# Building the Penn RR freight house.



## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Several people asked how I built the flour mill/freight house last month and it was suggested that I do a tutorial on such construction. I found a nice freight house in the latest issue of Model Railroader so that will be the subject matter for this build.
First of all the article in MR was written by Harold W. Russell. He also took the picture of the freight house back in 1983 and he drew the building elevations for us to build from. "Harold is an accomplished modeler and draftsman who has had more than 160 articles and drawings published in MR since 1966" and I'm quoting from the article in the September issue of Model Railroader Magazine. Harold obviously knows what he is doing as the drawings are very detailed and his pictures are very well done. Lots of info from this man and I'm sure that MR is proud to be publishing his work.
The first thing I'll do is copy the plans in the MR magazine on my printer/scanner so that I won't have to mess up the pictures in the mag. It may be necessary to cut up the copies and you wouldn't want to do that to a great magazine like Model Railroader.









Since the pics in the magazine ar on two pages I will trim the edge of one page and line it up with the second page and tape the two pages together. Easier to measure the building dimensions that way.









Next step is to aquire the toold that you will need to start out with. I'll be using a plastic triangle with a 90 degree corner,a sharp pencil,a hobby knofe and a ruler. I'll use 1/16th thick balsa because that's what I have on hand but you can use whatever is handy for you. Plastic sheet,foam board,cardboard or bass wood will all be ok.









Now you have to decide what scale you want to use. As you can see from the next picture 1/8th scale is close to HO but just a bit smaller. I like to use 1/8th because it's close enough to HO and easier to use than figuring fractions for the building dimensions. In the picture you can see that the building is 24'4" wide but the ruler shows 27 feet in 1/8th scale. You can either use the 1/8th scale and measure using the dimensions as they are printed or actually measure the drawings and use those dimensions to build with. Which ever way you choose to measure,make sure you use the same method for all dimensions. Since there are a lot of dimensions not on the drawings like the height and width of the doors and windows,I will actually measure the drawings at 1/8th scale and use those figres to build with. So as in the case of the picture shown here the width of the end of the building will be 27 feet instead of 24 feet. Inches can be dropped for this project as they will be too small to measure accuratly. Your model will turn out to be the same size as the pictures rather than a little smaller.








Now we can start the cutting and building. Pete


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

To start with always have the sides of the building with the grain of the wood running horizontally. The grain needs to be parallel with the siding that we will put on it.
I measured 27 inches along the bottom of the balsa wood and made a mark. I then stood the wood up on edge and lined my triangle up with the mark. Draw a line along the straight edge of the triangle with a sharp pencil and then lay the wood down flat. Using the edge of the triangle as a straiight edge cut the piece with the hobby knife.








Cut two pieces for the building ends.

























Next we measur the plan for the height of the building at the peak of the roof. It says 25'9" on the plan but it will measure 28'6" with the ruler. 6" is easy enough to measure so it is included in the dimension. Mearuse up from the bottom of the two cut pieces and make a mark. Then measure the width at the mark and divide that by two to get the point of the gable end. Next we measure the distance from the bottom of the plan to where the roof meets the side of the building. Transfere that dimension to the cut wood pieces and make a mark on both sides of the wood. Connect the side marks to the gable poit and draw a line. Now you have the roof line on the two end pieces. Don't cut the roof line yet.
Lay the two cut pieces on a flat surface and pin them there side by side so we can make the clapboard siding. Using a small screw driver blade or any other similar tool draw the tool across the bottom of the two wood pieces using the triangle or any straight edge as a guide. Press the tool firmly against the wood at an angle and draw the tool all the way across the two pieces of wood making an indentation into the wood with the top edge of the tool only. Then move yur straight edge up to the line you just made and draw another indentation with your screw driver. Do this all the way up to the top and you'll see that it looks just like clapboard overlapping boards.
Now you can cut the roof line off and holding both pieces back to back check the edges to be sure they are all equal. If any arn't right then samd them now to the right size. Don't worry about them being exactly true to the measurement. Just be sure they are the same exact shape and the corners are square at the bottom.
























Now the two end pieces ar done for the moment. We will now do the two sides of the building in the same way.


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## ontario mainline (Dec 6, 2008)

wish I was that handy. would love to build it. that freight house is only, about 1&1/2 hour drive from me. use to have a small depot in my home town( not Penn line ) but a old short line, that runs thur are area. they moved it and then they fixed it up.and put it in a the , town history museum. I should go and check it out sometime, and get some ideals from it.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

I'd like to find something like that that I could afford to buy. Fix it up and live in it .Especially nice if the trains still ran through the front yard. Pete


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Pete,

Very nice "how to" thread. Looking forward to your ongoing progress!

TJ


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## Nolan (Aug 4, 2011)

Great tutorial. Amazing how some of the "old" techniques are still relevant today. Used this method back in the 60's.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Method back in the 60's? I didn't know there was any other way to build something like this.
Anyway we shall go on.
Now the windows and doors have to be cut out. Take your copy of the plans and carefully cut out all the windows and doors. Be sure to cut INSIDE the opening framing. You'll also need to cut along the bottom edge of each elevation on the plans so you can line up the windows and doors at the bottom of each wood piece.








After cutting all the windows and doors out of the plan,position the plan over the corresponding wood piece lining the bottom edge of the wood up with the bottom edge of the plan. Now trace the window and door openings onto the wood and cut them out with your hobby knife. Use a straight edge so the cuts will be nice and straight. The three marks on the two side pieces are where the roof braces will go.








Now we can cut some bracing material to the length of the sides and glue then on each side of the two ends as in the picture. Use a piece of scrap the same thickness as the wood pieces to gauge the distance in from the edge of the braces. Let the end pieces of the building overlap the ends of the side pieces. Also cut some braces for the two sides and install them on the inside 
surface at the locations of the outside roof brace marks. After scoring the sides and the ends they tend to curl so the bracing is necessary to flatten them out.








After the braces have dried securly put a bead of glue down each side and stand the building up on a flat surface. Tape the sides to the ends and square the building up. Once the building is square let it sit overnight so the glue will cure completly. That way the building won't shift out of square. Once the four sides are secure we will start on the roof. Pete


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Had to work the last two days but now I can get back to my freight station building. 
I have added braces to the insides of the building where the outside braces will be. They don't have to line up perfectly on the inside but you do want to get the outside braces located right. Just draw a line on the outside where the braces will go for now.









I then added the ridge timber made up of two pieces of bass wood and sanded at an angle at the peak. This will give a good bearing surface to glue the roof panels to. Then came the rafters laid flat to provide a glueing surface for the roof panels.









These rafters also fall where the side bracings are and are about where the outside roof braces will be but again don't have to line up perfectly. These items are all on the inside of the building and won't be seen. If you are going to put an interior in the building then you will want to take a little more care with these braces.








The roof panels are 21'6" long and they overlap the ends by about three feet.
I cut two panels that size and scored them every two scale feet with a screw driver blade edge. I don't have any way of making a raised edge where the individual metal panels would meet so the edges are indented instead and when they are painted will show up very well to simulate the metal roof panels.








One thing is that the sizes of the braces inside isn't all that important. Just use what you have for wood strips to stiffen the structure and give yourself a bearing surface to glue the roof to. Once it's all glued together the building will be more than strong enough.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Hey Pete,

That's a very nice effect in how you've "scored" the clapboard siding into the balsa with a screwdriver edge. Clever. I guess that's a benefit of using a wood as soft as balsa. Your end result is a "shiplap siding" or tongue-and-groove look. Well done,

TJ


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks TJ and it works well with other woods too. Some you just have to press harder to get the lines in. Beats the heck out of paying for clapboard. pete


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

After the roof rafters are installed and the rest of the bracing I painted the whole thing inside and out. The color is gray as that's what I have on hand and I painted the inside first and then the outside. One thing I should have done and didn't was lightly sand the outside of the four walls. They get some burrs on them that I didn't relly notice until I painted them and then the fuzz showed up nice and clear.
Anyway it now time for the roof which I did in thre sections on each side with narrow scoing for the ribs that would be on a metal roof. I made the ribs two scale feet apart and that lined up pretty well with the width of each of the three sections.










Then it was time to paint the roof. I used some off white that was close to a cream color for the base coat and then some rust paint from a railroad paint set.I brushed the rust on in strokes (lightly) that were parallel to the groves int the wood and then smeared the wet paint all around the roof with a paper towel. Then ran the towel parallel with the groves to give it a downward grain and let it dry. The roof looks like a dsty old roof with rust streaks on it but you can do the weathering anyway that you want.
Next I went after the windows. I like to frame the inside of the window openings and then frame around the windows on the outside to give them a little character and some shadow lines. Since I have no precut wood strips thin enough for this I had to cut my own. I did this with a new exacto blade and my trusty triange for a straight edge and cut the strips about 1/32nd thick out of 1/16th thick balsa. Then I cut the pieces to length by laying the strip of wood next to the window opening and cutting. Do the two sides first and then the top and bottom. Same way with the frame around the window opening. Atthe top of each window I put a verticle piece as a lintle across the top a little bit wider than the window frame for effect. It's on the original building like that.










Here is a window opening framed.









Here a window is framed around the edge with the lintl above it and painted white which is what I will be painting the trim. Looks nice and saggy like an old building I think.








You can't see it but the painted window has a piece of window tinting material glued on it from inside. I'm still trying to figure out how to put the mullions on to make it look more like a window.
One thing you can do if you have good eyes and nimble fingers is cut the outside frames thinner. Looking at my pictures here I can see that the windows would look a lot better if that were done. Next comes the doors. Pete


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I like the unsanded clapboard look. It makes the house look old, with years and years worth of layer after layer of paint. Neat!

TJ


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Thing is you can't hardly see all that normally. Brought out the detail with the close up picture.Pete


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Had some time today to work on the freight doors. I cut pieces of 1/16th balsa a little bigger than the door openings and glued them to the door frames INSIDE the building covering the door opening completly. This gives some depth to the doors and then added the cross piece and the upper and lower diagonal braces. Next comes the door frame on the outside and a larger piece of wood across the bottom as a bumper for the wagons or trucks to back up against. The door back piece will be painted gray and the frame and cross braces will be painted white. Pete


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Nice depth to the doors. Not sure if white paint is appropriate on these, though. A darker color would be more suited to a dirty, working freight door, don't you think? (You had painted an earlier window white.)

Your call though, of course!

TJ


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

This building is old and saggy looking but at the BGC we do pride ourselves in keeping everything clean and neat. In Bonita Springs we haul tourists in the winter along with a cash crop of Mary Jane in the summer. WE also do some smuggeling of protected cypress trees out of the Big Cypress Preserve in between loads of guns,ammo,tanks and such that we get from Iran, who gets them from Pakistan,who gets them from the U.S. The militaria is sent to the Appalatian Mountains where some very concerned Americans are getting ready to take DC back from the current nest of vipers. So you see it's all nice clean work and the white woodwork doesn't get dirty. Pete


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Where do I sign up? I don't like our DC vipers, either!!! 

TJ


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

The guns and ammo are for "celebratory firing" and the vehicles are for riding to the polls. The real weapon is the vote. Everybody has one but only half go and use it. And that's on a good year. Generally 30% of the people decide what the other 70% will do between elections. Thus the nest of vipers.
Pete


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

OK. Back to the freight house. Been busy this week trying to make ends meet. However I did get a little work done on the freight house. 
Started with the stairs up to the office and only had to do them four times. I copied the run and rise off the plan but had to make the run a little longer as the stairs on the model are a tad higher than on the plan. 
The landing at the top went pretty well though. I made a frame the size of the landing,glued the posts into the corners and then the braces along the sides. I split some magogany strips to make the covering boards and will use the same type pieces for the steps. 
I then did the same with the cargo loading dock and the ramp. Make the frame first to establish the size of the platform and then put the decking on. This gives you a good sturdy platform to work with. Then added the posts and the cross braces. Same with the ramp but I extended the ramp to the end of the building so as to make it less steep.
I also cut the top and bottom off a coke can and cut strips lengthwise,folded the strips with a straight edge to make the peak cover pieces for the roof. I need to get the chimney done before adding the rest of the strips.
Here are pictures of these pieces before painting. Pete


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)




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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Looking real nice Pete.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks for that Scott. If anyone had told me I could build something like this I'd have said they were nuts. Normally I would buy a kit and build it but the times being what they are forced me to at least try to make some buildings for the Bonita Grand Central. I'd read lots of articles about building things like this and so I decided to try one. I was amazed that I could actually build a building that actually looked like a building so here we are with the second attempt.
Sure I've made some mistakes but it's really easy to do this work and all it takes is some patience and a little time in the evenings. I've discovered that not only is it very satisfying work but I get to use up a lot of odd pieces of wood that would normally get chucked into the waste basket. I'm also saving some money to boot so that makes it attractive.
I hope that this article will help some people give this a try or something like it. It's fun if nothing else. I get the plans out of issues of Model Railroader magazine. The older the better. Pete









I cut the top and bottom off a coke can and cut strips off it lengthwise. Bent then with a straight edge and will use them for the peak flashing after I get the chimney done.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

More pictures. Got a little carried away with the signs. Ha! Pete


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

"Ramp Speed 50 mph" !?!?!  

Pete -- great work. The detailing of the staircase and the ramp is quite good, and really adds extra realism to the building. I'm not sure I fully understand where the Coke can strips are going, but I'm looking forward to the next revealing pics!

Thanks for sharing,

TJ


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

The coke can strips are turned over and applied to the peak of the roof. One strip is already in place. Pete


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Ahh ... got it. Nice detail. Thanks.

TJ


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

This building is just about done except for the windows and a little touch up here and there. As I showed you before I am using some tinted window film for my windows but I havn't come up with a decent way to put the mullions on the film. So I decided to use the windows that I cut out of the plans and glue them to the tinted film and then glue that to the inside of the windows. I put a little line of glue around the window opening on the inside of the wall and then placed the tinted film with the cut out windows over the opening. The film can be moved around for a bit to get the printed part straight and even in the opening. Do each window individually and cut the film just a bit bigger than the opening. This looks pretty good to me and takes care of the window mullion problem until I can come up with something better. I'm doing the same thing with the louvers at the peak of the building on each end. 
So I guess that's it. Hope you got something out of this tutorial and can use it in your own model building. Good luck. Pete


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Pete,

Looks GREAT! The building has a bit of a rustic / weathered look. I realize part of that is the fact that it's such a tiny scale, but I really like the somewhat-jagged clapboard and window trim ... it looks like the real-life building has been around for years, with layers and layers of paint, scraping, and more paint.

Thanks for a nice how-to thread,

TJ


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Good idea on the windows, looks great!


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks for the good words guys. However I was looking at the structure this morning and realized that I hadn't installed the roof braces under the eves yet. Don't know how I forgot that. Also trying to figure out how to do the gutters and downspouts. I have some small chanel in brass but it doesn't look right. Maybe I can round it out somehow and use hanger wire for the downspouts. Darn! I thought I was through with this project. :laugh: 
I'm thinking that the sides would have looked a lot smoother if I had sanded the flat wood panels better before I pressed the siding groves in. Have to pay more attention to that in the future. Pete


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

Pete,
You've lived in Fla too long. That siding looks great, just like the siding on any old building I've seen around here.
Jack


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Yep, the siding looks fine for an old building up here, I can't believe they don't weather in Florida.


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

Fla had aluminum siding in the era Pete's modeling. 

Sorry Pete, the Devil made me do it.:laugh:


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

There are old cabins in Florida built out of cypress that are still in good shape. The wood gets harder and harder as it ages and is very difficult to cut even with a skill saw. However concrete tends to rot away after awhile as does any pine or other wood outside. Cedar looks great but barely lasts a couple of years. Mostly all wooden structures down here eventually just melt into the ground and disapear.
Anything over twenty years old in South Florida is probably ready to be torn down. On the other hand buildings up North last for hundreds of years no matter what they are made of or so it seems. There are several very old homes in my home town and some commercial buildings too.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

JackC said:


> Fla had aluminum siding in the era Pete's modeling.
> 
> Sorry Pete, the Devil made me do it.:laugh:


Not a problem. Aluminum siding didn't work so well down here because of the salt air. The salt ate it up. Now we have vinyl siding and tons of it. Thing is that ultra violet rays from the sun eat that up and makes it very brittle. PVC the same way. Bump into a house with vinyl siding and it cracks or a big chunk falls off the side of the house. It's all because of the high humidity and the salt air and the hot sun. Nothing will stand up to it for very long.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

You guys have it tough ... both inside and out. Wasn't it a Chinese drywall that plagued so many homes in FL with major problems ... corroding pipes, noxious gas?


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

Little off topic TJ but that drywall problem was countrywide. I got a form from Lowes regarding a rebate.

My daughter is working on why Chinese granite grows mold.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Granite mold? Seriously?

(Sorry for the off-topic sidebar ... not intending to skew things!)

TJ


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Thousands of homes around here were built with that Chinese drywall. Seems that something in the composit made an acid gas that ate up the copper and aluminum wiring and fixtures. Also caused serious pulmonary problems to the people who lived in the homes. Pretty serious and lots of people walked off and left the houses after they couldn't get any help with the problem. Pretty bad scene. Big law suits going on now I believe but all they will get so far is the drywall replaced. You pay for removing the old and installing the new wallbord and electrical and plumbing and AC systems and a place to stay while all this is going on. A real bummer situation. Pete


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## Gansett (Apr 8, 2011)

TJ, maybe start a new thread? Aluminum wiring? Thought that had been outlawed Pete?

Yes TJ, even after cleaning and sealing the Chinese granite grows 'fuzz'.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Aluminum wiring is still legal, though it's normally used for larger runs like A/C, electric ranges, etc. Almost all the service entrance 200/400A feeds are aluminum wire.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Ths building is done except for the downspouts. I just don't have anything that looks right for that. Have to add them later.


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Ramp Speed 50mph...
Nice job...Very nice job :thumbsup:


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Looks FABULOUS, Pete! Nice custom work!

TJ


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