Very great modeling job!

Very great modeling job! Thanks for presenting!

Building a two stall engine house

An excellent article, very detailed and easy to follow. It makes me wish all kits were Craftsman as I think they are in the long run easier to work with and certainly easier to adjust to  individual situations than the "One type fits all" plastic kits.

I would like to see mentioned in such articles the sources for items, particularly hr to find small details.

Thanks for the article.

Jim

You opted for scribed plank lower

walls, I think the stone might have been nicer, but your railroad, your choice.

I was working on a station recently, and like you, I had roadbed under the track to contend with, so I added a roadbed foundation to the building, then painted it grey for concrete.  The cork roadbed gave it texture, and by using cork it raised the building the correct amount.  I then Dremeled a couple of ramps at the loading doors as addons out of some more cork roadbed.  By coincidence, the staircase I added to the back of the station second floor needed almost exactly that much extra height for a perfect fit.

What are the different kit levels?

I see a lot of reference to "craftsman" kits, but what exactly is a craftsman kit?  Are there beginner and mid level kits?  Is there a progression one should follow?  

Sorry for the dumb questions, but this is all new to me.  

Scratch build a two stall

Original plans

If you need them, the plans for John Allen's engine house, the inspiration for the FSM kit, can be found in the October 1948 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. The pages are available online here:   Open in new window

-Eric

...

Any more, it really depends.  Some people would call a Laser-cut kit a Craftsman kit, but once you see a true craftsman kit I daresay this is an inaccurate representation.

A true craftsman kit basically consists of a box of sticks at the beginning, and working plank by plank, you end up with a complete structure.  You frame the walls, versus cutting them out of sheet, ending up with a wall that really is board on frame construction.  A laser-cut kit gives you the benefit of providing the walls and even trim all precut, but where they do have a true craftsman kit element is in the construction of doors and windows.  While many craftsman kits will provide you with molded doors or windows, many laser-cut kits provide precut layers of material that become the doors and windows.

It does take a little time and you can do some things really well with this construction style, such as representing the interior walls of a structure or where the boards are rotting out near the bottom of a structure, you can have feathered boards over an exposed inner framework.  That being said, it isn't necessary for every great structure on a layout.

Taddeoj - kit info

Taddeoj, take a look at this site:

http://www.barmillsmodels.com/

Click on "Craftsmen Structure Kits", then click on "Under $50 Kits."  These are simple wood structures with excellent instructions, "how to" tips, techniques, and other info.  They are intended for beginners.

The other, more expensive kits, are intended for intermediate and advanced modelers.  They are typically larger, more complex structures that take longer to build.  The instructions are less thorough and assume you have the skills, experience, tools, etc. needed to build them.

Try one or more of the cheaper kits, see if you like doing them, and go from there.  Its fun to build them!

Don

Original plans - Thank you

Thanks for the quick replies!

@Benny, @Donald

Good info!  Thanks agan.

Demise

of RMC has apparently made access to the plans (as Eric had linked to above) impossible. Some years/articles are still available, but not the engine house. And I was finally finished moving and could use the info. Back to my self-scaled drawings...

I tender to agree with

I tender to agree with DEMISE: the site is there but will not direct you to pages. I am under the opinion that RMC has shut down completely. Would anyone have any other alternatives???

Clever Models

If you don't mind spending $20 then check out the paper model of the engine house at Gorre from Clever Models. Use it mounted to some foam core as a stand-in or lay your siding right over the mock up. Some of the little trim is too fussy for me so just use scale strip wood instead.

http://clevermodels.squarespace.com/models-gallery/

Neil

G&G Engine House Plans

Okay, it is four years later now but scans of the Model Craftsman 1948 articles on John Allen's engine house are still online.   The cover shot is here and clicking on the arrows at the top will take you to the rest of the pages

http://gdlines.org/GDLines/GD_Galleries/Magazines/RMC/slides/RMC-19480900-001-300_70.html

Bruce Wilson

Barrie, Ontario

1948

Wow Bruce, how did you remember that? We weren’t even born yet. Ok, I’ll speak for myself but still.

Some things are timeless. If I remember correctly there was a lot of discussion over the pigeon droppings on the roof for decades after John won the model contest and it was published. 

G & D, btw. G&G were Grandma & Grandpa. Lol.