Rob’s been in touch with his model railroad train station canopy:

“Hi Al,

My latest video may be of interest to you. It is about the construction of scratch built canopies for my island platform.

As I was thinking about my Howe Street Station and what I wanted it overall to look like when it was done I could see I needed to do some scratch work.

I really wanted was some canopies that fit my island platform and stayed in the style and feel of the canopies that came with my March station buildings set as best as I could. Studying the Google satellite and Street Views of the real Church station made me realize the new canopies needed to have skylights.

I also wanted skylights so it would not be so dark under the canopies. Lastly I wanted a design that I could remove for cleaning and for building new scenes on my platforms.

Here is a picture of the partially finished area I am concerning myself with. I am building two more canopies beside the two in the photo so that other than a small space between them, they will run most of the length of the platform.

The scene in the first of the video is of a partially finished Howe Street Station. There will be more lighting added on the station side when I can get to it. The canopies have kept me busy of a couple of weeks.

The plastic card I used did not come in the exact size needed so it had to be precisely cut up so it could be welded back together with the cut out for the glazing. I used Wills Kits SSMP219 Builders sheets – corrugated asbestos plastic card and clear styrene for the glass. The muttons or frames for the windows were made from various Plastruct shapes as well as the framing under the roof.

Rob McCrain – Farland Howe”

Model railroad train station canopy:

Now on to Terry:

“Hello Al.

Thought I would add an observation and a tip to fellow modelers.; I’ve been building model railroads in HO scale for 50+ years and I usually start with a 4×8 sheet of plywood, and then add on as needed–always making rectangle tables for the track such as Crazy Dave’s great layout.

A few months ago I started planning a new layout by drawing the tracks as I wanted them to look first– not based on the predetermined shape of the table top.

I came to the realization that the earth doesn’t have 90 degree angles and neither should a layout.

This worked much better and gave me peninsulas jutting out on both sides and leading to an interesting look in addition to providing me walk-in space for hard to reach areas.

Of course the overall table needs to conform in some way to the available space in the room so you have to take that into consideration.

Thanks for all your help and the input of other modelers–I’m glad I found your blog.

Incidentally the Damnit 2 railroad is coming along after 6 months of trying to find a new configuration for a freight/passenger yard. (thanks to members who contributed ideas). As the snow begins to fall in the U.S. Rocky Mountains I hope to have most of the basic work done soon.

Take care and keep modeling

Terry”

(Terry’s last post is here.)

A huge thanks today for Terry and Hall of Fame member, Rob, for his model railroad train station canopy help.

I don’t think I will ever tire of seeing what’s in my inbox each morning.

And lastly, thanks to everyone who has mailed me comments on my second backdrop. Please let me know what you’d like for the number 3!

That’s all for today folks.

Please do keep ’em coming.

And if today is the day you get started on your layout, the Beginner’s Guide is here.

Best

Al

PS Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.

PPS More HO scale train layouts here if that’s your thing.