Hi,
I am working on the HO Walthers Modern Roundhouse kit with an Add On Stalls kit to combine for a 6 stall roundhouse. The base pieces and trusses are up, and the everything else has been painted and weathered. I am ready to start the final assembly. I now realize that I will need some way of getting back inside the roundhouse for track maintenance and to replace bulbs as I plan to light the structure.
I'm curious how others who have built this structure have addressed this issue. I have searched the forums, Google, and the MR 75 year collection with little results. I did see an article from Bill Darnaby on scratchbuilding a roundhouse, and I think he used some brass wire to keep it together. I'm not sure if that would work here as I've already glued the trusses to the base.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Gary
i have an Atlas roundhouse. I'm sorry that I don't have a good photo of the lighting. However, this subway station picture shows basically the same thing:
I ran a pair of bare copper wires the length of the station, and then attached grain-of-wheat bulbs to each of the wires. The wire itself is stiff enough to support the small weight of the lights. I think I just stripped #22 wire for the buses. For the roundhouse, I ran the bus wires perpendicular to the roof trusses. Depending on how visible the lights are, you can use bare bulbs, or you could add shades as I've done here.
Don't put the bulbs too close to any of the plastic parts. They don't generate much heat, but it doesn't take much to melt the plastic. I use 16-volt bulbs for all my lighting, and run them at only 12 volts. This gives a softer, warmer glow, and greatly improves bulb life. So far, I haven't had to replace any bulbs I've set up this way. The roof of my roundhouse is removable, though, just in case.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Gary,
I don't know if this is the case, but is the foundation of the kit just along the walls or does it constitute a floor across the whole building?
I just built a roundhouse. I made a floor from thin aircraft plywood -- 3 layers of 1/32" plywood -- that had slots in it where the tracks sit. Then I built the roundhouse on top of that. The whole thing just sets down over the finger tracks.
The roof is also removable, so I can access the interior easily.
Pics below. Hope this helps, as I know it can be tough to back out and refashion something, but usually worth it to get it the way you want.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I have the Waltherd Modern roundhouse and two add on kits for a total of 9 stalls.
The individual roofs for each stall fit into place without gluing them, and that is what I did. I can remove one or more portions of the roof at any time.
Rich
Alton Junction
Thanks for the replies. Mister Beasley, I planned to do something similar with the lighting, in running buss wires perpendicular to the trusses. There was an article in MR from September 2011 in which the author used Plastruct H shapes as a channel for the wires, then the individual bulbs were suspended below. Looked like a good idea to me.
Mike, the Modern Roundhouse base does cover the entire building, except for slots cut out between the rails for the inspection pits. One side wall has slots that the pegs in the base lock into, and the other side wall has pegs that fit into slots in the base. I don't see these pegs and slots as securing the side walls to the base without being glued. The rear walls are glued to the back of the base, and the stall fronts are also glued in place.
Rich, you may have hit the nail on the head about the roof just fitting in place without glue. When I test fit the pieces, I thought for sure that the roof needed glued on. Everyone has mentioned a removable roof so far, so that is what I'll try to do. I'll come back and post my progress. Thanks again for the responses.
The roof certainly did rest on top of the structure, for the most part. There are a couple of roof panels that stick up somewhat, so I'll try to figure out something to do with them. Overall, I'm pleased with the Modern Roundhouse kit. Thanks again to all who responded.
[View:http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/utility/:550:0]
That was my first attempt to post a pic on the MRR forums. I might also add that this roundhouse is major overkill for my 2-8-2's, but what the heck...I liked the design of it! I'll go with the smaller roundhouse on the other end of the layout.
Nice job on the round house and the roof. It looks great and the photo works.
I wouldn't worry about the roof panels that stick up a little. You can always glue them in place after you install the lighting. My roundhouse has been in place for 8 years, and I have never had to clean the rails inside the structure.
Over time, you may retract your comment about overkill. Get that Bachmann EM-1 2-8-8-4, and you will need every inch of it.
With plastic molding, you sometimes get a little warpage. You can gently bend to straighten. Soaking in hot water first will make this easier. You should be able to get things to sit better.
I model in N scale and I have one of the Walthers 130' TT's and Modern Roundhouses. Go to the Walthers website and bring up the N-scale turntable information by entering their part # 933-2613 in their search function. When you bring up the page that shows a picture of the TT with information on it, you'll find near the bottom of the page a link to a review article on the N-scale version of the TT and Rondhouse that appeared in "N Scale Railroading Magazine". In this article the author, Keith Lyons, describes the assembly of the Roundhouse and how he allowed for access to the interior. I don't know if the parts for the HO version of the Roundhouse are the same as those of the N version, but this article may be useful to help with the assembly of your HO Roundhouse.
Hope this helps,
Bob
If you need to glue the roof down, consider doing it with Aileen's Tacky Glue. This is a craft store product. It's an adhesive, so it doesn't interact with the materials being stuck together. It holds pretty well, but the parts can be separated with minimal force and generally no damage.
Bob, thanks for directing me to that link. It was a very good review with pictures. However, I had already glued the clerestory windows in place, and they are pretty solid. So I'll stick (pun intended) with the removable individual roof sections. The review is excellent info for anyone building this roundhouse, HO or N.
Mister Beasley, I'll keep Aileen's in mind in case I do need to secure the roof. I like the idea of being able to pull the roof sections off. Mike, I bent one of the two sections down, and it seems to conform better. Thanks to all for sharing their ideas with me. I appreciate it.