Wayside Depot

03-28-00

Since the weather has been pretty good I have not had as much time to work on the Depot. I was able to finish up the shingle roof though. The second side went pretty fast now that I have a better understanding of what I am doing. I will point out that you do need to be a little careful with the amount of glue you use. On the first side I used it liberally and when I came out the next morning there were a few spots where glue had run down the roof. I then had to clean this off without breaking any of the shingles. It's also a good idea to leave the building propped on its side until the glue has totally dried to help prevent any glue from running.

To finish off the depot I have to come up with my own doors and windows. I have a few ideas and hopefully by this Sunday night I will have finished the Depot and have the ideas and results posted here.

Take care,

Johnny F.

03-22-00

As usual I am still up when I should be getting some Zs! Another productive night on the Depot. This hand laid shingles stuff is a real time consumer but the final product is looking good.

I only had a few shingles to start so I brought out the Shingle Maker (see article) and got to work. One thing to note now that I am putting this cutter to good use. The cutter does a better job if you kind of pop it to cut the wood. If you just bring it down and then try to cut it using slow force the blade has a tendency to bend and produce shingle that are extra thick on one end. Just line the wood up with the blade for proper thickness then let the blade up a little and give it a quick chop down. You do not have to follow all the way through with the cut. The initial blow will make the shingle split off clean.

You start off by placing a shingle with about a 1/8" overhang on the front edge. You mark the top of the shingle onto the roof. Use this line to get a depth and draw a straight line horizontally across the roof. Now ever half inch up draw another line. These lines tell you where the top of the next shingle row will go. Then put some glue down and start placing the shingle from one side to the other. Don't forget to stagger the width of the shingle to give it a more natural look. The shingle can easily be split using your fingers, to get random widths.

As you can see, I have completed the roof on one side. The shingle cutter is doing a great job and I am really pleased with the results.

For anyone who might be following this and using the information, the next few days will be busy so don't expect to many updates before Sunday. Sunday at 11 PM I'll probably be right back here, working on the web site and wondering why I am not in bed. I have high hopes for getting things done this weekend. Look for an update on the Depot, photos and info on the placement of my Portals and Retaining Walls on the layout and possible some information on how I installed R/C on my Ruby live steam engine. It's a tall order but as Mack Bolan said, "Live Large!"

Take care and happy steaming,

Johnny F

03-21-00

Hi all. Now that I have a pile of scale cut lumber it's time to get some work done. It also helps that the weather has gone back to the 30s & 40s so the layout is on hold.

I ordered this set of plans from Garden-Texture by printing their order form from their website. The only thing I would have liked to see was the ability to order on-line with a credit card. The mail order process just takes a little to long. Credit Card orders cut into the profits though so I can understand why it's check only.

The price seemed reasonable and after looking over my order I can say, "You get your moneys worth." Besides the plans, which are to scale, you get a step by step work sheet on how to build your model. This sheet also includes a cover page with a color photo of the built project. This comes in real handy and you find yourself referring to it often.

As you can see from the photos I have been making some headway. The beginning, when you make the basic frame structure, is the slowest part. You need to get everything as square as possible and then you have to wait for the glue to dry before you can proceed.

The instructions start out saying that you should read through the instruction guide and become familiar with it and the blue prints. Now that I am about 2/3 of the way through, I realize that I could have avoided a few minor mistakes if I had taken the time to really understand the construction process. Take 20 minutes or so and figure out how it goes together, it will save you some time in the long run.

Since I did not buy my windows and doors from Garden-Texture I will be figuring out how to make them myself, that should be interesting. I will be completing the roof using cedar shakes that I cut using the Shingle Cutter detailed in an earlier article. I hope to have it all done by the end of this weekend. Please check back for updates and photos.

Take care and happy steaming,

Johnny F