Building some O scale water tanks? You'll probably be cutting some PVC pipe as a base. Reader Ed Ondriska, a retired plumber and pipefitter, suggests using a good power mitre saw for clean and safe cuts.

A safer method for cutting PVC pipe
for your O scale water tank models

By Chris Lane/Drawings by the author

I always knew the Carstens On30 Annual readers were a smart bunch, and I suspected that they actually read the magazine. When I presented the drawings of "Don's Cabin" in this year's On30 Annual and talked about how I made the tank body, I was hoping some readers would try it out. I met reader Ed Ondriska at the recent Amherst Railroad Hobby Show in West Springsfield, Massachusetts, and a few days later I got this nice note from him.

"Hi Chris, it was good seeing you again at the Amherst Railroad Hobby Show. While I expressed my gratitude on what a great job you did on the On30 Annual, I neglected to mention a little trick I used for cutting PVC pipe square easily. As a retired plumber and pipefighter, I cut PVC pipe with a good power mitre saw containing a quality carbide blade. Just make sure everything is square prior to cutting, it almost makes it too easy and if the blade is sharp, it leaves very little residue. You'll will enjoy cutting PVC so much that you will probably be making thousands of water tanks like John's cabin, Fred's cabin, Sharon's cabin, Chris's cabin, etc. Thanks again for a great publication. My best and stay on the straight and narrow,

Ed Ondriska,
Schenectady, New York"

I tried Ed's idea, and he is right: This method is both more accurate, and considerably safer. As a courtesy to our readers, we are providing the drawings for Don's Cabin water tank as downloadable PDF files. They are full size for O scale. Download the drawings, cut some PVC pipe, and let's make some steam loco drinking fountains! Please share your photos with us of your completed projects!

—The full version of the Don's Cabin construction article appeared in the 2012 On30 Annual.

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