# New station for the Zia and Columbine RR



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

This will be the third and final station for my RR. My friend and fellow club member, Grant, and I are building models of the Union Station in Santa Fe NM. This station which is now a restaurant served three railroads including the Denver, Rio Grande and Western branch nick named the "Chili Line". Here is a truncated Photo Shop view of the station east side as it stands today. The west side has been added onto and is no longer visible. I deleted one freight door and one walk-in door on each side for my model. Grant is doing the entire building which comes out to 5 feet long, mine is 4 feet.









I am using my usual building method of starting with a basic structure of 1/2 inch extruded Styrofoam board.









It is getting late so I will continue this tomorrow.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

I tried to post a picture of the building when it was being used as a station but the photo I have is in Microsoft Word and won't convert to a form that I can post. I forgot to mention that Grant's yard is on the right-of-way of the Chili Line in Santa Fe.

To continue with the construction. I made masters of the windows and doors and used them to make molds. Here are the masters ready to pour the RTV for molds.









The molds with cast parts.








I had some trouble with bubbles in the cast parts, especially in the thin sections of the window frames. The windows were my first try at a two piece mold and it seems to trap the bubbles. The windows are not perfect but are useable. I may try to fill the bubbles with some putty.

A compound pitch of the roof makes it more complicated than it appears, therefore I am making cardboard templates to aid in cutting out the Masonite roof panels. This is the east side of the building as shown at the top of my first post.









Here is a north west view with windows and doors in place. The space above the windows and doors will be filled with a stone header which will be cut from tile.









A view of the dispatch office.









That is all I have so far. Will continue this as work progresses.


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## RRwannabe (Jan 20, 2009)

lookin' good so far.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Here is the photo of the north west side of the station as it appeared when the trains were running. My friend Wesley jogged my mind by suggesting a way to display it.









This evening I got the windows and doors painted and ready to install glass.


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Hey winn

Looks great, I will look forward to seeing the rest of the new build

regards

Jerry


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Work is going slowly as other things interfere. Here is a small update. In previous posts showing the roof templates I neglected to show the roof supports. The north end also shows a window painted and the glass installed. All the windows and doors are now painted and the glass installed.









The dispatch office.









The Bathroom bump-out.









The foam is painted to help protect it. None of this will show in the finished model and no interior detail is planned. Tomorrow I hope to get the stone headers cut.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm finally getting around to posting some more progress on the station. Here is a photo of the completed foam structure with the openings outlined in the brick color so that any gaps in the brick will not be too obvious. The wiring and one LED for the lighting can be seen here. The 6 LED's will operate on one 9 volt battery which will be housed in a crate on the station platform.








I also painted around the outer edges of the building for the same reason. 
Now with the windows, doors and lintels installed. The lintels are cut from stone tile that I got at Home Depot.









The brick plastic sheets is from Ozark Miniatures, painted and applied with caulking. This shows the brick partially applied. 









A photo of the completed brick with a ledger board around the top of the wall. (I don't know why this photo is coming out too large, it says it is the same 800 pixels wide as the rest of the photos.)









Now it is on to the roof.


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## Wesley Furman (Jan 2, 2008)

Looking really nice.
Wesley


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Very well done! Thanks for posting pics, how-tos and where you got your brick. I would say that is one of the best stations I've seen.


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

You should write an article on this and submit it to one of the model railroad magazines.


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Great looking as always, Winn, look forward to more updates. I would like to make a small engine house....tell me have you ever bonded scale cedar strips to the foam as board and batten siding? I assume one has to use foam compatible adhesive no matter what is being attached to the building...

Regards

Jerry


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Jerry, My Dolores station has siding made from cedar fence pickets. The upper portion of the wall is clapboard and the lower part is vertical boards. I cut the texture on the both sides of the boards with the table saw and then sawed the pickets to a 1/4 inch thickness with the band saw. That gave me two thin boards with the texture on one side. I glued the pieces on with latex acrylic caulk. Here is a photo of the finished building.








Make sure the panels are well sealed before gluing them to the foam otherwise they will warp. The platform is covered with 1/8 inch thick slabs of cedar scored to look like planks. They were not well sealed and warped so badly that I had to break them up into small pieces and re-glue them to the foam base.


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Thanks for the info Winn, very cleaver putting the siding pattern on the board. I just glued 480 cedar boards and battens to my new train barn.....that was fun! I hope to work on an engine house this late fall/winter. 

Regards

Jerry


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Another beautiful project Winn, I'll be following it.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi guys, Thanks for the kind comments. I made a little more progress the last couple of days. Here are a couple of photos of the brick after weathering.


















The roof has a compound pitch, steeper on the upper part than on the lower part. That plus the two bump-outs makes for a rather complicated assembly. These photos show the lower part of the roof installed. I used 1/8 inch Masonite for the sheathing and sealed the joints with aluminum duct tape. I painted the underside a cream color before installing and the entire roof will be painted tile red before installing the Spanish tile.


















I will post some more after installing the upper part of the roof.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Here is a little more progress on the Santa Fe station. I decided to model the rafters as they were on the original building. As the building stands now they are covered with a soffit. Since I needed 71 rafters I made a mold to cast them.









The patterns are made from wood. I should have painted them but I just sprayed them with mold release. The mold material stuck and pulled some of the fine detail off the mold which made the clean-up of the parts a little harder. Below the mold is one rafter after clean-up.
The rafters in place.








If I were doing it again I think I would just go with a plain soffit as you about have to lie on the ground to see the rafters! A view from a higher angle shows that all you can see is the fascia and not the rafters.









I am now working on the tile for the roof.


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## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Looks great Winn. Great minds think alike, I recently glued 240 small cedar strips on the back of a train barn that is against the fence and can't be seen. Sign of a true craftsman, or someone who is slightly daft....?



Jerry


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## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

Winn
Looks great, will this structure stay out all the time?
Dennis


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Jerry and Dennis. Yes, all my buildings stay out year around. They are too big and I have no room to put them inside. The Alvarado hotel is actually glued to the concrete.


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

That is killer! What did you use to make your mold, smooth on product?


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

I like your ridge beam set into the foam. Is it wood, or...?

Wonderful work!

Cliff


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## livesteam53 (Jan 4, 2008)

Great detail work!!


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Thank you all for the kind comments.
Jim, I used the 2 part RTV from MicroMark.
Cliff, Yes the ridge beam is wood and the sub roof is 1/8 tempered Masonite.


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Winn, your new station is fantastic and so is the Dolores. Fine work, especially when you consider how difficult it is to work with plastic sheet--making the corners match. Ya done good there. I read with intent your comments about mold making, but I'm not sure I'll go down that road, so that means I'll forever be making windows by the piece. Likewise, rafter tails. Whew! You tire me out.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Joe, actually casting the parts is pretty easy. In the case of my Alvarado I had 94 windows which would have taken me a half hour to a couple of hours apiece to build whereas I could cast each one in a matter of minutes.









The station is pretty much done. I have a few little details to finish before I build a foundation for it next spring.

















OK that is it for now. I'll post the final photos when it is planted in its permanent location.


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## hans911 (Jan 9, 2008)

Winn,
Your structures and techniques are great. It has been a while since I've built a new structure for my RR but seeing your photos motivates me. Do you have a link or step by step on your technique of gluing pink foam as well as the corrugated plastic roofing? I have collected plenty of this material and would like to build a few more structures for my Christmas display.
Thanks, keep up the beautiful work.

Paul


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Nice work, as usual!


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Ray, Thanks! I always look forward to your posts as my inspiration.
Paul, Thanks to you. Here are links to a couple of my previous buildings which go into a little more detail. Let me know if I can help with any specific questions.
http://forums.mylargescale.com/14-buildings/17321-first-building-zia-columbine-rr.html

http://forums.mylargescale.com/14-buildings/18540-church-taos-pueblo.html

Hope this helps.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Here is the write up I did for a clinic I presented to our club.

BUILDING WITH FOAM​ 
Materials:
½ inch thick extruded foam insulation board (not bead board!)

Glue; Titebond III, Loctite panel glue and acrylic caulk (do not use any solvent based glue as it will melt the foam) I’m sure there other glues that will work but these are what I have had good luck with. The Titebond works well if the joints are tight, the panel glue or caulk are better if there are gaps in the joint.

Sheet rock screws: to reinforce the joints and hold things together while the glue dries.

Finish material: This can be wood, plastic, stucco or even a good coat of paint.

Tools:
Box knife
Exacto knife
Copping saw, a blade can also be used with tape
wrapped around one end for getting into tight
places.
Scroll saw
Band saw
Hot wire tool?
Steel builder’s square

Lay out and cut the parts:

For complicated and repetitive parts I like to make templates out of cardboard.

I start with the floor. Draw the outline ½ inch inside the finished size of the building all the way around to allow for the thickness of the walls.

Cut the front and back walls 1 inch longer than the floor and the side walls the same width as the floor. This will allow the front and back walls to overlap the end walls to make a square corner and a good surface to glue. Cut out the window and door openings. Remember to allow space for trim, siding or stucco.

Roof: I have used foam, corrugated plastic (real estate or political signs) and Masonite.

None of my buildings have interior details; however I do install partitions and braces to support the exterior walls and the roof.

Assembly:
Glue and screw the end walls to the edge of the floor.
Glue and screw the front and back walls to the edge of the floor and to the end walls. 
Install any interior walls and bracing.
Before installing the roof, install lighting (if used), windows and doors if they need to be inserted from the inside. Also it is a good idea to paint the inside. When the interior is completed you can glue on the roof. (I suggest making that pretty much the last thing you do to avoid having to remove the roof to fix something you forgot!)

Materials:
½ inch thick extruded foam insulation board (not bead board!)

Glue; Titebond III, Loctite panel glue and acrylic caulk (do not use any solvent based glue as it will melt the foam) I’m sure there other glues that will work but these are what I have had good luck with. The Titebond works well if the joints are tight, the panel glue or caulk are better if there are gaps in the joint.

Sheet rock screws: to reinforce the joints and hold things together while the glue dries.

Finish material: This can be wood, plastic, stucco or even a good coat of paint.

Tools:
Box knife
Exacto knife
Copping saw, a blade can also be used with tape
wrapped around one end for getting into tight
places.
Scroll saw
Band saw
Hot wire tool?
Steel builder’s square

Lay out and cut the parts:

For complicated and repetitive parts I like to make templates out of cardboard.

I start with the floor. Draw the outline ½ inch inside the finished size of the building all the way around to allow for the thickness of the walls.

Cut the front and back walls 1 inch longer than the floor and the side walls the same width as the floor. This will allow the front and back walls to overlap the end walls to make a square corner and a good surface to glue. Cut out the window and door openings. Remember to allow space for trim, siding or stucco.

Roof: I have used foam, corrugated plastic (real estate or political signs) and Masonite.

None of my buildings have interior details; however I do install partitions and braces to support the exterior walls and the roof.

Assembly:
Glue and screw the end walls to the edge of the floor.
Glue and screw the front and back walls to the edge of the floor and to the end walls. 
Install any interior walls and bracing.
Before installing the roof, install lighting (if used), windows and doors if they need to be inserted from the inside. Also it is a good idea to paint the inside. When the interior is completed you can glue on the roof. (I suggest making that pretty much the last thing you do to avoid having to remove the roof to fix something you forgot!)
Finishing: 
Wood siding: Cedar fence pickets that were cut on the table saw to resemble clapboard or vertical board siding and then sawn to a ¼ inch thickness. These need to be sealed on all surfaces before gluing to the foam so that they won’t warp and pull loose.
Plastic siding: Vacuum formed plastic sheets that are available in all kinds of textures including brick, stone, wood, tile and shingles. I have had the best luck attaching wood and plastic to the foam with latex acrylic caulk. It adheres well and stays flexible.
Stucco: On the first building that I stuccoed I first covered it with fiberglass mesh glued on with bonding agent. This does not seem to be necessary so I have not used it on subsequent buildings. I coat the foam with the bonding agent followed by a base coat of Sonowall adhesive ground coat. I followed this with an acrylic stucco color coat. Both of these products were purchased at ‘New Mexico Plaster and Supply’. The stucco comes premixed in a 5 gallon bucket and is quite expensive. The texture is heavier than I like and I have since found that tile grout mixed with ½ water and ½ bonding agent works well. This is cheaper and you don’t have to buy large quantities. I mix the ground coat and the color coat to the consistency of pancake batter and apply it with a cheap paint brush. A natural fiber brush seems to work better than nylon or other synthetic.
Roofs:
For the roof structure I have used foam, corrugated plastic sign material or tempered Masonite. For the roof covering I have used 90# mineral coated roll roofing or vacuum formed plastic tile sheets. I tried asphalt cement in caulking gun tubes for attaching the roll roofing but found that it softens in the hot sun and the roofing slides off the pitched roof. Acrylic caulk works better and is good with the plastic roofing as well.
Paint:
On plastic I prime with spray-on rattle can primer then paint with Behr ‘color and primer all in one’ acrylic exterior house paint. This is available at Home Depot in an 8 ounce trial size in any color you want. I use the same paint directly on wood or foam, two coats.
So far all the buildings I have built using these methods are standing up well outdoors all year around. The oldest has been out for four years.


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## SirSimon007 (Nov 26, 2014)

*Tile Roof*

Winn - your building looks excellent. One is interested in how you constructed the roof, do you have any photographs showing how this was constructed you could share. Most kind - thank you.


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Simon, All the roof construction photos that I have are shown in the earlier part of this thread. Since this is a fairly complicated roof, I made cardboard templates od the roof pieces to use in cutting out the Masonite roof sections. The roof sections were glued in place with latex caulking and the joints sealed with aluminum duct tape. Then the vacuum formed tile pieces were primed with Rustoleum grey primer, cut to size and also applied with caulk. The roof is painted with two colors of Behr exterior house and weathered with acrylic craft paints.


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