about to scratch build a freight station...

[johnb]

I have been sketching out a plan on how to model this freight station....



I have pictures of every wall except for the east wall, I have all of the Grandt Line doors and windows that I need. I am simply stumped one what to use for the siding and the freight dock....I plan to use styrene, but beyond that, well...

If this was an HO build, I would be looking at using Evergreen Novelty Siding, but the lips are too big for N Scale. I was thinking about using their passenger car siding, the .047 spacing is just under the correct size for the scale 8 inch board....but I would like a thicker styrene than 0.030.....

I would greatly appreciate a push in the right direction.

[Kentuckian]

If the passenger car siding has the look you want but not the thickness, laminate it to regular sheet styrene to get the thickness you want. Or just use the passenger car siding with more interior bracing.

[Cajonpassfan]

Exactly. If the passenger siding look is right, I'd go with the .030 thick material for the sides, cut all my openings first (easier with thinner material) and strengthen the building by laminating a few key pieces and internal bracing.
I can't tell what the material on the dock is, whether it has battens or open planking, but either should be easy to model. If its open with holes inbetween, just chop a bunch of appropriately sized styrene strips and glue them on...should look great!
Have fun!
Otto K.

[johnb]

Thanks for the replies, the problem is that I have one hobby shop near my office, and he is RC centric.  He couldn't tell you the difference between a Milwaukee Road F7 and an EMD F7. He only stocks plain sheets, so I am jist looking at part numbers and sizes....I can't see if it has the right look unless I special order it.

[wazzou]

If it were me, I would probably get some appropriate width Styrene strip, sand with 120 grit sandpaper to create some grain and use my NW Shortline Chopper and chop all of the bits in order to glue on a thicker Styrene sheet backer.
That way, I could paint the strips after sanding and prior to chopping to get some variation on the tones and weathered appearance, then when glued randomly, achieve the variation that I am looking for. 
They look like 10-12" wide boards, assuming that the siding is 6" in width.

[ncbqguy]

If I remember it correctly, the old Revell N Scale combination depot was based on an SP standard design an the one-story portion looks like the one pictured.   You'll have to find them at train shows and several importers brought them in although they're likely to be out of the box.   They were built up and consisted mostly of large molded pieces but should be able to be cut up into parts for kitbashing.
Charlie Vlk

[johnb]

If I remember it correctly, the old Revell N Scale combination depot was based on an SP standard design an the one-story portion looks like the one pictured.   You'll have to find them at train shows and several importers brought them in although they're likely to be out of the box.   They were built up and consisted mostly of large molded pieces but should be able to be cut up into parts for kitbashing.
Charlie Vlk

that is a type 15 Southern Pacific depot. It is the same one that Walthers released a few years back as a built up....