Received approval of final Drawings and Elevation renders for submittal #2 to Garden Railways Magazine. It was a challenge. A small building, but none of the original elevation dimensions matched. Seems to be the norm with G or 1:29 scale drawings of the past. My process is not perfect by any means, but at least it gives the modeler a fighting chance for a clean structure. Should receive project #3 next week.

Almost FriEday...or as my favorite singer The ol' Possum sings "Finally Friday". Finished the AutoCAD drawings for Branchline Station and they are at the Editors desk for review and edit. Click on the Submittal 1 drawing and it will take you to GRW Magazines website where my building package resides.

Watchman's Tower is complete in Elevation according to the original drawings. But looking back at similar structures in train yards and depot heads, the upper level seems to be taller than the old magazine article depicts. So - round 2 will be a reconstruction to standard balloon framing and more typical construction principles to see if I can get it to be more prototypical, and yet be conducive to rescaling in 1:29 scale for modeler ease of use.

Hey...it's Monday...or with the addition of a vowel MoAnday. Lot's of EOY work, but spent time looking for historical buildling blueprints. Found a great outbuilding site, and historic William A. Radford site of older homes to experiment with. Work In Progress posted on the right.

Saturday is here. My Grandson Xander, sits here and critique's my final 3D rendering of the Santa Fe Train Order Depot in order to get it ready for posting today. My right hand man. The original magazine elevations were not equal, so I had to rebuild the building from the 'ground' up in order for all elevations to marry together and create a feasible structure. There is a FLKR posting of this Boron Depot in California that is now a museum.

Almost the end of a long week. Total Campuswide Shuttle Signage project up and running. 12 more projects to close out before EOY. Exhausted this year. But it doesn't stop me from drawing! See new left posting of the Train Order Station. Taking the old train magazine article, rescaling and correctly sizing brings about a different building, but with a lot more life and character! Another actor on my Structure by Structure stage.

Well...it's mid week - work load at the ol' University keeps escalating. Seems like me time is more precious, so while the wife is watchin' American Idol, I am not idle. Finished the bay window side elevation of the Train Order station. It's odd. My eyes are older, but I could see the issues with the drawing I chose when comparing Gable elevations front and rear. The scales used for the previous article didn't come close when tearing the design apart, and reassembling in 3D. The post to the right is the final elevation. Enjoy.

Today was a day of turmoil; designing new storage facilities for Football field maintenance; Campus Shuttle Stop signage utilities management; ADA signage for yet another EOY rush job for King Building along with exterior signage assessments. I actually found time to work at lunch on my personal stuff for 10 minutes before it all started again. So no rendering news today; unless you count that I have almost completed the eave elevation drawing and will hang it out on the site tomorrow. Hope anyone who reads this had a better day!

If you don't continue to practice, whatever your craft or skill, it will soon fade fast, especially as you get older. So I practice my Architectural renderings daily in some form or another. If I don't do a lot of AutoCAD or rendering at work, then I succumb to my desires by rendering in the evening while the missus watches her Dancing with the Stars! Thus the post at the right (WIP or Work in Progress). This elevation takes about 2 hours to pull out of a photograph or PDF page.

GR Submittal 2 -

Notified by Marc Horowitz; Senior Editor at Garden Railways Magazine that the second submittal drawings were approved. Only one edit pass this time. Will post links to GR website where the entire package can be reviewed. Waiting for the next assignment with anticipation!

Update - Submittal 1 Drawings

The Publisher notified me that they will go to press and go out by April 21st. I will then hang the elevation drawings of Branchline Bucket Coaling Station on this site with a link to GR Magazine to access the scaled drawings and background article about the small structure circa June 1955. Submittal 2 is already into review and redline and will be published once I am notified of that date.

GR Submittal 1

Late last week, I received my notice from Garden Railway Magazine that my first forray into resurrecting small old railway structures will be published, and Submittal 2 prelimary drawings are also approved for the second publishing. An interesting growth process.  It fuels my desire for recreating more of these old structures and ties it in with an old love of scale modeling that I cannot pursue right now.

Where to start?

It's interesting what turns you take in life. As a Carpenter by trade, I sure didn't stick with that total focus. During my late 20's to early 30's; back to school; I chose to learn about Computer systems, and numbers, and literature. Over the next few decades, all three came to play a major role as I progressed from Tradesman, to small business owner, to managing construction Corporations, then back the other way. When I arrived at UNC Charlotte as the new 2003 Renovations Supervisor, the minimum email and Microsoft were all that was needed. But I still used my skillsets to take Excel to the next level. Then the big accident here; blasted to unconsciousness; and during recovery made a major profession change; that of  Facilities Construction Engineer. From there I picked up Excel on steroids for major reporting linked to all MS products; AutoCAD MEP for Architectural Design; SketchUp Pro for rendering those designs in 3D; and a host of Adobe products to round out. It was then that I thought back to what started my in my original profession; a love of structures, bridges, out buidlings of all types; of all designs. But most dear; pre-1950.

So I started out doodling in my spare time; finding old photographs or building elevation plans; finding a common measured feature; then scaling the photo so that I could import it into AutoCAD and do an overlay of dimension and structural features.

Doing simple structures is not so simple I find. But there is a simple satisfaction in the many steps and edits it takes to create an elevation drawing that might attract those of like mind.