# Building an Icing Facility



## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

In the beginning of November at the SWGRS I picked up a 1:20.3 scale Garden Textures Icing Facility Kit.
So mid November I started.



















Here's how it looked end of December.




























And a couple of weeks later.




























To be continued....... 
Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

You little stinker







....when we talked on the phone, you never mentioned this project! I've always loved this kit. You are doing a great job. Are you going to keep this outside or bring it in? Anxious to see this completed.


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Yeah,
I have a few projects going on here at the Rio Gracie **** Works









It will have to stay outside, It's a big structure at roughly 36 inches long, 16 inches wide and 20 inches high. Because of it's size, work on it is first priority (after my real work and honey do's).
I need the room.








Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## Don Gage (Jan 4, 2008)

Nice Job Tommy, 
You are off to a great start! Enjoy the project, 

Don


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Jim would be excited that you're posting this as a build thread.


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## Bob Pero (Jan 13, 2008)

Looking good. Please keep posting your "build" photos


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

So here is this weeks progress.

Working on the first floor decking




















First floor done










Second floor decking in.



















Ace the Inspector stops by during construction.










Evidently it didn't go well as Ace's boss Bunny decides to re-inspect.











Passed re-inspection so
Next steps are to put in the ice trough boards, roof sub base, put siding on conveyor structure and attach it.










To be continued.....

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice job Tommy!









Are these structures 1/29 or 1/20.3? How will you adjust the height of the icing platform for your different scales of reefers?


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

That is one nice looking building.

Gary, I will have to measure my reefers, but my thought is that the 1:29 reefers would be slightly lower than the 1:20.3 reefers. Either should look fine at the structure as along as the height is appropriate for one of the two scales.

Chuck 

Just measured a couple of reefers.

USAt PFE reefer (1:29), rail head to middle of hatch: 5 1/2 inches.

Phil's Narrow Gauge reefer (1:20.3) rail head to middle of hatch 6 1/8 inches.

That is a difference, but probably not significant, visually.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By chuck n on 17 Jan 2013 05:09 PM 
That is one nice looking building.

Gary, I will have to measure my reefers, but my thought is that the 1:29 reefers would be slightly lower than the 1:20.3 reefers. Either should look fine at the structure as along as the height is appropriate for one of the two scales.

Chuck 

Just measured a couple of reefers.

USAt PFE reefer (1:29), rail head to middle of hatch: 5 1/2 inches.

Phil's Narrow Gauge reefer (1:20.3) rail head to middle of hatch 6 1/8 inches.

That is a difference, but probably not significant, visually.


Thanks Chuck. I don't have any 1/29 reefers, only AMS 1/20.3's. I was strictly modeling in 1/29 until January 2007, when I bought my first NG car from Jonathan Bliese at a local show out here. He turned me to the darkside that day. AND I have enjoyed the **** out of it ever since!


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Gary: I run both scales in addition to several in between. Just not at the same time. Chuck


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

The structure is 1/20.3
Getting an idea of the next steps.











I don't have any 1/20.3 reefers (YET).
Here is a picture with my 1:20.3 box cars. I centered all the cars to the Conveyor structure.










LGB Reefers










Aristo Reefers










Add the odd man out, a Delton reefer.





























As of now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I am leaning toward the LGB Refers because I have more of them.

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

What I'd do at this point is have a beer!


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Good advice but I'm already there. Those cars make me thirsty. 
I think I'll have another and think some more. 

Tommy 
Rio Gracie


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## GaryGJ (Feb 9, 2012)

Tommy...that is an excellent construction job - gonna be so neat when it is finished! The reefer reference photo's certainly provide some interesting perspectives and measurement comparisons. Thanks for the progress reports - very informative and educational. 

GaryGJ


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

Excellent work Tommy. Since I've built one, I can appreciate the level of effort required to build this kit.

Here's a photo of mine with USA reefers. I felt that 1:20.3 reefers were a little too tall but that's just my opinion.










Doc


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

I'd like to add that I think it's interesting that, on the plans, the gaps at the ends of the ice block slides (the places where the blocks are slid into the reefer openings) almost exactly fit the spacing of the doors on the rooftops of 1:22 cars.

Doc


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Doc, you've been a big help.
I've been referring to your post a lot for reference.
Your right about The gaps. They line up pretty close to the LGB reefer hatches also.
Here's the LGB cars laid out on the plans.










Now that decision is settled. I will adjust the gaps a little to accommodate the LGB Reefers.

Unfortunately I do not have any 1/4 x 1/4 inch redwood or cedar for the ice trough sides. So that part of the project is on a temporary hold till I can get some more material.

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

I did have some 1/4 inch by 1/2 inch cedar, so I decided to rip it. Not having a small table saw, I inverted my jig saw in a vice, attached a piece of aluminum angle as a fence and ripped the piece in half.










I was then able to cut to length and clamp the the ice trough sides in place.










Attached the roof sub base and fitted the conveyor structure.











Roof sub bases in place, conveyor structure attached and ice troughs in place.



















Spacing of icing chutes with an LGB reefer.










To be continued...

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

Beautiful structure Tommy, I love your jig saw ingenuity!


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Tommy,

Your icing house is coming along nicely.


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice.....


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Just super. Tommy..... Just super.........


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

So now it was time to add the stairs. It is an optional feature although the kit does come with the stringers and steps. Looking at the instructions they describe the stair structure as fairly free-lanced. Thanks to Docs' Icing Facility pictures, I came up with a design similar to his.
Laying it out took me some time.










I used one of Richard Kapuaala's (scalehumans.com) 1:20.32 figures (Napii) for reference. 



















Then it was on to putting up the fascia boards.










Fascia boards all attached.





































Now it is on to shingling. Having never shingle a building before, this will probably take me awhile, but I ain't worried. Before this Icing Facility, the only building I had built out of wood before was a little outhouse.









To be continued....

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Tommy,

My late father started a 1" scale dollhouse, for my daughters many years ago (they are mid-thirties now). It was almost completed by the time I got it to finish. I had to shingle the house! It's not diificult to do.....just tedious. Look online for some techniques. From the looks of it, shouldn't be bad.


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

Tommy,

If you noticed on my model that I went with simulated (Precision Products) metal roofing. I've done several buildings using cedar shingles, so, been there done that. When I look at the several bags of shingles that came with the kit, I said "I don't think so". Good luck with your shingling. As was mentioned, it's not difficult, just tedious. BTW, anyone need shingles? I've already had my Shingles vaccination.

Doc


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Let the shingling begin!!!




























To be continued... 
Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)




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## dieseldude (Apr 21, 2009)

Fantastic! 


-Kevin.


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

SHINGLES
What's there to say. Since I'm using Silicone II as an adhesive that stuff takes awhile to set. So now I'm setting a row and then waiting till its set before applying another row. Seems things start moving otherwise. This was especially true with the ridge shingles. I ended up only doing 2 ridge shingles at a time (one each side) otherwise they started moving on me. Very time consuming, but I'm learning. Since this is my first shingling job, I started by just focusing on one area at a time. Now I'm setting a row at multiple areas then letting the adhesive set. I also ran out of large shingles. Fortunately Doc had some which should arrive Monday.

Early in the week




























As of today





































To be continued.....

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

The SHINGLING is done, the SHINGLING is done!!!
There are over 2,000 shingles individually glued onto this building. Actually I enjoyed it. I'm already thinking WHEN







I do another building, what shingle building will it be.









While I was shingling, a package of assorted accessories from Ozark arrived.










Here she is with all her shingles








































































Now I need to figure out the finish and add the details.

In the meantime, time for a cold one(s)









To be continued......

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## Ron Senek (Jan 2, 2008)

Tommy that looks great. What are you using for the ice blocks? That guy needs some color or is it a ghost i am seeing? Ron


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Very, very nice Tommy.







Turned out well!


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks guys,
The latest ice blocks (long rectangular) are from Ozark Miniatures. They are available in clear and frosted. In the earlier pictures, there are square ice blocks which came with the kit.
No ghost, needs to be painted. On the list to do along with the other accessories from Ozark. 
Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

That came together really nicely. Congrats Tommy.


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## GaryGJ (Feb 9, 2012)

Tommy...yessir, that really turned out great! Thanks so much for the time and effort to post the progress photo's, and the remarks as construction moved along. Your experience taught me a lot about this type of construction. 

GaryGJ


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Most excellently done, Tommy... A great accomplishment. All the little details will really finish it off..


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Great looked building ..... You did a great job... 

If you are going to continue making buildings like that you might want to look at this... There are two videos in the link 

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=26863 

JJ


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Details 

There was what color to stain the barrels. Looking in my cabinet I had 4 to select from. I went with the Golden Oak (Darker one on the end).










Then there were detail parts










And people



















A satin finish for the Icing Facility










A quick look to get an idea










Owners were so happy they even installed a copper locomotive bell to be rung at start, lunch and quitting time.










To be continued...

Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

Tommy,

I like your final detailing especially the bell. I might add one myself. Good idea. Golden Oak is my favorite stain. Use it all the time.

Doc


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Tommy; 

This is a great project. Your progress has been an inspiration to me. I'm sure you will get a lot of enjoyment from your icing facility over the coming years. 

Best wishes, 
David Meashey


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

This has come together really nicely Tommy! Great job!!


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Well for now I'm going to consider the Icing Facility done. Yeah there still some details I want to add, but that will have to come later. I want to thank everyone for their comments and thanks to those who just looked. I really appreciate it.









Doc had a great idea where he used metal tape on the ice chutes and I did the same.










Stan not only provided the decals, he also created the ice cube sign design. Thanks.
































































And to Jim Francis - I hope you like your Ice House. I had fun building it.










Tommy








Rio Gracie


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

And to Jim Francis - I hope you like your Ice House. I had fun building 

A fiiting memorial to our friend.







Beautiful job Tommy!


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Looks like you are ready for the next step. See Oct 2012 _Garden Railways Magazine_, page 66:

_*Gustav gets a cool new gig*_
_*By Todd Brody*_
_*An animated figure pushes ice into the hatch* 



_


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautiful building! Almost seems like a shame to put it outside.


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Tommy. You've made Jim proud with your handiwork.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

That sure finished nice, Tommy... Super job...


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## docwatsonva (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautiful building Tommy. It's a lot of work but the results are well worth it.

Doc


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

Hi Tommy,

It looks great. I have always thought ice houses were an important missing item from most layouts including mine.

Jerry


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