hon30critterHaving said that, your tower looks pretty good.
Thanks, Dave.
I forget exactly why I bought a package of those shingles but I had them hanging on the supply hook for a while. When I finally decided to do that roof I tried them out and to my surprise they worked out very well.
Turned out to be a nice mindless task with a movie running on the telly and a nice beverage nearby.
Keep them in mind for when you have a little project and the roof needs a little "something special".
I have since done some sheds and section houses with them. At first I didn't think I'd like them but I'm sold now.
Cheers, Ed
I just did a rough calculation of how many packages of the Minuteman shingles it would take to do the roof. Based on 36 sq. inches per package, the roof would require just under 4 packages. Unfortunately when I add in the $ exchange and shipping, the cost would be close to $70.00 Cdn. That just about doubles the cost of the kit. By itself it isn't a huge amount, but we need a lot of structures to populate the club layout. Is it worth it just for shingles on one structure? I can just hear the debate between the modelling enthusiasts in the club and the penny pinchers!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Depending on how much extra shingle material you'd need (size of sheets) buying the add-on shelters might be a cheaper option.
Wayne
All of this talk of roof modifications and re-shingling is worthwhile because with those modifications, it should be possible to produce a near look-alike to the actual Huntsville, Ontario train station. Take a look at the two structures.
Rich
Alton Junction
That's a useful comparison, Rich.
If the ends of the Walthers station were reversed so that the porte cochere was on the proper end, the walls and roof from the express/baggage wing could be used to re-work the operator's bay walls and roof.
While it wouldn't be an exact model of the real one, I'd leave the roof and end walls of the station, other than being reversed, as-is, as I don't think there'd be enough roof material to make the main roof into the cottage-style of the prototype. Removing the express/baggage portion also makes the structure shorter.
Depending upon the location of the station, if the back portion of the roof were not clearly visible, you could cut out the necessary portion to make that front center roof portion. Then, replace the portion cut out of the back part of the roof with a suitable material.
Rich and Wayne,
All very interesting points. Thanks.
I just did some research on the available HO scale shingle products and I can tell you that there is no shortage of suppliers. I found 16! One of them is a company called JTT Miniature Trees. Walthers has a listing for their shingles and they show them as being in stock, but the only reference to the company in the forums was from 2012 and it concerned their trees, not their shingles. Has anyone worked with their shingles? How do they look? Their price is good, assuming that they look ok.
Thanks,
Dave, I cannot offer any help on the JTT roof shingles, but I went down to my layout and looked at the roof on the Walthers City Station. It is made of styrene plastic, and the individual shingles are almost imperceptible. When you look up close, the roof looks more like brick work than shingles. In fact, Walthers Brick Sheet could probably be used to make the necessary modifications.
While I was down there, I took a few measurements which may or may not be helpful to you. The width of the entire center roof is 8 7/8". The roof on the "dormer" in the center of the main roof is 3 1/4" wide, and the ridge on that dormer extends 2 1/8" forward.
richhotrainthe individual shingles are almost imperceptible.
There's a good reason to redo the roof!
I calculated that the roof would require about 130 sq. inches of material to cover it, including waste, that is if you were using individual strips of shingles. However, if you were using larger sheets of shingle material it would require a lot more than that to give you all the surfaces required. You could save some material by doing some seams on the slopes facing each end of the building, but they would have to be invisible to be satisfactory IMHO.
Thanks Rich,
EDIT: Sorry, that should have been 'JTT Miniature Trees', not JJT.
I did a search for interior pictures of the Huntsville station in its' heyday and I found a lady who has been part of the drive to get the station restored. She has promised to get me some photos by the weekend.
For those who are interested, the station sat empty for many years and it required some substantial repairs. Specifically, the basement had suffered flooding for quite some time due to a broken storm sewer. The town of Huntsville was not in a position to pay for all the repairs. However, last year the station was sold to a group who had the money to do the building repairs and the town agreed to fix the broken sewer. This past summer all the interior work was done to get rid of the mould and get a new HVAC system installed, and the building is now partially occupied. There are plans to open up the interior so that it becomes one large space that can be used as a venue for special events. Apparently the renovations will actually bring the interior closer to it's original design. The restoration group believes that there is a large arch still in place which is currently concealed by dividing walls that were built long after the station was constructed.
It would be neat to do a more or less accurate rendition of the original interior.
hon30critter It would be neat to do a more or less accurate rendition of the original interior.
I have gone and done it! Scratchbuild it is!
After studying the Walthers City Station instructions for a while I decided that I can do a better representation of the Huntsville station. I'm going to start the drawings tonight.
I'll post pictures as I go.
Wish me luck!
I just started a seperate thread that will detail the scratchbuilding process:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/272904.aspx