East Texas Pine Trees!
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EAST TEXAS PINE TREES! The new layout requires some more realistic trees right along with the prototypical buildings and trains. Let’s look at the trees that we will need first on the TWMRC. Time to take a look around and see what is new and what is available and what we will need to make ourselves. One of the major players in scenery is of course, Woodland Scenics. They have hundreds of products for grass, water, weeds, rocks, ballast, and anything else you may need. Another major player emerging today is Scenic Express with their “Super Trees” and several other outstanding products. You will also see custom built trees for sale at many of the train shows that are beautiful…and very expensive (I have seen them for as much as $12 each!). We need in the neighborhood of 350-500 pine trees for the logging area, which we can build for $1 or less per tree with our tree making machine and some craft work. The bulk of the trees will be in the background of the scenes and those are the ones we will make first as we learn skills. The foreground trees will need additional detailing, and better detail which will tend to make the viewer believe all of the trees are so detailed. One thing we need to constantly keep in mind is scale. While many trees in the east Texas region reached heights of over 115’ for pines, these are not average size; rather they are the upper growth limits. And the main rule is still what looks correct; we selectively reduce buildings, yards, train length, and many other structures, why not trees? Typically if we have reduced the size of a building to 8” long and 6” high and then put a 80’ Oak tree next to the building it will look out of scale and make the scene appear “off”. Size the trees to the scene and make them of the correct shape, color, and type for the area to be believable. However, in our instance of creating a pine forest for our logging area, we want the trees to dwarf the small logging engines and portray the true task that loggers faced. Look at the chart for pine tree heights that I printed and you will see the relationship between the trunks, percentage of foliage and diameter of the tree. Trunk diameters are equally important to keep your tree from having a “girth” issues. Long leaf pine trees reached diameters of 28” and heights of 115’, but again that is the upper limits of the species. Loblolly pines were more robust and had diameters up to 60” while still maintaining heights of 115’. Clinic for TWMRC by Darrell Cowles 5/2/2015 Let’s make trees! Here are some tools and items you will need: • Pair of good wire cutters • Pair of craft scissors – Harbor Freight sells some good ones cheaply • Some plastic gloves to wear when spray painting – NEVER SPRAY PAINT INSIDE THE BUILDING…NOT EVEN ONE TREE! • Exacto knife with extra #11 blades, or a sharp carving tool of your choice • A wood rasp – a very rough file for quickly removing wood. • A pin vise or power drill with a 7/64” drill bit. This size is based on the finished twisted wire diameter and size of a #3 finish nail. • Bottle of glue- you can use CA or white glue, your choice. I am impatient, so I use CA. • Piece of foam insulation, please choose one from the scrap pile. • Dark gray automotive primer – there is a can at the club to use currently. • Dark red automotive primer – there is a can at the club to use currently. o If you empty one of the cans, please go to a nearby store and purchase a new can of the same color. We are big people, we can do this without BOD direction and permission so the process can continue. • The tree table with the McKinsey tree-making machine. The machine is permanently screwed to the table (mine) to make using it easier; please leave it there and do not remove it! • A broom to clean up the mess when you are done. And there WILL be a mess, this is not a tidy task. *Model Railroader has articles on tree making for various species in the following issues: • November 1989 • October 1992 • May 1995 • July 1995 • September 1997 • February 1999 • October 1999 • June 2000 • September 2003 • May 2005 • November 2005 • February 2006 • October 2006 Clinic for TWMRC by Darrell Cowles 5/2/2015 Long leaf pine found in East Texas in the late 1800’s Clinic for TWMRC by Darrell Cowles 5/2/2015 Loblolly pine found in East Texas in the late 1800’s There were also short leaf pine, but not is as great of quantities. They were roughly the same size as the long leaf however, and are one of the main species harvested currently. Note, none of these look like our Christmas trees or the ones we had on the past layout. New trees are needed! Clinic for TWMRC by Darrell Cowles 5/2/2015 Clinic for TWMRC by Darrell Cowles 5/2/2015 Clinic for TWMRC by Darrell Cowles 5/2/2015 Pinus palustris Pinus palustris, commonly known as the longleaf pine, are formed during a relatively short period of time in Au- is a pine native to the southeastern United States, found gust. Pollination occurs early the following spring, with along the coastal plain from eastern Texas to southeast the male cones 3–8 cm (1.2–3.1 in) long. The female Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida.[2] (seed) cones mature in about twenty months from polli- The Longleaf Pine Is Historically native to Maryland and nation; when mature they are yellow-brown in color, 15– Delaware 25 cm (5.9–9.8 in) long, and 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in) broad, opening to 12 cm (4.7 in), and have a small, but sharp, It reaches a height of 30–35 m (98–115 ft) and a diameter of 0.7 m (28 in). In the past, they reportedly grew to 47 downward-pointing spine on the middle of each scale. m (154 ft) with a diameter of 1.2 m (47 in). The seeds are 7–9 mm (0.28–0.35 in) long, with a 25– 40 mm (0.98–1.57 in) wing. The bark is thick, reddish-brown, and scaly. The leaves are dark green and needle-like, and occur in bundles of Longleaf pine takes 100 to 150 years to become full size three. They often are twisted and 20–45 cm (7.9–17.7 and may live to 500 years old. When young, they grow in) in length. It is one of the two southeastern U.S. pines a long taproot, which usually is 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) long; with long needles, the other being slash pine. by maturity they have a wide spreading lateral root sys- tem with several deep 'sinker' roots. It grows on well- drained, usually sandy soil, often in pure stands. In north- ern Alabama, it sometimes occurs on clay soil. The scien- tific name meaning, “of marshes,” is a misunderstanding on the part of Philip Miller who described the species, after seeing longleaf pine forests with temporary winter flooding. Longleaf pine also is known as being one of several species grouped as a southern yellow pine[3] or longleaf yellow pine, and in the past as pitch pine (a name dropped as it caused confusion with pitch pine, Pinus rigida). 1 Ecology Longleaf pine needles from a 30 m specimen near Tallahassee, Florida The cones, both female seed cones (ovulate strobili) and Longleaf pine: 'grass stage' seedling, near Georgetown, South male pollen cones (staminate strobili), are initiated dur- Carolina ing the growing season before buds emerge. Pollen cones begin forming in their buds in July, while seed conelets Longleaf pine is highly pyrophytic (resistant to wildfire). 1 Clinic for TWMRC by Darrell Cowles 5/2/2015 2 3 NATIVE RANGE, RESTORATION, AND PROTECTION Periodic natural wildfire selects for this species by killing America, as part of the eastern savannas. These forests other trees, leading to open longleaf pine forests or were the source of naval stores - resin, turpentine, and savannas. New seedlings do not appear at all tree-like and timber - needed by merchants and the navy for their ships. resemble a dark green fountain of needles. This form is They have been cutover since for timber and usually re- called the grass stage. During this stage, which lasts for placed with faster-growing loblolly pine and slash pine, 5–12 years, vertical growth is very slow, and the tree may for agriculture, and for urban and suburban development. take a number of years simply to grow ankle-high. Af- Due to this deforestation and over-harvesting, only about ter that it makes a growth spurt, especially if there is no 3% of the original longleaf pine forest remains, and little tree canopy above it. In the grass stage, it is very resis- new is planted. Longleaf pine is available, however, at tant to grass fires, which burn off the ends of the needles, many nurseries within its range; the southernmost known but the fire cannot penetrate the tightly-packed needle point of sale is in Lake Worth, Florida. bases to reach the bud. While relatively immune to fire, The yellow, resinous wood is used for lumber and pulp.