Fredericksburg Jct, S.A.F&N and S.A.&A.P.

Thanks Jim. I'm debating putting in a small ornate wash sink to the left of the desk. It would be on the back side of the door when that opens, so the placement is correct. It thought it might be a nice little added touch. What do y'all think?

The right side will have the telephone on the wall. I'm trying to find the right little table to go to the right of the desk or something in that space like filing cabinets.

 

Wow!!! That is some awesome detail work. It definately has that depot interior feel to it. I can just picture the HO scale operator sitting down and waiting for the trains to come rolling up. Where did you get those small brass looking vises that you used when putting the first kit together? How well do they work? Up till now I've been using wood blocks to try and square up my buildings(hasn't been working the best) but that looks like a good soultion. Nice work on the models though! So far all I've done is make some display shelves for some of my equipment and I've cleared a space in my inclosed carport room for a small shelf layout.

 

Thank you. I'm still waiting on quite a few more parts for the inside, including telegraph, telephone, and typewriter. I also have more luggage coming. I'm trying to find a small table to put next to the stove area that I can put some books on it. I'm enjoying doing all the little details. Mind you, I don't know how much you will be able to see once the roof is on, but its there. I have to add the fiber optics to illuminate the depot.

The brass clamps are from Micro-Mark. These are the 12 inch variants and they work well, but when dealing with small objects, their weight works against the clamping affect. I need to get the smaller ones. They offer them in 4", 6", 8", and the 12". I'd recommend them. Micro-Mark also sells a four corner clamp for small structures and I definitely want to get that.

Manny

 

A ton of new parts arrive tomorrow. They include luggage and crates of various types and sizes, telephones, typewriter, telegraph machine, banjos, violins, and all sorts of other neat items for the depot. I'll be posting up more in the next few days as the interior project will wrap up and the walls go up!

Manny

 

Parts arrived today. I got the musical instruments and record player, outdoor fuse panel and electrical meter box, and the train order signal. Along with those, tons of baggage arrived. Selley trunks and chest. Enough for several depots and fill some baggage cars. I'll get to these a little later today. They need to be cleaned and receive a vinegar bath before they can be painted. I'm finishing up the O&NW 36' flat car underframe for right now. Then I think it is time to take a nap. I'm bushed.

Manny

 

Painting and working on some small interior details. The first finished, however, is an external detail. I have to say it is the smallest work I've done to date. I really need to get myself a magnifying headset because my eyes are buggy right now. May I present to you, Fredericksburg Jct's Train Order Signal:




The T.O.S. is from Scale Structures Limited. I drilled the lantern out to accept jewels from Utah Pacific. Talk about tedious!!! I painted the mast with Polly S Tarnished Black. Then I dry brushed it with Flat Aluminum. Then after that was dry, I weathered it with DebenLLC's Weathered Rust. The flags got an extremely light touch of DebenLLC's Instant Age. I know that the lantern is on top and the flags go below. I was just trying to get the best shot with a broken camera that doesn't like to focus.

More later tonight...

Manny

 

Hey Keith,

I will attempt to do that. The trick is going to be the roof supports and that the kit doesn't have the roof meet up at the peak. I'll plan it out. Thanks for the compliments and the kudos. I'm humbled that you've been sharing my work with folks in KC. I certainly didn't expect that. Thanks again!

Manny

 

The station master's desk and work area are coming alive. I've added the telegraph set to the desk and installed the telephone. I have to form some Phosphorus Bronze wire to form the telephone wire and the telegraph wire up the walls yet. I'm trying to decide if I should leave them the bronze color (natural) or paint them black. Opinions?

Here are the pics. Still coming is the typewriter and some other desk do-dad's. I also need to make a train board for inside the station.





A few more pieces of luggage and personal items for inside the depot. Soon I can start on the outside. I still need to do the interior ceiling beams and add the ceiling fan.

Manny

 

I remember having an old phone like this when I was a kid. Yeah, the old wire was covered with a black cloth like material. Thanks for reminding me Jim. Black cloth it is! I'll even try to do the silver stripes that were woven in.

 

Construction has begun on a train board for inside the station. I cut a piece of styrene for the board and will air brush it tarnished black. I have ordered .006 white stripes from Clover House. The board will be too small to do any letters, but the lines will look right. I will frame it with wood, and stain the wood in a Walnut or Mahogany to dress it off. This project will take about a week to complete since I have to wait for the dry transfers to arrive. I will get everything else ready though.

On the outside, I will build a larger train board and will attempt to do it with lettering. I also have 12" individual letters like I had with the Heinz signs in standard Railroad Roman Block lettering. I have to make up "FREDERICKSBURG JCT" signs.

Fun, fun!

 

Here's a mock up of two sides of the depot temporarily attached to the foundation by spring clips. Here you can get an idea of how the interior is going to look. I'm really enjoying it. I'm hoping that I've captured a small town, country, turn of the century depot.

I added a second chest from Selley, produced by Bowser. I started by painting the chest Polly S Depot Olive. Then I did all the metal corner work in Tamiya Bronze. After that was dry, I dry brushed Polly S Rust and Mud, along with DebenLLC's Instant Age. I then dry brushed over all a little of the Depot Olive and it gave that see through appearance. I placed it opposite of the other chest to create a small walk way appearance.

The desk now has the telegraph machine on it, and the phone is in place. A second spittoon was added to the left of the desk. Above the spittoon on the wall will be a train board.

Historically at Fredericksburg Jct. There were two arrivals and departures; one during the morning hours. One during the afternoon/evening hours. The S.A.F & N., had to wait for the S.A. & A.P. train to return from Kerrville, before it could head back to Fredericksburg. Same as the opposite. Fredericksburg folks had to wait until the S.A. & A.P. went to Kerrville, turned and returned, before they could finish the journey to San Antonio, or wherever they were going. It was an interesting junction, that culminated in a lot of wait time.

Here are the pics of the progress so far. I hope you like it. I'm having fun with it, but trying not to let my anal retentiveness perfection ruin it.

I think this is where I will stop tonight. It's 1:17 AM and Roosevelt my Great Dane gave up on me 45 minutes ago and is now sleeping in my bed.

Good night Y'all. More tomorrow for sure.

Manny



(Kinda makes me glad I destroyed the first attempt...)

 

Working right now on the outside platform. The depot is a scale 15 feet long, so I made the platform 45 feet long. She'll be centered on the platform and the wood is being patterned in a " /\ " style at 45*. Pics up shortly!

 

Man, doing a " / \ " style wooden deck is a bee-otch in HO Scale. I dunno why? It's so easy to do in real life! Pics shortly.

 

Taking a break to post.

I was working on the last inside wall when my mind started to turn. What to do about a platform outside the depot? So I looked at the floor of the depot and started to think of ideas. First it was a platform the floor size just in front of the depot. Then it was double the floor size, offset to the right. Then it became three times the size, with the depot centered. That was the winner.

The depot is a scale 15 feet long, so I made the platform 45' total. I built the platform just like you would in real life. 2x10 joists spaced at 24" centers. I used my Rusty Stumps jigs to get perfectly aligned beams.

Then I tried to decide on the beam pattern. Straight across. Straight across staggered joints. Diagonal all the way across left. Diagonal all the way across right. Diagonals pointing to the center of the depot. Bingo! That's it! So I started...

Here's the progress...

 

Finished. Looks good. I think I will add a handrail on the back side of the platform on either side of the depot. I can also add a bench or two. I can also add a bunch of luggage, chests, etc., on the platform waiting for the train.

Pics...