Homemade Industrial Building with Purposes
The layout has a hidden track behind the background that leaves a hole that needs to be hidden. It was decided to hide the hole by an industrial building. This building was made from 1/8 inch Masonite with brick paper covering the sides. The main outside loop track goes through this building too. Arch top windows were added and made from plastic sheeting and panes from 1/16 inch auto pin stripping. Vent stacks were added to the roof. A fake roll up door was added to the open ends of the building made from wooden dowels. A section of flat building was made to be the building and installed against the background to give the appearance of a larger building.
I ran out of the original brick paper and had some made with a color copy machine, but is not a very good match and appears too pinkish in pictures below.
Three sections of the hidden track, located at each end and in the middle of hidden track, have isolated outside rails to trigger a track occupation signal to indicate if a train is present on the track since the track cannot be seen. The signal power is controlled by the round house light switch. The signal is mounted on the left end of the industrial building, in full view of the engineer. 12 volt mini Radio Shack bulbs of red, yellow and green are used for the signal. Each bulb represents a section of hidden track that is occupied, and all three “on” mean the track has a hidden long train. The lights also indicate the progress of a train moving on the hidden track.
Charlie
