Scratch build design process

[Red Oak & Western]

Its been quite a while since I've started one of these threads, so here goes.

I've decided its time to build a Car Barn (if you've looked at my profile, you'll see that I'm a traction/trolley modeler).

After looking at a lot of prototype photos, I settled on these 3.

I'll be blending features of each into my model. I'll be designing it in Alibre (a CAD program), solely because a) I have it and b) I'm familiar with it. The design could just as easily be done in SketchUp or any other CAD program.

The design parameters are as follows:

Interior length, designed to comfortably fit 2 PCC cars front to back: 110 ft.
Interior width, designed for 8 tracks to hold a total of 16 cars: 118 ft.

There will be 4 sets of double doors. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to do full width doors or bi-fold doors. If I decide to automate the doors, I'll do full width. I'm too lazy to do the work required to automate bi-fold doors. While I haven't found any information that any prototype car barns had automatic doors, I get to fall back on the "It's my world, I'll do what I want" rule. They may not have done it, BUT THEY COULD HAVE. The doors will be 18 feet high, the width determined by the track spacing, currently 9 feet each door.

There will be an operations / ticket office attached to one side.

I still need to decide on wood or brick – I love working with wood, but brick was the material of choice. I need to buy some various brick sheets to play with. Or hand carve some brick masters and cast the walls in hydrocal. I'll be using commercial details (windows, roof vents, etc.)

From this starting point, I'll begin creating the elevations in CAD. I'll post next when I have 1 or more elevations done.

 

[jim81147]

sounds like a neat project , I am anxious to see what you come up with .How will you guide the trolleys to the tracks ? Will you have a Turntable or one of those horizontal sliding tables ( sorry , I cant remember what they are called )

 

[Lynnb]

This should be quite interesting.

 

[montanan]

Looking forward to seeing what you're building. I was always interested in traction. Living in a rural area, we didn't have any trolleys, but looking at articles and pictures of traction layouts, I like what can be done with traction layouts and some of the detail work I have seen is awesome.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Watching this with great interest.

 

[Red Oak & Western]

Thanks for the comments guys. I've been kinda stalled for a couple of reasons. First, right now I'm the 24/7 caregiver for my wife. She got seriously ill in May and ended up breaking her leg in 4 places, dislocating her ankle, and damaging a tendon. Now she's in physical therapy, so most of my day is occupied with exercises and medication management. Secondly, I've got 3 of the 7 walls modeled but can't seem to remember how to "publish" the views without the screen background showing and I just don't have enough time in any one sitting to work it out. Anyone out there familiar with Alibre?

As to getting the cars in and out of the barn -- that's pure trackwork -- kinda shows in the 2nd photo. Street railways / interurbans didn't use turntables or transfer tables (the horizontally sliding thing). Since they could run on such tight curves, they weren't needed. I have a bunch of the Fast Tracks templates and tools. Its not that hard to make a number 4 curved frog by hand with their tools.

I grew up in Sioux City, Iowa and on the way to school (junior high), I would walk past a former trolley station turned corner market. It sat on the corner of two streets where you could still see the rails under the blacktop. And just past the building, the trolley left the street and went onto private right of way, headed down the hill side, then onto this bridge to cross over the highway:

Moving to the right, it would finish going down the hill (the photo is tilted), back onto the street, then past where my father worked. My brother (4 years older) remembers us riding on the trolleys to go down town with our mother, but I was just too young to remember.

 

[Red Oak & Western]

Thanks for the comments guys. I've been kinda stalled for a couple of reasons. First, right now I'm the 24/7 caregiver for my wife. She got seriously ill in May and ended up breaking her leg in 4 places, dislocating her ankle, and damaging a tendon. Now she's in physical therapy, so most of my day is occupied with exercises and medication management. Secondly, I've got 3 of the 7 walls modeled but can't seem to remember how to "publish" the views without the screen background showing and I just don't have enough time in any one sitting to work it out. Anyone out there familiar with Alibre?

As to getting the cars in and out of the barn -- that's pure trackwork -- kinda shows in the 2nd photo. Street railways / interurbans didn't use turntables or transfer tables (the horizontally sliding thing). Since they could run on such tight curves, they weren't needed. I have a bunch of the Fast Tracks templates and tools. Its not that hard to make a number 4 curved frog by hand with their tools.

I grew up in Sioux City, Iowa and on the way to school (junior high), I would walk past a former trolley station turned corner market. It sat on the corner of two streets where you could still see the rails under the blacktop. And just past the building, the trolley left the street and went onto private right of way, headed down the hill side, then onto this bridge to cross over the highway:

Moving to the right, it would finish going down the hill (the photo is tilted), back onto the street, then past where my father worked. My brother (4 years older) remembers us riding on the trolleys to go down town with our mother, but I was just too young to remember.