Contributing Editor Gerry Leone continues to share his final project on the HO scale Bona Vista Rwy. This time you’ll see how to make sure Main Street, its sidewalks, and all of the surrounding structures maintain prototypical alignment and appearance.
How-To Library: Turning Spaces into Places II, Part 2 – Knocking the Blocks Off
By Angela Cotey | March 25, 2020
| Last updated on March 16, 2021
Great video on side walk make up an concrete expansion joints. These are the small things that make a great scene even better.
Was that a Linn H Wescott straight edge you were using?
Stay safe everyone.
Hope everyone is staying safe out there in these nutty times! Thanks for additional comments.
Rich — thanks for the translation. I had gotten a reasonable translation from Google Translate, but yours is better. And for having taken 5 years of German in high school and college, the only thing I remember now is “Mutter, wir haben Post!” (“Mother, we have mail!”)
Ed — I’ll have to check out that Olfa P-cutter 450. Good find!
Everybody — just stay in your train rooms and work on stuff!
Thanks Gerry! This was a great video on both giving me both techniques and the dimensions to lay out my sidewalks and streets. Very helpful!!!
Hey Gerry, great job! Wish I would have seen this last year. I used mat board (for picture frames) and a hobby knife for my sidewalks. I’ll try your method next time. You could also use an Olfa P-Cutter 450 to mark the joints in the styrene if you don’t have a scribing tool, it also carves out a groove. I use the Olfa to score then snap plexiglass to size. Stay safe!
There was an earlier comment from Horsth Henssen from I am assuming Germany. I spent 18 months there 1965-66 with the U.S. Army and returned last September for two weeks with an Army buddy. Here is my attempt at translating his comment –
“Thank you Gerry for your good tips and detailed explanations. I will now go to my basement and see where I can make my city better.”
Gerry, ah yes the Doodlebug service, good point. My passenger service is largely RDC’s serving small communities so my platforms are short as well. My operations only get hairy when the annual railroaders convention passes through with the A-B-A F7’s towing the Pullmans and Observation Car, people have to walk a lot 🙂
Thanks Gerry-Really appreciate the knowledge taht you ae passing along to all of us.
Hi Gerry, Can you please tell me where you got those large pieces of styrene. Here in New Jersey I can only find 12 inch pieces? Thank you. Rocco Maley Haskell New Jersey.
This is exactly what I need for a town I’m building. Thanks Gerry!!!!!!!!
Very informative! Thanks
Robert, I was on the drafting board for years also. Instead of a circle template, try your drafting compass or dividers. That way you can mark/trace any radius you want.
Great video Gerry. Eager to see the next installment.
Thank you Gerry, now you’ve given me another project to work on. I have several buildings and just not sure how to lay them out to make sense.
Thanks for comments, folks! Hope everyone is staying inside and washing hands!
Robert — a circle template would be great! You could experiment with different radii of corners. Good thought!
Horath — Bitte schon!
Jim — that’s an interesting thought. I’ve seen sidewalks that just sort of “end” into dirt and grass. That could have been a neat feature in Eagle Lake. Next layout!
Gus — Good points, but the BV only has doodlebug passenger service, so no blockages of streets. But point well-taken about the joint names.
Stay safe out there, people!
thank you for great detail video as help further build of town on layout
another great video, thanks.
Finally someone is talking about modeling sidewalks and curbs rather than buying pre-made plastic sections. Two thoughts, first placing your station in the middle of the town with a street crossing the tracks at both ends of the town assures that the stopped passenger train will block traffic on both streets. Second, sidewalk joints aren’t all expansion joints, some are control or construction joints included to control cracking of the concrete which is inevitable even in the midwest?? thanks Gerry.
Thanks Gerry for the timely tips!! I am in the process of setting up my one and only town, Tuxedo Junction. I am using the Walthers Merchant Row buildings, set 1 and 2, for my town. Along with those two I am adding several Woodland Scenics buildings. While the Walthers kits come with sidewalks the Woodland Scenics do not. I used some leftover sidewalk materials from some other kits, not sure of the Mfg., for the extra lengths of walks. the street for my town is going to use the Gerry Leone sandpaper on polystyrene method. I am using .004 polystyrene as that is what I have on hand, having purchased a 4′ x 8′ sheet some time ago. Again thanks for the timely tips!! Can’t wait for part 3!!!
Danke, Gerry, für deine guten Tipps und ausführlichen Erklärungen. Ich gehe jetzt in meinen Keller, um zu sehen, wo ich mein Städtchen verbessern kann.
Great looking sidewalks and a driveway for the gas station Gerry. I’m looking forward to seeing part 3, as always you have all the angles.
I was on a drafting board for years before we went to CAD, I still have all my tools. I was thinking instead of the pill bottle top (great idea), I would use a circle template. Of course not everyone has a circle template, or a big collection of drafting stuff.
Anyway, it looks real good.
A couple of thoughts. A woodworker’s marking gauge seems like it would do a great job making all those parallel cuts and esp the long curb cut easier than the calipers. A second thought is a small rural town, esp the era you’re modeling, wouldn’t have very standard radius corners and sidewalks. The town I grew up had a pretty typical sidewalk along the grocery and drugstore. Yet the gas station had the sidewalk running right through the lot. If this link works, the remains of the station are still there, though the grocery is long ago torn down. The depot used to stand atop the red wall across from the gas station.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.789225,-81.4587913,3a,75y,256.12h,79.53t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-4vZfTsDqfwlL4fWwkWJyw!2e0!7i3328!8i1664
At least you didn’t go so far as to pour the concrete. Gotta love those scribing tools.
Thanks again for a very informative and timely video.
I am currently considering working on an N scale town and this information will be most helpful.
Gerry, you are a wealth of knowledge and the videos are well presented in terms of pacing and illustration.
Thank-you for making MRVP that much better!