Lite and Narrow Column - 4
color and set aside to dry. Scale 2” x 8” lumber was stained using
Builders in Scale Silverwood and put aside to dry. The shelter
over the scale was constructed using 1/8” dowels for the posts.
This type of construction was called telephone-pole construc-
tion, for the heavy round timbers used to support the roof.
They were also strong enough to resist any wayward trucks hit-
ting them. The shelter is 16’ x 26’ with the posts located at the
corners, plus two in the middle at 13’. Before gluing into place,
rough them up with a razor saw and then stain them. I used
Hunterline Boxcar Brown stain for the stain on this structure, as
it gives a nice weathered reddish color. I glued an 8”x 10” x 26’
timber to the tops of the poles for the rafters to rest on. The
rafters are 2”x 8” glued to a 2”x 8” center beam on 24” centers.
Both ends of the rafters have 2”x 6” boards added to the inside
of the rafters. Roofing boards consist of 2” x 12” with American
Model Builders peel-and-stick asphalt shingles. The shingles are
painted olive drab as were the prototype’s.
The scale house is small, only 6’ x 10’ and is constructed of 5”
tongue-and-groove siding. There is a door in one end and a large
window on the scale side. The only tricky part is getting the
roof angle the same as the scale shed. The door is a Grandt Line
5131, and the window is from a Builders in Scale scale house. I
also placed the scale casting inside the building. A potbelly stove
is also in the small space, and has an 8” stove pipe through the
roof. The Builders in Scale smoke stack is on the roof. The roof
has asphalt shingles from American Model Builders and like the
scale shed painted olive drab.
Blacksmith/mine car shop
The blacksmith/mine car shop is located northwest of the tip-
ple and mine car scale house, on the same level as the mine.
MRH-Oct 2014
