Page 16 - March April 2017

drawings using a scale grid based on dividing and sub-dividing one measurement – 5 1⁄2 yards - again and again. Why 5 1⁄2 yards?
Old Photographs and a Rod, Pole or Perch
A rod, pole or perch is a unit of linear measurement equal to 5 1⁄2 yards or 16 1⁄2 feet. The three terms appear to be interchangeable and are the standard unit of measurement in traditional American timber buildings. By dividing and sub-dividing this measurement again and again to cut timber, you avoid waste. By drawing these divisions and subdivisions you get a modular grid which can help you work out the dimensions of buildings from carefully looking at old photographs. How do you start?
Draw your own scale grid in your scale of choice. Draw it 4 rods x 2 rods (66 feet x 33 feet). Sub-divide the top right hand square into 1⁄2 =8feet3inches;1⁄4=4feet11⁄2inches;and,1/8=2feet3⁄4inch. Extend the lines as a tartan grid to a scale 66 feet x 33 feet. Now you can overlay tracing paper on to your tartan grid and develop a plan and elevations.
If you take the standard width of doors to be 2 feet 3 inches or 2 feet 6 inches and windows as the same, you can start to develop the plan. Of course there will be exceptions to this – hence the term ‘standard’ – but start by thinking about standard widths.
Don’t be afraid either to draw it out and to re-draw it again and again until it looks right. Using the same discipline you can build up the elevations. You may find it easier to work up an elevation first and then use the elevation to help generate the plan.
I used this technique to prepare the drawings of the Waynesboro Railway Express Agency depot and passenger station. This led to the overall external dimensions of the depot model as built being a scale 22 feet x 45 feet.
Some years later I discovered a spectacular source for my Western Maryland Railway buildings – the insurance schedules from J P Style, Foreman of Road Carpenters, to J M Harris, Division Engineer, dated July 30, 1913. These, coupled with the August 1918 photographic index of the railroad’s buildings (both sources now at the Union Bridge headquarters of the Western Maryland Railway Historical Society), confirmed the ‘good enough factor’ in the dimensions of the depot as modelled:
Passenger Station at Waynesboro, Pa., 20’ x 44’, Frame, on stone foundation, shingle roof, Value Building $1000.00, Value Contents $150.00, Total Value $1150.00
I could add in mitigation that my dimensions are the external overall dimensions as modelled. Were the dimensions Mr Stile recorded for insurance purposes internal ones? Whichever way we look at it now, the dimensions of the finished model satisfy my desired ‘good enough factor’.
Maps
There are three series of maps that I’ve found helpful.
The insurance maps of the Sanborn Map Company at a scale of 50 feet to one inch are invaluable. The number of storeys of each building and section of building is shown as are canopies and overhanging roofs (very helpful when modelling depots’). The original Sanborn maps are evidently coloured to denote the different building materials that were used.
For Waynesboro, Pennsylvania there are Sanborn maps for January 1886, October 1891, July 1896, October 1902, January 1910 and, finally, June 1947. One can therefore trace in detail the growth and decline of Waynesboro’s two railroads -the Western Maryland and the Mont Alto (later the Cumberland Valley and, later still, the Pennsylvania) - building by building and track by track. You can even discover the appearance and disappearance of a turntable!
Before being introduced to the Sanborn maps, I was happy to use US Geological Survey maps. The US Geological maps do, of course, have all the details of contours and other natural features as well as buildings in block form. But the Sanborn maps have far more details of buildings. They even have details of the internal layouts of the ground floor of commercial buildings, including the soda fountain in my Uncle Funkie’s drug store in Center Square, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania! (Harry C Funk had married my father’s sister, Stell.) The third map source I found was the Western Maryland Railway Co. Track Chart for Edgemont (Maryland) to Quinsonia (Pennsylvania) dated February 6, 1935, scale 2000 feet to one inch, number A-1230-6. The chart records the single line right of way in five parallel lines, denoting ballast (cinders, slag or stone), rail (90; 100; 112 or 113; 130, 131 or 132 lb along with dates of laying and re-laying), alinement (alignment), track (showing the track in relation to grade crossings, signals, railroad structures, bridges and culverts as well as streets, watercourses, connecting private company railroad tracks and the dates of track removals between Edgemont and Waynesboro in 1955, 1958, 1960 and 1963) and grade line (including all bridge numbers).
Essential tools
Model Railroad Reference Rule - no. 1251 made by General, USA has N, HO, S AND 0 scales set out in scale feet and inches on a 12 inch long stainless steel rule.
You will also need a steel straight edge to cut against. Don’t try wrecking your scale rule, or plastic rulers or set squares and mis- using them as straight edges for cutting against!
Swann Morton surgical knife and blades. Be careful - these are sharp! Make sure your tetanus injections are up to date in case you cut yourself. Protect your eyes - blades can suddenly break. There are different styles of knives (that are used to hold the blades) and different styles of blades. The most common type of knife (blade holder) is Swann Morton number 3. Although I occasionally use the number 3 blade holder, I much prefer using a Swann Morton number 5 blade holder which is slightly longer and slimmer and therefore much more comfortable to use. Although one often sees number 11 blades for sale, I don’t like using them as they tend to snap which can be dangerous - again - protect your eyes. I prefer using number 10A blades.
X-ACTO razor saw blade number 234 and saw. Blade number 234 has 42 teeth per inch and is ideal for fine cuts. X-ACTO do a wide range of hobby tools and are sold in most model shops. They certainly last. I’ve had mine for over 30 years (yes, I was an enthusiastic teenager!).
Tweezers, needle nose pliers, fine sand papers and an assortment of files will also come in handy.
Optional but certainly handy:
Clothes pegs can be good clamps. If you’re doing lots of structure building (my excuse), there are very nifty clamps like miniature sash clamps that use carbon fibre rods. Yes, expensive outlay and occasionally frustrating (they ‘ping’ off sometimes), but overall they work really well.
A 45 degree set square helps get walls square in relation to floors and ceilings. I also use an AS size piece of picture glass to stop solvent welds on styrene gunging themselves up on my cutting mat.
And, of course, there are now a very wide variety of clamps and magnetic clamps of all shapes and sizes to suit a wide range of budgets!
Cutting mats can be expensive but valuable. Mine is really good and protects the desk top I work on without fail.
Materials
Whatever materials you choose be prepared for the inevitable - warping. Every material I’ve tried over the years - card, wood or