Geraldine Depot
The next building to complete is the depot at Geraldine, Montana. According to the Geraldine Historical Committee, “The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway completed its line across Montana in 1909 as settlers began to populate rural areas under the Homestead Act. In 1913, a branch line stretching from Harlowton to Great Falls was nearly finished. Midway between Lewistown and Great Falls, the brand-new town of Geraldine, named for the wife of Milwaukee Road financier William G. Rockefeller, anticipated a bright future. The Geraldine Review reported that Milwaukee officials planned to make the town "the show place of the new line." Workers put finishing touches on the only custom built depot on the central branch and a New Year's Eve dance ushered in 1914 christened the building. Its hardwood maple floors were pronounced "splendid." The special design, described as "a rustic bungalow of the California pattern, " featured two waiting rooms, a ticket room, freight room with scales embedded in the floor, nickel trimmed hot blast stoves and a ventilating system that changed the air every five minutes. Geraldine was a busy stopover serving two daily passenger trains and freight crew until passenger service ended in 1955. All the other depots were sold after the Milwaukee's demise in 1980, salvage companies removed the rails from Great Falls-Geraldine section. The non-profit Geraldine Historical Committee acquired the depot from Central Montana Rail in 1995. A model of expert workmanship and quality materials with most original details intact, the depot is still Geraldine's centerpiece and central to the town's history.”
Photo copyright by courthouselover July 2013
Depot Construction
My rendition of the Geraldine depot will not be an exact copy. Depots by John produces a resin kit called the “Country Depot”. This depot is based on Milwaukee Road depots in the mid-west. You can find out about more Milwaukee related building and details by clicking here to visit the Depots By John website. The photo below shows the start of construction with windows and doors already glued in place. These kits are nice to work on. You need to do a lot of sanding and test fitting to make sure everything goes together correctly.
Pay Attention to the Details!
After taking photos of the walls completed so far, I noticed the front wall with bay window had an incorrect window placement. Look at the first photo and see if you can see the problem. Then look at the second photo to see the problem. You can click on the photos to enlarge them.
Several things appeared that I hadn’t really noticed until after the photos.
FIRST: The top of the front wall is not level. It takes a dip down to the bay and then back up again to the end. I took a roof section and placed it in the proper position to see if this would be a problem. After some head scratching, I decided that you would have to plant your face on the layout right next to the depot to see the gap.
SECOND: This is the real reason for the title of this section. PAY ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS! The bay window is on upside down! Not sure where my head was at when I did this, but what is done is done. I considered using a CA debonder to fix the problem. These windows are delicate and would have to order a new set if they become damaged. So I decided that A little cutting and sanding would be a better alternative. The window will not have a sill, but at least it will look correct unless someone notices that the windows are hung upside down. I will have photos of the change in a latter post.
Construction Photos
This is something that I highly recommend to anyone who builds any kind of structure for the layout. A magnetic base to hold all of your pieces in alignment while the glue dries. I purchased a this set at a local train show. The set includes magnets and several 90 degree angles. This tool allows me to quickly assemble two sets of sides and then using the same magnets and angles to make sure the structure is square in the final assembly.
