While We're Waiting, Anybody Thirsty?

Still waiting on my order of scale lumber to arrive, so I'm once again stalled on the depot.  To keep from doing anything productive, like home repairs or chores, I decided to start on one of the three water towers.  One will be an enclosed tower, the other two the more traditional open design.  I found plans for an enclosed tower in the January 1973 issue of Model Railroader.  Looks like a very simple project, should be fun.

I'm sticking with my new favorite construction method, matte board.  It took no time at all to put together the basic structure.

Obviously, it will take time to put the siding on (once the lumber order arrives), and the roof, and the spout and associated rigging.  That will be the challenging part, as I've never shaped brass tubing before.

Mixed Results Inside and Out

Continuing with the paper construction technique, I started installing the clapboard siding on the exterior of the depot.  Just as I did with the handcar shed, I'm using scale 6" strips of a heavy paper for the siding boards.  However, it's not turning out quite the same.  For the handcar shed, I wanted the siding to look worn and "droopy", as if the shed had seen several years of hard use and neglect.  That's not the look that I want for the depot, but that's what I'm ending up with.  The paper tends to curl when cut, making it difficult to get nice, tidy straight boards.

I don't think I'm going to proceed with the paper strips for this structure.  I just place a bulk order for some scale 1" lumber in various widths - I'll try using that instead.  The siding will have to wait until that order arrives.

On a positive note - I installed part of the interior of the freight section of the depot.  Looks great!  You can see a portion of it through the open door in the photo above.  Here's another look from the other end.

It too is paper, printed on my own printer, using a texture pattern found at http://www.cgtextures.com/.  I think this will be quite convincing when viewed through an open door, with some dim interior lighting.

Modern Day Comforts in Hill City

During the train ride last weekend, I was making mental notes about various trackside details that I could add to my layout.  Of particular interest along the stretch of tracks that we traveled were some old telegraph poles.  A discussion broke out about whether Hill City in 1920 would have had telegraph or telephone service.  To be honest, up to this point, I haven't even looked into the existence of electricity at that time, let alone telephones.

I've learned a couple of interesting things today.  First, Hill City did indeed have electricity in 1920, and it was, in fact, provided by the Woodenware Factory.  According to this excerpt from Ancestry.com, electricity came to Hill City in April of 1916:

The Woodenware Factory was interested in putting in a power plant, and as such, the village was contacted as to whether they might be interested in purchasing power for the businesses and homes there. This was looked on favorably by the townsfolks and so a local power distribution company was set up. "A plan for the formation of a stock company for the purpose of furnishing electric light and power to Hill City people is now underway and it looks as though it would go through. The thing is being undertaken by local men who not only are looking for an investment that will pay them but are also interested in the development of the community...There is little doubt that the majority of our citizens favor the installation of electric lights and will become patrons of the company....The plan is to arrange with the National Woodenware Co. for the delivery of electric current at a switchboard and this in turn will be distributed to patrons as cheaply as possible. The larger the amount of business the cheaper this can be done. Capital with which to finance the project will be ready as soon as it is apparent that our people want the lights. It is estimated that a house can be lighted by electricity for very little above the cost of oil lamps and at the same time we have the best kind of light for all purposes, that is clean, always ready for use and positively safe from explosion." (Hill City News ~ October 21, 1915) By April of 1916, the Hill City Utilities Company was formed. (Hill City News ~ April 20, 1916) 

Looks like I get to add lighting to my structures!

Even more interesting is what I discovered about telephones.  In the Fall 2011 issue of Ore Extra, there is an article (first of two parts) on the Missabe Telephone and Telegraph Department.  Yep, that's right, the Missabe had a telephone service, which it offered to residents in the communities that the railroad served.  The article includes a photo of the front cover of a phone book from 1912, with operating exchanges in several northern Minnesota communities.

So now I have two reasons to install poles on the layout - electricity and telephones.  Fascinating stuff!

Depot 2.0 Takes Shape

If you read yesterday's post, you know that I started over on the depot.  You also know that I'm trying a new construction technique, using matte board instead of scale lumber to frame the walls.  I have to say, I'm impressed so far.  In 24 hours, I've accomplished more with the matte board than I did in more than a week using the scale lumber.

A look at how this might look when placed on the layout...

Depot Do-Over

Remember the Atari 2600 video game console, and that nifty reset switch?  If a game didn't go the way you wanted it to, you simply hit that reset switch and started over.  If only somebody would invent a reset switch for model building.  I could sure use it right now.

Two weeks ago, during the TCD layout tour, I noticed that the walls on my depot had bowed considerably.  We had all of the doors and windows in the house open, and it was a bit humid that day, so I blamed that for the warpage.  I figure a few days with the A/C running, things would dry out and return to normal.  No such luck.  This is what the depot looks like right now:

She has curves in all the wrong places.  I'm not sure what, if anything, can be done to fix this, so I'm starting over.  Dave Jasper, one of the visitors to the layout, asked a very pointed question.  "Why are you building it this way, if the studs won't be visible anyway?"  Good question, and the only answer I had was "Just because". I don't have a good reason, other than it seemed like a good idea at the time.  I sit here now, though, looking at several hours of effort wasted.

I've followed the work of Troels Kirk for a long time, and I find it fascinating what he can do with black matte board and paper.  I decided to give that a try.  I started by cutting my four main walls out of a piece of matte board.

Conveniently, the back side of the board is white.  On the back of each piece, I draw a grid identical to the stud design of the first model.  This made it easy to plot out the window and door openings.

It turns out that the matte board that I'm using is almost exactly 4 scale inches thick, or about the same thickness as the scale 2"x4" studs that I used in the first model.  The new walls won't be any different than the old ones in terms of thickness.

Using a brand new knife blade (the safest blade is a sharp blade), and the handy grids that I drew on the wall segments, I cut out all of the window and door openings.

A little bit of trusty Elmer's Glue, and the first two wall segments are joined together.

The best part?  It took less than 2 hours to get this far.  The first model, with the framed walls, took about a week of evenings to reach the point shown in that first photo.  I might have just found a new favorite construction technique!

Published Article Number Three!

If you subscribe to NMRA Magazine, and you've received your June issue, turn to page 24.  My third published article is in there!

Quest For The MMR: Author

One down, six to go.

If you've paid any attention to this blog over the past couple of years, you know that I'm working towards becoming a "Master Model Railroader", an achievement program endorsed by the National Model Railroad Association.  It requires a good deal of work, a good deal of effort, lots of paperwork, and a healthy level of patience.

Why, you might ask, would someone do this?  Aren't "toy trains" supposed to be fun?

First, you need to understand that I don't view these as "toys", no more than another guy sees his golf clubs or his classic car as a toy.  To me, this is an art form, a three-dimensional art form.  It's a form of expression, and a learning exercise.  I get to improve my writing skills.  I get to improve my photography skills.  I learn about painting and electronics and carpentry.  I get to do a lot of historical research.  Most of all, I get to CREATE stuff instead of destroying it.

Second, I don't see this as work.  I'm a goal-oriented person.  I see a task to be accomplished, a goal to be achieved, or, as a good friend and fellow modeler has said it, a milestone to be reached.

Third, it's a way to distinguish myself in the modeling community.  There are millions of model railroaders around the world, but less than 500 have completed the MMR program.  I'm lucky enough to have two of them nearby to lean on, and several others that are ready and willing to help me out.

So, long story short, I received my first of seven certificates this past weekend at the TLR convention:

Six more to go...