Running Some Trains for Fun

More Progress on Proviso Control Tower

   I pretty much finished the Proviso control tower this afternoon.  I airbrushed the tower refer white and then used strip styrene to fashion a crude desk for the interior of the tower.  I then painted the interior of the tower black.  Using the packaging from a set of Woodland Scenics figures, I cut out window glazing to place on the inside of the window frames.  After placing a couple of figures in the tower, I cut a piece of styene for the roof.  I did not glue to roof in place as I may add to or change the interior at some point. 
   Overall I'm pretty pleased with the project.  Its definitely a one of a kind structure.  I doubt anyone else has one on their layout besides me!  I'll be doing some work on the grounds around the tower and then it will be complete.

Proviso Control Tower

   Today I finally started work on the Proviso control tower.  As you can see from the photos below, the prototype is a very unusual looking tower.  More reminiscent of an airport tower or, according to my wife, a prison tower.

 

  

   Thanks to David K. Smith, I had drawings that I could use to build a mock up.  After having the mock up on the layout for a couple of months, I determined that building the structure full size would make it too big for my scaled down version of the Proviso yard.  For one thing, the prototype has two stories which makes sense for a very large yard complex with three yards; hump, inter-modal and flat.  But, it is overkill for my scaled down version which only has one yard.    The other thing is that the full size height simply overpowered the rest of the structures, which are all scaled down versions of the real thing.  So I reduced the size to 85% and removed the second story.
   I printed out the reduced drawings, taped it to Evergreen .030" V-groove styrene, cut out the four sides and glued them together.  Since the windows go completely around the tower, the windows were cut off completely making the roof section separate from the rest of the structure.  I also added a floor.

   To connect the roof section to the base, I glued four .030"X.030" styrene strips to the base.  I then glued the roof section to the four posts.

   Next, I used more .030"X.030" strips to represent the remaining posts and to strengthen to connection.  Lastly, I added four small horizontal pieces to complete the windows according to the prototype.

Here's a comparison with the full size mock up.

   At this point, I need to paint the structure, put in an interior and add window glazing.  Stay tuned!