The Jim Thorpe Station
(A photo of downtown Jim Thorpe as it appears on our layout. The black area behind the
passenger train is the location for our latest project. The construction of a
scale model of the Mauch Chunk, Jim Thorpe, train station as it looked in the
1930s-1940s when passenger trains were running bringing visitors and
vacationers from Philadelphia and New York City.)
We have had the downtown area of Jim Thorpe complete for quite a
while. However one of the main buildings, as far as our railroad is concerned,
has never been built. For whatever reason we have never built the station. We've
had a couple of false starts but not much beyond that. The main problem has been
the the need for a scratch built building and the time available from one of the
few members we have who could take on the task and complete it.
Recently our Walt Eckard has been able to find the time to start
the project. Walt has dug up several original drawings, taken a lot of photos,
and has begun construction. Walt has also agreed to take some photos of his
progress so we can follow it and watch as he works his way through this labor of
love. Stayed tuned for further updates as we follow Walt's progress.
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End wall minus details. Still to be added: roof support
castings, White sills under windows (as shown on center window), and a
beading strip over the brick arches. |
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Casting in place on wall. After the casting is removed from the
mold, all casting flash is removed and the casting is painted. Here I am
placing the casting in place on the trackside wall. |
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Working on the tower wall. There are 17 windows on this
part. The first floor windows were the most tedious of all. The round
window pane was made by using my power punch that has 8 dies for
punching
round holes. The dies are get larger by 1/32nd of an inch. I used a
die
to punch out the outside circle, then used the next smaller die to punch
out the inside part.
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Photo of tower next to model. Here I am comparing the model of
the unfinished tower wall with a photo. |
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Gluing window frame in place. A very, very tedious and
frustrating job trying to get the very tiny pieces in place. |
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Pattern, mold, and casting. The top assembly is the roof
supports made from basswood, painted and glued to the bottom of the mold
box. I needed to make 6 castings of the larger piece and 12 of the
smaller piece. The lower frame is the mold after it was poured and
removed from the pattern. A white casting on the left is ready to be
taken from the mold. |
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View of the street side wall. I am fitting the corner base upon
which the bottom of the roof support will rest."
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Unfinished tower in position. I'm trying out the fit on the base
of the model. Though a long way from being complete we can begin to see what the
finished model will look like. |
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I'm checking the brick sheeting on the tower wall
to be sure that there will be a smooth transition to the trackside wall. |
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Here's my son-in-law and I gluing the walls together and to the
base.
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Here the roof of the tower is complete with the
shingles and top finial. Note: The shingles on the white area of the
wall
cannot be completed until the main roof is shingled as the lower rows
will
butt up against it. |
