I originally built the roundhouse from two Korber #104 Kits in 1991. Each Korber Kit had three 15" stalls that equal 108' in HO scale, they were too short for my Southern Pacific Cab Forwards. I used the second Korber Kit to expand the Roundhouse to 5 stalls and used the side walls to extend the depth 5" or 36' in HO scale to total 20" or 144' for the large 4-8-8-2 locomotives that are 17¼" long or 124' 11".
The Roundhouse floor is first. Here I have removed the ties from the Atlas track and glued all five stall rails direct to the plywood base. I made a track guide to keep the rails spaced at the correct HO gauge during the glue drying stage.
I used 1/16" x 4" Midwest Sheet Balsa between the tracks to increase the floor to rail height. The 5th stall floor (balsa) is painted with FolkArt Barnwood Acrylic Crafters paint to appear the color and look of concrete, the maintenance pit is painted flat black.
The Roundhouse restoration begins next. It has been 17 years since I assembled the roundhouse to this point. Over the years it has deteriorated some what. I replaced the missing and broken wood supports and used a Crafters Oak Acrylic stain on all the wood.
The roundhouse is wired and the building is glued to the floor. The windows and doors have been installed and all of the wooden beams have been re-stained.
There are fifteen 3 mm 12 volt lamps operating on 9 volts for reduced brightness and realism. Operating the lamps at reduced voltage also extends their life.
There are a total of 26 mechanics, they are unpainted Preiser figures that I painted with Acrylic Crafters paint.
The doors are painted with a sand color Acrylic paint for a base then stained with the same English Oak Acrylic paint that I used on the work benches and structure beams. The doors are hinged and can be closed.
This is a closeup of the mechanics and the Scale Structure detail parts. The mechanic at the bottom is replacing the welding tanks in one of the stalls.
This is a closeup of the mechanics doing their thing, discussing what they're going to do this coming weekend.
I couldn't resist having some guys taking a break under the shade trees.
I made the track crossing out of toothpicks then stained them with Acrylic Oak. I sloped the gravel on both sides of the track so that vehicles can cross over to the roundhouse. The barrier behind the Dodge Power Wagon was installed to prevent someone from driving up under the shade tree, it is made from old rail.
Rear view of the Dodge Power Wagon and the guard rail preventing vehicles from driving on to the grass. The roundhouse base next to the wall will be covered with dirt, grass and weeds.
This is the siding used for parking a locomotive outside the roundhouse with a closeup of the side building that the Gandy Dancers Work out of. I still have a lot of work to do on this section. Note the leaning power pole with the wires hanging.
This is a good shot of my roundhouse. The top row of windows look smoked up with black crayon on them.
I will have to climb on top of my layout to finish the scenery in the area of the turnouts that feed the turntable. The Top Side Creeper will get me to the trees from the front and the side. I have some 4" foam that I put on the layout so that I don't damage the track when I have to get on top of it.
The concrete pad in the lower left is for my diesel maintenance shop. It's finished and I removed it and the passenger station so that I could climb up on top. They just drop in place.
I made a mock-up from left over parts for setting up G7 servos to open and close the doors.
