# Thomas Shed



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

The Wooden Railway is a scale of it's own. I recently purchased a bag of track with a roof shed in it. Not wanting the roof to go to waste, I built a shed for it. Here it is. Using techniques from the S Scale trestle.


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## Stillakid (Jan 12, 2010)

*Shed*

T-Man, very nice!:thumbsup:
Between you and Big Ed, I can't look at anything as, "Junk/Trash"
I've got a box full of all sorts of "odds & ends", with note cards attached with the ideas I have for them. The "Boss" thinks I'm nuts!:laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

I'm impressed----it looks like it was designed for the job. Great work!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man,

If I understand you right, you built the boxed walls of the shed and wallpapered on the brick face/windows. Fabulous! But where did you get the images for those brick/window building faces??? They seem PERFECT for this! What's your magic source?

TJ


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

TJ, the one on the left is the original, the copy is on the right. In this post they are reversed, naturally.
The sides are 3/16ths maple plywood.The base is 3/8ths with a strip of 3/16 down the center. Regular track is too narrow to use so it was easier to use the plywood. The ends are scrap 3/4.
I like the style of the roof. I wonder if I can do it in O scale.?


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man,

I love it! Simple, but perfect. Nice use of the original to copy the wallpaper sides for the new one. You should save that scan, of course ... could come in handy scaled up for O, as you were thinking.

Cheers,

TJ


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## Stillakid (Jan 12, 2010)

T-Man, Banister Railing and a router?


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I'm not sure. Maybe stack different cuts. I would remove the windows. Regular paper is had to work with. I had bulges on the wall. The photo paper would be best.
I have been cleaning up and finding old projects. This is still in planning. It would be nice to have a shed. Who knows maybe Thomas will show up?


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I am playing around with an O scale workshed.It will use the width of a 2 by 4 with a 2 by 6 roof. Here is a practice cut of 8 degrees on the table saw.

Look familiar?










I don't want a solid roof I want it open to reflect my arcing light so it will take a little savvy to do it.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man said:


> I don't want a solid roof I want it open to reflect my arcing light so it will take a little savvy to do it.


T-Man,

In that case, another option to consider is making a few cross-section "ribs" to your desired shape out of 1/8" or 1/4" plywood, then skinning over them lengthwise with 1/8" ply to create the actual roof and clerestory/skylight shapes. First and last rib would be the end gable pieces.

Just a thought ...

TJ


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## Stillakid (Jan 12, 2010)

*Nice "T!"*

I like TJ"s idea!:thumbsup:

You could use some opaque glass and just glue a balsa/basswood frame across the top. You'd have to router/table saw, channels along the top piece and use something a little heavier for the end caps(they would also need channels for the glass) Sounds like a whole lot of work, but I'd wager you could make it look fantastic!

A "Simple" design(yeah, I know, I'm simple minded!):laugh::laugh::laugh:



View attachment 4855


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Walls and Roof*

The shed is back. O scale this time. So if you have a Thomas engine He will look good in this. 
I started with printing out the side walls then cut out the windows, traced the holed to the 3/16 plywood and cut them out with a scroll saw. To start the roof I cut a 1 by 4 at 8 degrees. I plan on having horizontal windows on the roof like a cupola covered by a second roof. I haven't worked it all out yet.

I used photo paper. Cutting the windows out was the first thing then templating the holes to cut for the windows in the walls. The scroll saw did the rest. Two roof sections were glued togther to fit up the ends.










Trial fit of the roof section. The middle pieces will be cut to have the center open. I just have to figure out how I want the top to look.

The walls fit into a dado cut on the roof section. I am still plannining the ends too.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Windows*

This building is for lighting so I need windows. You don't need them and it keeps it simple. 

With the windows cut I removed the glass and saved the frames. The photopaper paid off here. Next I used Mod Podge on acrylic for a test. I cut out 6 windows and painted the frames in place from the backside. It sorta looks like water glass. My test piece on the right. I knew that after cutting out the glass there was no way I could stick the frame to the acrylic without smudging it up. I have my limitations. So I layered the piece on and covered all. A shed doesn't have clean windows anyway.










I made a template for the roof. It looks good. I cut the roof for the hole on top visible in the picture.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Windows installed*

This is getting to be quite an involved project. I epoxied the windows in, (surprised?) I used a dremel sander, and a nail file to work the corners to do the final fit up. I used the scroll saw for really bad corners.
The windows are just tacked in for now. More to do. The glazing and frames are on the inside. Plus some sanding dust.

Here is the light test.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

This is getting to be quite an involved project. I epoxied the windows in, (surprised?)



NO.:laugh:


The shack is looking good.





A T man's breakfast.












A big bowl of epoxy mixed to perfection.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Shed Roof*

I sanded down the sub roof and added some trim to the interior window. Basically it hides the epoxy.










The top roof is an outline of the template on a 2 by 8 piece of scrap. I ended up with a 13 degree angle to get the maximim height from the board. Temporarily I used inch acrylic to prop it up. 










Using spray paint I primed and painted.


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## Stillakid (Jan 12, 2010)

Nice workmanship Bob! What kind of lighting will you use?


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

You should remember this. 
Maybe three inside and one out front. I still have to finish the stucture.


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## Stillakid (Jan 12, 2010)

I do remember them. The question is, what kind of power source and how do I wire them for the Billboard I'm getting ready to start? (You do remember that I am completely at a loss when dealing with elctronics!)


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man,

Shed's looking nice. I really like the photo-printed wallpaper sides. Clever using the Thomas original shed as the source.

TJ


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Stillakid said:


> I do remember them. The question is, what kind of power source and how do I wire them for the Billboard I'm getting ready to start? (You do remember that I am completely at a loss when dealing with elctronics!)


They are first shown in post 40 of colunm 4 in this thread.

They should be wired in pairs for AC,with resistors to run off the AC terminal.
I could tell if I see them again.
My latest problem is remembering all these variations I have done. I should of got a picture before I sent it.

TJ, the photo paper works great and doesn't ripple with the glue. Photoshop pro enlarged the scan print to 7 by 11.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man said:


> TJ, the photo paper works great and doesn't ripple with the glue. Photoshop pro enlarged the scan print to 7 by 11.


T-Man,

Yeah, I was happy with it on my Lionel Transformer Station "skin". I used the matte photo paper. I had some images printed up on both matte and gloss, but the gloss didn't cut it visually for me ... too shiny.

Thanks, T!

TJ


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*The top roof*

I used acrylic for the sides inserted into the grooves. Epoxied on the insides.Then I blocked in the ends. 



















Trying to frame up black and clear just doesn't work.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Base*

I set up a base for the sliding doors. I tied the ends together with thin plywood under the rails and two more ties that will hold the walls. After I slot them out.


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## Reckers (Oct 11, 2009)

That shed has taken on a life of it's own. Terrific work, Bob!


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Bob the Builder!

Nice work,

TJ


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Doors*

Sitting pretty after the door fitup.









This end got lucky with track clearance.









Almost by magic a moving brick wall.








I know the side clearance will get me sooner or later. I will just have to wait it out.

Thank you for the positive responses.
I had no idea this would be so much work. I just went with one need at a time. I don't think Thomas has to worry about copyright. It is just too much and one is plenty. 

Since this is just slotted together it will come apart easily 
Now I am ready for the electrician.
Bob? Bob? 
Contractors!


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*In place*

I screwed the shed down. The traffic with the trolley is close. The sliding doors can stop the train and that is tested.










I am stilll designing the lighting. I used some straws to make a drain pipe, but in this case I will feed the wire up.










A view to see how it fits in. Just about done.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man,

Neat! That'll look pretty cool with a loco and light inside. Who's the guy with the top hat ?!?

Minor suggestion, if I may ...

I think your "outside the building" platform would look a lot better if you filled in the gap between the two sliding door based (painted light grey) with wood of the same height (3/4" or whatever), also painted grey. I.e., create a raised platform throughout where your two people are standing.

Two cents, only ...

TJ


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I could do something about that now. You see the width was against ties on the inside and toward the trolley. Now I have the cleanance.

One thing that has surpised me since starting is the options that creep up.
The windows were needed so I went with them but I had to skimp on the door windows because of the sliding They may fit in the thickness but I passed. The Xmas LEDs have no power so I am going with two flat LEDs I rigged up earlier I can always add more. I do want to add two lamps outside but I need some flexable tubing.

The nice thing is ,that now I have a unique piece that doesn't look half bad.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

100% Unique !!!

Gotta sign your name on it somewhere!!!

TJ


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Hey! Hold the train ...

Is that a gutter downspout I see?!? Made out of a bendy drinking straw?

You are the clever one, T ... nothing goes to waste around your house!

TJ


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