Having completed most of the work on the Townstreet goods shed recently (as per earlier blog entries), a test placing on the layout revealed just how tight the railway openings were for stock passing through the shed. Definitely a case of 'do not lean out of the window'...

Various items of stock and locos were tested through the building yesterday, with the result that some of the plaster on the door frames had to be removed, ie. thinned down, and then re-painted.

Now just about all my P4 stock and locos will fit through, with the exception of Mark 1 BGs, which were immediately banned from entering the shed furno

This building is very heavy, being mostly made from the kit's plastercast components, so it is the one structure that won't be fixed down permanently to the layout. Just imagine the glue coming adrift and the building crashing about inside the transport framing.... doesn't bear thinking about!

Given the very tight clearances through the rail entrance doorway, however, and also the fact that the ground is going to be 'made up' all around the structure with DAS-type air clay on most sides, and tile grout (for hand-scribed cobbles a la Harrap) on the road entrance side, it was always going to need to be a 'precision fit' every time.

Similarly, with the outer wall (furthest from the road entrance) being somewhat vulnerable, as it's only attached to the rest of the building on each corner and by the roof, I wanted something for it to be firmly fixed to, for transport purposes.

First of all, I drilled a 2mm hole in each corner and glued a 2mm brass spigot in each:

Next, for the 'transport option', a piece of 6mm MDF was cut out, 3mm holes drilled and sections of 2mm inside diameter brass tube epoxied in place:

When the glue had set, the goods shed was placed in position. The whole ensemble will sit inside a strengthened shoe box for transport:

Next, another set of holes had to be drilled in the baseboard, and brass tube glued in, to match the precise position that the goods shed needed to be in:

In fact, each of the four pieces of brass tube was glued in individually, the respective brass spigots in the base of the goods shed receiving a coating of oil, to prevent any stray epoxy glueing the whole thing in place my mistake. When this was done, the shed was fitted to the layout. Any apparent gaps around the base will disappear when it is 'grouted in':

The track in front of the road entrance will be grouted in with tile grout and cobbles individually scribed, as per Brian Harrap's methods. This is why the track appears rather basic. It will make for interesting shunting and (notional) movement of road vehicles on what would have been a very constricted site:

Final clearance tests are performed by D6326:

Views of the interior:

D6326 caught returning through the shed: