Brewer Railroad Plans water-tank plans

1:22.5-scale Northern Pacific water-tank plans
Brewer Railroad Plans
1825 Evergreen Drive
Agassiz BC V0M 1A3
Canada
Price: $10.50US
Website: www.brewerplans.com

One 24″ x 36″ drawing sheet, printed one side; one 8½” x 11″ instruction sheet, printed on both sides

Pros: Excellent drawing, nicely hand lettered; drawing printed full size; very complete detail illustrations; complete historical, construction, and finishing notes

Cons: None

Ted Brewer has become well known for his excellent line of construction plans for a wide variety of different railroad-related structures and bridges. Up for review here is an unusual rectangular branch-line water tank built by the Northern Pacific Railroad near Kanaskat, Washington. The prototype wooden structure was torn down in the 1950s. According to the literature supplied, the plans were drawn from just a couple of extant photos and another (incorrect) drawing, so they may not be accurate down to the inch but are still historically accurate as far as general appearance and prototypical construction.

What you get is a single 24″ x 36″ sheet of drawings, printed on one side, and a second 812″ x 11″ sheet, printed on both sides. The latter contains historical notes and comments on building and finishing the model.

The drawings are hand done, which gives them a pleasing character and sets them apart from the sterility of computer-generated drawings. All lettering (also hand done) is neat and easily readable. The sheet contains two full-size elevations (side views) in 1:22.5 scale, as well as two sections and a number of detail drawings. An experienced builder could build the tank with the drawings alone.

The smaller sheet gives a brief history of the tank as well as construction notes. These address assembly order and how to accomplish certain tasks, such as making the spout, weights, and depth gauge. A variety of materials is recommended, including wood, brass, chain, etc.

These plans are not for the beginning modeler. However, if you have some experience and a table saw, you should be able to do a nice job of building a striking model of an unusual prototype. At the end of the instruction sheet, Ted asks that you send a picture of your completed structure. If he uses it on his website, he’ll give you a $10.50 credit toward the purchase of your next set of plans!