The evolution of a company house

[Anonymous]

The Ken Burns Coal and FireWood series was well received; so I will try another simple building.

I am working on the community of Between, which is really just a small silver mine community,  The existing buildings do not complete the community, so I have to build two (or more) new buildings.  There will be an added freight station/dock/company store and at least one new company house.  There are four company houses saved from the prior layout (torn down 15 years ago).  I think that I can get by with just one more house; however, I may need two.

This is the area as it looks now:

I will build the new house just a little bit larger than the existing ones and paint it a different color.  This will be the mine foreman's house (he does rate a larger house than that of the "regular" workers).

I tend to stock a small selection of windows, doors and other building materials.  I am just picking parts from that stock. no real what-do-I-use decisions here.

Here are the front, back, and two sides cut from board and batten stock.

Should I continue the series; or was the Ken Burns Coal and FireWood series enough ?

 

[DSchmitt]

 

Here is a photo of a company town.  The houses in front would be for supervisers annd management.  Note that they form a separate neighborhood from the workers homes and are not only larger but of different design.

 

http://www.dailymail.com/static/specialsections/lookingback/images/lb05032.jpg

Workers houses Dehue, WV

http://www.coalcampusa.com/sowv/logan/misc/dehue.jpg

Officials houses Mallory WV

http://www.coalcampusa.com/sowv/logan/misc/mallory.jpg

[ARTHILL]

You have a good imagination and I like seeing what you create. I am jusy finishing my company town. It is a good time to get some ideas for the finishing touches.

[Anonymous]

 

Here is a photo of a company town.  The houses in front would be for supervisers annd management.  Note that they form a separate neighborhood from the workers homes and are not only larger but of different design.

 

Workers houses Dehue, WV

http://www.coalcampusa.com/sowv/logan/misc/dehue.jpg

Officials houses Mallory WV

http://www.coalcampusa.com/sowv/logan/misc/mallory.jpg

I took the liberty to convert one of your links into a posted image. I did not think to show a "real" company town.  It is useful information.

The building that I am doing is larger than the building that already exist; this keeps the theme of management having a better house.  Five buildings are not a whole set of company houses; however, they do convey the theme of company housing.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Anonymous]

You have a good imagination and I like seeing what you create. I am jusy finishing my company town. It is a good time to get some ideas for the finishing touches.

How about a picture of your company town.  We could convert the thread to a discussion of company towns and how they are portrayed on model railroads with examples of different approaches.

 

[ereimer]

your town looks good and it's always fun to have an article on scratchbuilding , thanks for taking the time to share your work . i'm sure i'll steal your house design when i need a few

 

i have one small nit to pick though , and it's a no reflection on your modelling skills , but the size of the mine compared to the houses makes me wonder if it could support a town , even one as small as the one you're building .  

[Anonymous]

your town looks good and it's always fun to have an article on scratchbuilding , thanks for taking the time to share your work . i'm sure i'll steal your house design when i need a few

 

i have one small nit to pick though , and it's a no reflection on your modelling skills , but the size of the mine compared to the houses makes me wonder if it could support a town , even one as small as the one you're building .  

Thanks; copy away, if it helps you.

The mine produces two to four ore car loads per day of high grade sliver ore (2 for a single operating session and 4 if I go through the sequence again).  Notice that I normally call it a community not a town.  I will not add shops or other buildings here.  The real town is Arock; on the other end of the long yard connecting Arock and Between.

 

[SpaceMouse]

Now personally, I think you should knock a gash in your mountain, cut a scrub-gully into your wall and model it like the prototype. Of course, you'll need a might more than two more houses.

[Anonymous]

Now personally, I think you should knock a gash in your mountain, cut a scrub-gully into your wall and model it like the prototype. Of course, you'll need a might more than two more houses.

I did do it like the prototype !

This picture was taken near Silverton, CO by me in 1987:

 

[Bob grech]

Nice work!

 

P.S.

I have this important tip to share: 

Don't forget to add plenty of brace material (1/4 sq ) behind those wooden walls to prevent your walls from warping during painting, staining, or contact with humidity.

[Anonymous]

Nice work!

 

P.S.

I have this important tip to share: 

Don't forget to add plenty of brace material (1/4 sq ) behind those wooden walls to prevent your walls from warping during painting, staining, or contact with humidity.

Thanks - I just came up from the shop with these pictures and found your comment.

Front, back and sides cut and ready for assembly:

Braces needed at top of sides to keep the area above windows from breaking loose:

Glue back to one side using anything handy to hold parts together.  I cut a balsa bottom to keep things square and to beef up the assembly.

As Bob mentioned: brace the wood parts and corners to keep things flat and square after glue-up.

 

[SpaceMouse]

Now personally, I think you should knock a gash in your mountain, cut a scrub-gully into your wall and model it like the prototype. Of course, you'll need a might more than two more houses.

I did do it like the prototype !

This picture was taken near Silverton, CO by me in 1987:

 

Of course I was talking about the company housing, but the mine looks good too.

[Anonymous]

Now all of the internal braces are in.  Here it is with the windows and door just popped into the openings (not glued).

Since I put in a full bottom; the inside will not be accessible when the roof goes on.  I am not going to detail the inside as this sits back about three feet from the front of the layout under normal conditions (where I stand, not the actual edge of the layout).  I will glaze the windows and add curtains to the inside before installing the windows, door and roof.  No one will be able to see the back, so no doors or windows there.  Since the wood needs to be painted on all sides, to reduce warping, I will paint the inside and add a coat to the outside for balance.  The outside will have to be touched up later as trim and the roof are attached.

Here is the painted building:

Yes, I did paint the bottom.

Note:  The sequence and methods shown here work for me; you might have a different, and better, way of doing things.  From another thread, the use of glass for a cutting surface came up.  I use glass because it gives me a good hard surface to cut against and a nice smooth and level surface to build on.  It cleans up with a razor blade and does not get nicked up after using it to cut against (even with the pressure of cutting plastic). If you use glass; use thick glass (not single strength picture glass) and not tempered (it will turn into a pile of glass bits when you cut against it).  Also be sure to smooth out any sharp edges on the glass to keep from getting cut.

I also use single edged razor blades for most cutting.  They cut cleaner than knife blades and are thinner, which requires less cutting pressure.  They are also much cheaper (hardware store item).

 

[Anonymous]

More work done !

Here is the house, roof with chimney, painted trim and door/windows with 1st coat of paint.

After the trim, glazing, and door & window installation.  Roof is off to show more.

Roof is placed on the house, but not attached yet.  Still need drapes in door/windows.  The roof will be painted underneath to match the house color and covered with corrugated metal on top.  That will complete the house for the intended use.  Some paint touchup will be needed.

 

[Anonymous]

Finally finished.

The roof is Campbell's corrugated 8' strips cut to 4 x 8 ( I know that the real stuff is only about 2 x 8, but that is too many small pieces).  Here it is applied and with a wash coat of reefer Grey to take the shiny surface off and make it look more like galvanized.

I damp brushed on some rust to show the overlaps and seams:

Next was a light wash with alcohol and India ink (very weak mixture) to slightly age the structure.  I also added drapes to the windows.

Here is the left side:

The front:

The right side:

From above the right front corner:

Since this building is not a major structure and is not right in front (on the layout); it is built to "good enough" standards.  It will fit in just fine and look "good" on the layout.  I just wish that the roofers had done a better job of sealing the chimney.

Here is a view, from the front, as it will look on the layout (exact position still not determined).

Here is an overhead view of how it fits the entire community of Between.

I still have to build the freight station/company store/dock shown as a cardboard mock-up in the above photo.  Then I can worry about exact positions of the houses and do the basic landscaping and preliminary detailing.

Should I document the building of the freight station/company store/ dock; or just do it and show the final results ?

 

[Canondale61]

Yes Please do, only question should you not have small rust spots on the roof from nail holes? Excellant job on both Burns Coal company and the company house. Now I see what all those extra pieces of wood are for in my Basic Kits

[Anonymous]

Yes Please do, only question should you not have small rust spots on the roof from nail holes? Excellant job on both Burns Coal company and the company house. Now I see what all those extra pieces of wood are for in my Basic Kits

Thanks for the comments.  Yes, there should be rows of nails (with some rust); however, that would violate my "good enough" rule for this structure.  That is kinda like me using 4 x 8 roof panels instead of the "real" 2 x 8 or 2 x 4 panels.

One of the reasons that I am doing this series, is to get comments from others on methods of construction and as basic information for people trying to put a new layout together.  It is a great benefit to get input from Bob, and others, that help the poor guy trying to scratch build his first model or even trying to put a kit together.   My approach is to make this rather informal and casual, rather than a structured "teaching" series.  I am not a "master modeler", but I have been building models for over 50 years (some of them are even pretty good).  I am not a "rivet counter" and tend to use the "good enough" approach to my railroad modeling (I want to have fun, not another "job").  When I get to detailing, I hope that more people will offer tips, methods and examples of "real" detailing work.

 

 

[Canondale61]

Yes I can see looking a second time that placed in a scene the house really does look very good. And these short threads on how to's is really very informational. Thank you Kevin

[Anonymous]

Yes I can see looking a second time that placed in a scene the house really does look very good. And these short threads on how to's is really very informational. Thank you Kevin

Here it is, in place, with preliminary landscaping done.