The Coastal Titans Railroad tourist line is getting steady business which means folks need a place to gather, board and exit the train, and buy their souvenirs. So an early addition to the line was a station. I decided to build a box that would allow me to store the station away to help protect it from the elements and reduce the cluttered look in the garden when trains aren't running.
I took some leftover 1x12 boards and cut them to size.
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Inside of the top half
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This was my first project like this and the corners were not quite square and the boards seemed slightly warped so I needed some wood putty to fill gaps, some planing of the surfaces, and caulking the inside cracks.
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| Top and bottom ready for painting |
I primed and then put on two coats of grey paint.
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| The painted boxes |
I wanted to use the box to store the station when not displayed to protect it from the weather but have to drag it back and forth from the house every time. The two halves fit together to enclose the station and also act as a platform to raise it up to track level when opened. I chose the grey hoping it would look like stone or concrete. I think it still needs some work to add that texture.
I attached a set of hooks to make sure it is properly aligned when set up for the station. The hooks are actually heavy-duty picture hangers but come in handy for interlocking a lot of items. We use them to hang bird houses on the shed so the houses are easy to take down for cleaning and storing.
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| Hooks to align the box when open |
A set of brass latches on two of the sides keep the box closed when the station is stored. Weather-stripping was added to the bottom of the side with the feet to ensure a tight closure. It keeps the rain out but not the humidity.
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Brass latches
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Once there was a way to store the station, I started work on a loading platform. I used a piece of plywood from the scrap heap. It took a couple of tries to get an attractive proportion that also fit within the box for storage.
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| Testing of the platform base. |
I stained the platform and cut craft popsicle sticks to look like planks. Those were glued onto the platform around the outline of the station using wood glue. A wood beam was cut to fit snuggly inside the station and that was screwed to the platform. Now the station stays on the platform when placed inside the storage box but can be taken off with a small tug.
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Cement blocks were sunk into the ground with the help of a construction
crew to give a firm and level base
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| A dark stain on the platform gives it a tropical wood feel |
I'm definitely not what one would call a skilled woodworker. Most of what I did for this was simple and also a first-time attempt. So there were a lot of things that weren't quite as I would like. Like the warped boards and gaps along the edges of the box. Also, after some time in the elements the wood planks started lifting up and coming off in sheets. I suspect I shouldn't have stained the top side of the platform before gluing. And maybe different glue would be good. So this project is already in line for repairs.
But it does look pretty nice trackside, especially in the snow.
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