Union Station Project - Part 1

My first scratchbuild project will be the Joliet Union Station. The Joliet Union Station was constructed in 1911-1912 and was designed by Jarvis Hunt. The structure cost $250,000 to build. The EJ&E Railway only operated on the tracks adjacent to this station for a brief period of time, however the building is a trademark symbol of railroading in Joliet. This fantastic structure will be a large focal point of the layout.

I am completely new to scratchbuilding, especially to a project containing this level of detail. The building will be constructed to O scale (1 layout foot = 48 building feet), so the total length and width of the building will be approximately 3' by 3'. My first step in the project was to visit the station and take measurements, as well as photographs.

After one trip to the structure I have realized how time consuming this project will be, however it will be something to work on while waiting to complete construction on the train room. The walls of the building will be made out of 1/4" MDF. The next step in the process will be to create a scale template of the main walls of the building.