Building a Typical West Highland Station
A typical West Highland Station
I did build a West Highland Station in N Guage in 1985; still have it but it needs a little TLC
While going through the various forums on RMweb I came across
Rannoch MoorWest Highland Line Modern Image Project Started by MRDBLUE17
This kindled a little fire in my head and I just had to have a go I managed to get a set of window and door etch done by Pete Harvey to Marks design ; I think they sat beside my printer for a year.
In the meantime I searched the WWW for as much info as I could I also had some old photos taken for the first model of Arrochar and Tarbert which had a little detail in them but the best plans I could come up with were from the 1944/7 booklet by LNER The Story of the West Highland the plans are to be found in Appendix A; these were not printed in the later reprints of the Book
It should be noted that although the West Highland Stations are of a similar design; based on Swiss Chalets, each one is different in length and internal layout this one was built as a typical West Highland Station with no particular station in mind.
The plan was scanned and reworked to as near 4mm as I could get it it was time to buy some of that plastocard and a bottle or two of plastic weld
I bought most of my materials at the Perth MR Show and invested in a Chopper ( I wish that had been a 1000cc one in royal blue) and a balsa stripper both made life a lot easier
I used various thickness of plain plasticard and for the shingles I used Wills rounded tiles in OO it would have been better if this was N guage but I could not find any.
A copy of the plans were made and I started with the ends
The first problem I encountered came when I started on the sides the etched windows were oversize as were the doors. I decided to go ahead and use the etched doors and make the winows out of strip plastic
my method of construction was to cut a strip of 40th plasticard to width and glue the embosed plasticard to this cutting out the windows as I went along following the drawing.
First side done shown with both ends
To make the windows I made up a sheet as a template to build them on; I used glossy photographic paper big mastake as the windows stuck to them had to soak them off in luke warm water
I used plain paper and used a gray background which made things a lot easier
End on view notice the glazing this happened by accident as I knocked over a bottle of plastic weld!!
I used foam board top and bottom to hold the structure together
I made a mock up the roof in card when I was satisfied that it was correct I dismantled it and used it as a template to make the roof in plastic sheet
Ready for a coat of Halfords white primer
Next time I make a building I will paint the station at this stage and glaze the windows, as it would be a lot easier to mask off
Once sprayed I left it in the greenhouse to dry overnight
Underside of roof
I still have to do a little filling, touch up the paint, and to find suitable guttering as well as glaze the window’s
For those intrested I still have plans in 4mm scale and the following mock up of the window and door template which needs to be done in CAD to make up for brass etching any takers please contact me.
I have added gutters which were plastic u section which I rounded of a corner added micro strip to look like joins the downpip is plastic agein with micro strip for joins I also added the glazzing and new chiminy pots
I am pleased with this attemt the painting leaves a lot to be desired but the station does look the part
- 7
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