# Cobden Freight Office now under construction.



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Well, since I now have an operational railroad, I guess the lil' guys need to do some business and need a place to do it. So, the Cobden Il Freight house is now under construction. 

As mentioned in another thread, the base structure is hardboard (masonite). I got started today cutting the main box pieces and assembling the basic box structure. I use fairly simple construction, glue blocks in the corners affixed with my pneumatic stapeler. 

Here are a few shots early in the progress...

"/>

You can see the stapels here.. 

[img]"/>

[img]"/>

[img]"/>


This will be a 12 foot model... it'll look great from 12 feet away. I'm going to glue face frames on for the doors and windows and paint the doors and windows on, I'm not going to bother to cut any openings at this point. Yes, it'll be quick and dirty, but shoud do the job for a while.. 

I'll post updates as I make headway..


----------



## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the construction tip! Looking good.


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

The roof... Yeah, it's starting to look ike a building.. 



[img] 


BY using a piece of duct tape along the ridgeline the roof sits correctly right where it should. The I can just lift the section I want to glue down like a hinge and place my glue, then lower it back in place. I have glued the two roof section down on the right in the last photo. Once they dry I can lift the single section on the left and glue it in place.


----------



## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Looks like a great start. Keep us posted!


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

OK. I just though I'd try and fiddle with the placement on the Rail Road. 

If you look closely you can see where I've drawn on the loading dock door, entry door and windows. The loading dock is not ready yet either, I'll need to widen it to the entire width of the building. Overall, I like it. If I do anything I may move it a bit deeper into the spur track side, away from the No2 mainline.


----------



## Ron Senek (Jan 2, 2008)

Dave looks like you need to scale back size of building for the room where you put it or move it around curve and extend track to it. Building does look good.


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

I was thinking along those lines Ron. I'll move the building back about 6 inches and turn it to paralell the tracks, then just construct the loading dock/freight platform to reach the building. I think that'd be the easiest solution.


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Got the window and door frames glued in place this morning.. If they dry soon enough I'll get started with the paint this afternoon....


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Whoo-Hoo.. Paint! I applied the overall colorcoat. Looks good. I'll let this cure 24 hours than I'll go back and overpaint the details (doors, windows, etc). I can't decide if I want to "duct tape shingle" the roof or use stickyback emery paper... If I use the Duct Tape Shingle methos I'll have to go buy some black duct tape or paint the stuff I have when I'm done... Hmmmmmmm...


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

OK, paint work is done. As I said at the outset, this is a 12 foot model. (Looks great from 12 feet away). Now on to a fe details, signage and build out the loading dock/platform..


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Signage made and applied...


----------



## Richard Weatherby (Jan 3, 2008)

Looks great. I think some corrugated cans for roofing would make it last for quite a while. I put mine up on the loading dock which keeps it above the ground and moisture. I wish I could distribute some "fiberboard" as my son brought home 80 sheets for the jobsite he is working at. The used it to cover the polished concrete floor. Barely dirty on one side. Can you imagine how many building we could make????


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Man.. I'd sure take "more than a few"..


----------



## Biblegrove RR (Jan 4, 2008)

uh.......I too will be modeling a bit of Cobden IL. since I live 5 miles from there. The old (now gone) passenger station is cool and there are some good pics of it at the Depot Restaurant in Anna. The freight house I believe was on a siding with the backside setting on a huge BLOCK wall with chutes down to the street below. The blocks and chutes are still there. Must have been a cool way to load trucks eh? My father born in 1913 was a truck driver that used to haul produce from Cobden to Chicago back in the day when 51 wass THE highway, before highways existed. Also heard stories fo picking up lots of Berries from Balcomb, IL> Dave, did you know they used to harvest Easter flowers in and around Cobden? Huge feilds in the spring are still covered with them! I just love the local history... 
Why you pick Cobden?


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

You are correct sir, the history of the Jackson/Williamson/Union county area is pretty amazing. And yes, I do remember all the wildflowers. 

No particular reason for chosing Cobden. I generally keeping the IC from DuQuoin to Cairo in the back of my mind as I builld out the RR. I have a depot in the works based on the depot in Sparta as well.


----------



## Biblegrove RR (Jan 4, 2008)

the peach color will look great with the annual peach festival in a couple weeks! lol


----------



## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Peach? Looks pink to me....Pink Lemonaid Pink.


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

The actual color is " $2.00 a gallon in the discount bin because the guy at Home Depot mixed the wrong color for sombody taupe"...


----------



## SE18 (Feb 21, 2008)

simple but nice


----------



## Biblegrove RR (Jan 4, 2008)

should have paid him another $2 to change/darken etc. !!! LOL it looks fine and should stand out very well


----------



## mgilger (Feb 22, 2008)

Home Depot and Lowes call it the Ops paint. They both sell gallons for $5 and quarts for $2. If you got the gallon for $2, that was a great deal. We also found out that sometimes they intentially will mis tint the stuff they put in the Ops section. If someone stops in and orders a gallon or two and never comes back to pick it up, they will mis tint it to prevent the person from coming back and getting the color they want for a fraction of the price they would have ended up paying. 

My wife just picked up a gallon of black from the Lowes Ops department for $5 this everning. I'll put it with my other 3 gallons we have picked up so far this year. When winter comes around, you won't be able to get the Exterior anymore, so best to stock up while you can. 

Mark
http://mmg-garden-rr.webs.com/


----------



## mgilger (Feb 22, 2008)

Dave,
Will you be cutting our the doors and windows, or will you just be using paint? Using the 10-15 foot rule, just about anything goes.
Mark
http://mmg-garden-rr.webs.com/


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

For now I have no plans to cut out the doors and windows, I'll just leave them painted. Who knows what I may decide down the road..


----------



## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Looking good Dave, I hope you primered that well before you put on the color coat. I've had problems with the one building I used some masonite on, rotted away, but it is drier out there in Utah.


----------



## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Jerry, the "paint" itself is a penetrating waterproofing material. They don't reccomend using a primer as it does not allow the waterproofing to penetrate.. I bough two gallons when I found them, and I have about a half gallon left.. the stuff is bombproof. That's the paint that I used on the benchwork on the old railroad. It stayed out in the weather for two years and I can find no visible rot or dammage to the lumber... I still have a few pieces of lumber left for small projects, it sits outside all the time... some of it on the ground. This paint ( waterproofer watever) does a great job.


----------

