My layout is a fictitious model of West Central Texas and it's connection to Colorado. It is basically late steam / early diesel, but there's quite a bit of leeway on that as well. The goal is to represent the geography and geology of this area and the industries that are present here. Those are primarily agriculture, oil, local businesses, and the railroad. The most recent addition is a small oilfield service facility / pipe yard. After consulting all of my friends in the area who work in the petroleum industry, I still have some questions. Most of these guys didn't work in the oil patch until the '70's, so they don't really know for sure what all would have been in an oilfield service facility from the 1950's. Concrete pipe racks and pipe stacked on railroad ties were definitely done. The items to the right of the pipe were sold: drums of chemical, pipe dope, cable, chain, etc. My question is what else might have been for sale in a facility such as this? The forklift is too modern, but it's the earliest I could find for an industrial outdoor forklift. The next addition will be an Autocar or White flatbed truck, but finding one to kitbash into an oilfield truck is proving difficult. The forklift isn't quite complete. It needs a tiny bit of weathering and an operator. He hasn't been painted yet. Any input is appreciated. Paul Moore
Maybe a tractor based type fork lift like a Farm All BN. Not a B. My quick search showed BN was a 60-70s machine, but somebody probably made something similar in the 50s.
The fork lift is from the '70s or later. Earlier seldom had safety cages and most had inflatable tires. Also much rounder back when the Ford truck was built and the rail cars still had roof walks.
You are correct--it is too modern. These are actually supposed to represent inflatable tires, but it's a soft metal kit. As I said, the forklift is too new. It's the oldest I could find. It may be something I have to kitbash. Some of the earlier types I found photos of during research actually looked home built. As far as a tractor type...those are cool, but I'm not sure they would have been used for pipe due to the narrow span of the forks. I actually built one a couple of years ago for the lumber yard on the layout. It's pictured here. Thanks for the replies!!!! Paul Moore
You are correct--it is too modern. These are actually supposed to represent inflatable tires, but it's a soft metal kit. As I said, the forklift is too new. It's the oldest I could find. It may be something I have to kitbash. Some of the earlier types I found photos of during research actually looked home built. As far as a tractor type...those are cool, but I'm not sure they would have been used for pipe due to the narrow span of the forks. I actually built one a couple of years ago for the lumber yard on the layout. It's pictured here. Thanks for the replies!!!! Paul Moore View attachment 253453
Sorry 'bout the double response. The first attempt appeared to have failed, so I hit post again, and they both appeared.
Put "1950s forklift" into your favorite search engine and there are plenty of results. I found one photo of a WW2-era military forklift (Guam, 1945): It looks primitive but would look right at home on a construction site like you've shown. The wide tires make it able to run on almost any surface. Surplus military vehicles were a good way to get some solid machinery for a more than reasonable cost. I'm sure there's some way to kitbash something or have it 3D-printed.
Hi Mike, Thanks for sharing. That very photo is saved in my archives (e-mailed it to Tom Holley earlier this week). That will have to be scratch built or kit bashed, and I haven't figured out how to do it. Two or three weeks ago I contacted a guy who does 3d printing to see if he was interested in colloborating on a 1950's Autocar oilfield truck and a forklift, but he doesn't do commission work, even if he keeps the file and sells the models. Great photo. Let me do some thinking about how to create something like that. Paul Moore
Hi Mike, Thanks for sharing. That very photo is saved in my archives (e-mailed it to Tom Holley earlier this week). That will have to be scratch built or kit bashed, and I haven't figured out how to do it. Two or three weeks ago I contacted a guy who does 3d printing to see if he was interested in colloborating on a 1950's Autocar oilfield truck and a forklift, but he doesn't do commission work, even if he keeps the file and sells the models. Great photo. Let me do some thinking about how to create something like that. Paul Moore
WOW! I had seen one like the Farmall tractor at a co-op that sold Fordsons. So that's what they had. The military style,I did drive one very similar, but smaller, at the vegetable cannery were I did field work. Ah! Youthful memories.
