Building the roundhouse at Mount Forest...

[doctorwayne]

This won't be a how-to or a blow-by-blow account, but simply a thread to follow the construction of a Korber roundhouse. I've shortened the structure, since my largest locos are USRA Mikados, and I've also shortened one stall even more in order to accommodate a track passing behind the roundhouse to gain access to a staging yard. I'm not following any particular prototype and am working out the construction details as I come to them....that's another way of saying that much of this is being made-up to deal with the kit's extremely sparse instructions.

This is the basic 3-stall roundhouse kit, with two add-on stalls. The walls are cast resin, which is fairly brittle, but it cuts well with a hacksaw. The instructions recommend ca for assembly, but I'm not a fan of it for such long and not-that-well-fitting joints, so I opted for 1-72 machine screws, both to hold the walls together at the corners and to fasten all of the walls to a floor, which I cut from .060" sheet styrene (not part of the kit).
The instructions do offer a floorplan, which was helpful for determining the location of the turntable relative to the roundhouse. I'm using a Walthers 90' turntable, although I'll probably modify its appearance somewhat. It'll be manually powered, with indexing by-eye.

After the turntable pit was installed and the location of the roundhouse drawn onto the plywood layout top, I cut Atlas code83 flextrack to length and used solvent cement to tack it to the .060" roundhouse floor. (I cemented it only under a few ties at the door opening and at the rear of the building, as quite a few ties will be removed from between the rails to create the impression of inspection pits.)

Here's the partially assembled roundhouse on its styrene floor. Because I shortened the depth of the stalls, I had to also make the rear wall sections narrower. A hacksaw was used, which resulted in a bit of a hack-job, so I opted to use Evergreen .250" "H" columns at the joints. These seemed to make the structure much more solid, even without being cemented together, so I used them on the front, too.



After all of the wall sections had been screwed to the floor, I flexed the floor slightly so that the joints at the columns opened at their top ends. This allowed me to insert/drip some JB Weld into the joints. When the assembly was placed back on the layout, any excess was squeezed out and wiped off, then the whole works left to set-up.

The next day, there was no longer any flex in the floor, and all joints seemed solid. In order to build-up the floor, I cut 3/32" sheet balsa (left over from a scratchbuilding project from over 45 years ago) to fit between the individual tracks, then used gelled contact cement to fasten it to the styrene sub-floor. The balsa's thickness is the same as that of the Atlas ties, leaving an almost level surface for the application of a finished styrene floor between the tracks.

Here's a look at the floor, with one section removed to show the balsa underlay:



To be continued....

[Charlie B]

I think this is a very fine model for your layout, though I think it leans more towards a scratch build than a kit.
Charlie

[doctorwayne]

Thanks, Charlie.

The kit is pretty basic: in addition to the wall sections, there was a pile of stripwood (some pre-cut as bracing) for constructing posts and trusses to support the roof, which is heavy cardstock (black on one side). Also included was a bag of ballast-like material (to create a tar and gravel roof), along with plastic window and door castings. The latter work, but it's up to the modeller to determine the best method. I gave the wood, cardstock and gravel to a friend, and will make the roof supports from strip styrene and the roof from more .060" sheet styrene, which I hope to make removeable.

In the previous post, I mentioned that the balsa sub-floor left

.......an almost level surface for the application of a finished styrene floor between the tracks.

The reason it's only almost level is because of the spike heads moulded on the top of the Atlas ties. If the .060" finished floor is to butt-up against the outside of the rails, it has to sit atop the spikes - this makes the finished floor too high at the tracks, and running a locomotive into a roundhouse stall results in the wheels being lifted above the rails' tops, breaking electrical contact and stranding the locomotive.

To correct this, I shaved .060" off each side of the styrene floor segments which needed to butt-up against the rails. Next with the floor segments upside down on a sheet of glass, the .040" edge of a piece of .040"x.060" strip styrene was aligned with the floor's edge and MEK applied to the joint. The bond was complete almost instantly, yielding floor segments with an undercut edge on each side where the floor met the rails.
Here's a photo showing such an edge, still upside down:



The next job will be to pre-paint all of the styrene floor pieces, then cement them atop the balsa sub-floor using contact cement.

Wayne

[Charlie B]

That looks like the only way to solve the problem without pouring the floor with Durobond or plaster. The styrene is far neater and easier to use. I wish I had a supply of styrene when I did the long siding that was imbedded in the side walk, it would have made a nicer job and been easier too.
Looking great Wayne.
Charlie

[cnrglen]

Great start to the project, Wayne.
I kitbashed an old Heljan roundhouse but left the floor out for simplicity. Even though I later added lights, the interior isn't really noticeable on my layout.

I did add a floor to my RR repair shop, using styrene, the floor is permanently attached to my layout and the building can lift off. I was part way through detailing the shop floor when I got side-tracked with other projects.

[doctorwayne]

Thanks, guys.

I was undecided about how to add the floor: either place the tracks directly on the plywood layout and build the floor around them, or put the tracks atop some sort of floor. The latter option allowed me to screw the wall sections to the floor, giving the whole assembly more stiffness, an important consideration since it's doing a lot of travelling between the layout and the shop while construction proceeds. This meant that the tracks had to be cemented to that subfloor, and I opted to put them in each as one length of track from the turntable to the back wall of the roundhouse. Since the structure, even without the tracks, wouldn't have fit into my paint booth, making the tracks part of the building doesn't change much, at least construction-wise. Adding the layer of balsa increased the stiffness and I'm sure that the final layer of styrene floor will only increase that.
Because the screw heads joining the corners together have to be filled, the exterior will get a coat of rattle can grey primer. I'll probably do the interior walls and columns, along with the roof trusses, in two-tone grey, but I don't plan on an overly-detailed interior and there'll definitely be no lights.
Once the floor is done, I'll continue with the interior supports and roof trusses. These won't necessarily be strictly to-scale (the original wood from the kit, to be used for posts and trusses, scaled-out at close to 2'x2' ) but I hope to make them look plausible and properly engineered. My "plan" is to make the supports (posts and trusses) from front wall to rear as part of the building, but make the crossmembers supporting the roof as part of the roof - this should keep the one-piece roof from deforming too much if it needs to be lifted off for any reason. We'll see, though, how that develops. Like most of my kitbashing and scratchbuilding projects, I have a rough idea on how to do things, but sometimes see a better (or occasionally worse ) way of acomplishing things as it takes shape.

Wayne

[JaBear]

Like most of my kitbashing and scratchbuilding projects, I have a rough idea on how to do things,

And here I thought it was down to Good Management, Precise Planning, Superb Skill, and Experience, attributes I was hoping to perhaps achieve one day. Alas my illusions are shattered. hock: :cry:
Cheers, the Bear.

[doctorwayne]

Almost as bad, years later someone will ask "How did you put that together?" and I won't be able to remember, with the result that I'll have to take a much closer look. That happened when Glen was building his doodlebug and asked me questions about the construction of mine.

When I built my house, I pretty-well knew how I was going to do it, but to get a building permit, I needed blueprints. I knew how to draw them, but not the nuances of what was required, so I hired a guy to create them from my simpler drawings. Even before construction started, I found faults with them which would have been serious structural issues. I amended the drawings before submitting them for approval.
As I built, another issue surfaced, one which the building inspector had missed when he approved the plans, and it was also a structural problem. Basically, the drawings called for a pair of 2"x10"s to support a portion of the second floor, plus the exterior wall of that and the roof above it....all over a span of 24'! Getting 24' lumber of that size is possible (for a price), but even five of them won't carry that load over than span. Immediately upon noticing this discrepancy, I envisioned a truss.
I called my lumber yard (not a big-box outfit) and asked to speak to somebody in the truss department (this company builds trusses for most of the contractors in this part of southern Ontario). When I told them of the problem, the engineer told me that he'd come down to take a look, and he was here within an hour.
"Yeah, A truss will take care of that....", he said, ".....probably about 4' high. Who the hell did these drawings?"
"I'd guess that it'll probably need to be the full wall height (8'), but make it whatever's necessary." I replied. He called me the next day and said, "You were right, it has to be a full 8' high - I'll send some installation instructions with the delivery truck.
Well, when it arrive, it was indeed 8'x24', but was in three such sections, all constructed of 2"x6" lumber, and the instructions specified not only that each one had a specific top and bottom, but that they were to be installed separately, then laminated together using double rows of 6" spikes from both sides, clenched over on the obverse and spaced at one foot intervals. I don't recall how I managed to get them up there by myself or how I overcame my fear of heights (I don't even like standing on a chair to change a light bulb) to nail them together while standing on a ladder, but I do know that my hammering arm was pretty sore by the end of the day. Next time, I'll do my own blueprints.

Wayne

[UP SD40-2]

Awesome project Wayne

I love roundhouses, cant wait to see the progress on it

[doctorwayne]

A little more progress.
After building the support post assemblies for the roof trusses, I installed them temporarily and marked the location of the posts on the floor. The segments of the styrene floor were each then split in two at their mid-point, and the half markings on each were cut-out to accept the base of the posts. All of the floor sections were then brush painted, including those to be placed between the rails.
Next, I used a cheap 1/2" brush to apply lacquer thinner to the bottom of each segment, immediately following that with a 2" brush to apply the gelled contact cement. Following that, the balsa sub-floor got a coat of contact cement and all were left for 20 minutes-or-so, until the excess solvent had evapourated. Meanwhile, the half inch brush was used to apply a coat of lacquer thinner to the between-the-rails pieces of styrene and to the tie-tops where they were to be placed, and each of these pieces was set into place. After that, it was a simple matter to carefully place each segment into position and press it firmly to the subfloor.
Here's the floor in place, along with the roof truss support posts:



...and with a post assembly removed:



...and finally, a closer look. The line connecting the holes is the cut made down the centre of each floor segment, while those running crosswise are simply scribed lines to represent expansion joints. Weathering will be added after the interior walls have been painted:



Wayne

[e-paw]

looking good Doc.

[Twist]

Hi there,

great looking scratchbuilkd structure you are working on...

Cheers,Chris

[doctorwayne]

Thanks, guys.  
I'm taking a break from this while I work on some locomotives for a friend.  One's an old Varney Consolidation (marketed as the Varney "Old Lady").  The friend sent it away to have it re-motored, re-geared, and re-wheeled, but in doing so, they negated the wheel wipers which I had installed previously.  I'm installing a better version and doing some other upgrades, but, in my opinion, he wasted several hundred dollars for the work, which was very poorly-done.  Personally, I would have relegated it to the old folks (locomotives) home.  
The others are brass locos, a couple of ex-B&O 0-8-0s, one of which I'd painted previously and the other, which needs to be painted.  Both are getting improved wheel wipers to give them all-wheel pick-up.  The fourth one is an old Akane USRA Pacific.  I previously used its tender to upgrade an old Mantua Pacific, so this one will get a Bachmann USRA-style tender.  I've already re-motored the loco and installed driver wipers, but need to alter the tender for all-wheel pick-up, add a few details to the loco, and then paint and lettering.  
The main reason for this shift in focus is to clear my work areas so that I can finally do some of my own stuff.  This includes re-working three Bachmann Consolidations into reasonable replicas of CNR/DW&P locomotives, and doing the same to an Athearn USRA Mikado.  I also have an old John English Pacific to re-do for my own railroad, along with (hopefully) a USRA 2-6-6-2, and another loco to partially scratchbuild.  Oh, yeah, and a Bowser Pacific to convert into a TH&B loco.  That should be the end of locomotive work for myself.  
Also on the agenda are more kitbashed and scratchbuilt baggage and express cars, perhaps a couple of mostly scratchbuilt passenger cars, about a dozen scratchbuilt freight cars (which should wrap-up freight car work for myself) and 10 or 12 scratchbuilt cabooses for my home roads.  Interspersed with all the foregoing, I need to get busy working on the layout.  
However, the best laid plans of mice and men.....      

Wayne

[doctorwayne]

Decided to take a break from roundhouse construction and train building, and managed to make a little progess on tracklaying on the upper level. Most of it still requires wiring to be operable, but it has been tested with a train.

This view shows most of the track for the Mount Forest Engine Terminal, with the hopper track for the coaling tower yet to be completed. There'll also be some industrial track to the left:



...same area, but from farther back:



This is the cut at the top of the long grade to the upper level. This short addition was needed to connect the original grade with the recently-built upper level.



...and a view looking north from just above the cut. This will be the town of Park Head:



Not sure what I'll be working on next.

Wayne

[sailormatlac]

Looks like my fear about that upper deck are mitigated by the beautiful workmanship! On a more serious note, I like the very practical and well-thought construction details you used for this roundhouse (screwing walls, etc.).

Matt