# Scratch-building a Southern Pacific Depot Type 22



## Adrian v.G (Jun 1, 2012)

For a garden railroad that I plan to have one day, I decided I needed a train station. The available ones on the market are all rather small, I wanted something a little bigger.
I chose the A Southern Pacific Depot, Type #22. The prototype still stands in Patagonia, AZ, where I have some relatives.
The Southern Pacific Railroad operated a standard gauge line from Beson via Patagonia to Nogales on the Mexican border. The line was closed in the 1960’s, but the depot was preserved and now houses the municipal court house.

The depot way back when, and my version 










The depot today










In 2012 I paced the length of the building and measured the dimensions of the windows and doors,, drawing strange looks from local law inforcment J 
Back home in Switzerland at my PC, I drew a 3D model of the model in Sketchup, a free 3D design software, suitable for beginners (it is very easy to learn, watch the tutorials on Youtube)
The model of the depot in Sketchup: 










I then virtually disassembled the model and the marked the dimensions.










After an attempt using transparent acrylic plastic went horribly wrong (it shattered during drilling) I am building the model out of Trovidur EC hard plastic PVC. It is supposed to be UV and temperature resistant. I found a wholesaler who was willing to sell me some panels for cash. I got two panels of 2 by 1 meters, 6mm thick, and one panel 1mm thick for detailing. 
I cut out the walls using a jig saw and a Proxxon table saw, and reinforced them with L shaped aluminum contour sections. The corners are screwed together with the L contours and also glued. The screws are stainless steal, with safety nuts. The screws are no longer visible once the trim has been added.


















The scale is a compromise. I have some F scale rolling stock, mostly Bachman, but also some 1:22,5 rolling stock by LGB. I thought of building the depot in 1:20,3 and using some selective compression, but in the end I decided to built it in 1:22, so it will work with both scales. It still feels huge compared to off the shelf G-scale buildings. The measurements are 54 by 15 by 17 inches.
A model maker in Germany made the windows and narrow doors according to my specifications.
















The large doors are from Stoneworks (Nr4220).The roof will be covered by asphalt shingle sheeting made by Precision Products.
In the picture below all the main walls and the roof are assembled, and the windows painted and slotted in without glue. 


















I spent weeks cutting and gluing the over 400 little batton boards, 2mm wide, for the board and batton siding. I made 10mm wide jigs out of PVC strips to space the battons. The prototype in Patagonia is the only one of this type with with board and batton siding.


















Meanwhile I had another business trip to the US, and discovered the Goleta Depot in southern California. It is also a type 22 depot, and is now a museum. I was able to see what the depots looked like inside, which was great, as the one in Patagonia was completely remodeled.


----------



## Adrian v.G (Jun 1, 2012)

This summer I got around to painting the model. Before painting:









After painting:



























There is still a lot to do. I will finish the exterior, such as the roof support beams and outside lighting. 
This is what the interior will look like. I will model the stuff one can see through the windows.


----------



## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Welcome aboard Adrian..
...and ..
Welcome to the SP Club!!
I don't live to far from Benson...go there often...I live to the East..in the pass!

I have worked with a life long friend to develope a set of plans for a similar model of the now very missing Dragoon Station. ALL...we had to go by to work from, where the only known 3 old photographs of this station.. we were challenged, but got a good handle on it....I now have plans and 3D renderings to build from!!

Someday it will get built in 1/29th scale. A match to my mainline railroad here, the DMS Ry. - modeling the present day now UP rr..

Yours looks great...hope you'll share more of your work!
Thanks, Dirk


----------



## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Well done Adrian!!!!

Thanks for the inspiration to try Sketchup. Looking forward to trying my own buildings now.


----------



## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Adrian,
TOO late now, but a quick search shows "Depot - Std. #22 - Railroad Model Craftsman, Oct. 1991 - Plans".
Looks like a wonderful piece of work.
Well worth the effort and time, well done.
All the best,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


----------



## DennisB (Jan 2, 2008)

Look up the Tobu World Square on the net. The landmark buildings are done in 1/25th scale. This makes them huge in comparison to what is available. Regards, Dennis.


----------



## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Wow, really nice work! Great model of a beautiful little depot!


----------



## Ted Yarbrough (Jan 2, 2008)

Fantastic! This would even work well on a D&RGW layout.


----------



## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

As an S.P. fan and modeler I really love the station. Really nice work.


----------



## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Your station really captures the look of the SP stations here in So. California. Born in So. Cal. and raised on the S.P.

I love the photo of the Goleta Depot. Brought back a lot of great memories. About 25-30 years ago, I was involved with fund raising for the restoration of the Goleta station. We also used to run our live steam Mogul during Goleta Days, on the 7 1/2" gauge track that went around the Depot grounds. THAT was a little scary because the track wasn't maintained very well and the curves were tight and the grades were horrendous! AND running a steamer on track like that was an adventure! It was fun though!


----------



## Ted Yarbrough (Jan 2, 2008)

Adrian,
Would it be possible to obtain a set of plans/scale drawings from you? Love the depot. You can private message me on this site.


----------



## Adrian v.G (Jun 1, 2012)

Thanks for all the nice feedback, everybody!

I love the Goleta depot, and I think I remember seeing little railroad tracks running round it.

What I should to is clean up my Sketchup model and upload it to the Sketchup 3D Warehouse site, where anybody can download it. Maybe over the Christmas holidays.


----------



## Naptowneng (Jun 14, 2010)

Adrian-
Very nice work, thanks for posting the details of a build like this, it will be a resource for all of us

Regards

Jerry


----------



## Bobdsjr (Aug 14, 2012)

Adrian v.G said:


> Thanks for all the nice feedback, everybody!
> 
> I love the Goleta depot, and I think I remember seeing little railroad tracks running round it.
> 
> What I should to is clean up my Sketchup model and upload it to the Sketchup 3D Warehouse site, where anybody can download it. Maybe over the Christmas holidays.


 

That would be great!! I was thinking of asking the same question. 

Thanks, 
boB


----------



## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

What a great model! Very interesting construction method, it should last for ever.


----------



## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

Very nice construction design, I am a big user of sketchup, draw everything in sketchup before I build. Thanks for posting your model, and please keep us posted as you finish up.
Dennis


----------



## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

I drew this one up in sketchup then built it. You are doing a great job, please keep us posted
Dennis


----------



## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Dennis,
It looks great - well done.
I have used Sketchup just a 'little', and I wonder if you would be willing to explain exactly what you mean by "drew it up, and built it"!
Did you draw it in 3D from a photo and the view each face and print it out, or ????
Merry Christmas,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


----------



## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Great work by both of you!


----------



## Adrian v.G (Jun 1, 2012)

*The depot Sketchup file is now available for download*

So I cleaned up the model, added some detail and uploaded it to the Sketchup 3D Warehouse:

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=ud34cdfaf-a923-4f88-aca7-f8cf1abc2c8e










I disassembled the outer walls, laid them down flat and added dimensions. For the rest you are on your own.


----------



## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

I'm sure it may be different on your side of the lake Adrian...but can you please tell us a bit about the paint you used?

Brand...color name..type of paint...all the gooey smelly details.....!

;-)


----------



## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

Adrian
I draw everything up in sketchup, in this case I cut it out of 16 gauge steel
I draw all the windows and doors and cut on a laser.
I draw up so a cnc machines can do the cutting.
Dennis


----------



## Adrian v.G (Jun 1, 2012)

That's really cool, *denray*! What a great little depot. Sketchup is great, eh? Is that stainless steel? I know how skillful you have to be to weld stainless. Are the windows and doors made of wood?



*SD90WLMT*, I went to our local version of Home Depot and got some rattle cans. The spray paint is designed to be used to fix up cars or for around the house. It is impact resistant, non fading etc. 
The yellow is dupli-color Papaya. Here is a link: 
http://www.amazon.de/Dupli-Color-720161-Platinum-papaya-sdm/dp/B007TWNW5C


Here is another of the sources I use, for hard to find brown colors:
http://www.layup.ch/montana-colors-spraycan-p-11347.html


I am pretty confident this paint will hold up, as I sprayed an off-cut bit of PVC plastic and left it out on my balcony. It has been out there 2 years now, in sunshine, rain and snow, and the paint still looks great, maybe a little weathered.
When painting plastic, I sand it down first with fine-grain metal sand paper to rough up the surface. I then clean it with window cleaner to get rid of any dust and fatty fingerprints. I use a plastic primer before applying the paint.


----------



## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

Adrian
it is just regular cold roll steel. All my structures are all covered, the steel provides an
everlasting substrate to hold the different coverings I use.
Windows are made out of exterior acrylic, drawn in sketchup, cut on a laser.
Dennis


----------



## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Thanks Adrian...."Duplicolor" can be found at my local auto paint store ...an hour away...

I'll grab a test can next trip...

Keep going buddy!!!

Dirk - DMS Ry.


----------



## elewayne (Dec 16, 2014)

Wow. so cool. I have the cutting and welding tools and skills but rats, no laser. Is that a wood covering you are using? How do you apply the coverings to the steel?
Wayne


----------



## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Adrian, appreciate the sketchup model. Thank you! I generally model buildings and bridges in 1:22, so yours is perfect! Gorgeous depot. I love the board and batten style too.


----------



## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

Wayne
I use Lexel glue, most true value hardware' s carry it
Dennis


----------



## Adrian v.G (Jun 1, 2012)

I am making some progress, the station office is almost complete. The upper picture is from the Goleta depot museum, my prototype for the interior


----------



## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Looking good!!! Keep posting pictures of your progress.

Where are you getting your detail parts from (clock and books)?


----------



## Adrian v.G (Jun 1, 2012)

I am making the detail parts myself, using various types of plastic. 
All the furniture is also my own design. The only things off the shelf are the Preiser figure, the stove from Western Scale Models, and the telephones (Dollshouse 1/2" and Ozark)


----------

