My Route to MMR: October 2026

I always hesitated to start this certificate, because I could not decide on the prototype scene I would model.

On my home layout, I already recreated San Juan Capistrano following the prototype setting of the structures. I only had to make compromises with the exact track layout, because of my space constraints and limits. The structures around the depot were all recreated, using prototype plans or drawings or simply scaled from photographs.

As this certificate was the last one that I needed to have all eleven, I finally agreed on the Capistrano scene on my layout.

The main objective in recreating a prototype scene consists in making it immediately recognizable, either through distinct buildings or landmarks. In the case of San Juan Capistrano it is certainly the mission style depot and the packing house with its characteristic saw-toothed roof.

So here we go. Following is my write-up documentation for the Prototype Certificate. Feel free to take inspiration in the way I did it, because that was my greatest drawback in getting started, that I did not know exactly, how to document the process.

Alain Kap, MMR

Master Builder Prototype Models

AT&SF DEPOT IN SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA., APRIL 16, 1944

Requirement 1: the scene

Structures

Rolling Stock

Caboose/Passenger Car

Motive Power

Requirement 3: documented evidence of the prototype

Context for the prototype

Location

Maps

Traffics

Comparison with the prototype

Prototype photos

Requirement 4: scene construction

Terrain

Structures

Backdrop

Lighting

Requirement 1: The Scene

The prototypical scene is reproduced on my home layout “ATSF Surf Line” and is based on a photograph from April 16, 1944.

We are looking from the cab of an EMD E-1A diesel locomotive, the LA bound San Diegan, holding the main while an eastbound Extra 3744 with a DHQ (deadheaded Equipment) train, heads into the passing track.

In the scene we see the Extra 3744 Mountain type 4-8-2 locomotive with unrecognizable rolling stock behind. To the right is the packing house with a PRR boxcar (probably X-29) parked at the loading door and on the off-spot track three ATSF Caswell gondolas. We see the ivy overgrown depot in the center between the locomotive and the packing house.

The town is San Juan Capistrano. I reproduced the track layout as good as it was technically possible, based on the Sanborn Map and actual photographs of the prototype. Numerous visits to Capistrano on my vacation trips helped me get the feel of the location, although most of the buildings and tracks are gone.

Structures

All my structures in Capistrano are scratch built because none exist in kit form. An exception is the Capistrano Depot which existed as a craftsman kit from Historical Scale Miniatures. I used the Sanborn Map for the basic outlines of the buildings and based their construction on photographs and visits to Capistrano. I was able to find black and white photographs from the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society.

The AFG Blue Goose Packing House

In my prototype picture, the packing house shows only one side with the saw-toothed roof. My research revealed that the original packing house was a tin clad structures with large vents on the roof. In the early 1930’s the packing house was moved a couple of yards inland to make room for the addition with the typical roof we see in the picture. Photos of this ‘moving’ are courtesy of the Capistrano Historical Society.

Based on these photographs, I first built the old packing house to be located against the backdrop. To fit flush against the backdrop, I had to adapt the shape, which was a bit of a challenge, because it was at an angle, so I also had to build part of the other roof half. The pictures below show the special shape of the structure.

Based on the b/w picture above, I scaled and built the structure, using Evergreen corrugated styrene sheet. The wooden platform was built board-by-board using scale lumber from various sourced. A lot of measuring and try fitting was necessary to adapt the structure to the backdrop.

For the addition of the packing house I used a CAD program to draw the outlines of the building. A friend of mine did the laser cutting out of 2mm MDF. With a lot of bracing the parts assembled easily. For the corrugated siding, I used special embossed card stock from an arts store. Everything was assembled using wood glue. The corrugated card stock already came in a grey color which made painting unnecessary.

The ATSF Depot

As mentioned above, I could only find the instruction sheets with the dimensional drawings for the walls from the Historical Scale Miniature kit. I used these drawings to design the parts in a CAD program and to get them laser cut. I then build the depot from scratch.

The San Juan Capistrano depot is built in the Colonial Mission style, like many similar structures in Southern California. It is said that the depot was built with the stones from the old mission nearby.

Initially I built the Capistrano depot in a pristine appearance, but after I decided to set my home layout in the WWII to 1950’s period, I could not use it like that. The entire bell tower with large parts of the roof were covered with ivy during the 1940’s.

I did not want to ruin my original depot by covering it with greenery. The details on the bell tower would not be visible anyway, so I decided to build a second depot with more generic cupola and details. The basic structure was again laser cut and the bell tower was shaped from a chunk of balsa wood.

I covered the walls with heavily diluted dry wall compound to represent the stucco finish. The roof tiles are Spanish Tile sheet from Plastruct.

Then I used coarse turf from Woodland Scenics to cover the roof and larger turf chunks for the bell tower. I took all the pictures I could find as a guide to get the overgrown look as prototypical as possible.

Freight House

Fortunately, the freight house is still standing today and is part of the restaurant located in the depot.

This structure is a basic square affair. I took the measurements when on vacation in California. The windows on the trackside are still there, so it was easy to record their unique shape.

I assembled the freight house from scale lumber sheets. The freight doors are Grandt Line castings. The loading dock and platform is board-by-board scale lumber strips glued to a cardstock base.

The roof again is Spanish Tile sheets from Plastruct.

Both models, the pristine depot and freight house, were part of my AP structure certificate.

Rolling Stock

Although not on the prototype photo, I choose a US Navy Helium car for my rolling stock requirement. In fact, the US Navy had numerous locations along the Surf Line, notably the MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) in El Toro. In 1942 the Marines acquired 1,600 acres of land, designated for a base for lighter-than-air vehicles aka blimps. MCAS El Toro was commissioned on March 17, 1943. Unfortunately, there are no photos of helium tank cars going to El Toro, but it is evident that helium was needed to fill the blimps. I am not aware of helium carried by truck during the 1940’s.

The model of my helium car was my first MA in the rolling stock category and received 90/125 at the 2011 NMRA convention in Sacramento, CA.

The pictures above show one of the helium cars, already with the MHAX markings for the Department of Interior.

Caboose

The steel sided standard cupola caboose design was used by the ATSF from the early 1930’s until the end of way car service.

I upgraded the Athearn Blue Box model with numerous details. Replaced the ladders, shaved the molded-on grab irons off and replaced them with brass wire. Added the second toolbox, markers, handrails on the cupola roof.

The caboose was part of my requirements for the AP Master Builder Cars Certificate.

Motive Power

3700 class 4-8-2 Mountain type locomotives were common power on the ATSF Surf Line. They pulled most of the troop trains from LA to San Diego and vice-versa. On the picture above we see #3741 in San Diego. Unfortunately, my locomotive was factory lettered for #3745, but being only one number off, I can live with it.

Requirement 3:

Documented evidence of the prototype

Context for the prototype

The most famous spot (certainly one of the most photographed) on the Surf Line is the station at San Juan Capistrano. The famed Capistrano Mission, barely three hundred feet east of the tracks, was founded in 1776, and ruined by an earthquake in 1812. The distinct 1894 built station mimicked the style of the mission and utilized materials salvaged from the ruins.

I fell in love with Capistrano after a visit to California in 1998, when also my desire arose to build the Surf Line with Capistrano as one of my signature towns.

I tried to model Capistrano as accurate as possible, so it was a natural choice for my Prototype Certificate.

Location

The Surf Line “begins” at the head block of a switch at the east end of Fullerton. Since the line is a continuation of the railroad east from Los Angeles, timetable direction towards San Diego is east, and milepost numbering is also a continuation from zero at San Bernardino, via the Second District through Pasadena. Here at Fullerton the line swings south through what was were then the small towns of Anaheim and Orange, communities founded in the mid-1800’s and dependent on the citrus crops.

Immediately after Capistrano the line curves further west to follow San Juan Creek down the ocean, through a narrow canyon, past Serra, originally named San Juan by-the-Sea. The Surf Line earns its moniker as it begins to follow the beach at Poche. Here the tracks are barely one hundred feet from the Pacific Ocean.

Maps

The only map of the area I could find is a Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from 1929. Due to the increased wartime traffic, parts of the line received double track. In 1933/34 the old packing house was moved back and enlarged. A second spur track was then added. The siding was extended past the packing house and a couple of yards further down the line. The Sanborn map was a significant help in building the structures because they show the footprints with measurement.

Traffic

The base of traffic on the Surf Line, from its inception to the beginning of WWII was that of agriculture and passengers. Citrus was the main crop in the Orange County area. Further south, barley, beans, and walnuts were the crops grown near Capistrano. Clay and some citrus also came from this area. Cattle was also grown in these areas, shipped out in small lots, South of Capistrano to near Oceanside.

Two pairs of freights operated over the Surf Line in addition to locals: the SDX San Bernardino to San Diego and its counterpart, the SBX.

Second class time freight number 136 Los Angeles to San Diego and its counterpart, the Night Coast, or NCX. They were operated overnight so as not to interfere with passenger schedules.

The local freight managed all switching moves in the town along the line.

Passenger traffic on the Surf Line consisted of four streamlined “San Diegans” (two roundtrips) and four steam powered heavyweights, two of which were mail locals, one of these was a late-night train. During the period I am modeling, numerous troop trains and special military moves operated between Los Angeles and the Navy and Marines stations in and around San Diego, which allows me to run Extras occasionally.

Comparison with the prototype

My modeled scene is composed of these main structures:

1) San Juan Capistrano Freight House. It is still standing and is part of the restaurant.

2) San Juan Capistrano ATSF Depot. Still standing and houses a restaurant.

3) Old Warehouse moved back in 1932, to make room for the addition (4)

4) Addition to the packing house in 1932

5) Historic adobe houses of the Los Rios Street, the oldest dwellings in California.

In comparison to the prototype, the scene was slightly compressed and the track arrangement adapted to my available space. The depot scene occupies a space of 400 x 50 cm.

The structures are prototypically reproduced and to scale, based on the footprint measurements of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map.

There are also two oil dealers in town, Standard Oil and Shell Oil. These are only represented by a short stub rail and a generic placement of sheds and tanks against the backdrop.

Prototype photos

On every vacation trip to California, I tried to make at least a one-day stop in Capistrano to take photographs and make notes of the distinctive features and structures still standing.

I also had the chance to browse through the photo collection of the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society, which is located right across from the depot on Los Rios Street. This allowed me to reproduce the structures as accurate as possible.

Requirement 4: Scene construction

Terrain

My layout sits on IVAR wooden shelving system from IKEA. On top of the shelves, I attached L-girder benchwork, topped with 10mm plywood.

Track is partly laid on cork roadbed or directly to the plywood base. The backdrop is 3mm MDF, mounted on a 1x2 frame.

Verdugo street is build using the Walthers Street system with the sidewalks. I painted the street dark grey to simulate asphalt, which was quite common during the period I am modeling.

The tracks are ballasted with a mixture of grey ballast from Woodland Scenics and sand and yard dirt. On the photographs I have, there is no clean ballasted roadbed seen, so I tried to replicate this.

Vegetation is fine turf of medium green and burnt color. Small rubble from sifting the sand is added here and there. The grass tufts are added using MiniNatur tufts, which are done from static grass. I finished the groundwork before I had a static grass applicator.

Structures

The model of the original packing house is built from Evergreen styrene sheets and strip wood from various sources. The addition was laser cut from 2mm MDF and covered with corrugated card stock.

The depot is laser cut from basswood and the bell tower assembled from chunks of Balsa wood. The roof is Plastruct Spanish Tiles.

The freight house is cut from scale lumber sheets and cardstock. The freight platform was built with single scale lumber strips.

Background

To paint the backdrop, I referred to pictures with orange groves and California scenery, which I downloaded from the internet.

Lighting

The layout is illuminated by LED tubes. These draw less current and do not heat up the layout. They deliver a bright daylight at around 4000K. Additionally, I also installed a blue rope light, usually used on Christmas trees. A switch changes from day to night.

I lighted the houses with 20 LED Christmas lighting. I drilled 6,5mm holes into the baseboard and pushed the LEDs through the hole from below. They are spaced approximately 20cm apart. Those lights that do not fit help lighting my shelves underneath. These lights are plugged into my 220 V outlets. The battery powered lights chains are not bright enough.