The Tram - May 26, 2026
With the following exception, “When the smelter was ready, the ore was transferred (again by hand) from the bins to the blast furnace, probably by tram”, my research didn’t turn up any additional information about a tram or how the ore was moved around at the Rose-Walsh Smelter or the Durango Smelter. I did, on the other hand, come across this neat little S-Scale model of a Jeffrey Manufacturing Company 4-ton electric mine locomotive in the internet... An electrified Tram... Perfect!
Jeffrey started building electric industrial and mining locomotives in 1888 and by 1895 they had a wide range of electric locomotives. The DM20 18” gauge model was built in 1890 for use on the Boston & Denver Mine’s Bobtail Tunnel in Black Hawk, Co. The kit is available online for about $6 plus shipping.
Note: After receiving the S-Scale version I realized it was too small for my tram. I have since ordered the O-Scale version which should work out better.
https://3dptrain.com/products/bobtail-tunnel-jeffrey-mine-locomotive
Finding suitable ore cars to go along with the locomotive was a bit of a challenge. B.T.S. makes a nice Hon3 kit that will work for S-Scale, but they are relatively expensive. As an alternative these 3-D printed HOn3 15’ gondolas turned up on ebay. That works out to be about 11’ in S-Scale. The under frames may need to be modified to lower the cars. Both low and medium side versions were purchased for about ½ the price of the B.T.S. versions
The Ore House - May 26, 2026
The Ore House is a large structure in any scale. In S, it is approximately 23” by 13½ with several hundred parts. Like the ore bins and receiving shed, the instructions cover every aspect of assembly including recommended tools, paints and adhesives. The assembly steps include photographs, sprue numbers and part numbers that are keyed to three parts diagrams.
Normally my work desk is large enough to hold both the instructions and parts sprues while leaving space for assembly; not for this kit. The kit’s instructions suggest removing the parts form the sprue, taping them to a piece of cardboard, labeling the cardboard with the sprue number and priming all the parts prior to assembly. Since I prefer to stain and paint as I go, spreading all the sprues out on my workroom floor turned out to be a better way for me to proceed. I also used a pencil to number all the parts just in case they got separated from their sprue.
The interior of the ore house is divided into three sections. Again, a large door on one end dictated that some sort of interior was needed. As a result, the section on the far right, still missing the end wall, is going to house an ore car repair shop with tools, spare parts, an ore car turntable, hoist, blacksmith shop and workers. The roof will be removable or have a cut out section to view the interior.
Not long after starting the Ore House assembly, I decided to deviate from the instructions and hold off on installing the “sticky” backed exterior siding, doors and windows until I was done building the cores for the Ore House and Blast Furnace. This was done primarily for flexibility on how the smelter would be finished, paint versus stain, and how the sub-assemblies would eventually be combined.
The Granulator - June 12, 2026
The kit doesn't include any information on how the Rose-Walsh Smelter processed the ore it received nor could I find any information specific to the Durango Smelter. When it came to the granulator, I found the following definition on the internet. "A granulator was a specialized apparatus designed to break molten precious metals into small, uniform granules or leafy flakes to increase their surface area for chemical refining. The granulator worked by using a straightforward gravity and water shock process. As the molten stream, poured from above, hit the cold water the rapid temperature drop shattered the liquid metal into tiny, leafy granules or small hollow spheres."
At first glance the granulator build is looks a little intimidating. It includes about 150 parts and 10 pages of instructions. But, like everything else in the kit, all the parts are precision cut and go together perfectly. Assembly is simplified by the inclusion of a neat little fixture for building the stairs and holding the tower in place while the stairs and supporting structure are attached to the tower. The parts that make up the lower portion of the granulator, were cut from the sprues, sanded to remove any laser burns and/or "nubs", and stained with Silverwood. The sticky backed sheathing that covers the head house was painted with Tamya light gray primer. Assembly took about 5 hours spread over several days.
The granulator waiting for the arrival of the Wild West Model corrugated roofing.
The Ore Car Repair Shop - June 15, 2026
The materials finally arrived to build out the Ore Car Repair Shop inside the Ore House so I thought I would get started. Rather than have the roof removable, a "cut out" seemed to make more sense. I am only going to detail the interior on one end and making one end of the clerestory roof removable would have been challenging.
The floor with the turntable for the tram semed to be the logical starting point. The floor was made with 8" scribed siding, stained with Silverwood, and weathered with craft paints. The rectangular shape in the upper right is for the forge (blacksmith). A common material for a blacksmith floor during the period I model was packed earth or clay.
The interior walls were measured and cut from 3/16" scribed siding. Minwax "Driftwood" was used to stain all of the interior components.
Two of the finished walls temporarily held in place with clothes pins,
As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome
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