Building being demolished complete

The building under demolition is now complete - unless I decide to make further changes.  This has been an enjoyable project and has turned out well in my opinion.  Since I never draw any plans I never know exactly how things will turn out.  The right half of the building has been torn down and there are three workers busy working on the project.

As I frequently do, I have shingled the roof with Campbell shingles.  They provide a rough, used appearance.  I added a paper ground base around the front and right side so I could add scenery before it is placed on the layout.

The inside is mostly empty.  I may add more board scraps inside.  There is a section of stove pipe through the back wall though the stove has been removed.

There are fragments of glass (plastic) and mullions remaining in the lower window opening.  This structure will be placed on the layout in front of the soap factory, not far from the prior run down factory.  I guess it is a deteriorating area of the town.

The abandoned shack I built over a year ago has been published as an article in the December issue of the NMRA magazine that has just been shipped.  That is the second article I submitted to the NMRA magazine.  The first was my gas station.  They have one more article I wrote on a scratch built N scale business.  I guess that will be published next year some time.  They were asking for articles so I sent them some.

After I install this building on the layout I need to decide what to build next - always a challenge to come up with an idea that will fit into the layout both in size and type.

Demolition structure progress

The building under destruction is progressing and I am pleased with how it is going.  There is still much to be done but I thought I would post my progress before the Thanksgiving Holiday.  I doubt I will get much modeling done tomorrow as we have family coming over to celebrate Thanksgiving and several birthdays.

There will only be three walls as the demolition is progressing from the right end.  That also allows the interior to be seen.  There will be a lot of fallen boards and other detritus.

From the end view above you can see the stairs to the second floor and a closet door under the stairs.

Above you can see the rear of the building and more of the inside.  All walls except the far wall are built board by board for a deteriorated look.  The far wall is plain so it is commercial scribed wood.  All wood has been coated with my india ink and alcohol solution, and the outside walls are also painted with white acrylic paint using a semi dry brush method so it appears worn.  The painted wood was then again soaked in the ink/alcohol solution.

There will be a partial roof covering the same general area where the walls are still standing.

Demolition structure start

I have started on the structure under demolition.  My idea for this came from a structure I passed while riding on the bus in Maine touring the WW&F route.  Unfortunately the bus did not stop so I only have memories.  The base was made using hydrocal stone material produced by C C Crow.  I cut it into 4 foot high strips.   I installed a card stock base inside the wall to hold the detritus that fell when the structure began to be dismantled.

The wall framing is 3x6 boards.  The floor is mostly 10 inch scribed board material.  I installed some stairs against the left wall for access to the second floor.

Here is another view.  I have installed some rafters to hold the second floor of this two story building.

The high level view above shows some of the material that has fallen.  There will be a lot more!   This is the front view and there will be a deteriorated loading dock on the side.  There will be a small ground level structure on the right side.  At least half of the second floor will be broken and hanging down.

I enjoy building weathered and deteriorated buildings.  To me they have more character then new and unweathered structures.

Building under destruction

My next model will be a building that is in the process of being torn down.   I enjoy making structures that are weathered and deteriorated.  This structure will be that to the extreme.  The interesting thing about a deteriorated structure is that you see the details of the interior framework.  Various modelers have built structures of this nature.  One memorable building demolition model was built by the notable late modeler Earl Smallshaw,  but there have been many of various sizes and types by many modelers.

I have built a few damaged structures but this is intended to be more detailed and extensively damaged.

Above is a simple fire damaged structure I built years ago.

Above is a grain elevator destroyed by a storm in the early 1900's.

Above is a photo of a large building being torn down.

The structure I am working on now will be a two story building with a footprint of about 20 by 30 feet with a small single story addition.  About half of the structure will be torn down with the interior framework visible.  The structure will be located somewhat in front of the soap factory.

Soap factory completed on layout

The soap factory is now completed and installed on the layout. The scenery is mostly complete (is anything ever totally complete?).  I think I will add some more figures to the scene.  I am fairly pleased with how it turned out.

I added a scrap lumber pile under the soap sign and some scenery.

There are several pieces of soap making machinery on and near the platform and behind the coal bucket hoist - all scratch built from photos in an old soap making book.

Above is a soap frame.  The liquid soap is poured into the frame and allowed to cool and solidify.  It is then fed to the soap slobber - chipper.  There were a lot of chemicals used in soap making such as acids (steric, oleic, linoliec, etc) sodium,  potassium, alkaline solutions,  and oils and fats.  Soap factories were not all that nice to work in but in the early 1900s that is the kind of work often done.

Above is my model of the soap frame.  It is about 5 1/2 scale feet long and made mostly of wood with   wheels made from a slice of plastic sprue.  It is placed near the loading platform on the layout.

I am now starting planning on my new project.  More on that later.

Soap factory complete

I have completed the last of the structures for the soap factory.  All that remains is to finish installing it on the layout, adding scenery and final details.  This last structure is the old section of the factory and is more weathered.

The left side of this building attaches to the rest of the factory with the connection behind the tall bush.  The left large ground doorway has the industrial track entering it.  This structure is a combination of some leftover kit parts as well as scratch built parts.

It turns out that you can barely see into the top floor open door,  I added some rough details that look like boxes in case you could see in.  The photo below shows the incomplete rear of the building and shows the view block details inside.

The inside of my structures are usually not very fancy but structurally sound.

Above is an old part of a factory that I photographed years ago.  It helped me as inspiration.

Soap factory details

I have constructed an old soap factory piece of equipment to place along side of the factory as discarded equipment.  It was known as a "slab chipper".  It had knives arranged horizontally for the chipping of long soap bars, which were placed in the  cylindrical hopper at the top.  Below is the diagram of the prototype device.

And below is my model.

The model is weathered as it has been sitting outside the factory for some time.

Below are some more photos of industrial track starting with a diagram of typical arrangements.

And next is another example of how these industrial rail tracks were used.

This was a 1902 storehouse of the Reading Railway at Packerton, PA.  It had a half mile of track and 17 turn-tables.  

Above are examples of some of the types of cars used on these industrial rail tracks.  

I have been building model railroad models for over 60 years so I have a lot of experience - made lots of mistakes and learned by those mistakes.  Below is one of the first scratch built rail cars I constructed.  

I keep this car as a reminder of how far I have progressed.  It was built following an article in the 1952 issue of HO Model trains.  The couplers were removed long ago but were probably the old MDC couplers.