Cooley's Ice House

Note: This is not a 'How To', but a display of a completed 'Scratchbuilt Project' showing what can be done with some materials and time. It does not have to have been judged for AP Points.

(Click on the small images for the full size view.)

Cooley's Ice House

by Ray Howard

October 10, 2005

I am finally getting around to send this in to you. Hope it can fit your needs for the Scratch Build Showcase at the NMRA Website. Feel free to edit the information as needed should you decide to use this. BTW, I love the Showcase, It has some wonderful work in it! (I think so, too - rph)

Last fall my oldest son and I took a trip to Steamtown in Scranton, PA for one of the Fall Foliage excursions. The destination was Tobyhanna Junction where there is a working Ice House based on the type of Industry that was found there 100 or so years ago. On the way home I finally knew what I wanted to build for a barren section of my layout, the Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western. Cooley's Ice house was built using scale lumber cut on a Micro Mark table saw. The roof is heavy cardstock trimmed with small strips of wood then sprayed with silver paint to make it look like the old metal roofs of the 1920's. The building was freelanced based on photos I took of the Ice House at Tobyhanna. The Office Building (brick) is made from a Walthers 3 in one kit.

The Mountain was made using Rock Casting molds and hydrocal plaster. The corral and shelter for the work horses is also scratch built using scale lumber as with the Ice House. The most tedious (and fun) part of
the scene was making individual shingles for the roof. The trees were made from small branches from a dead tree in my yard, trimmed and foliated with Woodland Scenics flocking.

Since I model 1925 which is near the end of the Ice Harvesting, all the buildings are heavily weathered and in some need of repair. You may notice that Cooley's has a problem with pigeons!

Ray Howard

If you wish to submit a photo for consideration, send the photo (no larger than 800x600 please) to TJ Klevar along with a description of how you built it, techniques you used, and any special tips you wish pass along.