# Board and Batten siding?



## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

What would would the dimensions of a typical board and batten siding be? I was thinking 12" for the board and 3" for the batten? Does that sound about right? Would the batten actually be a 1" x 3"?


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

All depends on what the builder used and what lumber was available. Some lumber even varied size on the building. 12" 10" and 8" were used. Battens could be 3" 2" or 1". Most everything was 1" thick material though. The batten size mainy depended on how much the wood would shrink, so it would cover the gaps. We did a Hemlock board and batten barn and the boards each shrunk about an inch. So for that application we used 1x2 battens. 

Terry


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Visually, I've found a 12" board and 2" wide batten (1 x 2) to look the best. I don't think I've taken any photos of my water tank yet (hope to do that tomorrow), which is board-and-batten. 

Later, 

K


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## dltrains (Jan 2, 2008)

My barn built in the mid 1800's has boards anywhere from 1x8" to 1x16" with 1/2 x2" battens if that helps 
Dave


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the input! Sounds like 1 x 2 would be a better batten size. 

Kevin, I'd love to see pics of your water tower!


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

As it so happens, I snapped a few yesterday. 




























Later, 

K


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Looks pretty nifty, Kev. I like the style, as you don't see many tanks like that. What's she made of (or, "Of what is she made?").


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

The tank is a hardibacker (Fiberock) base, with styrene on top of it. I thought about using the Precision Products board-and-batten sheets for this but Caboose didn't have but two sheets, and it's not like board-and-batten's that hard to do with styrene. The only thing I'm not 100% pleased with is the spout, looking a bit too basic. It is on par with some water tank spouts I've seen, but I'd prefer something a bit more refined. However, I needed to get this project finished for the convention, so expediency won the day. One day I'll get ambitious and "roll my own" spout (or someone will come out with a proper casting for one again). 

Later, 

K


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice Kevin! Is this based on a prototype for the EBT? 

So the battens are glued on? If so what did you use for glue? 

The chimney is really great, makes sense to keep the water tank from freezing. 

For a spout, what about the Ozark Miniatures:  spout  

Will you add some sort of coaling station next?


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Jim, it's modeled after the EBT water tank at Shade Gap, though I opted for board-and-batten siding instead because I wanted the visual contrast to the station's siding, and I've always liked the BnB siding on the Saltillo water tank. In the original plan for the railroad, the tank was supposed to be located at Shade Gap, per the prototype, but I just didn't have the room for it once the track, plants, and station were in place. 

The battens are glued on with Plastruct's solvent cement (The orange label bottle). I did have one of them fall off during construction, hence the "painted on" missing batten in the photo. I figured it'd give the building character rather than replacing the batten.


Thanks for the link to the spout. I'll have to get one of those. Ozark's was one booth I missed really browsing through at the convention. (Probably a good thing in terms of money saving, but...) 

The chimney is from Scale Art Models. The cool thing is that it's an off-white resin casting, so when I painted it, I just more or less dry-brushed the bricks, so the light color of the casting became my mortar lines.

And no, no coaling facility. There's one at Blair's Mills, the northern terminus of the TRR (that also served the Tuscarora Valley RR) and also the EBT's at Rockhill Furnace, just a mile west from Blacklog. No engine houses or such facilities, either. I think on my next railroad, I'll probably incorporate the line down to Burnt Cabins, and build an engine facility down there. I've always liked the two-stall enginehouse the EBT had at Robertsdale, so it's on my "next railroad" list. 


Later, 

K


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