Model of Switch Tower and Yard Office
My building projects.- General Comments
In the beginning I created building models out of wood siding, card stock etc to fit
the space I had available on my modules. The buildings were factitious but reflected
small buildings I observed. I later transitioned to styrene siding covered with Holgate
and Reynolds brick siding sheets, and used Grant Line windows. Later on I decided
to model actual buildings still using styrene as the wall material but instead of using
say a .040 thickness I started to standardize on .125 thickness and buying the sheets
from a plastics warehouse instead of using Evergreen packs. Gradually I began to
create my own windows from styrene strips. For each building project. I will describe
the process I used. My overall objectives are to find a building that has the size,
function, and architectural interest to fill the space I have available on my layout. My
construction practice is to start with the windows which I now cast based on the actual
measurements. I also use 1/8" Styrene sheets for my walls. Thus far I have completed
over 135 scratch built structures.
Background:
I grew up in New Haven CT which was a junction point for passenger service between
New York City and south and Boston and Springfield Mass and north. The station had a
lot of activity going on during a station stop. It was a transition point for changing from
electric power to steam and or diesel power. The electric motor storage yard was on the
south side of the station. In addition NH had a large postal facility so head end mail cars
were frequently cut from or added to trains. In addition, the station also had a Railway
Express facility adjacent to the North side of the station which involved breaking up and
attaching REA cars from the front end of trains. On most trains from Boston to NY additional
coaches were added to the rear of the train depending on ticket sales.. Another operation
that took place was that trains from Springfield Mass had cars taken from them that would
be added to a New York bound train. New Haven also had a good size coach yard.
When I was in high school the New Haven had a large number of switch towers along the line.
While I was away at college mid 60’s The New Haven area was converted to a CTC system
and all of the towers in the area were closed. A new CTC tower was built on the West side
of the station next to the motor dispatcher’s office. Currently all operations are controlled
from Grand Central Terminal.
Today with electrification to Boston, New Haven Station operations have been reduced to
just another 5 minute station stop. The switch tower and motor storage are gone and that
area has been converted to a parking lot.
I still have to continue to reinstalled new catenary thought the station area in the foreground.
However while I still have ‘easier access to the back corner’ I wanted to create a combination
switch tower in the wedge area between the GG1 and the NH EP5. It will have the tower on
the 2nd floor and the motor storage dispatcher’s office on the ground floor.
In a Carston book ‘Locomotive Terminals & Railroad Structures’ pgs 104-105 are photos
and plans for a brick Illinois Central tower located in New Orleans, LA. I liked the
architecture and its size and window configuration could easily be modified for my purposes.
Construction:
Step 1- Planning
The following is a description of the construction process I use. My starting point on all
building modeling is creating the windows. I find this the most time consuming task in
building construction since I prefer to model the actual window rather than use, even an
excellent commercially available window and fitting a building around them. Also in doing
so I am able to help other modelers by offering different windows and door for sale on my
web site. For this model I created a set of 4 windows and 3 doors. Note, only the 3 bay and
2 bay windows and 1 door were used on the prototype. I created the set to enable me and
others to create any project as I have done here using this selection of windows and doors.
Also note: the windows and doors are cast with a flange on the back side so that they can
be easily popped into a 1/8” side wall from the back side. For front mounting or for use
with a thicker side wall simply cut or sand off the flange.
Step 2- My process
I model my building with styrene sheet and strips. For side walls I use 1/8” (.125)” styrene
I purchase in large sheets from a plastic supply outlet. If I am freelancing the design of a
model as opposed to working from actual measurements or a blue print, I started by drawing
my desired structure on heavy paper or cardstock so I can make a 3d model. This has all the
sides, a floor and flat roof. to provide some structure with the edges taped into place. I set this
on my layout and check for appearance. After a day or so of viewing it, I make any appropriate
modification as to size changes and window/door placements, and then cut the individual blank
wall panels in styrene.
Step 3- Wall panels
The following photos illustrate that I cut the individual wall panels from my styrene sheet.
Working with each wall panel I position the windows and doors and trace the outline of the
window minus the mounting flange. In this case the window opening would include the brick
header and sill.
There are multiple ways to remove the window/door area from the styrene side panel. I prefer
to keep the panel joint free so I first mark the outline of the cutout area. I then remove the
window area by placing a appropriate size Forstner bits in my drill press and literally punching
out the as much of the material inside the marked area without touching the lines. I then return
to the work bench and using my modeling knife (snap blade} I trim the edges and square up the
corners by cutting and filing until the window/door fits snugly into the opening. This process took
me approximately ½ hour for each panel.
When all the panels are prepped, I pop in the windows from the back and hold them in place with
masking tape. I do not glue the windows into place until after they are painted and glazed. After
all the panels are assembled I tape then together, as I did with my paper mock up and place them
on the layout for another look.
As the result of this test fit I had to move the front door to the right front side of the wall. As
originally placed it would have opened too close to the catenary pole. To accomplish this all I
had to do is pop out the windows, flip the panel over and re install them. I was fortunate in
solving problem in seconds without making a new panel. Subsequently I decided my foot print
was too large for the space and I was able to easily disassemble the side panels, pop out the
windows and trim the ends of each panel by 1 scale foot.
Step 4- Assemble wall panels
Assembling the model to have structure. Since I add interior detail to all my models by having
detailed floors that slide in from the back but require structure integrity I also have structural
floors that are glued into place. On this building the ground floor and second floor are add to tie
3 of the walls together. The 4th or ‘back’ wall is made to be removable. The following photo
shows that I begin the second floor by placing a resting strip below the floor level around the 3
sides. I then cement the floor to both this strip and the walls. For the base floor I simply insert it
into place and glue it to the walls.
I then address attaching the back wall or removable wall. As shown I add a top spacer bar to
joint the side walls and 4 styrene bars on the walls at the back end. Also note I left a space
between the blocks and the floor
for my detail floor to slide in. The next photo shows I used 4 small
screws to attach the rear wall to the mounting blocks I positioned at the end of the building. When
finished these will be covered by removable signs or other details and will never be seen.
Step 5- Make roof
Assembling the roof. On this model the roof will be removable . I begin by creating a removable
section shown below that has styrene bars that will be used to plug the roof in between 3 walls to
hold the roof firm The actual roof will be created and be mounted onto the mating roof section
when completed.
The next photo shows the underside of the sub roof I first created It includes the overhang for
the roof.
At each end, and an at one side is a styrene bar which
will create a plug by resting against the walls so that the roof can be popped on and off as required.
The lighting for the 2nd floor is installed on the underside of the roof base so an opening is required
on the sub roof.
The following photo shows the roof base with the framing support for the roof cover.
The assembled roof base and framing
are then bonded to the top of the roof sub floor. The second floor lighting bulbs will
be connected the roof base with the wiring dropping through a chase to the second floor.
First floor lighting is connected with a mini socket to the second floor. Roof under
covering is then cut and secured to the roof framing.
And once again I went back to the layout and gave it a test fit.
I then prepared the roof covering. However before securing the roof cover I had to
install the lighting for the second floor once the roof panels were created. I also
had to cut out of the roof a notch on the side where a brick chimney is placed against
the wall. For roof covering I use .040 styrene sheets cut to fit over the roof supports.
Step 6
With the walls completed the next step is to cover them in my case with individual bricks. You may
prefer to use sheet siding. With the windows popped out and roof set aside but the structure assembled
I am ready to begin.
The real process in brick laying is to lay up the corners and then fill in the field brick. My bricks are
made from strips of Evergreen Styrene #123 (.02 x .06) cut into brick lengths. I find this give me a
brick with sharp edges and deep enough to hold lightweight spackle grouting. The bricks are also
adhered to the styrene walls with styrene solvent cement using a very small paint brush. I follow the
brick layers process except I use a straight edge to align each row instead of a string.. Thus as you
will see in the following photo I first set the end bricks and complete setting all the whole bricks in the
row. I then proceed to the next row and repeat the process.
You will notice from
the photo that around windows and doors where a full brick does not align to the
window edge I have an non bricked space. The same is true for the row ends. This
means that when I am finished with all the rows of full bricks on the side walls I go
back and fill in all the non bricked areas around the window openings. Where two adjacent
wall sides are bricks I then go back and stitch the two wall ends together with fill in
brick. I prefer this process to completing each wall and then mitering the corners to
match up perfectly.
I still have additional bricking to do On the side but the previous photo will give you
an indication of how the project is progressing. Warning, this process is very time
consuming. Also note from the last photo that I have had to notch the far side of the
roof to support a ground to top smoke stack.
I should also comment that at this time the windows and doors are still only plugged
into the side walls not glued. When the walls are grouted and painted and the windows
are painted and glazed they will be cemented into place. I also installed the lighting for
both floors once I installed the floors.
The following photos show the side walls fully bricked. What I like about using
individual brick is that the finish is irregular giving the walls some character. It also
makes grouting a simple process. I use light weight spackle tinted with acrylic
based paint. The straight edges of each brick and their depth makes for an easy
'wipe on with my finger and wipe off with a paper towel'.
Step 6
Next step is to shingle the roof, also with individual shingles.
For roof shingles I use strips of Evergreen styrene #119 which is .15 thick and .125 wide.
I use my chopper to cut these into 1;/4" lengths after marking each strip with a pencil line
down its length. The reason being the cut edges will vary and I want to use the strip edges
to align the horizontal spacing. After a row is laid, I use my caliber to mark the course
spacing for the next row. I begin each row by placing a starter shingle on each edge. I
connect the new course marks and draw a pencil line which I use to align the shingles. I also
use a straight edge after every few shingles to make sure the rows are reasonably in line.
Note. I prefer the irregularity of the results to the perfect printed or engraved brick and
shingle available and work mostly by eye.
The next set of photo shows the roof after the shingles are in place but before and details like gutters
and vents are temporarily installed. The second and 3rd photo shows the gutters and drain pipes fitted
and taped into place. These will not be finally installed until after all brick work is painted.
If you are curious about the two wires sticking out the side they will be covered to simulate the electrical
cables that would run from the switch tower controls to the switches and signals to the East and West of
the tower. Actually they are for the power to light both floors of the building. The exterior of the building
is basically completed except for painting.
At this point I change my focus from the building to working on the interior.
Step 7
Above I mentioned I will have two floors that slide in. These will provide a base on which I will
provide interior details instead of trying to mess around inside the building.. Since this work is
trial and error and subjects the building to extensive handling I prefer to put off painting and finishing
until I have the interior almost completed. This involves doing some infrastructure modifications. For
example I have two floors and need to provide a way to get from the first to the second. On other words
I now had to cut an opening in the 2nd floor base. With all the doors and windows removed I laid out the
best configuration I could come up with to accomplish this task. I wanted the steps to start at the side
door opening. Since the building is narrow I had to create a split flight of steps that would be assembled
on the first floor slide in. Then it was back to the drill press to make the stairs opening on the second
floor to provide head room for a person walking up and down. The following photos show the stairs module
positioned on the first floor slide in.
This photo shows the storage area for signal parts.
With structure issues resolved I turned my focus on the second floor interior. I wanted to
highlight the control
panel I remember seeing and create the following
My next step
was to figure out its placement. Note: At
the top of the picture is a 9volt battery clip that I used to mate with one on the roof which in
turn connects to the 2nd floor bulb and enables the roof to be removable. On the far left is a
restroom and in the center is the stair well.
Except for some additional detailing this is what the second floor looks like.
The first floor is now complete and the switch tower/ electric motor dispatcher building
has been placed on the layout. The following photo shows the interior of the 1st floor.
As I hope as you
can see from this scene the front office is a beehive with crews checking in for their
assignments or returning from their run and exchanging info with departing crews.
The rear of the floor is used as a parts depot for the signal department.
I next proceeded to brush paint all the windows and doors using Floquil green paint.
I then began the process of painting the interior of the building using a light green
paint I found in the oops bin at HD.
For the exterior again with the windows removed I first covered the interior in masking
tape and wrapped all the non bricked areas of the windows and doors in masking tape.
I started actual painting by spraying a LIGHT coat of textured white paint over all the brick
work. By light I mean I held the can about 3-4 feet from the work and gave a quick spray.
Changed cans and gave the work a LIGHT spray using a buff colored textured paint. I
wanted my building to have a dark brown appearance so I immediately used a Light spray
of Multi colored dark stone. I followed this by a Quick Very Light spray of textured black.
I then let the stuff dry overnight.
I wanted my brick work to have a textured feel to it. I hope from the following photos You
can see the results. I might add that I feel this this process works because by using
individual bricks the grout lines are deep enough that the paint does not end up filling in
the motor joints. After a day to dry, I used l a light weight spackle mix with a little grey
and light tan acrylic art paint to give the grout lines a slight tint. I wipe it into the motor
joints with my finger and wipe it off with a dry cloth followed by a damp cloth. Roof is a
coating of black textured paint and a quick dusting of white texture paint.
The results are
The following is how the building is positioned on the layout at the moment. Except for adding a
little more exterior detail. This completes the project.
Les Lewis
I may be reached at 203-226-2798 or at wsptmdlwks@gmail.com My website is
www.westportmodelworks.com Additional articles are posted there.
