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Signal Box for Sherton Abbas part 1

wenlock

Entry posted by wenlock

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Well its been 10 weeks since my shoulder operation and I'm pleased to say that I've more or less got two functioning arms again! The operation went well, but I found being stuck in a sling for six weeks was a very frustrating experience. I've still not got full mobility or strength in the joint, but having regular sessions with a fierce, but very pretty Physiotherapist is definitely helping my recovery!

 

It's still uncomfortable reaching across the layout baseboards, so I've decided to have a go at constructing a signal box for my project which should be more manageable. I mentioned in a previous blog entry that I might use the Peco signal box kit http://www.peco-uk.com/product.asp?strParents=3309,3316&CAT_ID=3317&P_ID=18185 as a starting point. Well good old Santa must be an RMweb follower because on Christmas morning he delivered one!

 

Peco Signal Box

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The kit has some nicely moulded parts and is designed to make a ground level signal box. I fancy a box set at a higher level, with steps and a porch for my layout so a little kit bashing will be necessary. I started by assembling the four sides contained in the kit and then made the brick walls using embossed plastic card sheet from South Eastern nFinecasthttp://www.sefinecast.co.uk/Building%20Materials/Building%20Materials.htm

 

Sides assembled on top of brickwork

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More plastic card sheet was used to form a plinth around the base of the walls and glued into position using liquid polystyrene solvent.

 

Brick plinth added around base of brickwork

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The components for the porch were then cut out from 20 thou plasticard, these will then be faced with planking to match the main building.

 

Porch components

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The porch was assembled and then attached to the main building using more liquid poly and left to dry over night.

 

Porch assembly added to building

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3mm strips were cut from 20 thou plasticard sheet and then used to face the porch and form the planking.

 

Porch planking

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Front view

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It was at this point that I decided something was not quite right! Although I liked the general shape of the building, the wooden cabin seemed to dominate the brick work too much. It also dawned on me that there must have been a way to get into the area enclosed by the brickwork, so a door was probably necessary! Now a 6 foot 6 inch door scales down as 45.5 mm in 7mm scale and my brickwork was only 35mm high, so I had a bit of a problem to overcome! After a little pondering I decided to increase the height of the brick work and fit a door into the brickwork under the porch area. I luckily managed to separate the the brickwork from the wooden cabin, without too much difficulty or damage to the components.

Brickwork after removal

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Separated components

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Once the brickwork had been separated from the rest of the building, I added strips of brick embossed Plasticard around the top of each side to increase the height of the brick work. A door way was cut into the wall just below the landing at the top of the stairs. Off course in changing the height of the brickwork, the window was now in the wrong place and looked much too low! There was nothing for it, but to reposition it by adding courses of brickwork at the bottom, and increasing the height of the arch at the top. All in all it would probably have been quicker and easier to start again. We live and learn!

 

Signal box with increased height brickwork

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Well that's the progress so far, I'm going to tackle the steps and handrails next and then get onto the detailing. Its good to be back modelling again and as usual comments are very welcome, particularly if I've made any glaring errors with the Signal box so far!

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

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Guest Simon Dunkley

Guest Simon Dunkley

Posted

Glad to see you back at the modelling bench!

 

Meant to ask, did you ask the surgeon if you'd be able to play the piano after the operation (assuming you couldn't before)?

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buffalo

Glad to hear you're recovering, Dave. Working shoulders are an essential for modelling as I've discovered through having two frozen shoulders for the last four months. It's only the last few weeks I've been able to do much after injections and physio.

 

I think you're probably right to raise the base so long as it doesn't affect sight lines. Mind you, not all doors were 6'6" high. The original McKenzie & Holland box at Camerton was of similar proportions to yours but the base was less than six feet high -- difficult to tell as the only photo is none too clear -- so I doubt the door into the locking room would have been more thn 5'6".

 

Nick

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Donw
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Good news that you are recovering well. You seem to be modelling well. An alternative to increasng the wall height would have been to just make it a bit deeper where the door is with perhaps a couple of steps down so giving the inside height.

Don

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46444
  • RMweb Gold

Lovely modelling and and an ingenious use of the PECO signal box.

 

Looking forwards to seeing this progress.

 

Glad the post-op rehabilitation is going well.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

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Ian Smith

Dave,

Good to hear that you're on the mend.  The 'box is coming along nicely, I'm particularly impressed with the invisible joins!!

 

Looking forward to the next instalment.

 

Ian

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wenlock
  • RMweb Gold

Glad to see you back at the modelling bench!

 

Meant to ask, did you ask the surgeon if you'd be able to play the piano after the operation (assuming you couldn't before)?

Thanks Simon, yes it's good to be back! As for the piano question, I should have thought to ask that Lol!

 

Glad to hear you're recovering, Dave. Working shoulders are an essential for modelling as I've discovered through having two frozen shoulders for the last four months. It's only the last few weeks I've been able to do much after injections and physio.

 

I think you're probably right to raise the base so long as it doesn't affect sight lines. Mind you, not all doors were 6'6" high. The original McKenzie & Holland box at Camerton was of similar proportions to yours but the base was less than six feet high -- difficult to tell as the only photo is none too clear -- so I doubt the door into the locking room would have been more thn 5'6".

 

Nick

Thanks Nick, yes definitely on the mend! Sorry to hear of your shoulder problems, but glad to hear the Physio has helped. Shoulders are certainly a part of the body that is taken for granted until they start misbehaving!

 

Interesting to hear that Camerton doorway was so short, I suppose staff wouldn't be going under the box on a daily basis so restricted access wasn't too much of a problem. My base is now a scale 7 feet high, so hardly in the towering category, but I think it looks better from a proportion point of view. I hadn't considered the sight line issue, but I think my signalman would still be able to see under the road bridge and the extra height would give a better view of the private siding and the yard.

 

Good news that you are recovering well. You seem to be modelling well. An alternative to increasng the wall height would have been to just make it a bit deeper where the door is with perhaps a couple of steps down so giving the inside height.

Don

Thanks Don, yes I'm feeling much better and enjoying modelling again! I wish I'd thought of your scenario of a couple of steps leading down to the door, it would have saved me a lot of whittling plastic card! Never mind I like the proportions of the higher base, so it was probably with the hassle in the end.

 

Lovely modelling and and an ingenious use of the PECO signal box.

 

Looking forwards to seeing this progress.

 

Glad the post-op rehabilitation is going well.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

Thanks Mark:-) Glad you like the "kit bashing" of the Peco box, it's an excellent little kit that lends itself to all kinds of tweeking!

 

Dave,

Good to hear that you're on the mend.  The 'box is coming along nicely, I'm particularly impressed with the invisible joins!!

 

Looking forward to the next instalment.

 

Ian

Thanks Ian:-) I was hoping the joins would be like Ernie Wise's wig!

 

Best wishes to all and thanks again for all your kind wishes.

 

Dave

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Mikkel
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Hi Dave, what a creative use of the Peco kit. I like the individual planks on the porch, it looks even better than the kit planking. Are the glazing panels in the kit good enough to use? I would imagine they could be a pain to build.

 

Good to hear that you are getting back into business after the operation. It sounds like the physiotherapist is contributing :-)

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wenlock
  • RMweb Gold

Hi Dave, what a creative use of the Peco kit. I like the individual planks on the porch, it looks even better than the kit planking. Are the glazing panels in the kit good enough to use? I would imagine they could be a pain to build.

 

Good to hear that you are getting back into business after the operation. It sounds like the physiotherapist is contributing :-)

Thanks Mikkel :-)  I'm hoping using the kit will save a little time, its certainly quicker than scratch building everything!  The kit windows are actually one of the better bits in the kit and one of the main reasons I decided to use it as a starting point.  As you rightly say building the windows from scratch would be a right pain, so I'm banking on the kit's looking ok!

 

Oh yes, that Physiotherapist is capable of lifting my spirits in more ways than one!:-)

 

Looking forward to more news from Farthing Yard!

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

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