Erecting the roundhouse front wall

Putting the roundhouse together is a delicate operation. Not only is this not a square building, but also it needs to match the track configuration. So, it was with some trepidation that I approached erecting the front wall. I think along the way, I also changed my mind about how the roundhouse was going to […]

Roundhouse front wall

It appears that the front wall of the roundhouse was individual vertical board siding with about 6″ boards. So, I designed that up for lazy-guy individual boards on the Cricut and hacked it out of more Strathmore card. This time, I was slightly more careful not to paint adjacent boards with the same load from […]

A week of redos

It was a heavy week at work – most nights until past midnight. So, I didn’t get much done on the roundhouse. Even so, I managed to get a little bit done in the fifteen minute snatches between times. As I mentioned last week, the original shingle roof for the shed didn’t allow for any […]

Details on Cricut board and batten

Scribed and cut lines on the CricutA recent comment over on Model Railroad Hobbyist, where I cross-post some of this blog, made me realize that I didn’t do a great job of explaining the approach to board and batten. I actually thought it was simple and self-evident from the photos, but I guess it wasn’t. […]

Cricut shingles

Perhaps there is no harder problem for railway modellers than shingles. First of all, because we tend to have a bird’s eye view, they are right up front and centre. Secondly, it takes a team of workers about a week to re-roof even a modest house. So, while you could install individual shingles, it will drive you […]

Cricut board and batten

It is so nice when a plan works on the first attempt. Frequent readers of this blog know it’s rare for me, and so, I’m taking a moment to savour the victory. The battens went on today, pretty much as planned. I was amazed at how well they lined up with the board joints beneath […]

Roundhouse shed cut and coloured

The Cricut got quite a workout today. Between soccer games and making dinners and lunches for the younger crowd, I had it going almost all day. I actually cut out two copies of the roundhouse shed patterns as The Boy has asked for a set for his own use. They look pretty good, if I […]

Roundhouse shed designed

There was a small shed on the east side of the roundhouse. In later years, according to Del Rosamond, it contained ice. It doesn’t actually appear on the 1908 B&B listing, but then, the roundhouse is barely described in that book. So, I’ve decided to include it. Based on a sketchy distant half-view and a […]

Roundhouse walls mostly done

Today, I coated the backs and edges of the wall sections with Weldbond, and left them under some weights to dry. This was an improvement over the test wall section because I could then cut out the windows without having to worry about the mullions beneath. As you can see from this terribly cruel photo, […]

Near miss on the Boundary Sub

On Wednesday evening, I had an opportunity to dispatch on my friend Scott Calvert’s layout. His is a timetable and train order operation, just as the real Boundary was. If you’ve never had an opportunity to participate in a TT&TO operation, I encourage you to come to Vancouver for the annual Railway Modellers’ Meet. This […]