Aston On Clun. A forgotten Great Western outpost.

[5BarVT]

On 16/01/2021 at 15:49, MrWolf said:

Thou Shalt Not Win.

 

Driver at one end, wrong.

 

Driver at both ends, wrong.

Driver at same end as tail lamp even wronger!

Can’t win.

My opinion is leave off the tail lamp and go for two drivers.   Where did the guard go on a GWR railcar: could you make them indistinct as if they might be a guard in the back?

Paul.

[MrWolf]

Luckily this is one of the earliest versions with built in lamps. I'm not sure when a bracket was fitted for a standard tail lamp. As for the guard, on today's trains, if he isn't collecting tickets he's hiding in the non driving end!

[vulcanbomber]

 

Well worth painting the rood grey-black and adding passengers. Unfortunately still haven't found a suitable driver.

[MrWolf]

A few passengers do make a difference,  I suppose that a driver might be adapted from something military, platform staff, a diesel crew or lorry driver in the right sort of attire?

[Kris]

Those large windows were begging for passengers.

 

[MrWolf]

The railcar is safely back in its box for now, but if anyone can recommend some good quality passenger figures please let me know!

 

I've been busy with earning a living so not masses of work done on the layout. That said, materials have arrived and I have been cutting out the front wall of the station building for windows and doors. 

The windows started off as the Peco sash window frame from their windows and doors kit. (The green one on the left) I cut out the horizontal bar from each sash for the look I wanted. 

As the building is meant to be external framed with mouldings around the doors and windows, I set the frames level with the outside face of the wall, the reveal moulding sitting proud. A full size box sash frame is about six inches deep so is unlikely to be recessed as they are in a brick wall. Now that I have plenty of plasticard strip and the windows are in position, I can get on with all the framing. The white windows in the top of the picture are for the signal box. I have glazed them and thinned down the verticals by 1mm each side to something nearer scale width.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2022 by MrWolf
Replaced picture

[Nick C]

ModelU?

 

Seated Diesel driver: https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product/1105/

Passengers: https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/product-category/finescale-figures/town-and-country/1948-1968-tc/passenger-packs-1948-1968/

 

Both listed as post-48, but I doubt the fashions would look that much different when painted appropriately, especially from inside a railcar...

[MrWolf]

Thanks, they will pass for c1940 no problems.

[MrWolf]

Finally got past the most tedious part, regardless of whether you're using card, vac formed sheets or Wills' armour plate.

All the window and door apertures are cut out and the window frames fitted.

I had some real problems trying to fit in the necessary facilities for the station, without ending up with a clapboard version of Paddington or Snow Hill.

It's what to leave out, less is more, yadda yadda....

But on the upside, if there isn't much of a building, there's no excuse for not spending the time saved on construction on detailing  what there is. Right, that's set me up for some OCD....

 

 

 

 

From top to bottom:

1.End walls.

2. Back wall, L to R, booking office window, waiting room window, ladies waiting room window, ladies WC window.

3. Lean to's and front wall, lamp room, ladies waiting room, general waiting room, booking office.

I am assuming a wicket window between the waiting room and booking office. I had drawn up an entrance way with double doors front and back and a narrow window each side of the doors as well as a small canopy over the road entrance, but it was getting too big.

It's supposed to have been an independent branch line built almost as cheaply as a light railway.

 

Whilst I was busy hacking out window apertures, I realised that the gents needed a window for the WC. (I am putting a skylight in for the rest of it) I would like to remind you all that it is much simpler to put in windows at the planning stages!

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2022 by MrWolf
Replaced picture

[MrWolf]

At least this time I have done things in the right order. The window frames were moulded in a dark green plastic. I have roughly painted them in dark stone. It is then much easier to paint the sashes white, as the dark stone is much closer to white than the green. 

Why is this important? Because to paint the green sashes white would require about 100 coats of white paint and will look horrible. I should get away with two coats over the dark stone.

[wiggoforgold]

The windows look nice. Where possible, I do like to see what can be modified from commercially available stuff like window frames, rather than starting from scratch. How did you do the signal box windows?

Alex

[MrWolf]

Hi Alex, The windows for the signalbox (which had crept into the first photo of the station wall) are the original ones from the Wills' kit and were glazed with clear acetate, using the lightest amount of Revell Contacta adhesive I could (doesn't bloom clear plastic) Once hardened, I held a steel rule on top of them and carefully sliced off 1mm from each of the uprights. 

That makes the frames look much nearer scale width, which I wanted so that I could fix several windows in the open position. 

I didn't go to the trouble with the three fixed ones as they locate better in the walls as standard.

I will post some pictures when I get back.

[MrWolf]

Cruel close up of the part painted signal box, the windows are now in position with the frame uprights closer to a scale 5" wide.

 

 

I have given the internal walls a basic coat of cream paint, pending sorting out an interior which is a must in my opinion. I have an old Springside interior kit, the lever frame and levers are quite nice, some of the other bits are really showing their age.  

The other problem that I am having with the white metal parts is that super glue doesn't seem all that super anymore, compared to what I used to be able to scrounge from work. The original (expensive) industrial stuff doesn't seem to be an instant bond anymore. Nor does the (expensive) stuff you can buy at exhibitions that is meant for modelmaking. Maybe it's like paracetamol, can only be a certain dose but some is £4 and some is 50p?

 

 

Edited August 16, 2022 by MrWolf
Replaced picture

[MrWolf]

I fancied having a couple of oil lamps fixed under the canopy like this:

 

 

 

 

So I cut and filed down some old bits of plastic gas lamp that were destined for the bin as a bit of an experiment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They're still sort of on probation, but I don't know of a source of such items and they look a little better than my blurry photos!

Edited August 16, 2022 by MrWolf
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[NHY 581]

Now thats interesting. 

 

I've often pondered how to do this in the absence of any suitable kits. 

 

Suitably Inspired. 

 

Rob. 

Edited January 25, 2021 by NHY 581
Gibberish removed

[Rowsley17D]

I use the cheapo super glue our local "all sorts" emporium sells. A thin layer is applied to one surface then I damp the other surface slightly before offering the two together. There's no time for a second go as super glue needs moisture to cure and it does so virtually instantaneously.

[NHY 581]

My favoured superglue is the Gorilla gel. 

 

Not cheap but does grab well but gives a little time to move things around a bit if needed. 

 

 

Rob. 

[Worsdell forever]

4 hours ago, NHY 581 said:

My favoured superglue is the Gorilla gel. 

 

Not cheap but does grab well but gives a little time to move things around a bit if needed. 

 

 

Rob. 

 

I know, have you seen the size of their hands?

[MrWolf]

Been more or less all quiet on the Aston front, but I have gone back to the groundwork a little. I have taken the styrene formers down some more to create a more natural rolling landscape, before stretching over a covering made from car polishing cloth. It is held with staples and hot glue at the exposed edges and simply jammed down between the formers and the styrene with a steel rule everywhere else. Once covered in my favoured plaster PVA mix it won't be going anywhere and creates a neat edge that requires little cleaning up.

 

 

Edited August 16, 2022 by MrWolf
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[MrWolf]

Just flicking through one of the comics, actually the latest issue of Railway Modeller, lo and behold on page 101 is their version of my Merit gas lamp bodge. 

Normal service will be resumed as soon as we finish tearing the house apart looking for bugging devices....

[MrWolf]

Turns out that we were worried about nothing, arming ourselves, living on the roof and eating nothing but tinned mackerel for three days wasn't necessary after all.

Panic over, back to normal and the neighbour is too traumatized by the duck tape / car battery interrogation incident to say anything about it....

 

On topic, I need your accumulated wisdom on the subject of station platforms. Considering that the basis of my layout is a rather minor railway, taken over by one of the bigger companies, what do you think a realistic platform length would be?

 

Currently I am working on a platform that is 12'0" wide (The station building is 11'0" back from the platform edge.) The working length, (excluding the ramps) is 220'0" or 880mm. 

I have arrived at a lesser figure of 180'0" or 720mm based upon an 0-6-0 tender engine and three six wheeled coaches or two eight wheeled coaches. 

It's actually not a lot. I am thinking of sticking with the 220'0" but have my doubts about whether it looks "right" or whether my thoughts have been coloured by the compromises we have all had to make at times to cram a quart into a pint pot.

 

Does anyone know of a typical length for a single platform and what sort of dimensions have you found work for your models?

 

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by MrWolf
Stupid autocorrect

[MrWolf]

I may have answered my own question here. I mocked up the 220'0" platform then stuck an 0-6-0 in front of it along with the two largest coaches that I have. 

But I would still appreciate your thoughts on this one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2022 by MrWolf
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[Adrian Stevenson]

I think that works ok.

[NHY 581]

Morning Rob, 

 

I'm with Adrian. That looks about right. You could go shorter but I think you need to see some platform either end of the train. Therefore, if this is the usual branch train then the length is spot on. 

 

I've only ever built one platform and that was on Mutton. The layout is my usual 4ft long and I have no idea how long the platform actually is.......clearly shorter than 4ft......roughly 3ft? So roughly 200ft? (Probably a bit shorter) 

 

I laid it out using an Adams Radial and one bogie coach as this was to be the usual branch train. I used PECO edging pieces clipped together until it produced a platform that looked the right length with a bit of clear platform either side of the train. 

 

Not rocket science but then none of my modelling is. 

 

Rob. 

 

 

 

 

[chuffinghell]

It doesn't look very safe for passengers......it's a bit narrow 

 

Joking aside it looks about right to me, in fact I'd say it looks 'spot on'