By Rick Brown

Author  Bio Once I had the shingles on, it was time to tackle the copula.  Most train sheds or engine houses I have seen have some type of opening on the roof for the smoke and hot gases to escape.

Once I had the shingles on, it was time to tackle the copula. Most train sheds or engine houses I have seen have some type of opening on the roof for the smoke and hot gases to escape. Some have windows that open and others have some type of louvers that open. I decided I wanted something that looked like louvers to run along the side of the copula that would be easy to make and hold up to the weather. I also wanted a window in the front end, but wasn't sure what I wanted it to look like. After discussing the window with Bob Gentile, he gave me the idea of using a piece of PVC pipe for the window. "Thanks Bob.. Love it when an idea comes together." The inside frames for the copula were easy, just 1" pine cut to fit the shape of the roof, primed, and glued and screwed from the bottom of the roof. Figured 4 frames would do it. I was wrong on that one, but will get back to that later in the article. Click for larger picture Click for larger picture The window or porthole for the front-end frame ended up being easier than I had originally thought it would be. After getting a 6 " piece of PVC pipe with a 2" inside diameter and a doorknob hole cutter at my friendly hardware store, I was set. After cutting the hole with the doorknob hole cutter, I cut off a 1" piece of the PVC pipe. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it was close enough for Government work. Besides, that's what they make putty for! I used the same light diffuser material I used for the large windows on the lower part of the building, for the insert in the porthole. Using a magic marker, the insert was blacked out and cut out with a scroll saw. It was covered on the inside with a small piece of 8 mil. clear plastic. This in turn was glued inside the PVC pipe with Krazy glue and the pipe was glued inside the frame. Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture After making sure it fit, the area around the porthole was puttied, sanded, primed and a coat of the finish coat was painted on. Click for larger picture Click for larger picture The two pieces of the top of the copula were cut. "Oop's." They drooped! Remember, I said I would get back to the number of braces! Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Ok, it was stand back and scratch your head time again! More braces! That was easy. I added 5 more braces or I should say half braces, to give it more strength and less sag. In the long run, this worked out better! Click for larger picture Click for larger picture The sides were cut to fit and 3 openings were cut out in 3 sections using a jigsaw. Pop-cycle sticks (I knew I had saved them for something) were cut to fit the inside and glued on. This also gave more strength to the sides once the slots were cut out. Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture The inside area of the copula was sprayed flat black and the sides were nailed on with the air nailer. The extra braces worked out better as they gave me more to nail to on the top. Bum luck sure comes in handy sometimes!! The shingles were glued on the copula roof with the top ends butted up against each other so there was little or no gap at the top. Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture The rest of the roof was finished. Somewhere around 1800 shingles, I lost count. I wanted to put a copper cap down the center of the copula, but after a short search, I couldn't find what I wanted in an 8-foot strip. The guy at my friendly hardware store said, "Will this work?" as he showed me some copper tape used to keep slugs away. "Boy... Ace is the place!" Click for larger picture After pulling the backing off of the copper strip, it looked like it was made for just what I was using it for. Good old bum luck again! Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Now it was time for mating the roof to the shed. The shed had been covered with a large blue tarp for a number of months while the roof was being finished. The tarp was pulled, and my son and I were able to move the roof up to the shed from the carport and set it in place. Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture The wife (aka. Chief Finance Officer of the P.N.& S.P. RR) crawled inside and held the box end wrench while I tightened the bolts from the outside. Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture We opened the roof up a few times, worked like a charm! Held it open with two 2x4's. Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture The shed sat for about a week while we had a good rainstorm before we could load it up with cars. The sides even started to "weather" a little bit from the rain. But a good sweep with a foxtail and it was like new again. Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture We loaded it up with about 46 cars and we were ready to start on laying track! Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Post script: The shed was finished in March 2003, after about 10 months of work (off and on). We had record rains in Washington during the month of October, 18 inches. The inside has stayed dry and not one shingle has come off. In the mean time we have finished a wall along side the two main lines to Dragonsberg and started the large wye. The side yard next to the train shed is on hold until the wye is in. Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture Click for larger picture This was a fun project. If I can do it, anyone can. Just one last thought, "Plans - We don't need no stinking plans!" Top of Page