I wanted to maximize my aisle space, so I have tried to recess car card holders and switch controls into the fascia whenever possible, to give a clean fascia with minimal projections into the aisle.
On my layout I have one box per track. When I switch that track I remove the car cards from that track’s box, review them to see what gets pulled. There are sorting racks if I need to sort them or I can just hold them while I switch (what most people do). When done they go back in the box. I do it this way based on prototype experience where the railroad keeps its inventory by track. Switch crews would often just run a track list and just use that to switch. Car card boxes by track keeps that mindset.
On my boxes I cut a circular “notch” in the front edge of the box as a finger hole to allow the car cards to be easily grabbed when in the box. I had been using 3/4 plywood and cutting the hole with a hole saw, like the ones used to install door knobs. However cutting the half holes in the edge of the board was problematic and the 3/4 ply was very heavy.
First revelation was that if I drilled holes down the middle of a board, I could cut the board down the middle and that would give me matching car card boxes.
The 3/4 ply was used both as a base to create the finger hold and as an attachment point to screw into through the fascia. I realized that I only needed enough material to hold a 3/4 in screw and to provide the finger cutouts.
The result was I used masonite as the deck and glued a 1×4 to the bottom, centered on what would be the cut line for down the middle of the finger holes.
I figured out how many pockets I would need for each car card box. I ended up with six 3 pocket boxes, two 4 pocket boxes and one 5 pocket box. I use one pocket for each track.
Each box has a 3/4 wide piece of 1×2 the ends, with pockets 2 1/4 in wide and a piece of 1/4 in lath between each pocket. The pockets were laid out on a piece of 1/8 hardboard. The pockets are 3 3/4 in deep with an allowance for a 1/4 in piece of lath on the back. The center of each pocket was marked. A 1×4 was glued to the bottom of the masonite.
A 1 5/8 in hole drill was used to drill a hole at the center of each pocket. The 1 5/8 in hole was chosen for a very important reason. I had one.
At this point the box deck looked like this, top and bottom. Note the holes are not evenly spaced because the end blocks of the boxes are 3/4 thick and the dividers for each pocket are only 1/4 in thick. Also the hardboard is wider than the two boxes because that was the width of the scrap I used and when I cut it to size the other side will be trimmed. The heavier cross lines mark where the deck will be cut to form the boxes. The top section will have three pockets, the bottom five pockets.
The fence on the table saw was set at 4 inches (the distance from the edge to the center line of the holes and run through the saw, the wide part was then run through the saw and trimmed down to a consitent width. the piece on the left has the deck up (top surface), the piece on the left has the deck down (bottom surface) so you can see both sides. Note the holes don’t match up because the top one on the let is drilled for 3 pockets and the top one on the right section is drilled for 5 pockets.
The bases were cut to the length on the heavy lines, making boxes with 3, 4, and 5 pockets. Note the previously drawn lines to mark the positions of the end blocks and each of the dividers.
The end blocks were glued to the base, flush with the front. No, it didn’t shrink, I just picked up a 3 pocket box for this picture. 8)
Then the back was glued to the rear of the end blocks and the deck. By the way, the blinds were open, but the sun was setting, so the “blue” light from the sunset is causing my had to turn blue. I’m not frozen.
Lastly the dividers were glued in place, with glue on the botton and back edge.
With the car card boxes assembled, time to let the glue dry, then paint them and the installation process.
Installing the car card boxes is really pretty straightforward.
I use a square to mark where I want the boxes on the fascia, normally the top or bottom edge of the fascia is horizontal, so I set the square for the distance, and use it to mark off the three horizontal lines, the top and bottom of the car card slot, and the bottom of the finger holes. After marking the width of the box on the fascia the vertical lines are marked.
I use a utility knife to cut through the fascia. Less dust, noise and vibration. Tempered masonite is tougher. I generally used the non-tempered variety. I use a straight edge to gently start the cuts, not applying very much pressure until a track is made, then cutting a little harder. A new, sharp blade is a must. I cut out the main opening first.
The finished opening is sanded with a foam sanding block.
The car cards rack is held up behind the fascia to mark the finger openings. Make sure you hold it in the right position, if you mark it with the box on the front of the fascia, its easy to get the openings reversed and the cut outs may not line up with the finger holes (done it).
Cut the verticals with a razor saw on the marks. Carefully cut out the bottoms of the finger holes with the utility knife. I say carefully becuase you have to check yourself to make sure you are cutting out a HOLE and not a TAB.
After some sanding the finished hole will look like this.
Place the car card box behind the fascia in place and fasten it in place. I use 3/4 in drywall screws with a finish washer. You can attach it using the end blocks and/or through the tabs. On short boxes I use the end blocks, for longer boxes I use a tab or two.
The car card box will store the car cards in the fascia and the finger hole allows them to be easily gripped to remove them.
This car card box needs its second coat of paint, and the edges of the hole need to be painted, then the fascia needs a couple coats. The final result, after all the painting and application of labels looks like the picture below. I don’t put a cover on them because I’ve never needed one, but if you wanted one you certainly could add one. It could be made of hardboard, poster board, cardboard or even paper. The car card boxes here were recycled from a previous layout and didn’t have the end blocks, so they are all secured through the tabs.
