Trains.com video series host and Master Model Railroader Gerry Leone sets his sights on the interior details of the previously assembled three-stall roundhouse he reworked for his latest HO scale (1:87.1) Bona Vista model railroad. From the inspection pit, to the interior flooring and wall, to the oil stains, to a full complement of racks and machinery, no detail of an authentic roundhouse shop goes overlooked!
Want to see more of Gerry’s work on a classic, familiar format? Look for his Turning Spaces into Places Vol. 1: Rural Scenery DVD, available from the Trains.com Store!
Gerry,
Couldn’t you have measured the the wood parts holding up the round house and marked the floor and then added details without the roundhouse being in place.
Jeffrey — Where were you when the roundhouse was empty?? 🙂 Sure I could have done that but fact is, I never thought of it! Good idea for my next layout, tho!
I haven’t gotten to building my engine house yet but I’m curious to which is better — to build the base/floor, details, and track on the layout and place the engine house over it as in your example or to build the engine house, base, floor, and internal track all as a separate unit that can be removed and moved as a unit in case of having to dismantle and build another BV elsewhere?
Frankly, Jim, I think the latter idea (build it as a separate unit) is an easier idea. That way you could build it at your workbench and you wouldn’t have to be bending over the layout to work. I didn’t do it that way because the 0.080″ styrene I used for the concrete floor is still able to bend and transferring that base would have been too fraught with potential problems. Too, I had to cut those inspection pits into the subroadbed and I felt more comfortable building the roundhouse in place after that.
Wow – love your attention to detail and your “problem” solving on the fly – great learning techniques!
Thanks a million, Artie! Sometimes calling audibles saves a lot more time than planning everything out to the Nth degree. Plus, you never know what curveballs the layout is gonna throw at you along the way. (I just realized I’ve mixed two sports metaphors together in one explanation…)
Gerry,
You need to turn off your DCC system. I can hear the buzzing noises each time you touch the tracks.
Scott, people keep commenting on this. It’s not the DCC system — that was turned off. It’s the mic cord that picks up me grounding myself when I touch the track. I don’t use wireless mics because there’s too much interference in the train room.
Beautiful work with the roundhouse! I love the 55 gallon drum circles!!
I need to ask, what is the photo behind your right shoulder sitting in front of your organizer cabinet? Inquiring minds need to know!
Thanks, Mark! That’s one of my all-time favorite details.
As for the photo… I spent my career as a Creative Director and copywriter at Minneapolis advertising agencies. That shot is from one of the first TV commercials I ever did. My client — a large bank — was giving away teddy bears when you opened an account. So I had the idea for one scene to fill a room with the bears and have a little kid sitting in the middle of them as the camera zoomed out. One of the crew told me to go sit in that spot so he could adjust the lighting. While I was there he took that picture. Thanks for asking!