Booking Hall

That's very kind of you to say Stu, your own layouts are an inspiration. Yes, making them higher would have got around that problem, but I was worried they might overpower the scene. I have an idea about a sky scene, but the very nature of the whole thing being removable will make joints inevitable. Still, we'll have to see what we can do.

Thank you very much Martyn.

Good call Michael. There was an M J Campbell in my class at Grammar School (Nelson), wasn't you was it?

Thanks for the comments about the canal tunnel everyone. I made it in stone to start with, but had to admit that it didn't look right, so now it's in brick (Scalescenes Aged Brown brick, nicked from the boiler house kit). Red stone might just have worked, but Superquick grey is all I have (and even that is a leftover from my early days of model railways, 40+ years ago! - never throw anything away, you'll always need it a week later . . . ). Good argument Simon, and in the end, the right one!

I've pondered long and hard about how to finish the canal at the fiddleyard end, including just doing nothing, after all, it just stops at the station end! Somehow though it seemed to call for 'something' as, whilst I can imagine it just running along the northlight factory wall, the tunnel retaining wall was a different matter. So, I've decided to build a tunnel, after all, if the railway had to build a tunnel, surely the canal builders also had to? I plan to make it with a stone face to suggest an earlier building period (and so the builders had something to do with all the stone they've just dug out of the tunnel!) and make a bit of a hotch potch of the joint between the two, like this photo of Edgebaston canal tunnel adjacent to the railway. I'm also going to make a grille to prevent access. The sketch gives an idea of what I'm aiming for.

Thank you, I'm glad it has the look of the period I wanted. Toilets, ah, well I imagined that these are were a bit more upmarket when they were built and that there are three flats, each three storeys high, with a kitchen on the ground floor, living accommodation on the first and the bedroom and bathroom on the top floor. That doesn't explain why I haven't put in a soil stack for the middle block though! The answer is, of course, having managed to get two stacks that looked OK, I decided not to push my luck with a third!!

The soil pipe at the other end went on much more smoothly, with the benefit of experience gained on the first one. This time, instead of winding the collars around the actual 'pipe' (which is 1.4mm dia. black painted aluminium jewellers wire), I wound them around a 1.5mm drill. I drilled the holes in the wall BEFORE fixing the tiny black rectangles of sticky label over the holes (which meant that the drill didn't twist them up) and then fitted the collars to the wall and threaded the 'pipe' through them, securing everything from behind with cyano. The branches were added afterwards and secured to the main pipe with a drop of cyano which helped to simulate the swept bend of the pipe connection. There should really be some more branch pipes from each bathroom, serving the basin and bath, but as this is only a screen to stop a direct view into the fiddleyard, I felt enough was enough! I was going to add some chimney stacks, but there isn't really room on the roof, so that's it apart from a little light weathering to suggest only about 30 years worth of industrial grime and fitting a back to it. Now for the boarded up canal tunnel entrance.

Putting the final details on the block of flats before weathering and fixing to the bridge deck, but what a battle I've had getting this soil pipe in place! Took me four attempts to get all the pipe collar clips in the holes in the walls, and along the way I managed to damage the black paper collar bearers I'd fixed to the wall, AND bend the pipe twice, meaning all the collars had to come off again so I could straighten it. I began to wish I hadn't bothered, and having done this side I have to do it all again at the other end! Still, I have to admit that the appearance will be worth it.

Curtains now added and flats trial placed in their intended location to see how they look.

In between helping to wire up the club's new layout, and gardening, I managed to make some progress on the flats today. Still got the roof to fit, a parapet and chimneys to make, curtains to add and a few other details.

Ground floor sub-assembly coming together.

Wow! I want to see more of your work BG John!

Yes, it is, but your comment got me thinking, and I found that you can buy a printer that will print with white ink, at a price that makes even 0 gauge RTR locos look cheap! But looking here on RMweb suggested an alternative of laser laminating foil. Looks like it might be worth a try http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/16237-printing-white-window-frames/

All wall components for the block of flats have been brickpapered and the windows have been drawn and printed out on acetate film, ready for cutting out and inserting. I don't need as many as I've printed, but it would be wasteful not to print out a whole sheet. Just hope that I need to make some more art-deco buildings at sometime in the future!!

Looks nice and rural Jerry.

Hi Simon, thanks for stopping by. No, I just researched a few suitable looking blocks of flats on the Internet and then drew one which fitted the space, including a few architectural elements which will (hopefully) give the block its 1930's look (angular lines, concrete projecting string courses, steel framed windows etc.).

Thanks for the kind comments Corbs, and for your suggestion. Having thought about it I don't think I can make it work unfortunately, as there is no 'back' to the fiddle yard box. This box will be reversed to the others, with its lid at the front of the layout as seen in post #128, to screen operations and lots of 'hand-crane' shunting!. But I'll have another look at it when the flats are in place and the boxes are all joined up.

Nice work Jerry.

Bit more progress. Something has gone wrong with the dimensions of the 'base' of these upper floors, so they will have to be redrawn, otherwise, it's steady progress, but rather tedious!!

Progress with the flats.

The block of flats - having thought about it overnight, and, more importantly, after consulting my wife! I decided that it will look OK, so construction drawings were made and the flats are now in production! Construction of these low relief buildings (15mm depth) is from 1.3mm mounting card and will use Model Railway Scenery light brown brick paper. I'm going to produce the representative 'Crittall' steel windows by drawing them in AutoCAD and printing them on film, before cutting out and fitting.

Thanks very much! I thought the 12AD MRG rang a bell - we (Pendle Forest Model Railway Society) were on the layout opposite to you when you showed 'Helenston' at the 2016 Kyle exhibition!

Warping of the cardboard bottom of my boxfile layout was a concern of mine when I came to ballast the track. Instead of water/PVA I used neat Pledge Multi-surface polish. This soaks in instantly as it is very 'wet', dried quickly, fixed the ballast in place very well without going rock hard and didn't cause any warping. Smells nice too!

Well, here's a print of a possible three-storey block of 1930's flats. Material-wise, I think a mid-red brick with concrete projecting string courses and black window frames. However, I'm not sure about the scale and size, is it a bit overwhelming? Would some two-storey older style property with pitched roofs be better? Any thoughts please?

Thanks Corbs, that's much appreciated!