We have been drawing and building museum quality scale models of fascinating legacy railroad and mining equipment since 1995 when we acquired some basic metal working machines - a vertical Mill and a Lathe plus the tooling (collets, cutters, etc.) to support our model prototyping efforts. We taught ourselves to Silver Solder which greatly expanded our complex component assembly capabilities. Articles in Live Steam, The Home Shop Machinist, Machinist's Workshop, Digital Machinist and similar periodicals provided invaluable building tips and techniques as well as sources of tools and materials. 
Sheffield's No. 12 Underground Mine Transportation Car
Some of the full-sized prototypes on which we based our models were found in museums where we photographed and meticulously measured them so we could create accurate construction drawings and build faithful replicas. Some mining ore car prototypes were found in old mining towns and active mining sites in Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Montana. To create model drawing packages when a full-sized prototype wasn't available, we reverse engineered illustrations taken from vintage manufacturer's marketing catalogs, US Patents and old books. We have also mined the archives of The Smithsonian Institution and The Library of Congress for illustrations and basic dimensions of several of our models. Our homework has resulted in thoroughly researched plans to build authentic museum quality scale replicas of historic railroad and mining equipment.
We continue to expand our offering of model construction drawings and have several prototype scale models in various stages of completion on our workbench at this writing. When our prototype models are completed and their drawings checked, we will be offering them for sale on this web site. Among the models now under construction are:1) Jeffery's Railroad Velocipede for 7.5" Gauge Display Track
2) Trevithick's Penn-y-Darren Steam Locomotive for 7.5" Gauge Track
3) Underground Mine Latrine Car (The HONEY POT) for 4.75" Display Track
4) Murdock's Steam Car Model CIRCA 1760
5) Railway Express Baggage Wagon in 1/8th scale
6) Morman Pioneer Hand Cart in 1/8th scale
In this regard, if you have a favorite item of old railroad or mining equipment that you would like to see preserved as a museum quality model, please let us know. If it interests us a much as it does you, we will create the drawing package for it and put together a scale model and you will receive the construction drawing package free as your reward - postage and handling paid by us - so you may build your own museum quality model from our plans.
COPYRIGHT 2011 Jim Mahon
Questions: Call (801) 737-6082 or E-mail us at:
www.nonpareilmodels@digis.net
