The Kingfield, Maine Car Shop on the Franklin & Megantic Railroad (Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad)

Walt’s Model Co. © 2015

Introduction:

Greetings and thank you for your interest in this, the first, model structure from Walt’s

Model Co.

I have begun a project to populate my own On2 Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes model

railroad with structures that are just not currently commercially available. To that end I

purchased a laser table with, what I hope is enough cutting area capacity to make reasonably

sized O scale structure models and along the way I will make these models available to other

modelers in On2 and On30 and possibly other scales, if the interest is out there.

If you’re not a strict Sandy River nut, this structure could also pass for a small 1 stall engine house on a logging line or freelanced light iron On30 line.

History:

Built by the Franklin & Megantic Railroad in 1884 for their wood working, car repair and

section repair shop. The shed addition came along around 1890 and was clad in cedar

shingles instead of clapboards as the balance of the structure. When the F&M consolidated

with the Sandy River RR and Phillips & Rangeley RR to become the “Sandy River & Rangeley

Lakes RR” in 1908 most non-emergency car repairs were moved to the Phillips car shops and

this structure was downgraded to maintaining M.O.W. equipment, plows & flangers.

Construction:

Prototype:

The prototype structure was built ‘post and beam’ construction with stud filler walls to

support the exterior cladding of 1” random width horizontal boards under 4” exposure

clapboards. The whole structure was built on heavy untreated beams on stone footings. No

flooring was applied to the repair bay area and the track was laid on dirt/stone ballast. A

single stove supplied heat (not much in a harsh Maine winter).

Model:

1: The model is constructed of a heavy cardstock sub floor with basswood timbers

and Basswood flooring.

2: The walls are made up of Task Board® frame walls with overlays of basswood to

reinforce and bring the ‘heavier” timbers to scale thickness and basswood clapboard

sheets etched on the inside with board lines.

3: Windows & Doors are made from layers of Laser board® and acetate, the sashes

can be in any position and the doors are also positionable.

4: The roof is basswood with full rafters and braces and is removable with self

adhesive roofing paper.

5: A Grandt® stove is included.

6: Both On2 (5 ft) and On30 (6 ft) ties are included as are 2 front sill timbers.

Rail, spikes and ballast/dirt are not included.

Worthy of note;

My information about this structure was limited to ..

Two Foot Cyclopedia Vol 1 Kingfield, Maine By: William H. Jensen Jr.

Measured drawings were available and a few photos, some of the interior were present however not enough to accurately represent the inside. So I’m afraid I made some guesses to represent the interior structure. Additionally, alterations were made to make the front bay doorway taller to accept a boxcar with brake staff along with altering the intermediate trusses for additional height over the track. Door height was a limitation of the prototype structure, I suspect removal of the brake staff was required to get a more “modern” “house” car inside.

Painting: I recommend that you paint all of the parts before assembly with the small parts

still attached to the cut sheets, such as the window and door parts and all the trim boards

but NOT the framing doubler parts. The interior may be unpainted, weathered or painted to

suit. The photos that I have show unpainted / weathered silver gray. Caution: the use of

water or alcohol based washes may cause damage and warping to the Task board parts,

please use solvent washes or chalk/pastel powders with Dulcoat fixative instead.

Sandy River Colors: Currently the best information is Model Masters® Euro Dark Green and Aggressor Gray as best match to the Maine Central Era. The F&M colors were a mustard yellow and dark red for trim, I don’t have any specific information on color match

The exterior walls has the color break at the sill line of the windows, however the shed rear wall window sits lower that the others and I opted to maintain the same line around the back and intersect the rear window slightly higher. Despite the pictures the upper shingle walls should be painted to match the upper clapboards.

Stuff you will need... Sharp Blades

Single edge razors Hobby knife

Maybe bandages Glues

Yellow carpenters ACC glues thick & thin Styrene liquid glue (Grandt® stove)

Brushes for glue & paint and a “Stencil Pounce” (foam circle on a dowel for applying glue to framing) Sanding block made from a piece of 1” by whatever with 220 to 320 grit glued to surface Couple of emery boards (raid wife’s stuff) A small tri cornered file A small square file Scissors Flush cut nippers Small drill set and pin vise Lots of spring type, clothes pins for clamps Choice of rail/spikes Choice of ballast/dirt

The Floor;

Locate the gray cardstock subfloor, you will notice the locations for the timbers are etched on the subfloor and slots are cut to locate the ties. The ties are on “1/8” bass sheet #1” the shorter are for On2 and the longer are for On30. Remove the correct ties for your application and glue the ties into the slots (I used yellow wood glue) DON”T APPLY ANY MORE PARTS YET! When the glue is fully cured sand the top of the ties flat with a sanding block with fine (220 to 320 grit paper glued to a flat block of wood, the laser leaves a tapered kerf so the ties have a slight angle to the top and this can cause problems if you choose to glue your rail in place as opposed to spikes. The center long timber has a rectangle growing from it at one end, this is part of the concrete footer for the chimney, now is a good time to paint it concrete gray. If you model On30, I have provided an extra set of 1/8” thick timbers to glue to the top of the 3/16” timbers to raise the structure to gain more door height. This will give you just shy of 3” clearance from rail head to the top of door. Do This before you apply the flooring.. Once you are happy with the ties apply the timbers as noted on the subfloor, 2 front timbers are provided one to On2 and one for On30 apply the correct one for your application and use the other for floor board support as noted.

Your Subfloor assembly should resemble this by now… Next; Find the “1/16” Bas Wood sheet #5” and remove the 2 floor sections sand the edges where they meet clean. There is also a “chimney base on “1/16” bass sheet #1” and it should be painted concrete gray to match the piece on the center timber. Glue these parts to the timbers even with the outside edges of the timbers ( there will be overhang in the work bay area ) Put weight enough on top to force this assembly flat and go get dinner…….

Next; you are on your own.. you need dirt/ballast of your choice to glue into the work bay area, apply glue with a brush, fairly heavily, to the cardstock and apply your fill dirt/ballast choice then apply thinned glue or matte medium sparingly (you’re dealing with cardstock here) sprinkle more ballast for coverage weight it all down on a flat surface and go to bed… In the morning it should look like this (if you have loose spots apply a little more glue) Weight again and skip to some sub assembly unless you want to go back to bed? It is rail time… The slots in the front sill are gauged for your choice of gauge however they may need to be deepened to match the top of the ties. The edge of a small file should accomplish this and check with a straight edge like a scale ruler lain on top of the ties. Rail attachment is your choice, I used shortened Micro Scale® micro spikes with code 70 rail, drilled the holes and used a bit of super glue on the spikes but I suppose the reheated thinned Walthers ® GOO method would work also.

Framing: Framing, probably the most complicated part of the structure, is next.. The intermediate trusses are on Taskboard® sheet #3. There are 3 of them all the same. Trim them from the carrier board with a sharp blade, if you pull them they will delaminate and tear. The doublers can be found on “1/32” Bass Sheets #1 and #2” We are looking at the truss and its doublers from the front, the car bay on the left. All of the intermediate truss doublers have a front and rear version the rear being a mirror image with the little square etchings representing pegs in the post and beam construction, the rear doublers have the pegs represented on the other side (in spite of what my cad program insists on doing to the drawing) Int. Truss Left Front & Rear Dblrs Int. Truss Left Front & Rear Upper Dblrs Int. Truss Center Front & Rear Dblrs Int. Truss Right Upper Beam Front & Rear Dblrs Side Post Right Front & Rear Dblrs

If you are unsure which is the front or back doubler the peg location should be a close match to the peg location on the truss itself, the small pegs are shifted closest to the 45° angle braces and the mounting tabs that attach to the side wall framing are left exposed. Glue these assemblies up with your favorite adhesive, mine is yellow glue.

When you’re done, this is what you should have, times 3.

The Front wall framing can be found on Taskboard® Sheet #1 The doublers can be found on “1/32” Bass sheets #1 and #2” We are looking at the front wall framing from the inside, this truss has only inside doublers as the wall sheet is applied to the outside later. Front Truss Door Header Dblr Front Truss Right Door Beam Dblr Front Truss Left Upper Beam Dblr Front Truss Left Door Beam Dblr Side Post Right Rear Dblr Front Truss Left Upper Beam Dblr

Unlabled Longer board from group of 6 on Sheet #1

Assemble similar to previous parts and you should end up with this…

Next; We move on to the rear truss / gable wall. This can be found on the “1/16 Taskboard® sheet #1 and the doublers are located on “1/32” bass sheets #1 & #2” Although the truss could be rotated 180° the front is the side with the etched pegs if you do this wrong the slots for the shed roof rafters will not line up with the slots in the rear wall. The 2 long doublers are different, the front is a simple board and the rear is notched for the shed rafters (again, in spite of the drawing the etched pegs on the rear doublers should face to the back of the structure). Rear Truss Upper Inner Beam (Shop Side) Rear Truss Center Post Dblrs Rear Truss Upper Outer Beam (Shed Side)

Side Post Left & Right / Front & Rear Dblrs

Assemble similar to other wall sections and you should have this..

Next: The rear shed wall framing can be found on 1/16” Taskboard® Sheet #2 and the doublers on “1/32” bass sheets #1 & #2” Doublers are only on the inside as the exterior wall provides for the back side. You are looking at the inside or front of the framing, the upper doubler should be applied first with the etched pegs to the inside of the structure so the rafter slots line up with the slots on the framing piece Rear Wall Upper Inner Beam Dblr Rear Wall Center Post Inner Dblr Rear Wall Left & Right Inner Dblrs

By now you should have this..

The side walls also have doublers but only on the top chord and I prefer to apply them after I assemble the complete framing structure as some are have differing lengths and may need slight length adjustments with a little sanding to fit between the truss assemblies. Similarly, I prefer to assemble the framing before I apply exterior walls. This allows for any adjustments at the corners due to material expansion or contraction, It is after all, wood and cardstock. The side walls are NOT the same! The left (car bay) side has a taller sill for most of the length because no flooring in present along the car bay, otherwise they are identical. You will find the shed rafters on “1/16” bass sheet #1 The easiest way to assemble this is to lay the left side wall on a flat surface over wax paper, so the side won’t stick to the work surface and glue the intermediate and gable truss into the slots, make sure the tabs are seated all the way in. Use some sort of right angle support to keep them from falling over until the glue sets.

Flip the assembly Over then apply the other side wall frame. Once the glue is set upright the Assembly and apply the ends making sure they are evenly interlaced and apply small clothes pins carefully. At this point you can glue in the shed rafters

Next we do the upper chord doublers for the side walls, to be found on “1/32” bass sheet #2 & #3 Left & Right Bay 2 and 3 Doublers Left & Right Bay 1 Doublers Left & Right Bay 4 Doublers Left & Right Shed Doublers Once you have glued these into place You should be rewarded with this for your efforts.

The Walls:

You’re probably wondering why we haven’t attached this to the floor assembly while we were building it, Yes? Well unless you have a bunch of long clamps to apply over the top of the wall to hold the exterior walls along the lower chord in place until glue sets, we can use clothes pins all the way around the wall top and bottom, make sense? O.K. now we apply exterior walls, I like to start with the front Take the slowest drying glue you have (Yellow, carpenters) (I have made a small change to the instructions here, I found a tool called a “stencil pounce”, a circle of foam on a dowel) use this to apply glue to the FRAMING quickly, this tool reduces the “blobbing potential” if you use a brush and apply the front exterior wall lining it up with the top peak and window / door openings. It will hang below the lower chord and clamp it thoroughly. Next, same procedure for the gable wall. Then the rear shed wall, make sure all of the window and door openings align with the openings in the framing and all the top edges align. All the exterior walls will hang below the lower chord of the framing Take a break and let the glue dry.

Next, we do the side walls. Apply glue to the side wall framing quickly and carefully make sure of

alignment to the window openings and the top chord of the framing the ends will align with the tabs on the end walls. There may be slight gaps at the corners Make sure the window openings line up, the corner trim boards will cover the gaps in the corners.

The next job is kind of fiddley. Set the building assembly on the floor assembly and try to insert the pins on the bottom chord and trusses into the small square holes in the floor and floor timbers. This is easier said than done, I found that once I was close I held the assembly on its side made sure one long wall had all its locator pins in place and I applied a bead of thin ACC glue up under the siding from the outside and held firmly until set. I repeated this on a short wall then the other long wall, then the last short wall. I then carefully moved the center truss posts out of the way and applied a small dab of yellow glue to the alignment hole and inserted the posts. Weight them down for a tight fit and take a break.

The Chimney: The chimney is made from 7 pieces

2 brick columns 3 single brick courses, found on “1/16” bass sheet #1” 1 Joiner, found on “1/8” bass sheet #1” 1 spacer, found on ‘3/16” bass sheet #1” Also there is a spare cast iron door with the Grandt® stove and I apply that to the

base of the chimney to simulate a cleanout .

Glue one single course piece to the top of the longer brick column section and one to each end of the shorter, then the joiner piece into one end of the short brick column and paint your favorite brick color (a spray can of Rustoleum® red primer works for me) You can glue the “cast Iron” door to the bottom side of the longer column if you wish now. Pick anywhere near the top of the longer column (but below the level of the roof cross braces) to glue the spacer on the side opposite the “cast iron” door side. Glue the chimney to the footer and the spacer to the inside of the gable exterior wall, make sure the chimney stands straight. Assemble the stove kit and ACC to the floor plate found on “.015 Laser Board® sheet #1”. I shortened the stack to about 1 ¾”, drilled the stove top to accept the stack and ACC glued the stove & pipe assembly as shown.

Windows & Doors:

Windows: The windows and doors are built up from layers of Laser Board® of varying thickness, some with adhesive sheets applied. Each window has several pieces 4 sash halves 2 glazing sheets from acetate

1 sash spacer (not prototype construction but allows sash assemblies to be joined without glue possibly staining the glazing.) 1 Casement with sills and drip rails (be careful you don’t break these off when handling)

This shows the sequence of the window assembly, 2 prepainted sash halves (adhesive on one side) with the acetate glazing in between, make 2 sash assemblies, flip one around and insert the spacer (adhesive on both sides). If you want to have a window open just move the lower sash up and trim off the upper part extending above the upper sash.

The lower sash is the inner most assembly and when assembled to the casement the sash and spacer assembly should show an even exposure on the top and both sides and no exposure on the bottom sill. Even exposure

You will need 12 window assemblies There are enough parts for 14 in case You mess some up, or scratch build a shed or Something….

Entry Doors: Entry doors are also made of layers of Laser board®, a piece of brass wire for hinging and a couple of common pins cut off for door knobs These parts are found on .020 Laser Board® Sheet #1

There is a front, back and bracing panel You will find a line engraved into the back of the door halves, this is to locate the brass wire to simulate hinges. I suggest you use a 3 cornered jeweler’s file to make one of the lines a bit deeper to better fit the wire and glue the 2 halves together with the wire between in the slot with yellow glue. Leave at least ¼” of wire exposed at both ends and glue the bracing to the inside (the hinge outlines are engraved on the outside panel) weight down on a flat surface until set. Make 2.

Bay Doors:

The bay doors are constructed the same as the entry doors except the left door

has a jamb board to be glued to the left door where the 2 doors overlap in the

center (make note to the nail holes on the jamb board should be on the left)

Finish The Exterior:

Install the Windows: The window assemblies are easily installed by pressing them into the openings in the walls,

however a word of caution here, the self-adhesive on the back of the casement has some issues sticking to a porous surface like wood. I recommend you scrape off as much of the adhesive film as possible with a straight edge blade and apply some yellow glue sparingly to the back of the casement before installation.

Install The Doors: The entry doors are designed to open & close, as you wish, by way of the brass wire imbedded in the door layers. Find the casements and lay them face down, insert the door assembly brace side up into the opening. Note where the wire lays on the casement when the door is centered in the opening, make a mark both top and bottom. Use your 3 cornered jeweler’s file to make a small trench for the wire to lie in and trim the wire with your flush cutters slightly inside the perimeter of the casement. Glue the casement to the structure with the door held in place by the casement and don’t get glue on the wire!

Make small ‘V’ trench Shortened Pin for knob (both sides) Trim wire You may have to sand the edges of the door to get a good fit and maybe sand a radius on the hinge side to get clearance for swing. Trim a couple of common pins really short and ACC into the upper hole in the door knob plate( you may have to clean out with a drill) on both sides (expect to lose some).

The prototype had gate style hinges on the outside so the door would have opened out.

Install the Bay Doors: The bay doors require installing the front wall gable trim pieces prior to positioning the doors, Apply even to the top of the wall (they will over hang the lower ends). The doors attach in a similar fashion to the entry doors at the top, clamp a scrap piece of whatever across the door way and lay the doors into the opening, locate the position of the wires and mark the upper trim board back very precisely where they cross. The upper trim board has a right and left, the clipped corner is the left. Use your 3 cornered file to make a notch

along the locator mark you made in the back of the board. The wire will pivot in this slot. Trim the hinge wire short enough to not show above the trim board. The bottom hinge is an “eyebolt”. Locate the door side trim and make a mark on the trim board level with the bottom of the door, file another slot as before. You may want to bevel the hinge edge of the doors to allow clearance when opened or closed. Now you can glue the door trim on to the front wall (avoid gluing the hinge areas). When the trim boards are set up you can slip the doors into the upper slots, slip the ”eyebolt” over the wire protruding from the bottom of the door and insert the “eyebolt” into the slot in the side boards, apply ACC to the “eyebolt” pin to affix it to the board (try not to glue the loop).

“Eyebolts”

The Rest of the Trim: The trim boards can be found on “1/32” bass Sheet #3” Shed Side Vertical Trim Shed Wall Upper trim Front Wall Corner Trim Side Wall Upper Trim Side Wall Vertical Trim Apply the left & right side upper trim board first and butt it up against the overhang on the previously applied front gable trim even with the top of the side wall, next apply the left & right side vertical trim even with the ends of the upper board. The left & right front wall corner trim is next, overlapping the side vertical trim. The rear gable trim is next and then the rear shed wall upper trim even with the tops of their respective walls the shed side and rear vertical boards are last with the rear overlapping the side. Rear Gable Trim Shed Upper Trim Shed Rear Vertical Trim

Sand the corners and edges a bit and touch up the paint and you should be here…

The Roof:

The Shop Roof:

The roof has 3 primary pieces the Left & Right roof halves (they are NOT the same), loose in the box, and the shed roof also loose in the box. All the main rafters are located on the “1/16” bass sheet #1” and all the Intermediate rafters are to be found on “1/16” bass sheet #2”. The rafter braces are on are on “1/32” bass sheet#1, the chimney support and the shed roof locators are on “1/32 bass sheet #2”. The left roof panel is taller at the peak than the right so when you glue up the panels the left overlaps the right at the top.

Apply the main and intermediate rafters to the roof halves. The rafters are all marked with a “T” at the top. You will notice that the rafters do not reach the top of the left panel, this is because of the overlap at the ridge. Once the glue is dry, sand the top angle cut of the rafters near the ridge to allow them to butt together evenly (be

careful not to break the ends of the rafters off)

Main Rafters Intermediate rafters

Gluing the roof halves together requires that you set each half on the building, they are a press fit because of the end main rafters snuggly fit against the end and gable wall framing, The roof is NOT a 90° angle so do not use a square to set this up. Fit the panels to the building instead.

Make sure that the peak and eaves on one end were inline with the gable trim and applied ACC and accelerator to join the halves together then went to the other end (do not glue to the end walls) then I spot glued a few places on the ridge after aligning carefully. Remove the roof and finish gluing the ridge. You should have this now…

Next you need to apply the cross braces, I have supplied 3 heavy cardstock spacers to keep the roof in line as you glue in the rafter cross braces, If you need to, temporarily glue them to the roof edges. There is 1 brace for every rafter set and they mount to the rafters in between the etched lines on the rafters, the front rafter set brace goes behind rather than in front to clear the front wall framing. The last rafter set has a second, shorter brace to be applied a bit higher to support the chimney section.

Temporary Spacers Rafter Cross Braces Chimney Support Brace

Next you remove the spacers and fit the roof on the structure.

The Shed Roof:

The Shed Roof is easy apply the shed roof locators into the slots in the 1/16” ply shed roof and bevel sand the tabs that slip under the gable to allow the roof panel to angle down to the rear of the shed

You should have this for your efforts

The Rest of the Chimney: The upper part of the chimney sets into the hole in the shop roof and the square plug you glued into the bottom of it should slip into the square hole created by the single brick course glued to the top of the lower section fixed to the building proper. Make sure the roof is correctly seated on the structure and insert the upper chimney into the hole with the plug seated into the lower chimney section. You may have to get fiddley here to make sure the

chimney stands straight (file the hole in the roof or add shims to get it straight) apply ACC to the chimney where it meets the roof (do not glue it to the lower chimney section) When the glue sets remove the roof carefully and ACC to the short cross brace, if you need to add shim material to keep it straight do so now. Glue upper chimney section to this brace

Covering the Roof:

The outer roof panels are scored with lines every 2 feet and there is black heavy paper stock with self-adhesive backing cut slightly wider so you can overlap the joints and some aluminum tape for chimney flashing and flashing at the gable wall and shed roof. I have included a piece of angle stock to cap the roof if you don’t wish to go over the roof ridge with the building felt. A word of warning here… The self-adhesive sheets, used in most models such as this, do not like to stick permanently to porous surfaces such as wood. To minimize the chances of delamination I recommend that you seal the wood with several coats of Dullcoat® or similar. Let them dry between coats and lightly sand with 320 or finer sandpaper to remove any dust nibs caught in the sealer, let this dry thoroughly so the solvents won’t affect the adhesive. An additional word of caution, I found sealing only the outer side of the roof created an uneven absorption of humidity and warped the roof on my prototype. I managed to straighten it with a handful of the card stock roof braces and a hot air gun (used sparingly) then I sealed the inside with several coats of Dullcoat®… seems to be working… The flashing should be tucked into and trimmed at the mortar lines on the chimney, start low and work your way up, the flashing is applied over the roofing felt and gloss black paint applied to simulate asphalt sealant, The shed roof should have an angle of flashing even with the bottom of the lowest complete clapboard on the gable end wall and laid over the roofing paper for about 1/8”. You may want to remove or otherwise defeat the adhesive on this piece of flashing that touches the gable wall to make removal easier.

At this time you would paint the roof overhang to match the trim color and the edges of the roof a blackish color to match the roofing paper Single tread steps are found on the “1/8” bass sheet #1” and the treads on the “.015 Laser board® sheet #1” Glue them up and plant at the doorways. To mount the roof firmly but keep it removable, I drill #76 (.020”) holes in the lower ends of the gable trim through the main rafter at all four corners and insert shortened common pins, also in the lower sides of the shed trim into the shed roof locators and paint the pins to match the trim. Removal, when necessary, can be accomplished with a set of flush cutters to pull them out to detail or light the interior. Congratulations! The structure should be finished at this point, less any extra detailing or weathering you wish to do…

Pin Locations 6 places

Walt’s Model Co. Kingfield Car Shop ©2015 mailto:wgriffin48@mchsi.com