Now the rest of the story ...

Looking good

I really love sawmills and think you have done a great job with the Walthers kit to make it fit into the area you have. I did have a few things I wanted to ask and point out. 

First what era are you modeling? Wood Chips or Hog Fuel were usually put into a wigwam burner or collected to be taken to burn in the power plant for power until the mid to late 1960's when wood chips started to be collected for being made into paper. Most mills retained their wigwam burners until the mills were dismantled many were still standing into the early 2000's. 

A few notes on loading lumber. Most places took pride in keeping their material dry once it had been ran through the kiln and would usually load the cars inside when possible or at least under cover. Also most locations I have seen loaded the lumber at deck level. Even if they could not load it with a forklift they would at least be able to take a cart and roll it into the car with the last pieces being loaded from the end with a lumber door. 

The main output of a mill would of course be lumber so I would dedicate as many spots as possible to loading lumber. Also when locations added their wood hip loaders they were added wherever they had room. Since you are modeling a smaller mill what you have would work great but only probably load one car a day as some would go to the boiler house and the rest split between truck for the local power plant and a rail car for paper or for another town for fuel. My main suggestion would be to either purchase or move the loading she's so it is over both the track that has the woodchip cars on it along with the boxcar and add a loading dock. Optimally I would also attach the loading shed to the planning mill to keep all that new lumber out of the elements. It would also double your lumber spots from one or two to around four. The woods chips would switched when you pulled the lumber on the front track and spotted in an empty. 

Milll Suggestions

Hey Greg,

Thanks for the input & suggestions. I had thought of doing some of the things you mentioned, but I have very little space to do them. I am not really done with the area yet as I have a lot of detail work to do. I am thinking about adding a dock of sorts between the box car and the next visible track. I did also think about putting a extra track into the shed at least setting the shed over the track where you see the box car setting. I may take a second look at these areas. BUT I really don't want to tear anything out again as this area has been really reworked.

Richard

nice work

nice work you did there

Perfect timing!

I sent a link to my modeling buddy who is working on exactly the same thing. He is working on module that will be built into future benchwork. The theme is a lumber mill similar to yours and all the stuff that goes with it. Since he is still researching and just started scratch building I am sure he will get inspiration from what you have shown. Nice work!

Richard

I totally understand about not wanting to redo an area you just did such a nice job of working on. Keep us posted on your detailing efforts!

Lumber mill loading

I also like what you have done, as it closely resembles the mill I fit into a 6 ft space that I have. I agree with Greg, you definitely want to give serious thought to adding some sort of covered storage building for loading. While I'm modeling Ontario in my layout, I used the Hull-Oakes facility in Oregon as my template and re-created the loading building using some of the available photos and videos of this mill.  Weather was my big concern, and although Ontario may not see the annual rainfall amounts that the Hull-Oakes facility does, it was a factor in which buildings I wanted to have and how I loaded my lumber.  It was easy enough to sketch out the trusses and just make a simple building with the trusses and metal roof. Look forward to seeing the finished mill.

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Your crews can use the space on the chip track forward of the road for one more car spot, for loading flatcars with lumber.

Much improved!

I really like the way your scene came out as it looks great!