Taking apart a MTH Passenger station

Hello Richard,

I'm sure others who are knowledgeable of this structure will chime in, but I can offer some general observations based on the custom painting I did on my MTH brewery, feed store, and other MTH structures:

All of these structures are modular and are largely screwed together.  Such as, the top floor is screwed to the bottom floor, and the roof is screwed to the top floor.  In my brewery there are a LOT of screws, but it came apart without problems.  I would expect your station to be similar.  The windows are modular too, and the frames snap into the window openings.  The "glass" inserts are sandwiched into place between small tabs in the window openings and the frames themselves.  I would expect your platforms to be screwed together in the same way.

I use a wash of acrylic paint in the mortar joints.  As I recall, I dilute the paint about 50%.  Then I brush it over entire walls at a time.  I've had great success using a credit card or a piece of styrene sheet to scrape the paint off of the surfaces of the bricks, leaving the paint in the joints.  This works best when the paint has dried but not cured.  The longer it's on there the harder it will be to remove.  I've also used an artist's eraser to do this step, but the scraping technique has worked better for me.

If you intend to paint the station before applying the mortar wash, do let the brick color cure throroughly.  I have no experience with using my scraping technique over paint I've applied to change the factory color.  You might need to wipe the "mortar" off the bricks with a damp cloth instead.

I hope this helps.

Thanks Joel,

Yes the windows are a concern. I have used your technique with the Polly S paints that use to be available from Floquel (sp?) I have used the damp towel, but maybe using the credit card might work better.

Thanks for taking the time to provide your advice.

Richard 

How do you  get the windows out without breaking the tabs ?

Robert's Mortar is what I would use. 

The second story of that station does not unscrew and come off. It is o e solid piece.

I wish it did as I would like to kitbash several of these to make a I&GN /MoPac - ish style depot.

It is not hard to take apart just a lot of screws. HERE is a link to one I did for a friend. For the weathering and joints I found that using Cream shoe polish that comes in a jar works the best. Very easy to apply and then let set up and wipe off with a dry rag.

To remove the windows just press the tabs on one side with your fingers. Once one side pops they come right out. If you can't get the tabs with your finger just use a flat blade screwdriver to press them in. If a tab breaks just use a drop of glue when you reinstall the window.

Nelson,

Thanks for the link, information and pictures. I like to gather as much "intel" as possible before taking apart something.

- can the roof be remove?

- can the roof around the platform be removed?

- can the window details and inserts be removed easily without breaking them.

Take care,

Richard 

The one I worked on was an early version and did not have a second floor I had to make one for it. I used foam board which was painted before install. While I had it all apart I went and replaced all the lighting with LED's.

The answer to the questions you asked, for the one I worked on, would be YES to all the questions. The roof screwed on also the side roof sections were screwed onto the sides as was the base.

The building is simple to take apart and put back together. Just use a container to hold the screws they have a way of vanishing sometimes....

Hope this helps...

Thanks again Nelson.

i really would like to confront that mysterious force that removes small screws and small parts from my workbench.

Richard

Richard - you may want to check out this thread on kit bashing the MTH station. OGR MTH station thread   While I wish MTH used  brick mold style windows (inset to the face of the brick), and lighter weight lintels,  I give the model very high marks for its method of assembly.  The many snap in parts and screws made for easy disassembly.  With the roof sections and base removed the walls stood up to some pretty rough cutting and filing on the workbench. 

Richard,

The station platforms are easy to take apart.  I installed led's  in the globes and they look and work fine.

Turn the platform upside down.

Unscrew  the two roof support beams at both ends.  If the supports are hard to remove, insert a small screwdriver between the post and the platform base.  Gently turn the screwdriver to loosen the post.

Be careful not to break the wires.  'the platform and remaining roof can be turned to work on the lights.

Next - take a pair of pliers and grasp the globe.  Gently turn the globe and it will loosen and come off.

Pull out the bulbs and install the led's or paint the individual parts.

If installing led's, be sure to add the appropriate resistor in the circuit.  I put a small dab of red paint on the + terminal on the underside of the platform.  The DC power comes from the Z4000 so I have 9vdc at the platform.

The bridge rectifier is installed in the 10VAC line which powers the platforms.  All platforms are wired in parallel to that power source,

Enjoy,

bruce

Part II of the Rich Battista's Black Diamond Railroad DVDs details how he took one completely apart and re-painted it.   So if you would like some more details that would be a good dvd to get but to answer your question, yes the entire building came apart. 

There are some distant picks on this page of his website:

http://www.toytrainsontracks.com/Layout_page_4.html

-Greg

Ed,

Thanks for the information. More great ideas.

Richard