The James River Branch Z Scale Model Railroad: The Old Bank

The Old Bank, Part 2 of 3

After a break of several months, I returned to work on the project with renewed vigor. But I still faced the problem of the narrow back wall: no matter how I sliced and spliced any of the wall parts I had, the wall wound up with windows right up against one edge. When I took a fresh, hard look at the materials at hand, I began to think that I might just barely scrape together enough stuff to fabricate the third column for the narrow front wall. This would both restore the building to my preferred design, and make the narrow back wall problem go away.

Thus I set about cobbling together the last column of windows. Many bits and pieces of leftover walls were cut and filed and gingerly soldered together. I sure wish I'd done it this way from the start, because it would have been much less work and far fewer parts. But, it was still easier going than it might have been if the wall wasn't going to be obscured by scaffolding; I was no longer worried about imperfections. Connecting the extension to the existing wall was a major challenge, though: the existing wall had surface details attached that made the two parts different thicknesses. I had to assemble a crazy jig to hold the back of the new part flush with the existing wall.

I also had to contend with the foundation and column detail parts. Fortunately there was a joint in the foundation that I could de-solder; it was then a relatively simple matter to extend the foundation with leftover material. There was not enough column detail material to make a full column, but once again, since the wall was not going to be clearly visible, I was satisfied that a styrene patch would suffice. I also contemplated making the piece appear damaged and in the process being repaired.

The last part to make was the new back wall, which I simply made to match the existing one. After soldering the two back walls together, I started soldering them to the front walls. That's when I discovered a major goof: the back walls were too short. I hadn't added enough to extend them. Making up the difference in height was not a big deal—both of the walls would eventually butt up against adjacent buildings; I'd simply fill in the gap along the bottom with styrene. The problem was un-soldering the wall joint I'd just made, which was not fun. Even less fun was re-soldering it. It's a darned good thing this building would be partially hidden—that re-soldered joint is an ugly mess!

It was a long and at times stressful task assembling the building, but once the last joint was soldered, sanded and cleaned, I believed it was worth the effort. It would all be downhill from here. Or, so I thought...

As of 26 September 2008, this is where the project stands. More as it happens.

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The parts required to make the new column of windows are test-fit.

The parts are taped face-down to the soldering board.

Scraps of etched brass are used to reinforce the solder joints.

A special jig is prepared to align the new window assembly with the wall.

The window inserts are test-fit, and the openings are filed as needed.

The foundation is extended and the column detail parts are added.

The back walls are positioned in a jig and soldered together.

With all of the brass parts assembled, the building is ready for styrene parts.