Scratch & Bash
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Buildings
Aristo-Craft Switch Tower: Building an Inside
Dec 22, 2010
By Noel Widdifield
LSOL.com Managing Editor |
Author
Bio
I also promised to finish the interior of the tower based upon a picture I had found in one of my reference books, New York Central Facilities in Color, by Geoffrey H. Doughty. Come see how it turned out.
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This is the third article in the series of three on the ARISTOCRAFT Switch Tower. In my last article, I described some changes I had made to the outside of the tower so it would look more like a New York Central Switch Tower along the Big Four in 1954. 
I also promised to finish the interior of the tower based upon a picture I had found in one of my reference books, New York Central Facilities in Color, by Geoffrey H. Doughty. 
The inside of the tower is totally unfinished as it comes out of the box except for the main part of the floor that has wooden planks. 
Therefore, I cut a piece of basswood to fit in the bay window section of the tower that comes without a floor. I scribed the wood to match the main floor and inserted it into the bay. 
I painted the whole interior, including the floor, a flat gray to match the color in the picture. 
It was necessary to do a second coat because the inside walls still had the oils from the casting process, and I could think of no easy way to clean the walls and floor. The second coat covered very well. At least it looked as good as the real thing in the picture.
The real challenge was to build up the switch lever assembly to resemble the one in the picture. I began with basswood and cut the separators and shaped them with a hobby knife and sandpaper. 
I cut the lower levers from basswood and used a 1/8" copper tube for the handle. 
I cut the tubing with a side cutter and then filed one end smooth with a file. 
Using my Dremel tool, I drilled a hole in the end of the basswood 
and inserted the brass tube. I cut the release levers from .080 X .100 styrene strips 
and glued them to the levers. 
Next I cut the connecting rod covers from the same .080 X .100 styrene strips and attached them to the base and separators. 
I then painted the levers red, white and blue as shown in the picture and assembled and glued them in place using White Lightning clear caulk. 
Finally, I painted the base and separators a flat black and put three of the levers in the thrown position, to agree with those shown in the photo of the interior of the NYC tower. 
I needed some furniture so I ordered some desks, chairs, file cabinets, wastebaskets, trashcans and telephones from S.E. Ltd. 
After removing them from the packaging and trimming the flash from the parts, I assembled the parts for painting. 
I painted the pieces in the NYC gray that matched the interior walls and floor of the tower. 
I also painted three ARISTOCRAFT people to give the tower some life. 
Gluing the switch level assembly into position with some more White Lightning I discovered that taking pictures through the windows was almost beyond my capability, as you can see from the last two pictures. I then glued the desks, chairs, wastebaskets and file cabinets in place 
I put a couple of lanterns and a pot bellied stove into the tower and used a small piece of tubing for the stovepipe. 
I made a calendar and put some paper in the trash and paper work on the desk. 
Completing the interior required about 20 hours of work, but I think the interior turned out looking pretty realistic.
I even got better at taking pictures through the windows 
I put the garbage cans outside by the door and put one of the ARISTO figures out back on the kerosene tanks. 
I moved the tower upstairs on my indoor railroad to guard the yard at Anderson, my hometown. It looks great there. Now I need to think about extending the track work on my indoor layout and finishing the final wiring for my outdoor railroad. Whatever I do, I will be sure to document it with photos as I work and put together another article for LSOL when I am finished.
| Inside a Switch Tower |
| Neat Noel, I enjoyed reading your progress on this endeavor. Looks very authentic now.. Didn't realize there was still a company making resin accessories, (other than Muella or Ozark Minatures), can you give a website? You do so well making all of these changes in FL without the comfort of your "home workshop"! Great job and article... Elaine |
| Elaine Haggenbottom - 12/22/2010 - 08:08 |
| Inside a Switch Tower |
| Elaine, The tower is an ARISTO Craft product (ART-7204) Page 93 of their online catalog. Noel |
| Noel Widdifield - 12/22/2010 - 08:33 |
| Tower Interior |
| Excellent work... :) |
| Rick Henderson - 12/22/2010 - 09:53 |
| finishing touch |
| Noel, I think a great finishing touch would be to have some Train Order sticks hanging just to the left of the filing cabinet. Or at least some string loops hung there awaiting use and maybe a train order stand (high speeder) next to the tracks for giving terain orders to passing trains. I worked in many a signal tower in the Saint Loius area and miss being close to the trains. |
| Ron Selliers - 12/22/2010 - 15:00 |
| Finishing Touch |
| Ron, Great idea. When I get back up north, I will add those. I did this article back several years ago. The tower is on my indoor railroad and I get a lot of positive comments when I remove the roof and let people see inside. Thanks, Noel |
| Noel Widdifield - 12/22/2010 - 15:04 |
| Tower |
| Noel, yard offices and towers had pull down shades (generally some kind of paper on a roller) to pull down when the sun got low. One on the upper part of the windows would make the tower more realistic. Also, do you have a website for S E LTD? Ron |
| Ron Hill - 12/22/2010 - 18:22 |
| Tower |
| Ron, The shades are a good idea too. The website is http://www.seltd.net/index.html Thanks, Noel |
| Noel Widdifield - 12/22/2010 - 18:24 |
| Switch Tower |
| Noel, Terrific looking interior. Amazingly detailed. Just a SUPER job. Thanks for sharing. Gary |
| Gary Condry - 12/22/2010 - 18:57 |
| Switch Tower |
| Masterful workmanship and attention to detail. Looks great. One question and maybe I missed it in the pictures. Where is the telegrapher's "bug" that was a key item in a tower? A telegraph key was usually found in any facility, like switch towers, interlockings, and depots, to keep the system running and pass critical information up and down the line. The crew at Anderson should be happy to have such a fine facility! JD |
| JD Miller - 12/24/2010 - 05:38 |
| Inside a Switch Tower |
| JD, Good catch. It is amazing that I have had this tower on my railroad for several years and my visitors have not noticed some of the things that the LSOL.com members have noticed. I had thought about the telegraph key back when I first started the project, but couldn't find one. You have motivated me to make one and add. That gives me another good project to do down here during the winter months. Thanks, Noel |
| Noel Widdifield - 12/24/2010 - 05:56 |
| Other Distractions |
| The reason visitors may not have noticed the finer detail is the overwhelming amount of other details on your layout to catch their attention and keep them from concentrating on a single item. Your layout is one scene of a story after another and honestly some could spend a long time looking around and not notice the trains running by. |
| Rick Henderson - 12/24/2010 - 07:30 |
| Other Distractions |
| Rick, Thanks for the wonderful compliment. I do enjoy making scenes on my railroad. Everywhere you look on my railroad you can see a story unfolding. I feel that each scene should tell a story about the people and the railroad. My greatest pleasure comes from having someone see the scene and tell me the story that they see there. My railroad is more about the story and less about running trains. Thanks Noel |
| Noel Widdifield - 12/24/2010 - 12:28 |
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