ago suggesting I could make a train set for the twins. I think he was considering one of those dinky toy sized trains.  Well I choose to use my skills for a proper train.  And just because they are twins, they should not have to share a gift, so a train each.  

Granted when Blaine and I were little kids our parents gave us a single train set.  But as the older brother, I was always in charge and Blaine had to put the train back on when I upset it.  

In the previous blog I told you I started with the rolling pin for the boiler.  This established the scale.  I quickly determined that the 2-6 layout would be way too big.  The locomotives would be a foot long.  So I ended up with 2 – 4 layout, and had four excess drive wheels that I had spend mucho time on.  

After that I spent days making the rods that connected the wheel sets together and the shafts that went into the drive cylinders.  It was glorious.  The wheels went round, the cross rods went up and down and the plunger went back and forth into the cylinder block.  But then it occurred to me, that I was making toys not a model of a train.  All these little mechanisms would not be appreciated by Noah and Charlie and would eventually break off.  

So I  removed them  and simplified the locomotives.  Granted they are still larger than Ryan probably thought they would be.  But good strong toys.  

I do have a history of going a little overboard in my plans for kids.  Just look at the doll houses I made.  In this case the locomotives are kind of large and the trains when finished will be 4 feet long, but they will be solid.  Wheels and drive frames are made of maple. Boilers are maple and the cabin is good solid oak.  The cowcatcher and top is walnut.  

I will start on the coal cars and caboose and cars tomorrow.