The rebirth of the Canyon State RR
Don I always love your backstories! I think that building will make a fine bank.
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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Thanks Mike, sometimes the backstories are as much fun to do as making the model, plus it adds real life touches to inanimate objects.

Had to strip and repaint everything after a major screw-up. Much harder to do with the windows in, but was able to remove the glazing and everything was still on the sprues, so that helped a lot. My five-bristle brush is now down to four and is getting shorter as we speak. Icon_e_surprised I'm now in the process of detailing the inside. Why?... just because I might make the roof removable or maybe just because a bank needs a vault and teller windows, but mainly because I started something that I need to finish. Icon_rolleyes
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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Well, the firehouse has been converted to a bank as best it could considering the budget set by the banker, Rolland Indough,  as well as his choice of the lowest bidder to do the work. Icon_redface Outside, the changes were just about what was planned, except the two-story extension was reconfigured to accommodate a vault. The bricked-up windows using a smaller brick in the rear turned out OK once the building was painted. As for painting, there was a major disaster caused by the effort to restore the old brick & mortar look and do a bit of aging, so it got stripped and repainted without weathering and mortar lines (this was not only frustrating and time consuming, but also caused headaches from, well Wallbang )....

As for the interior, we have a walk-in vault, two teller cages, a customer desk and even a rest room by the entrance (all required by code). It may look like there is elegant marble on the walls, but Rolland, being as cheap as he is, found some marble-looking wallpaper in a dumpster behind Home Depot, and so that’s what was used. Since he is leasing the second floor to the town, there are no tenant improvements there. He told them, if they wanted a floor, they should have specified that in the lease. Waiting

Rolland Indough found that insuring deposits with GERN was 3% cheaper. The management at GERN were so impressed with his frugality, that they purchased an interest in the bank, hence the name change to: The Last National Bank of GERN, assuring the townsfolk that their deposits and savings are now 3% safer. Applause  BTW, the empty shoe box that Rolland used for so many years is now on display in the local museum.

   

   
   
   

   
   
   
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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Great job Don! Very impressive.
Tom
Silence is golden but Duct tape is silver
Ridley Keystone & Mountain Railroad
My Rail Images Gallery
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Nice work but aren't you afraid those community center types might drill thru the floor and into the vault?
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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(09-27-2021, 07:03 AM)Tyson Rayles Wrote: Nice work but aren't you afraid those community center types might drill thru the floor and into the vault?

Right now, with no floor, drilling obviously isn't an issue, finding a ladder is. And even though the banker bought the vault on eBay, it is impenetrable since it did not come with the lock combination. Nope
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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Last National Bank of GERN ... 

3% more notional interest on deposit money? Goldth

Or 3% more interest of debit balances for you credit card? (The bank you can distrust) Misngth


Lutz
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Well Lutz, you have to give this banker credit for wheedling a few extra bucks where ever he can.

We tried to make it as easy as possible for anyone tunneling underneath wanting to rob the bank, can now do so without damaging the floor. We would have put the hole in the vault, but unfortunately, we still don't have the combination for the lock.  Waiting

   
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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Digression?
In Brampton, in the 50s (?) banks were replacing their solid, conservative buildings with glass and plastic "modern" look. One of the banks found that the local hardware store, beside them, had been built in an opening and hung from the walls of the buildings on each side. They couldn't knock down their back wall because that was also the wall of the hardware store. Their new building came out way much smaller than planned.
David
Moderato ma non troppo
Perth & Exeter Railway Company
Esquesing & Chinguacousy Radial Railway
In model railroading, there are between six and two hundred ways of performing a given task.
Most modellers can get two of them to work.
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Yeah David, common walls can be a deterrent to rebuilding. I'm not sure, but I think some multi-building kits are made this way, I was tempted to order some when I found that you cannot separate the row of buildings because of this.
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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I am moving on to getting the trackwork onto my new section ("B"), but I created a challenge when I added it. Section “A” is a hollow door that can be swung up in any direction to allow me to access the wiring. It is sitting on a boxed support so that I can mount my terminal blocks as well as store things underneath. Section “B” is a sheet of MDF that is not attached to the open frame so that it can also be swung up in any direction. Layers of foam keep both at the same height. It is this way so I don’t have to crawl under the layout to work on the wiring, I’d have to call 911 to pull me back up if I did. Icon_cry  At my age, all agility is gone, getting down is easy, trying to get up would not be a pretty sight. Eek

The problem is that I need to be able to disconnect the green tracks in two places when I open either section. My current plan it to put in two locating studs to keep the two sections aligned and to cut the tracks where the two sections meet then pulling “B” away from “A” would allow me to swing either section open. It sounds simple, but what are the chances of the tracks aligning back each time without having some adjustments for the track? That should not be an issue in theory, but this is the real world, something is bound to move when I'm not looking.....

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated, otherwise I’m going to proceed as described and hope for the best.

   
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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Don

You are a braver man than me.

Unfortunately I cannot offer any good suggestions. When I did the Water Tower diorama I extended the tracks past the edge of the diorama. Since I never permanently attached the track on the layout connecting to the diorama and the layout has not been an issue other than height of the rails.

I am interested in seeing how this works out.
Tom
Silence is golden but Duct tape is silver
Ridley Keystone & Mountain Railroad
My Rail Images Gallery
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Many moons ago I had a dropping bridge with a hinge on one end. The other end was held in place and aligned with a single bolt. The last couple of inches of track on either side of the gap were not fastened down. In addition I had rail joiners that I would slide into position once the bridge was in place. Of course the trick was to remember to slide the rail joiners aside on both ends before lowering the bridge. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Tom
Life is simple - Eat, Drink, Play with trains

Occupation: Professional Old Guy (The government pays me to be old.)
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I thought about using sliding rail joiners but I need to separate the blocks (B2-D1) electrically and thought this would be a good place to do it. Again, my fear is that the rails won't line up after any movement of either section. The fact that one rail is at 90 degrees and the other is around 45 kind of complicates the issue.
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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When I did mine, I put screws in under the rails and soldered the rails. I used flat-head screws in brass. But then I also used sliding rail joiners. And this was OO gauge.
David
Moderato ma non troppo
Perth & Exeter Railway Company
Esquesing & Chinguacousy Radial Railway
In model railroading, there are between six and two hundred ways of performing a given task.
Most modellers can get two of them to work.
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