Exonbury Station - inspired by Kidderminster

[TomJ]

For a while I’ve been considering a city style N gauge Minories layout - set somewhere in the South West in the 1960s. One thing I wanted was an impressive ‘Town’ station and as I knew this would be a focal point I wanted something that was based on reality and imposing. I considered Birmingham Moor Street but the arched windows all looked a bit much, as did a lot of the intricate brickwork 

A visit to the SVR last year introduced me to the amazing station at Kidderminster - which I understand is based on Ross-On-Wye. This seemed to fit the bill perfectly and the canopy roof would be both a feature and a challenge. 
 

The project has taken on new significance for me as I’m a hospital doctor - working in anaesthetics and ITU! To say the last couple of weeks have been challenging is an understatement! So something to unwind in the little spare time I have - to help me reset from work when I come in is ideal. Furthermore I wanted something that will take time. Which will be finished first - Covid19 or my station?

Here’s a few photos of progress so far

 

The initial walls etc are made from Scalescenes printed brickwork - printed onto Matt photographic paper. Then I’ve overlaid the decorative brickwork and added windows and doors. I struggled to find appropriate windows and didn’t think I could scratch build them all myself to a uniform standard - so huge thanks to York Models who resized some of theirs and put them in pairs for me. 
One advantage if building Kidderminster is that there a huge amounts of photos and you can visit the real thing. Thanks to some amazing people on here I located the planning application for the canopy which had detailed drawings

 

These were marked out as a kind of kit to be folded to shape to avoid too many joins. The buildings deliberately extend below the ground to take account of platforms 

Once the walls were complete they were folded into shape and braced with foam board. I’ve never worked with this before and it’s a revelation. So easy to cut, so strong and yet light

 

it’s being made as a set of rooms to be attached together this shows roughly how it’ll come together - with a canopy across the middle 

 

So that’s where I’m up to so far. I’ll update it as things happen. And one day I’ll make a start on the layout and start a thread for that 

[TomJ]

I’ve now assembled all the various wings that make up the station so I can see how it’s going to look. It’s got an impressive size to it - and my 9yr said ‘that looks a bit like the Severn Valley’ which was good to hear!

 

next job is to start on the roof - which won’t be an easy shape!

 

I'm finding half an hour on this when I get home a very relaxing destress from work. 

[Siberian Snooper]

It's starting to look the part. Nice work, when will the King and Castle be open? I could do with a pint!

 

 

[TomJ]

The King and Castle is locked down at present! Actually the layout is set in the early 60s. So it might have a refreshment room but not sure if there would be a pub. 
 

Really looking forward to visiting for a pint again in the future

[Blandford1969]

Looks really good and very much like Kddr. 

[Blandford1969]

3 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

It's starting to look the part. Nice work, when will the King and Castle be open? I could do with a pint!

 

 

Like the rest of the railway at the moment it is sleeping, the only activity being work in the Boiler shop and volunteers from different locations as part of their daily exercise visiting their local site to check they are ok. 

 

The day we re-open cannot come soon enough. 

 

 

[Siberian Snooper]

1 hour ago, Blandford1969 said:

Like the rest of the railway at the moment it is sleeping, the only activity being work in the Boiler shop and volunteers from different locations as part of their daily exercise visiting their local site to check they are ok. 

 

The day we re-open cannot come soon enough. 

 

 

 

We boilermakers always end up with the wrong end of the stick. 

 

 

[TomJ]

Thanks everyone. Glad you think it looks like Kidderminster. The main elevation is pretty much to scale but to save space and shortened the wings and also made them narrower to scale. 
The roof angles will be the most challenging bit

[Blandford1969]

6 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

 

We boilermakers always end up with the wrong end of the stick. 

 

 

Lol, At least they are moving both work on the new Isle of Mann boilers forwards as well as jobs like stays for 4150. 

5 hours ago, TomJ said:

The roof angles will be the most challenging bit

Are you going to do the canopy? - and the question will there be a small crack in the wall of the gents (now gone) where a former driver misjudged their stop and went into the buffers on that side. (On big engines there is not that much room inside the dummy)

[TomJ]

Yes - the canopy will be the focal point. It’s a bit simplified but I’ve ordered some bits from York Models for this. 
 

Not sure about the crack in the gents, but there will no doubt be some cracks and wobbles throughout the building!!

[TomJ]

Trying to work out the roof angles!! I knew this would be tricky - but even harder than I imagined  Partly because I’ve shortened the wings, so not an exact copy. Gave up on trying to recall my A-level geometry and gone for measuring, templates trial and error. 
so far it’s not too bad 
 

And a very nice rest day from work. Far better than wearing PPE all day!

 

Edited April 10, 2020 by TomJ

[TomJ]

Half an hour winding down from work last night resulted in me attempting the roof. As I said the maths got too complex so I’ve resorted to measuring plus trial and error. The end wings with their high turret roof are the most complex and the key because they attach to everything

 

 

The roofs are just lightly attached with PritStick to see how it fits. Not quite there but not bad for a first attempt and i now know which ones to adjust

 

Let’s try again....

[TomJ]

A day off has seen some progress! Two roofs done (overlapping Scalescenes slates) and the others cut out and loosely laid on, ready for the slates

 

 

Ive also added the base of the concourse and a Scalescenes newsagents kiosk. Given how small and fiddly this was I dread to think what the ticket kiosk will be like! But it’s definitely coming together. Back to work tomorrow so progress will slow a bit!

[TomJ]

The good news is that in my hospital at least whilst things are very challenging we are coping well - and my night shift wasn’t as busy as feared. So time for a little modelling

 

For a change from the station I’ve started work on the canopy. Early in the week a package of girders and trusses arrived from York Models. These have been assembled to make the framing. It’s far from an accurate copy but I think it captures the impression. 

Heres a couple of pictures. It’s just loosely balanced on to give an impression 

 

 

Stay safe everyone!

Edited April 18, 2020 by TomJ

[Cornholio]

Wow, the canopy looks stunning.

[TomJ]

A bit more work has been done on the station and now the roofs are mainly complete (a couple need glueing in place), as is the canopy. This is just loosely balanced at present on so I can still work on the concourse 

 

 

I also mocked up some platforms out of foam board to get a feel of how it would all fit together, where the gates should be etc. I think it’s rather got the look of a suburban terminus now

 

Not sure if I can include the platform benches and shelter on here because they’re made of plasticard!

 

 

Also considered whether I should run the headshunt past the station - a bit like the old Fort William. It’ll give an extra coach length of storage but might look a little contrived?

 

Next job is to complete the concourse so I can attach the canopy