049 The Augusta Railway - Starting on the Station

Wow!  Finally back to modeling again!  My eyesight is much better, and it is getting cold outside so I don't want to mow grass or wash the car.  Ok, so I never want to mow grass or wash the car!

It is getting cold again here in Utah.  Wife made me a nice cup of tea.  Where's my railroad mug?

A bit of a chill here in the shop, so time to get out the room heater.

I looked up the plans for the station on line.

...and printed them off on the laser printer.  Thanks On30 Annual!

No matter where I get the plans, either from a kit or off the net, I check the dimensions.  Yup, they are not spot on.  A bit short, this one.  You can spend hours with a copier or computer trying to get them right, or even redraw them, but I usually don't bother.

The 20' wall is about a foot short.  Good thing we checked!

After careful inspection I did find a small imperfection in the siding material.  There was a knot in this piece of wood.  That doesn't make it unusable, but I certainly don't want it on the front of the building.

After flipping the board over I found the small knot and put a yellow dot over it so that I don't use that piece.  It is easy to forget where it is when you are cutting and the dot helps me remember.  Clapboard also has a top and a bottom, so on the yellow dot I marked the top and pattern.  Board is too expensive these days to cut it incorrectly so take the time to dumb-proof yourself!

Here you can see the clapboard and top direction on the dot.

Always put in a sharp new blade before cutting and carefully dispose of the old blade.  I keep mine in an old metal Altoids tin.

The end of the building is 12 feet long and 15' high.  using a scale rule and an angle I mark the 12' along the bottom and then draw a 90 degree line up 15' scale feet.

To make double sure the line is where I want it, I measure the top 12' as well.  Spot on!

Using the angle I draw a line across the top to make a rectangle.

Drats!  The rood is not a perfect 45 degree angle!  Oh well, this takes only a bit more work.

I made a mark on both sides of the wall at 10' and then split the top line in half at the 6' mark.  Using the rule I drew lines to make the roof angle.  Then, very carefully, I cut out the part.  In order to make the cut I used 20 strokes of the hobby knife.  Yup, 20 for EACH cut.  This ensures a nice clean cut and keeps me from slipping with the knife and earning a name like "Lefty!"

Again, just to make sure, I check the sides and angle.  Perfect!

Making sure the wood is in the right direction, and that the clapboard for the sides matches the ends, I draw out the 20' x 10 ' front wall.

Again, carefully cutting out the part using long, gentle knife strokes.

I don't quite have enough wood for another long side so I pick up the second piece and check if for knots, carefully marking the top of the board.

One thing I HATE about Mascot steel rules is that they try to cram every scale they can find onto one rule.  This makes it VERY easy to pick up the HO side and start to measure, as I just did.  To prevent me from doing that again I got out the yellow dot and marked the correct side to use.

I have cut out a second end piece and held it up to check to see if they are the same.  They match well.  This is important for a roof.

Now to cut out the back.  Measure twice, cut once, take your time.

Checking the sides, and they look good together.

There!  All four sides are ready to go!

I moved the drawings under the glass as I get ready to cut.  It keeps them safe.

I put the dimensions with the window cut outs under glass, too.

There are about 10 boxes of mini draws in my shop that hold parts.  Since I don't use them often I keep them stacked in the closet.  I grabbed the O scale box and pulled out the O scale doors and windows box where I keep tons of parts.

Rats!  I don't have enough windows and zero doors!  When did I use all my parts.  Drat.  Now I have to order some.  That's all for tonight.  Time to go find the parts on the internet.