Bill’s back with the largest project we’ve featured to date - 56 inches of fun!. This large article deals with the building of the pier itself, complete with boat dock and even has a simple tip for adding barnacles!

First, let me state that while this pier is not Gn15, but rather 1/2n18, (1:24) it is the same except for the track gauge which is adjustable as will be shown later in the article.

So, let me give you an overview of this project. The width is 22″, and the length of the entire model including the structures is some 4” 8″ long! The length of the pier itself is 36″ long x 6.5″ wide with the extension adding another 8.5″ to that - a large model by my standards.

For the rest of this article, I”ll be using mostly scale dimensions (to make it easier for you to build your versions in your chosen scale).

The first three photos (above) give an overall view of the pier.

Construction

I started by cutting scale lumber from Poplar. Although this wood is considered a “Hard” wood, it is actually very soft. I like it because of the way it distresses and takes stains. All cutting was done on my Micro-Mark table saw.

The first step was to cut the longitudinal pieces - 4″ x 10″ stringers and the 4″ x 36″ piece which goes under the track. These show in the photos displaying the end and underside details. The wide “runner” underneath the track should allow for laying the rails to any gauge up to 30″ with ease, the rails being spiked directly to this without ties.

Next step was to make the square cross timbers and pilings. The timbers are 12″ square, and all were cut to precise length. They were lightly distressed by dragging an Xacto saw along their length with the grain. The pilings were made from 1/2″ (real size) birch dowel distressed by the same method, except I do this with a very coarse blade making several passes. This followed by the same routine, except with a medium blade. Lastly, I go over them lightly with a piece of Scotch-brite pad to remove the fuzz, and then stain them. All wood is pre-stained, I might add, to hide any errant glue blobs I might miss when cleaning up. All 50 pilings are then cut to precise length, this length being arbitrary - I prefer a low pier, so I made mine 3” long (high?). The taller piles were then cut to a height of 4” above the deck and the barnacles were added at this time.

The Barnacles

These are simply crushed rock I had on hand. I ran a bead of glue around the base of each pile, and dipped this into the rock. When dry, I dipped these into various colored stains including green and black until the desired effect was achieved. See the close-up in the photo of the pier end for this.

After all had dried, I then glued the pilings to the cross timbers. No jigs were used, I simply laid all the timbers side by side on the bench so the ends were aligned, and marked the spots with a pencil and a try square, drawing a line across all at the same time. These were glued using ACC. The underside photo will show how this looks.

The next step was to glue the 4″ x 10″ stringers onto the cross timbers and pilings. On the two outer stringers, I make a light cut across these (but NOT all the way through) with an Xacto saw to make them look like individual boards. This is visible in the photos where the bolt heads show. More importantly, these scored lines are to mark where the cross-timbers with pilings should be placed. (Ah-hah - now it starts to make sense as to how all is kept in good alignment without jigs! - EH)

The rest of the stringer alignment was then laid out accordingly. The wide piece that supports the rail was laid between two of the stringers. All of a sudden, this beast starts to look like a pier! Take another peek at the underside and end photos for this.

The rails were then spiked down. I use code 125 rail. If you use smaller rail, you will need to use thinner decking material. This leads to the decking …. LOTS of decking!

Decking

I experimented with different sizes of lumber for this, and decided that 3″ x 9″ looked and worked best for me. So, after cutting, and distressing what seemed like a ton of decking, I got down to glueing. I used Walthers Goo for this, as the ACC set up way too fast for me to properly align and space the boards. I ran some ACC from underneath when finished though. I ran longitudinal boards between the rails, making sure to leave sufficient flangeways.

Among the photos below is a close-up photo of the end of track bumper. These being O-Scale Hays style bumpers, and a stout vertical beam …. Just in case!

The extension

The extension, which is mostly under the end building, is built exactly the same way, and is made to fit between the two taller pilings at the pier end. It has an added railing as shown in the photo.

The boat dock

This was made up from left-over 4″ x 10″ stringer material for the frame, and left over decking material (told you I cut a ton!). The pilings were made from 5/16″ (real size) dowel, as above, and glued to the side of the dock. Metal “keepers” were made for each piling from brass strip painted black, rusted, and glued in place. The ramp was made out of left-over material as well. It hinges at the top, and rides on small wheels at the bottom. The dock rides up and down with the tide, which is why the pilings are tall. The stone wall is a store bought Hydrocal casting, though I can”t remember where or when I got it.

And that’s pretty much it! A simple (but big and time consuming) project that can easily be adapted to your Gn15 layout.