OK, I had been working on this for quite some time. Just had it holding on the RIP track, until the what I thought was the start date. Then Trucklover pulled a fast one on all of us, and posted a finished project. So..... After checking with the judge, found out it was ok to post early.
With out further stammering I present you:

88Fans 2009 Summer Structure Scrtachbuild Challenge.

On the last scratchbuild challenge, I built a station (Ore Hill)that actually was used by the real Central New England in the mid 1800's to the early 1920's, until the Barnum-Richardson iron ore mine closed.

This challenge, I'm again going to scratch build another Central New England station.

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History:
This is Stratton Brook, a flag stop station, which was on the Tarriffville Branch(Avon, CT to Tarriffville, CT) during the late 1800's. Stratton Brook was no more than a collection of small houses, and a farm, which shipped milk from the station. There was also a small leather company nearby, which would pick up its raw materials and ship finished products from here. They were brought here by horse and buckboard. When The New Haven gained control of the CNE, The Central New England tracks were removed in favor of the Canal Route's Right Of Way(Which are behind the photographer) and the station was closed because of the close proximity to Simsbury(Only two and a half miles up the road) and the station was ripped down at the same time.
There's a story that goes, on one cold wintry day, the mail bag was thrown of the train "on The Fly". This was standard when there was no one waiting at the station to be picked up. Well, a search for the bag ensued, with no luck. That next spring, the mail bag was found in the brook by a couple kids who found it while fishing.


Modeling Stratton Brook
As with Ore Hill, I'm going to have to use my modelers licence and guess the dimensions. But I thought, that since at the time I only hadthe first picture to go on, I was going to have to guess what was trackside. Since there's a shelter, I was assuming, as with all flag stops at the time on the CNE, that the trackside of the shelter was open. Then, while searching the net, I found this picture.
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This picture was going to make modeling this depot easy. Also, on the same site, was the same picture as the first one with the date '82. Obvisously, 1882.
Then, I neat idea hit. I'm going to model two of the same stations, one that is a copy of the one in the pictures, and a modern, renovation of Stratton Brook, as it was preserved and is used as a commuter station today. I will design the base and scenery so I can change eras by just changing out the stations.

Guesstimating dimensions:
Since I have no actual dimensions of the station, and trying to research them would take half a summer, I decided to use the pic as a reference. I used this same method when I did Ore Hill, and didn't find out til some one gave me the actual dimensions, after I had finished(Figures...Right), that I was only off by a foot or two.

There are two ways I could do this. Either use the height of the man in the picture(1.), or the width of the boards(2.).
I decided to use the man. Knowing that more than a century ago, humans average height was smaller than it is today, and since the detail in the picture isn't the greatest, and I might miss a couple of boards counting. Getting some info off the net, the average height of a man in the late 1880's, which I determind, by the date scrawled on the original picture, was five foot, eight inches. So with the hat, I guestimated the height at an even six feet. And this would probably be considered "tall" back then.

Measuring From A Picture:
After determining the height of the man, and the scale I was going to use, I placed a regular ruler against the man, and marked the height on the ruler. This was my scale in figuring the dimensions which would be 5/8th inches equals six feet.
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I then took measurements using the actual inches. Its always good to have your reference material close by when scratch building from photos. In this case the book Country Depots In The Connecticut Hills ( Robert F.Lord c.1996)
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After I got all the measurements in inches, using simple shop math, I figured out the dimensions of the station, and drew a crude diagram with the guesstimated dimensions. After this, I will draw a more detailed drawing using my General Model Railroad Scale Ruler.
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After I figured out, or guesstimated all the dimensions, I drew a more detailed drawing of what I envision the depot to look like. This is more a reference, than an actual plan. Please excuse the drawing, I'm not a draftsman.

Modeling Stratton Brook:The Commuter Station

The area around Stratton Brook is totally different today, then it was a hundred years ago. Stratton Brook is a hamlet of the town of Simsbury, Connecticut, which has become known as a "white collar" town. Large housing tracts, replace the farm fields that were once there. Huge triple digit homes now dot the area. Prime area for a commuter station. Though Simsbury is only a couple miles up the road, I figured that most folks would rather leave their cars at Stratton Brook, or even walk, and catch the train to Hartford, or other parts south of there. Too bad the CNE tarcks were ripped up in the 1930's. But I'm not modeling Simsbury, just the Stratton Brook depot.

I'm going to start with the commuter version of Stratton Brook, because there's more involved modeling then the one from the 1880's. Some of the modern changes I'm planning are:
Brick, or foundation block base
The open waiting area glassed in, with a drop ceiling and lights.
Waiting area has a tile floor, with benches for sitting.
Enclosed portion, or Station Agent's Office(I'm assuming was), converted to rest rooms.
Vinyl clapboard siding.
Concrete platform with a Handicap Ramp
I will keep the same look of the original station.

Since I'm modeling a modern version of Stratton Brook, and the waiting area is going to modernized and enclosed in glass, a few modern conveniences were in order. So using pieces of scrap styrene, I fashioned a "self serve" ticket machine, an ATM machine which I printed out a wrap on my printer and placed on both.
I also shrunk down a copy of the first picture of Stratton Brook to make a "historical" picture for hanging on the inside wall.

Great start! and that shrunken photo is a very clever detail

Thanks Kevin.

Disclaimer: I'm not a professional scratchbuilder. I've been scratchbuilding for years and love it. The next few steps are the ones that I've used myself with what I think are great results(Not to slap my own back....My arms aren't that long). I'm only posting my techique for those beginners that wish to try their hand at scratchbuilding. There are those modellers that have better ways of doing things, and basically are far more talented then me.

With that out of the way


After getting rough measurements, and drawing a rough diagram, I started in on the walls. I'm using Evergreen .040" clapboard siding for the outside walls, and plain .040" for the inside. The first thing I do is measure the dimensions, and draw out the basic shape of the wall on the backside of the plastic.
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Before I cut out the wall, I will measure and cut out the opening for the window. This will give support when cutting out the window,and prevent damage(It does happen) such as breaking the wall. I'm using Grandt line windows that came from their Sample Box bought a couple of years ago. The long, two pane windows were great for those ones you see in public restrooms. The windows come with a flange on the back and window trim. I measure the flange which gives me a rough dimension for the opening. Some folks will cut the wall up like a jigsaw puzzle to remove the opening, then put the wall back together. I tried that once and didn't like the results.
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Here, I'm free handing the cutting of the hole.
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The rough opening.
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After getting the rough opening, I will use jewelers files to open it up to the right dimensions, checking the fit every once in awhile. This does take time.
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Perfect fit.
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Then I finish cutting the wall out.
Tip: When cutting plastic, make sure you have sharp blades handy. Plastic will quickly dull the X-Acto blade.
[attachment=2153]

AWESOME Start to your Challenge 88!! I agree with Kevin, that shrunken photo is clever and will look neat on one of the walls!!

Very nice structure you chose to model and great start to your challenge. And just like Josh I love the "historical" picture for hanging on the inside wall .

Thanks for the comments guys.

Worked on the inner wall. Using the same methods, I cut a door, and a window for the restrooms. Painted the wall blue with white trim.I also did a line "Route " map of CDOT's Litchfield Hills commuter line on my computer. You can just make out the route. That would be the red lines. The blue are connecting lines. You can see black dot which represent station stops. Pretty close to what the real CNE map looked like. I don't know if you are going to see it once its on the model, but you never know.

Next, I framed the openings of the waiting area outside walls with Evergreen .030 x .030 styrene strip.

Then, using the same Evergreen .030 x .030 strip, and some .030 x .188 strip, framed the Grandt line double door. Here I'm checking the look. I cut the strip longer then required. I will cut theh strips to length after I paint the assembly. The opposite wall, and end wall are just going to get a window frames.

WoW 88F...You got a terrific jump on that project...It's going to be one sweet structure....
Can't wait to see it all come together and in place on your layout....!!

Just a thought...Will there be some opening where one might get a peek at the interior decor..??