Needed treated lumber train plan

[wolfmanyoda]

Hi everyone, great forum you have here.
I want to build a toy train big enough for my kids to play on. It will be made of treated lumber and sit in my back yard.
I've looked all over and cannot find plans for it, the best I could find online was a photo of someone else's train:
http://www.nesea.org/park/images/train.gif
I'd love to find some plans for something similar, even if it's just the engine.
Anyone know of a site where I could get plans like this?
Thanks.

[echnidna]

Love that train, any other pics available

[wolfmanyoda]

Unfortunatly no, that's the only picture I could find.
That's why I'm looking for plans to build one :)

[bsrlee]

I think you will have to scale your own plans off the photo. Basically print it out as large as possible in B&W (pixellation is not a worry, you are just after the block sizes), then draw a tapered grid based on the height of the people in the photo & guestimate the rest of the dimensions. There are a few books that go into some detail on how to convert photos into sketch plans - Model Railroader does it in occasional articles & 'Woodworkers' Essential Facts, Formulas & Short-Cuts: Figure It Out, With or Without Math' by Ken Horner has a chapter on how to do it. Try to get a copy thru' the library before you get a copy from Amazon.

A lot of the books by David Styles on building kids tree houses & cubbies are also very useful in making outdoor kids play areas & again, some of them may be available thru the library or inter-library loan, before you splash out on your own copies.

[wolfmanyoda]

Thanks for the advice. I was planning on taking the kids to the library in a couple of days.
I'll look into it and if I can come up with some good plans on my own I'll be sure to share them here.

[Coldamus]

Are you aware of the possible health issues with treated pine? If not, do a google search on "health treated pine" or similar. The issue has also been discussed before on this forum.

regards
Coldamus

[wolfmanyoda]

I believe the dangers were with lumber treated with CCA, which contained arsenic.
CCA treated lumbar isn't sold anymore here in the States. They are supposed to be using something that's safer nowadays.
Just to be sure I'll check into that too.