I must confess that I accomplished very little on the freight house in the past week.
I have to add some roof vents which is no big deal, but I am also researching interior lighting options.
I will be back as I finish work on the freight house.
Thanks for checking out this thread.
Rich
Alton Junction
mobilman44 Hi, As an aside, gotta say you have the background down pat, and I think I see the famous LEE building ad!
Hi,
As an aside, gotta say you have the background down pat, and I think I see the famous LEE building ad!
I have gone through several iterations on the backdrop, first using Walthers backdrops, then adding modular building fronts, then installing a 6' wide photo backdrop (the current one).
I have now made some 4-sided buildings that faced Dearborn Station including the building with the Lee Jeans ad, but I have yet to place the buildings on the layout until I create more space.
Those 4-sided buildings will be placed in front of the backdrop to provide a more realistic and prototypically sized setting for Dearborn Station.
Working with my Dad for two summers we drove through the general area twice a day. I never really got into Dearborn, but sure appreciated it for being the Santa Fe station. As a teen I was disappointed that they had to share the station with other railroads, but of course I grew to understand it was a necessity.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Thanks, mobilman.
I recall from your prior posts that you grew up in Chicago.
Do you recall Dearborn Station from your youth?
Rich,
WOW, now that is nice! Having come of age in Chicago, and being a certified ATSF enthusiast, I really appreciate what you have done.
I understand your wanting to build that "dream layout" for this section, but know that what you already have is very impressive! Great work!!!
Super nice job!
Not much progress today, but I did talk the brick masons into putting up the chimney on the 2-story..................on Labor Day, no less.
Still got work to do on the freight house and the layout. All of this is inspiring me to get on with my Dream Layout which would more closely replicate Dearborn station, its structures and its track work.
I hate cameras. They are like children. Just as children should be seen but not heard, photos should be taken but not seen.
As I reviewed the photos of the project so far, I noticed that the cornice of the 1-story structure that joined to the 2-story structure was out of line. Either no one else noticed that or was too kind to comment.
Anyhow, I had to do some surgery to fix the problem. Seems that when I installed the new roof over the old roof, I knocked the cornice out of line, mainly because the end roof support was not cleanly cut. As you can see from the photo, I knocked out a window and freight door while making the repairs. I will re-install those two items later today.
doctorwayne Lookin' good, Rich! Wayne
Lookin' good, Rich!
Wayne
Thanks, guys, I appreciate all of your comments.
By the way, and I should have mentioned this sooner, the roofs are cut from 0.080" styrene sheet. I picked that thickness because of the long expanse of the roofs.
I couldn't resist temporarily placing the freight house on the layout last evening. The space is by no means ready yet, since I only recently relocated the industry that I had there. But, here is a preliminary photo of the freight house on the layout. Obviously, I still have work to do. The camera doesn't lie, and I see some "repairs" that need to be made to the freight house.
That's the Santa Fe Super Chief in the foreground making its way into Dearborn Station after the long trip from L.A.
DoughlessI think the roof looks perfect. That freight house is a dead ringer for the one in the first pic.
Geez, the last thing we should be doing, is giving Rich a swelled head, but I have to agree!!
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I think the roof looks perfect. That freight house is a dead ringer for the one in the first pic.
- Douglas
zstripe Rich, AAAHHHHHH! The roof looks much better...... Continue the march....... Take Care! Frank
AAAHHHHHH! The roof looks much better......
Continue the march.......
Take Care!
Frank
Got the peaked roof painted and installed on the 1-story structure. Still need to do some finishing and detailing on the peaked roof. But, right now, I am working on the tall chimney that will go on the 2-story structure.
Fear not, Frankie, I will dedicate the Lifschultz Fast Freight facility to you.
Richie
richhotrainThanks, JaBear. As you know, this scratch bash project is dedicated to you. Rich
HA......My Friend.......Ok ''Buddy'' Richie..
LOL, You know I'm just kidding.....I like ''Bear'' too......even though He lives upside down.
richhotrain If the final result captures the "look and feel" of the prototype, I will be extremely pleased. And that is the most important thing. The rest of us could comment / criticise till the cows come home but it doesn’t matter. Keep up the Good Work. Cheers, the Bear.
richhotrain If the final result captures the "look and feel" of the prototype, I will be extremely pleased.
Cheers, the Bear.
One of the most severe limitations in building this freight house is the lack of actual drawings. The only thing that I know for sure is that the 2-story structure was 288 feet long and 60 feet wide, and the 1-story structure was 474 feet long and 60 feet wide. I wish that I knew the height of the two structures but I don't have that information.
There were actually four buildings that formed the C&EI Inbound Freight House. In addition to the two buildings that I am modeling, there was a small building on each end of the entire four building complex. Another piece of information that I lack but wished I knew is the order in which the four individual structures were built.
In HO scale, the two buildings that I am modeling would measure 105 inches long by 8.25 inches wide, a bit too large for my purposes. I chose to build a 40 inch long by 6 inch wide set of structures. The 1-story model is 3.25 inches high including the foundation and cornices, and the 2-story model is 5.25 inches high including the foundation and cornices. The peaked roof and end cornices result in additional height.
The Walthers Modulars wall sections are 2 inches high which would convert to 14.5 feet height for each story for the "prototype".
My objective in building the C&EI Inbound Freight House is to simulate a reasonable representation of the structures rather than an exact replica. If the final result captures the "look and feel" of the prototype, I will be extremely pleased.
richhotrain Here is a rare photo of the west side of the C&EI Freight House which shows the pitch of the 1-story peaked roof. One thing that I forgot about is that in the earlier photo of my scratch build, that mock up was too pitched and I did lower it when I installed the new roof over the old. As I already mentioned, the only way to match the pitch of the prototype roof would be to match the width of the prototype. Rich
Here is a rare photo of the west side of the C&EI Freight House which shows the pitch of the 1-story peaked roof.
One thing that I forgot about is that in the earlier photo of my scratch build, that mock up was too pitched and I did lower it when I installed the new roof over the old. As I already mentioned, the only way to match the pitch of the prototype roof would be to match the width of the prototype.
Ok. Then the overall height of the roof should be slightly lower than how it was mocked up. Based on the photo above, if the one story in fact has hipped roof instead of abutting the 2 story, then the top of the hipped portion is closer to us, so the peak of the roof should be lower than the 2 story and not the same height as it would be if the roof abutted the building. Now that we know there is a hipped roof, its easier to see it in the photo.
The angled roof line also cuts off the bottom of one of the windows, indicating it is closer to us than if it wasn't hipped.
As noted, the dimensions are going to be bashed for layout purposes, so precise accuracy will have to be sacrified somewhere.
Excellent job.
richhotrain I probably shouldn't have posted those two mockup photos because they were very preliminary and were later modified.
zstripe ....the 1 story roof does not butt up against the two story building. There is another part that slopes down below the windows, like a hip-roof....four sides.
....the 1 story roof does not butt up against the two story building. There is another part that slopes down below the windows, like a hip-roof....four sides.
After I read your comment, I pulled up a 1938 aerial view, and I could see the "hip roof" segment that you are referring to. I enclosed the C&EI Inbound Freight House in a red rectangle and drew black arrow pointing to the hip roof. I never noticed that before.
If you look closely and compare the aerial photo to the first photo in this thread, there are other details on the flat roof of the 2-story structure that are not obvious from the Roosevelt Road view.
Doughless Rich, it looks to me that the first pic shows the third and end peak to be shallower than the other two, and perhaps more accurate, IMO. Could just be the camera angle.
Rich, it looks to me that the first pic shows the third and end peak to be shallower than the other two, and perhaps more accurate, IMO. Could just be the camera angle.
richhotrain I have begun installing roof supports at the proper pitch angle. I mocked up a short length of unpainted styrene roof to show the proper angle. I hope to cut, paint and install the 1-story pitched roof today but, first, golf is calling me. Rich
I have begun installing roof supports at the proper pitch angle. I mocked up a short length of unpainted styrene roof to show the proper angle. I hope to cut, paint and install the 1-story pitched roof today but, first, golf is calling me.
I see the other rare photo shows the peak to nearly approach the top of the second story, so maybe the first two are closer to correct than I first thought.
I believe from that photo that You just posted...that You are missing is the fact that the 1 story roof does not butt up against the two story building. There is another part that slopes down below the windows, like a hip-roof....four sides. Look at the drain for the two story building and also the corner of the window that is covered by the roof.......they just don't cover part of a window when putting on a roof. The camera angle makes it look like it is butted...even makes the top of the first story dock look as tall...but it is not. You got to remember...I've been in that building in the 50's, as well as the one on Canal st. The interior was all wood timber for structual support, with a brick exterior.....concrete floor for dock and first floor and a wood floor for the second story. Almost all warehouses and factories in that area had all timber for support beams....no steel H-columns. I've been in quite a few factories in that whole area.......starting around 1949 when I was seven and riding either with My Dad or Uncle, who at the time drove trucks. Lifschultz and Hennis Freight lines.
I'm not trying to be critical...just informative.
Good luck on Your build....doing a fine job!
Dunno, Frank, but I hope you're wrong. I just got up and I am working on my first cup of coffee. So, I haven't had a chance yet to remove the weights and line up the two structures. I can say this. The ridge on the 1-story building matches the point that it meets the 2-story structure in terms of height, but it all depends upon the pitch which is determined by the width of the building. I think that I got it right. But we shall see.
As the previously posted photos of my scratch build show, the first roof attempt was way too flat. So, I left in on and built the new roof over the old. If the pitch of the new roof is too sharp, so be it because if I flatten it on a third attempt, it will be too low where it joins the 2-story structure.