Tag Archives: Stations

Wawa Station Doors and Windows

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Part of this project was done quite a long time ago, and then other projects got in the way for a while. After a big cleanup of my hobby workspace last weekend, I rotated the Wawa station back onto the workbench to actually finish off some detailing on this structure.

The station featured some unique windows in different sizes, so I drew and 3D printed the windows and entry doors for the station. With bathroom, operator’s bay, and upstairs hallway and kitchen windows all being unique sizes, and upstairs windows being frame mounted and ground floor windows mounted in brick, there are no fewer than a dozen unique windows and two doors (left and right versions) that were drawn for this project.

3D printed entry door

Having been designed following the architectural blueprints and printed, the windows were all primed and painted in the green colour I used for the station trimwork, and clear plastic installed on the back side with clear parts cement. The doors featured aluminum push bars in front of a large glass window. The aluminum bars and door locks were hand painted with a fine tipped brush.

Finished door after detail painting.

Once the windows were painted and had their clear plastic “glass” installed, it was a matter of carefully cleaning up the openings in the structure with a file to precisely fit the doors and windows, and glue them in.

Windows and doors installed on track side, except baggage room glass block windows.

The baggage room of the station featured glass block windows instead of framed windows. To model these, I scratchbuilt the glass block using some heavy plastic from some clear packaging. Lines were scribed at scale 6″ spacing, and the front side painted with light grey acrylic which was quickly wiped off the surface with a paper towel in order to just fill in the mortar lines between the “blocks” and leave the glass clear.

Mortar lines scribed into clear plastic for glass block windows.

After painting the mortar lines on the “front” of the piece, I flipped it over and sanded the back side with super fine sandpaper in order to rough up the surface and make it cloudy looking. Then the pieces were cut to size and filed to fit precisely in the window openings and glued in place using clear parts cement.

Finished windows and doors including glass block windows in baggage room. (Rear/street side.)

When gluing in the glass block pieces like this, push them into the opening from the inside of the structure, as any glue that gets on the rear/inside of the window will smooth out the roughed up surface and make a visually clear spot again.

The main details left to complete the station are the name signs and to re-do the gravel roof. The station was disused by the time period I am modelling, and it is possible that I should actually board up the glass windows for the abandoned structure, but for now I’ll leave all the windows intact.

A Look at the New Agawa Canyon Tour Train Station

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I’m a little behind the ball in posting this, as I originally thought to post something to line up with this season’s restart of full service on the Agawa Canyon Tour Train on August 1 – which is now over a week ago. (The season will run this year to October 10.)

Following the demolition of the old paper mill buildings a few years ago – although the remaining original sandstone mill buildings were saved – the city of Sault Ste. Marie has been very busy redeveloping the old mill property into a hot little zone of community activity. Part of this re-development has included the construction of a brand new home for the Agawa Canyon Tour Train, which as of 2022 has relocated from its previous downtown station at the Station Mall to this new station at the old mill.

I passed through Sault Ste. Marie earlier in July, and while there was no tour train activity yet at that point, I was able to get a good collection of photos of the new structure.

New home for the Agawa Canyon Tour Train.

The new building contains not only the Agawa Canyon Tour Train ticket sales desk and office, but an outdoor sports outfitter’s store, a micro-brewery, and a pub restaurant.

West side of the new station building with the BlockHouse Pub.

Outside of the station is a neat little display of historical railway equipment. The “wood boxcar” has been on display for a few years in the Sault as an interpretive exhibit about Canada’s “Group of Seven” artists; a well known and regarded group of artists who produced artworks of northern Ontario’s scenery, and spent a significant time traveling and living out of a converted boxcar on the Algoma Central. This particular recreation appears to have been built from the framework of the old “camp car” that used to be used on the ACR. Also preserved on display is caboose AC 9609, probably the last remaining caboose in “original” AC colours (this car was acquired secondhand in 1992 from CP).

Historic equipment display at the new station.

The rest of the area at this end of the old paper mill is also being nicely re-purposed. The original paper mill office building across the parking lot is now a music conservatory, and next to the old office, and also across the parking lot and grass from the new station, another original mill building has been renovated with restaurants and an arts and music venue.

The Machine Shop (left) has been renovated with a concert venue, bar, and restaurant. In the background, the original core of the paper mill waits to be preserved.

Also behind/adjacent to the new station is another new structure, an open/covered pavillion named simply “The Rink”. In this winter this structure is a covered outdoor ice rink.

The Rink, with the station in the background.

While the ticket office was not open, as it was almost a month yet before the tour train was actually running, I peeked in through the large windows, and a nice touch inside at the ticket sales desk are the name boards off an old passenger car above the desk.

Ticket sales desk at the new station.

In conclusion, the Agawa Canyon Tour has a nice new home, and in general the old mill property seems to be on the way to a rather nice redevelopment.

Rollup Baggage Room Doors for Wawa

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The baggage/express room in the Wawa station featured 8’x8′ roll-up freight doors on both the track and street sides of the station. I scratchbuilt these from a .020″ styrene sheet back and .010x.030″ strip for the grid pattern on the door sections. The outer door frame is .020x.060″ strip on edge.

Doors and corner posts (angle bits in the middle) airbrushed Sylvan Green. The corner posts are made from a 2×2 spacer to match the door frame and a 1×6 front piece with a corner filed off to a curve.

Front (track side) baggage door and corner posts installed: