Back in 2016 when our group was building its first Free-mo modules, I decided to make use of a Walther’s Burned Building kit that had been in my collection for some time. They also made one called Burning Building. A quick check on line suggests that these kits might not be in production any longer, but I have seen them for sale on occasion at train shows. Woodland Scenics has a nice-looking building which would also work well called Betty’s Burning Building.
Here are pictures of the front and back of the building, with fire fighters added. At our May 2019 train show it was pointed out to me by someone more knowledgeable than I that a fire fighter would never attach the hose directly to a fire hydrant. Instead, the hydrant would be connected to the pumper truck (not shown in this picture) and then the fire fighting hose with the nozzle would be attached to the pumper truck. As you can see, I have not yet made this modification.
The one condition I put on myself was that this building, to be in a Free-mo module called Aspen which depicts a small Saskatchewan prairie town, must have some sort of “smoke” coming from the building and fire vehicles with flashing lights and fire fighters on the scene.
I considered acquiring some sort of smoke machine. However, having used smoke machines on my former garden railway I find them to be more trouble than they are worth. They run on a light weight “smoke oil”. Many public venues where train shows are held will not permit an operating smoke machine because they are a potential fire hazard. In addition, one of the members of our train club suffers from asthma. In the presence of an operating smoke machine he has a serious asthma attack – not something one would want to inflict on show guests, exhibitors or vendors.
I considered some sort of vaping device. Not being a smoker or knowing any smokers that use these, I had no experience with these devices. However, from simple observation these tend to create a volume of smoke that would be very unrealistic when coming from a building in HO scale. Also, most public venues not only prohibit smoking indoors but also vaping.
One day I happened to be shopping in Canadian Tire which is a large and, in my opinion very good, automotive/hardware/housewares chain found across Canada. I was shopping for a replacement filter for a humidifier we use in our bedroom during the dry winter months. On the shelf beside the filters I noticed a miniature humidifier which was on sale for about C$20.00. What I liked about this humidifier made by Crane is that it was designed to be placed in a glass of water on an office desk and plug into a USB port on a computer or other device.
I then acquired a couple of rechargeable portable phone charger devices that have a USB port (need at least two to ensure have operation for a full-day train show). These ran the humidifier very well, lasting up to 5 hours on a charge. Being a humidifier, it produces only moisture and running on 5 volts is a low safety risk. I tried using a bridge rectifier and a voltage rectifier off the 16-volt AC accessory bus that runs under the Free-mo modules, but the current draw of the humidifier is too much for it. I shortened the USB cable so the cable would fit easily inside this small building.
This is an ultrasonic type humidifier which creates a steady visible stream of water vapor. While writing this blog post I checked Canadian Tire’s website and it appears that they don’t carry this product any longer. However, I did find the same product on Amazon.ca. Better still, I see that these are available in black and grey colours also. You will appreciate why one of these would have been better than the white one I have. A search of Amazon or eBay reveals hundreds of different styles of miniature humidifiers (also used are the terms personal and portable).
I needed to shorten the humidifier just over a centimeter because it was too long to fit in my building. I could have dug into the area beneath the building but decided I wanted to have a flat bottom on the building to make it easier to transport. I carefully cut the tube in half and rejoined it with epoxy while at the same time fastening a plastic collar around it.
The collar ensures that the humidifier stands upright inside the plastic container I intended for it – a clear hard plastic container in which a tube of super glue came it. It is roughly four centimetres in diameter.
I built a rectangular waterproof box from styrene to act as a water reservoir and then epoxied the clear hard plastic container to the bottom of the reservoir after carefully drilling a couple of holes in the container sides near the bottom to allow the passage of water.
To be continued…