WALLOWA — A global enterprise has opened in little Wallowa that provides bronze work for whatever you want, but you have to find it first.

“We like this little hidden, nobody-knows-about-us, place,” said Garrett Lowe, owner of Timber Bronze 53. “We’ve got the red caboose.”

On Aug. 1, Lowe, a member of the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority board, had a 1920s-era caboose towed from Minam to the old Wallowa County Grain Growers silo along the truck route in Wallowa, the site of Timber Bronze 53.

He’s hoping the Eagle Cap Excursion Train, which has made runs from Elgin to Minam, can extend that to Wallowa. But how does the caboose fit in with his business?

“It doesn’t, really,” he said. “We just opened up the space. If you look at any travel brochure or any road map or if you stop into a chamber of commerce and open one of their maps, Wallowa is missing; Wallowa’s not even on that map. We thought that’s a little ridiculous. It used to be the county seat. It used to have three lumber mills. It used to be a going place. I’ve contacted Travel Oregon and others and said, ‘It’s time we changed that.’ So that’s how the caboose fits in — to bring more interest. As you come down the truck route, that’s the first thing that you see.”

But his future plans include the caboose.

“Our goal is to have people come and get off the train, watch the bronze process, watch the pottery process, grab a bottle of wine or glass of wine or whatever and just go on through and then go on into town and take part in whatever’s going on there,” he said.

Global reach

Timber Bronze 53 is a family-owned hand crafter of solid, cast bronze hardware and decorative accessories for log, timber frame, post and pole and other rustic homes, lodges and Adirondack-style cabins.

The internet allows Timber Bronze 53 to market worldwide from Wallowa, Lowe said, adding that more than 90% of his business is done online.

“So far, we’ve sold into all 50 states, into Canada, into Mexico, into Hong Kong, into a number of countries in Europe all from little Wallowa,” he said.

Lowe showed some pine cone-shaped finials — items that can go atop a lamp to keep the shade on or adorn other items.

“These cones are going to an iron worker in New Hampshire and he puts them onto his iron railings,” he said. “We do a lot of nature-themed items.”

Other items include door knockers and doorbells or just free-standing art.

“We pour these here — we use sand casting,” he said.

Other foundries

But there are items Timber Bronze 53 doesn’t undertake.

“The rest of them go to Valley Bronze in Enterprise and they’ll use the ‘lost wax’ process,” Lowe said.

In that process, a wax representation of the finished bronze product will be built on a “wax tree,” which Lowe calls a “glorified toilet plunger,” and that is used to make the bronze.

“They’ll heat this up to almost the temperature of the bronze and melt this wax out and they’ll use this negative space,” he said. “Then they’ll heat it up again and pour the bronze into it so we get an exact copy.”

But these items don’t come quickly, Lowe said.

“When we get an order, it’ll take us about four weeks, so we’ll put a six-week lead time on it,” he said. “We’d rather under-promise and over-deliver.”

He said an item such as a door bell might cost about $55-60.

Lowe also works with Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which provides Oregon manufacturers with consultative and other services out of Portland.

“What’s really good for us is they can tell us what products work best and which take too much time,” he said. “Some of them are simple. We can do them here and get them out the door or is it a process that has to go to Valley Bronze. Because of their process, it’s all physics; it takes a certain amount of time.”

Other plans

The foundry only takes up a small portion of the old grain silo and warehouse. Lowe has plans for other areas.

Already, his wife, Beth, is operating Dry Creek Design, a pottery shop in part of the warehouse.

As mentioned, if the Excursion Train can come to Wallowa, Lowe’s complex can serve as a depot. There’s also the possibility of a climbing wall in an old silo and a restaurant.

But those are still in the “possibility” stage.

“Our goal is to have people come and get off the train, watch the bronze process, watch the pottery process, grab a bottle of wine or glass of wine or whatever and just go on through and then go on into town and take part in whatever’s going on there,” Lowe said.

What: Bronze works and foundry

Who: Garrett Lowe

Where: 302 Riverside Ave., Wallowa

Phone: 541-263-2800

Email: garrett@timberbronze.com

Online: timberbronze.com and Instagram