Milepost 599
Last time, I told you about the problem I had properly aligning a smokejack in a hip roof for a tower. Well, here's the model that the roof was for. We have discussed towers previously to the point that I think you are well aware of their importance to the railroads during the 1950s that I model.
While this one follows the general paint scheme I have of gray sides & green roofs, it is not a model of any particular tower that I'm aware of. While each one seemed to have its own little characteristics, they all had things in common... usually two stories high, usually lots of windows for visibility, etc. This one is a little different in that the stairs are on the left as you face the tower. This was an "oops" as I forgot to reverse the artwork for the pattern. I didn't realize this until after I had eveything cut out. So I was faced with the choice of doing the one wall over again or just changing things up a little and having the stairs on the left. You can see which route I took... the easy one! :)
Speaking of stairs, this is the next major hurdle that I need to overcome. The railings on the stairs are all made for a certain stair "pitch" so if your model uses something else, the railings look out of line. The railings around the landings & platforms are also very tricky as there isn't much surface to glue things to. If you look closely at this one, you can see that I have a little skill development ahead of me. I guess they are OK but could be better. I'll work on that in the future. In the meantime, this tower will no doubt be put to use guarding an interlocking, crossing or some other appropriate place on my railroad. One of these days, I'll build something with more than four sides but for right now, I am having fun knocking these out. As always, I encourage you to give them a try. they are fun & easy... and will allow you a sense of pride and accomplishment when you see YOUR tower on your line.
On a very personal note...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JANET! We celebrated number 38 on June 15!
dlm
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