O Scale Barge

Train Troll O Scale 32′ Barge (Scow)

I happily admit that I used the Train Troll’s 32′ Barge as a guide for my own barge. The link shows the measurements .. Length, Width and Height. With the photos I could create a copy for my own use .. and modify it as I go.

The Train Troll’s barge looks great and honestly would be the best way to do this .. I just like scratchbuilding.

A Copy – Sorta kinda

Using the dimensions provided on the Train Troll website and the photos I came up with this design. This design is somewhat crude .. call it a general outline for building the model.

My construction process is .. more or less .. get a general design then see what bits and pieces I have “on hand” and modify the design as needed.

Bits and Pieces

I decided to start the build off of a piece of chipboard by gluing boards to the board. The boards are 1/4″ x 1/16″ stripwood I had in my parts box. This is in O Scale, 12″ x 3″ .. more or less and is “good nuff” for me.

I cut the long pieces 4″ long .. 16′ full-size. This is about the maximum length for readily available lumber. The shorter pieces are about 3″ long .. around 12′ full-size.

I used a square to draw a couple of guide lines to stagger the lumber The lines are spaced 1-1/2″ – or 5′ full-size. This is the spacing of the theoretical ribs.

Gluing and Trimming

The important thing for me was aligning the ends of the boards with the guidelines. Since they are supposed to represent the centerlines of the ribs underneath I figured it made sense to take time to align to the lines very carefully.

Note the ragged ends .. I have come to the conclusion that I need a larger chopper than the NWSL version I have as all of the boards I cut were too long to clamp a stop so I could replicate cut lengths.

I used the razor blade to cut off the ‘deck’ to where I had full length boards. I was not concerned with making the barge exactly 32′ full-size .. just whatever works. Sliced a bit off the front edge .. how much simply depended on the board length.

Trimmed To Length & Width

With both ends and the front trimmed off. This will then be the deck size .. whatever it came out to be.