Model Railroading > Scratch-Built Jacksonville, Illinois Tower

I used brick contact paper from Micro-Mark. I found if you rub a little chalk on the corners of the walls, the minute gap where the contact sheets meet blends in real well. The top windows were cast in resin from a master as the Wabash windows had a unique three pane transom window.

I need to add a downspout, smoke jack and repaint the roof. (The color did not come out the way I wanted it.) I may add ornamental brick trim but am undecided. Yes, touch-up is needed too.

The roof is removable as is the floor to add interior details and lighting.

I do not model Jacksonville where the CB&Q and the GM&O crossed the Wabash but needed a 40 lever interlocking tower of Wabash design for my layout. There were no plans, I worked from photos and "counting the bricks".

Here's a similar tower that was at Wolcottville, Indiana I built for a friend.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,2518725,2518805#msg-2518805

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/15 21:10 by wabash2800.

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Fine craftsmanship with all those horizontal line intersections. I especially like the row of bricks below the windows and the chimney up the side of the building.

Posted from Windows Phone OS 7

Thank you. For more photos, go to the January 27, 2015 entry on my blog at http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

Looks great! It amazes me how rare it is for modelers here in the states to use any sort of paper for their structures. When you look at European modelers, they use paper products for their structures all over the place to great effect.

- Jeff Carlson

Jeff:

The Micro-Mark brick paper peels off with an adhesive backing and is made from a real photograph, though it has a texture. However, I have found the color will very from batch to batch. Too me, it looks more realistic than any plastic brick or plastic brick that has been painted.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com

Here's an image of the tower in the April 1995 Issue of Trains magazine. It was a two page spread, and appears to be a wide-angle view, so the tower looks a bit squat compared to my model. Like I said, I'm debating whether to add the decorative brick-work.


Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublicatoions.com

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Nice model Victor! I have also built models by the "counting bricks" method. I have not tried the paper bricks though. Will have to give that a try when I get to another project.