hi everyone, before i’m railroaded ( no pun) out or town or banished to 0 gauge ****, please here me out with this project. I’ve always liked the New Haven interlocking towers with the pagoda style roof. Problem was I waited on getting one of the resin ones out there, which now haven’t seen in a while.. procrastination grr!..I did see an recent O gauge New Haven that came out. Beautiful piece but close to $300.00, which to me wasn’t practical. I could spend it on some postwar or prewar equipment, etc. so the thought came about to maybe modify an existing tower and make the roof. The Lionel tower with the tower man coming out the platform and the other coming down the stairs looked like a good size but there was no way I was going to butcher such a classic accessory. I go eBay and see one with the tower man missing, the other fellow can’t come down the stairs, the overall tower was abused and pretty beat up. Light still worked though. I figured, well, I can’t mess it up any worse than it is, so I scratchbuilt a pagoda roof. Thanks tony daughter she made the sides through a 3D printer. I mixed some paint , painted and weathered it. I painted the tower the usual NH color. I added a bay window. The prototype is wider but I was restricted by the existing windows. I’m thinking of maybe covering this clapboard tower with brick sheet like the real tower and removing the side stairway like the prototype which had no side stairway, but, I kind of like the stairway... please feel free to advise on covering the clapboard and removing staircase or keeping it...so feel free after seeing the pics to respond even if it’s words like “blasphemy “ ,” how dare you”, “ this is an outrage”, etc. ...humbly yours..
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Meant thanks to my daughter. Typo
NICE JOB! Looks FINE to me! :-)
Thank you! Here’s another angle with roof’s extreme curve..
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NICE paint job as well!
Nothing is sacred to Lionel when you make a great looking tower more realistic. Nice work.
Remember they are toys not monuments.
"As is". As long as nothing bothers you about it.
There are plenty of those in great shape already. So imo the loss of one, already "hit" is no great loss. Folks freak when they see something rarer not restored; which is understandable. Others wouldn't modify a well known error or weakness. It all depends on the person. That said, I doubt anyone would bother crying over a modded switch tower. Nice job.
(which came in operating or static versions fyi)
I think it's great. Brick siding or not, looks good.
Thank You Clarence !
Thank You Adriatic!
Thank You freight train Jim! Yes toys...
Thank You Tinplate Art !
I like it. The only thing that I would do is fill in those holes in the front.
Yes Dave I had forgotten about the holes until I took the pics! Lol Thanks! Will do!
Dennis, Looks great like it is(after you fill the holes), absolutely a very nice job.
Steve
Thank You Steve! I will
Dennis:
“blasphemy “ ,” how dare you”, “ this is an outrage”, etc. .. or by the way you made it look a better than the original!
Joe
Lol..Thank You Joe Fauty for the compliment!
Here’s another pic and a videowith the tower lit up with a New Haven train approaching Greens Farms Tower, the area I modeled it after- not finished needs more background trees...
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Yup, I definitely like it. The bay window sets it off nicely.
Thank You Clarence! Of all the New Haven towers the bay window type is my favorite!