055 The Augusta Railway - More Work on the Station

Let's work on the station some more!  We are going to need a roof, so we might as well work on that.  I keep ordering doors and windows and every company keeps coming back with "out of stock!"  I placed an order today with Caboose Hobbies...so we'll see how that goes.

My wood supply is a bit low, so I went to M.R.S. Hobbies to pick up some.  They were pretty much out of stock except for some really warped pieces, so I went to Hobby Lobby and bought a supply.  The large plywood board is for the base.  The other boards are either for the roof or for stock.

I did buy a new scale rule at M.R.S. Hobbies and chatted with Doug for a while.  Hate to run in while in a rush, but only had a few minutes.  They carry On30 and I made a quick inventory.  I need to go buy his coaches.

Let's do the roof.  I want a little more overhang on the roof.  Its hot in the desert and the folks need some shade while they are waiting on the 3:10 to Yuma.  Let's put another two feet of overhang all around.

My board is just a tad short for a two foot overhang, so we'll cut it back to about a foot and three quarters.  I've drawn it on the board to maximize the use of the materials and make cutting simple.  With the cost of materials, I'm starting to get a bit more frugal than I have been.

The printer coughed out another print of the depot on light board stock.  We'll cut this out...

...and get enough pieces to make a mock up!  Printing on board stock works great!  It is the perfect way to test the size of a structure.  I work in a lot of scales, so it saves time and mistakes, too.

The roof line was scored with the back of a hobby knife so that it would fold.

After flipping the pieces over on their back, I taped them together with Scotch semi-magic tape.

Not perfect, but not intended to be.  I just need a quick mock up to decide where I want to place things on the base for the model.  Since I probably won't mount the model on the layout for some time and might carry it around to show people, a small base really helps keep the model whole.

Placing the model on the quarter inch sanded plywood, I move it around until I get a look I like.  A piece of track helps with distance and spacing.

Using a pencil and ruler I marked in where the track will go.  Then I marked the outlines of the station.  NEVER put a model parallel to the edge of a layout or display if you can help it.  It causes your mind to think of it as a toy, and doesn't create much interest.  Angles are best.

We need a place for people to walk and for cargo, but not too much as this is On30 and space is always tight.  I drew a 4 foot wide walkway around the building with an area to load in the back.  The front walk is 36' and the side is 12'.

You know that track looked awfully narrow!  Turns out I had grabbed a piece of Sn3 track.  I put it back in the box where it goes and dug out some Micro Engineering On30 track, which is what I'll use if I don't hand lay.

The dimensions are much better.  I drew a box around the plate and we'll cut it out.

One more thing before we cut.  Let's but the track back on the plate and put on our On30 test car, just to get a feel of the placement of the depot one more time.

The cars I'll be using are smaller than this, so I'll put the platform height at 1 1/2' which is slightly below the steps on the caboose.

Enough for now.  Keep those cards and letters coming if you have a question.