# Sand House - build



## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

I've started a Sand House for my G scale outdoor layout. The building portion is complete. Next I'll add the tower and sand bin. Here are some photos of my progress. The building is based on the Sand House at Chama. The tower will also be modeled after the one at Chama but with a sand chute closer to the one that was at Durango.

The Sand House is scratch built with the exception of the door pull, door hinges and the tall smoke stack from ozarkminiatures.com, the corrugated roofing from gscalecorrugatedmetal.com and the lamps from locomotivejoe.ecrater.com. I used a dado to create the board and batten siding. I used PVC pipe for the large vents. The caps for the large vents were designed using tinkercad.com and printed via shapeways.com.

https://goo.gl/photos/YWD2pVnELxp5pcvP9


-Jim


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Looks great Jim! Thanks for sharing.


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## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

Looks great Jim, what type of wood did you use, is this an outdoor all the time structure, what is the roof made of?
Dennis


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Very nice!


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Dennis, I mostly used cedar. Found a board 1"x8"x6' in the discount pile at Home Depot that was in mostly good shape. The doors are made of cedar also but I used some pre-cut pieces I had left over from another project (got those from Smith Pond Junction). I usually cut my own wood but when it gets down to 2x4's I prefer to leave it to the professionals ;-) 

I used a thin piece of plywood I had for the roof. I use Titebond III whenever I join wood-to-wood. I then glued (E6000) the corrugated roofing on top of that. I also used a piece of that same plywood for the window. It was actually a pretty easy build since there aren't any real doors or windows. I just cut the batten's away and glued the doors and window right on top of the side. 

I used a dado to cut away between the battens, so the boards & battens are one solid piece. It was fairly easy, just cut a spacer the width between battens plus one batten. Took me a few tries to get the spacer width just right but after that is was pretty easy. After using the dado move the fence the width of that spacer and cut the next dado. 

The base is a T1-11 piece that I had left over from building my train storage last year. So the structure, including the sand bin is glued to it. Makes the entire structure very strong/sturdy. The base will be covered up when placed in the rail yard. And of course the bin will have real sand in it so the base won't be seen at all.

Everything I did/used I learned from folks here on MLS over the years.

Yes, I keep my structures outdoor all year. I think they keep pretty good as Denver is mostly dry. I may find a window now and then that needs to be glued back in from a Spring snowstorm, And I may have to re-stain and re-paint every 5 or so years, but I find it's worth it as I really enjoy looking at the buildings even in the middle of winter. Especially at night as I have them lit up.

-Jim


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice build! That is a structure I have on my list, but it is pretty far down. I'm still working on my major structures. Waiting for photos in place on your RR.


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## wigginsn (Jan 9, 2008)

Nice work Jim. Outside pics would be good! 

Cheers
Neil


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Hmmm....when I click on the link to Jim's photos, I get an almost blank white page, with only a Login. Do I need a Google account to see the pics? It demands (as if "Oops, it seems you don't have your cookies enabled..." isn't a demand) that I give it some cookies, etc. My gmail login doesn't work.

JackM


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## DennisB (Jan 2, 2008)

Well done, and very picturesque. Dennis.


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Jim - I find that I get the same result when I try to view the photos in your latest thread, about stockyards. Presuming your photos aren't for only a certain group of MLS members, can you tell me where your links point to? I'm not familiar with "goo.gl" Is that a paid service, or available only to subscribers of a particular Google app, etc.? When I add photos to my postings, they're available to everybody who reads my text.

Thanks,
JackM


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Ohhhhhh, I clicked on the word "Photo" on that otherwise blank window and was TOLD that I must install Safari, Firefox, etc. Apparently I am under some moral requirement to "get with the program". Sorry, I forgot I was using my antique IE8. I quit using Firefox a few weeks ago because I made a big mistake: I obeyed the little pop-up that told me I should upgrade to Firefox 4.1.0 (or was it 1.4.0?). It brought me nothing but misery in the form of a constant stream of ads all over the screen, tabs everywhere. Deleting and reloading Firefox didn't help. AVG can't find a trojan horse, etc. Fortunately, eBay, Amazon, YouTube still accept good ol' IE8.

In the words of the great American philosopher Emily Latella: "Never mind."

JackM


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## Joe Johnson (Jan 2, 2008)

Nicely done!


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Jack, sorry for the link troubles. If you still can't see the pics let me know and I'll post them directly into this thread.

-Jim


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Finished the sand tower and sand bin. Imitation nut, bolt, washer detail on the tower is from Ozark Miniatures, Lamp is from Locomotive Joe, Sand Bin has real threaded rods and real nut, bolt, washers from Microfasteners. Everything else is scratch built. For the sand tank I used a funnel for the base hat I had from Micromark and the upper portion is just a sink drain which had a built in lip. and added a metal stop on top.. 

The tower is based on the one at Chama, but I like the spout at Durango better so I modeled that. The spout, strap and counter weight support are made from brass and some E-clips.

Here is a link to pics: https://goo.gl/photos/cv1tfjgPEwUop71LA

Jack M., these are links to google photos. If you cannot see these send me a private message and I'll send them to you.

-Jim


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Since winter has set in I'll probably wait until Spring to put it outside on the layout. Once I do I'll provide pics.

-Jim


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## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

that is very nice Jim, love to see it in place
Dennis


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Jim -

That is some darn nice work! Glas I was finally able to access the photos.

JackM

(Apparently my problem was having $400 excess in my checking account. Better days in Hooterville.)


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Wow, nice work! Really turned out great.


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Ray! Appreciate the kind words especially form someone of your talent. I'm always in awe of your buildings.

-Jim


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

jimtyp said:


> Finished the sand tower and sand bin. Imitation nut, bolt, washer detail on the tower is from Ozark Miniatures, Lamp is from Locomotive Joe, Sand Bin has real threaded rods and real nut, bolt, washers from Microfasteners. Everything else is scratch built. For the sand tank I used a funnel for the base hat I had from Micromark and the upper portion is just a sink drain which had a built in lip. and added a metal stop on top..
> 
> The tower is based on the one at Chama, but I like the spout at Durango better so I modeled that. The spout, strap and counter weight support are made from brass and some E-clips.
> 
> ...


That "goo.gl" is called a "Tiny URL" and it is a shortened form of the Real URL that it is pointing at. Somewhere along the line your system is supposed to send that Tiny one and it gets translated to the much longer Real one...

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=TWFONUpWOFNJVTliMzdHQXdlcWw4ck1XdEsxaWVB

That is the whole thing (at least I think that will not get shortened to a Tiny one). Try it. EDIT again... I see that the Link I copied here (above) also got abbreviated, but in a different way... it is actually about 60 or 70 characters long! Thus the use of a Tiny URL to save all that typing.

I don't know why some systems won't do the translation of a Tiny to the Real one, but ??? 

It is NOT your Fault and probably not even your computer's fault, but probably your ISP is not handling it right.


EDIT:

Oops, quoted the wrong missive... here is what I was replying to:



JackM said:


> Jim - I find that I get the same result when I try to view the photos in your latest thread, about stockyards. Presuming your photos aren't for only a certain group of MLS members, can you tell me where your links point to? I'm not familiar with "goo.gl" Is that a paid service, or available only to subscribers of a particular Google app, etc.? When I add photos to my postings, they're available to everybody who reads my text.
> 
> Thanks,
> JackM


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