"The LaPointe depot "

Here are the first two pages of this 6-page "how-to"
article, "The LaPointe Depot," which ran in the November
2008 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman.  The article is based
on a depot article, "The Flagstop at Huntingdon Valley,"
which Railroad Model Craftsman ran in April, 1979.
In this version, however, I lengthened it by 25%, which
meant adding some architectural details like rear windows.
The depot is completely detailed inside, and all the
windows were scratchbuilt.  The sidebar of the article
shows how to scratchbuild "fishscale" shingles.

Here are some shots I sent with the article that didn't make it into print.
Because I made the entire structure able to be removed from the base, I used small brass rods as keys so that I could always get it back in the right position on the platform.  Note the brass rod projecting out of the corner post, and the hole in the platform right next to it. 
I used rolled up pieces of off-white typing paper for roller shades inside.
Here's the interior furniture.  The potbelly stove's pipe fits right up against the wall when the structure is in place.  Later I added a station master sitting at the desk, and an old guy telling him stories, sitting in a chair.
Part of the article that was edited out talked about various roofing materials that could be used.  Here I'm applying a tarpaper roof, made out of tissue paper.  I felt this treatment was too plain. 
Here I'm using Paper Creek wooden shingles as a roofing material.  These look great, but there just aren't that many wood shake roofs in my part of the country.
I mounted the depot just outside of LaPointe on my layout, to the left of the road.  Here's what the spot looked like before I started.
I used an old wood chisel to shave down the plaster in this area, and later added a retaining wall.
This is the final depot on the layout, showing the retaining wall.  That's the city of LaPointe in the background.
This is the other side of the depot on the layout.

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