Ex-Great Central London Extension in the East Midlands.

[tigerburnie]

Classes of train post 1951

Class - Type
A - Express passenger
B - Ordinary passenger
C - Empty stock, Parcels, Fish, Milk, Meat or fully pipe fitted express goods (automatic brake on half the vehicles)
D - Express freight with partly fitted with automatic brake on a third of the vehicles.
E - Express freight with not less than four automatic brake fitted vehicles connected to the brake pipe.
F - Express freight NOT fitted with continuous brake
G - Light engine or engine and up to two brake vans.
H - Through freight
J - Mineral or empty wagon train
K - Pick-up freight.

[Chamby]

SUMMERTIME DISTRACTIONS

 

My apologies for the lack of recent updates.  All is rather quiet on the modelling front at the moment, summertime in Cornwall tends to be taken up with family visits and outdoor house maintenance.  As they say down here, "If you have a sea view, you also get a storm view" and that's certainly been my experience.  So it is best to focus on property maintenance whilst the weather remains favourable, as there will be plenty of time later in the year for modelling activities once the weather turns...  though I'd rather not have discovered that painting pebble-dash is even more tedious than ballasting!

 

Thanks to the link provided earlier by @tigerburnie    I have now acquired the GC working timetable for 1953 from wttreprints.uk, which shows almost 170 trains to/from/through Leicester Central on a typical autumn weekday in 1953.  Although at the later end of my modelled timescale, it appears that the non-seasonal traffic movements were mostly consistent from one timetable to the next, so I will take it as being indicative enough for my chosen period of 1948-52.  

 

 

 

The timetable clearly shows the massive scale of freight movements on the GCLE, mostly operating between Annesley and Woodford Halse, that the line was renowned for.  Many of these timetabled moments require some further investigations to distinguish between general freight and coal trains, which are both listed as 'class H' movements, although some of the listed trains show the colliery from which the train originated, which helps.  Many, though, will presumably have been worked separately from the colliery to Annesley, and there re-marshalled into longer rakes.  Some photographs suggest that, at least in later years, the general freight and coal wagons were often mixed and just sent with the next available train.   Whilst most of the Runners and Windcutters simply ran through Leicester Central station, the passenger services are another matter.  Leicester MPD primarily supported the passenger and parcel workings, as it was both the half-way point between Marylebone and Manchester, and local services both originated and terminated there.  So I also need to factor in all the associated locomotive, carriage and wagon shunting movements that supported the timetabled services.   So far, I have transferred all the provided timetabled details for Leicester Central onto a spreadsheet, and am now starting to add in the additional supporting movements.

 

So I am taking the opportunity of these summer evenings to re-read through my library of books on the GC, and cross-referencing information from both the text and photographs with the WTT.  This is proving invaluable for identifying the locomotive classes associated with each train, and providing examples of the stock formations and supporting movements.  Inevitably, it is the more unusual workings that are most often referenced in the books, a disproportionate amount of photo's seem to feature the Great Western hauled services, and the long freight workings also feature strongly because of their sheer number and distance covered.  Much of the information provided also relates to the late fifties and 1960's, after the line had been transferred to the Midland Region when much changed as the line was progressively run down.   There appears to be relatively little information regarding the local services, at least in the tomes I have reviewed so far.  Still, no-one said this would be easy, and I find this investigative aspect of the hobby very absorbing so it is good to still have mysteries to unravel!

 

On the modelling front, my son has recently sent me a further delivery of 3D printed canopy sections, that I am slowly cleaning up and separating from their supporting 'sprues' ready for assembly.  These re-designed parts will be used to create the central section of the station with its full-width canopy, for which I will need to scratch-build the station buildings, albeit in a rather shortened form.  Therefore, the current four through platforms will morph into the more prototypical 'H' shape with only two through platforms on the outside faces, and the two inside platforms will be in-filled for their middle third, thereby leaving four shorter bay platforms (two at each end of the station).   This halves the number of through platforms, and therefore my model station's capacity to hold long trains, but this is a price worth paying as I have come to the decision that for me, modelling accuracy trumps play value, and it will allow me to more accurately reproduce the prototypical services and operations of the real place, back in the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Chamby
re-installed pic.

[Chamby]

A 'Steel' Train

 

The first named storm of the season arrives this evening, Arwen brings with her an amber weather warning for wind .   The heating is on, this year's record numbers of tourists have mostly departed Cornwall and after a few weeks painting the outside of the house ready for winter, the modelling season is here - hooray!

 

The timetable research I did over the summer months, together with a browse through all my reference books and associated photographs, has given me a better understanding of the freight workings of the GC.  Freight really was the 'bread and butter' of the GC London Extension.  Lots of it, conveyed at speed between the yards at Annesley (North of Nottingham) and Woodford Halse (NE of Banbury).   So straight through Leicester.   Freight wagons were occasionally routed direct from source (eg: colliery) or more typically marshalled together at Annesley from the Industrial North and the Midlands coalfields, forming dozens of trains southbound each day.  From Woodford, the trains either ran on to London, or entered the Western Region via the Banbury link.  These fast Class H Through Freight trains were known by the engine men as 'Runners', they significantly outnumbered the passenger services on this stretch of line.   Other traffic accompanied the returning empty wagons northbound.  Several had their own name, associated with the cargo carried:  The Grimsby Fish, The Rabbits, and The Newspaper, for example.  It is abundantly clear, you can't model the GC properly without a substantial representation of freight!

 

I was very familiar with the amount of coal carried, and have amassed about seventy or so wagons, a mix of wooden ex-PO wagons and the more modern steel types.  Enough for two 35 wagon trains, one loaded with coal and one of returning empties.  This Summer's research also made me aware of the number of steel trains that also travelled the line: flat wagons carrying steel from the foundries in the North East, to the industrial Midlands and South Wales.  A representative steel train was called for, one that I could also run on my club's layout based West of London.

 

Bolster and plate wagons were acquired from various retailers, a mix of bogie and 4-wheeled varieties.  The bolsters were in pre-war LMS bauxite, so had a repaint into LNER grey and renumbered accordingly.  I have since learned that the Bogie Bolster E lettering I used should read C for these particular wagons... they will be amended accordingly.  Loads were produced from the MDF offcuts of a laser-cut kit I had saved as 'something that might come in useful':  Cut to length, painted metallic gunmetal and streaked with light rust, they look the part though the dimensions may offend a more knowledgeable purist.  A fine chain was used to secure the loads, held in place with a dab of 'Super Phatic' glue:

 

 

 

Here seen on the club exhibition layout 'Old Elms Road', the new steel train is hauled by a Standard 4 running under Class H (through freight) lamps:  

 

 

 

In the background you can also see a breakdown train that also accounts for some of my modelling time over the Summer.   A lonesome Bachmann 45T Ransome and Rapier steam crane demanded support vehicles, so I assembled a representative train from repainted RTR stock rather than scratch build one that would be fully accurate - that can come later.  The basic formation comprises Hornby's GWR clerestory brake coach, The Hornby 4-wheel brake coach, an open wagon and a well wagon carrying a few lengths of timer for chocking the crane's support struts.  Painted black, the colour scheme is a little late for my home model but suits Old Elms Road nicely.  It still needs a good weathering, shown here being hauled by a V3 simply because it was correctly lamped, but it will normally be pulled by a J11:

 

 

 

 

 

As for this Winter's projects, there are a number lined up:  installing a turntable; constructing the central platform building and extending the station canopy; completing the bowstring bridge installation at the North end of the station, and maybe re-routing the rural half of the layout to make full use of the available space, if I get the rest done in time.  In the meantime, I have another 20 locomotive crews to paint and fix into their cabs, and about a third of my loco fleet still needs lamping up... less taxing work that I can just go to for an hour or so when in the mood! 

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Chamby
Replace lost pics

[Mark90]

Both trains look excellent, Phil! I look forward to seeing what you do with the station. 

Mark

[tigerburnie]

You may find this site interesting when choosing loco stock 

Chris's Annesley Website (annesleyfireman.com)

[Chamby]

New motive power...

 

This time of year, with Christmas closely followed by my Birthday, always sees a little more expenditure on modelling than usual.  This year, Bachmann's new release of the V2 arrived just in time for the festivities.

 

V2's were regular visitors to the GC, with York-based engines taking goods services through to Woodford Halse.  V2's started to be stabled at Woodford Halse in late 1948 and by mid-1950 there were 10 allocated there.  60845, the subject of Bachmann's model in lined black (early crest) livery was one of them, though her stay was shorter than most, from April 1950 to September 1951: she was wearing this livery at that time.  So, a simple detailing job was required: detailing parts added, real coal in the tender, driver and fireman in the cab, and lamped up for a Class H freight working.  A second model has since been acquired, renumbered to 60831:  this locomotive was shedded at Woodford from June '49, and remained on the former GC until September '59, apart from a six week sojourn at Kings Cross in '53.  60831 has been lamped up as a Class C freight, for livestock, perishable or parcels traffic.  Both are now in regular traffic on my layout.

 

 

 

Another acquisition in recent months has been an airbrush.  A fellow club member had bought an airbrush with all the accessory stuff a while back, but never got around to using it, so was offering it for sale at half-price.  After a few months vacillating about using it, I took the plunge recently.  A couple of old Dapol/Airfix/Kitmaster loco kits were dug out of a storage box and built, then painted up using the airbrush.  I thought it better to try things out with something that didn't matter first, to get the hang of things:

 

 

 

I've since graduated to lightly weathering my wagons and coaches, early days yet but I'm starting to get the feel for it now.  My current airbrush is an Iwata Neo CR with a 0.5mm needle, it is nice to use - fine for general weathering but I will need something finer for detail work... all in good time.  Currently I'm lightly weathering a rake of BR Mk1's... here simply using a mix of 'matt earth' and a light grey enamel paint:

 

 

 

An additional purchase has been a cake-maker's turntable, seen above, which makes painting the models all the easier.  The spray cabinet was constructed using foam board.

 

Another acquisition has been a further supply of locomotive crew, as part of the ongoing detailing of my locomotive fleet.  I have started to use the 3D printed figures supplied by YouChoos, these have much better poses  than the Bachmann figures that I originally used:  I then graduated to ModelU 3D printed figures.  These are superb figures, in a wide range of realistic poses, but at £4.50 each I found the costs quickly mounted up and their exceptional detail was rather lost in the cab.  The YouChoos figures are an excellent compromise: at £1.50 each they are more affordable than ModelU, their poses are very good, and although the detail is less crisp you can't tell this when the figures are placed in the cab. 

 

Over time I have started to use more of the figures that are simply standing around, rather than those posed operating stuff:  they are generally easier to place realistically in the cab!

 

 

 

So of late, much of my modelling focus has been on detailing stock and fiddling around...  I really must get myself into the right mindset and start tackling one of the bigger layout projects before this winter season is over!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Chamby
Re-install missing pics

[Chamby]

Station Building

 

After much dithering, having never scratch built buildings before, I finally started work on the station building this week.  

 

This is the current configuration of the station, with four through running tracks:

 

 

 

The platform canopies are styled on Leicester Central's bay platforms, with the characteristic girders spanning the tracks.  The real station had three substantial station buildings in the middle of the station between the bays, and the plan is to represent this but with just one of the buildings modelled owing to space constraints.  This will create the correct 'H' shaped station plan of the original, and allow more prototypical movements within the station area.  There will therefore be a reduced capacity on through lines for longer trains, but the four bays will correctly allow for local services, parcels traffic and locomotive exchanges to be undertaken.  

 

Some offcuts of foam board were used to create a mock-up of the new station building, to check that the size would look OK.  Additionally, further sections of platform canopy have been 3D printed (by my son) to allow the additional length of canopy to be inserted:  this required some remodelling to change the shape of the canopy to represent the full-width span.  Additionally, a new section of platform surface was constructed to sit between the existing ones, it sits on top of the centre two tracks.

 

This is the mock-up of the new station structure:

 

 

 

 

 

Parts were ordered from York Model Makers for windows and doors, from their existing catalogue:  These are not an exact match for the ones installed at Leicester Central but are near enough to create the right look and feel for the place.

 

I have also been gaining experience with my new airbrush:  the photo below shows my latest efforts on a short rake of Bachmann grain wagons that previously had an unpainted, plain grey plasticky looking finish.  They don't bear close scrutiny with photographs of the real wagons, but to my eye they are a big improvement on the RTR originals.

 

 

 

Trackwork is Peco Code 75 Bullhead;  ballast is Woodland Scenics Medium Grey Blend;  the cess is washed sand from the local beach;  lineside fencing from Scale Model Scenery and static grass is from War World Scenics.

 

Phil.

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Chamby
Re-install lost pics

[Chamby]

Some progress on the station building in the last 24 hours: cutting out the sides from 60 thou plasticard and starting to build up some of the relief with styrene strip,   The real building had some fancy brickwork and stone carvings where the canopy was supported, I have simplified the design somewhat but aim to retain the feel of the original.  Most of the detail is hidden under the canopy, and will only be visible from low-level photography.

 

Progress to date:

 

 

 

 

Spot the Costa Coffee stirrers!  

 

The holes for the windows were cut using the templates from York Modelmaking.   Having played around with the doors, and establishing that the laser-cut components would simply attach to the back of the opening with a nice overlap for gluing, I went ahead and cut out all the holes.  BUT when it came to trial-fit the windows, for some reason that particular template is the full size of the laser-cut component, with no overlap:

 

 

 

Time for some head scratching...  I didn't want to have to completely re-do the building sides and hand-cut the openings, so eventually came up with a means of recessing the windows a bit using 2mm square styrene strip, and at the same time creating an overlap that will allow the window assembly to be fixed to the back of the walls like so:

 

 

 

On the left below, the original window that fitted flush with the walls, on the right with additional styrene strip recessing.  This makes the frame look a little heavy but once installed and painted, and a sill added, I think it should look okay: 

 

 

 

Next, I will need to decide whether to recess the doors in a similar way, or just fit them as is.  I have also ordered some more components from York Modelmaking, specifically some dogs-tooth brickwork embellishments to go under the horizontal strip, and also some of their coach corridor connections to trial.  With family commitments taking priority over the next few days, hopefully these parts will arrive when work on the building can recommence early next week.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Chamby
Replace lost pics

[Chamby]

Further progress today with the station building.  I'm still working on the sides but can now see how it is coming together.

 

Before permanentlyfixing the windows and doors, I have decided to complete the rest of the building sides.  Redutex rubberised sheets are being used for the brickwork, I have never used this before but decided to commit to the expense, given the complexity of the wall structure.  First impressions were mixed, the texture was good, but the cement courses looked rather wide compared to the bricks, but it shows up the Flemish bond well.

 

The Redutex sheets have proved to be a delight to work with.  They are thin, with a very sticky adhesive on the back so the stuff folds well round outside corners... the brickwork columns on my station are only about 1.5mm deep, but the Redutex will bend round the 90o angle and stick firmly to these narrow sides:

 

 

 

The only problem I now have to resolve is that the brickwork stands slightly proud of the painted stonework... I might have to build that up a bit to get the right effect.

 

Phil.

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Chamby
Replace lost pic

[tigerburnie]

Looking good, the Great Central around Leicester after the war was a train spotters delight, you really could see locos from all the regions, especially after "midlandisation" in 1957, I remember the variety of cross country trains during the summer with all manner of Great Western and on the rare occasion Southern region locos and rolling stock. Then from the north you could get rare locos, even an A4, I think A2 were the only big pacifics that I didn't see there, you could pretty much run anything on your layout and be correct to the prototype.

[Oldddudders]

On 17/08/2021 at 16:42, Chamby said:

 

 

 

 

Sorry to hark back a bit, but I note the DOS at Liv St was H C Johnson. He went on to become Chairman, BRB 1968-71, and was then knighted as was the norm. So closure of the Rugby - Nottingham section of the former GC London Extension took place while he was Chairman. Sad.

[richard i]

2 hours ago, tigerburnie said:

Looking good, the Great Central around Leicester after the war was a train spotters delight, you really could see locos from all the regions, especially after "midlandisation" in 1957, I remember the variety of cross country trains during the summer with all manner of Great Western and on the rare occasion Southern region locos and rolling stock. Then from the north you could get rare locos, even an A4, I think A2 were the only big pacifics that I didn't see there, you could pretty much run anything on your layout and be correct to the prototype.

You make it sound like a4 were more than rare. I only know of photos of silver link, woodcock and mallard in blue. We’re there others?

richard 

[Chamby]

Well, that was fun (not).  Storm Eunice for gave us almost three days without power, thankfully it's back up now.  No central heating, cooking facilities or internet...  Today we're appreciating so much, everything from a warm house to a simple slice of toast and catching up with RMWeb! 

 

A little extra modelling was achieved, despite the lack of heating at my workbench, allowing me to further progress the station building. 

 

The station building walls are almost complete now:

 

 

 

A couple of photographs where I trial-fitted some of the platform canopy perched on some lolly sticks, to see how it would look:

 

 

 

 

 

And finally after adding glazing, the four walls were assembled and trial-fitted on the layout; it's beginning to feel like it is all coming together now.  Just the brick-work to be completed and the roof surface... and some door-knobs!  There still remains much work to do on the canopies, valencing and support frame, so it will keep me busy for a while yet.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Chamby
Replaced photo's lost during website relocation.

[Mark90]

49 minutes ago, Chamby said:

Well, that was fun (not).  Storm Eunice for gave us almost three days without power, thankfully it's back up now.  No central heating, cooking facilities or internet...  Today we're appreciating so much, everything from a warm house to a simple slice of toast and catching up with RMWeb! 

 

A little extra modelling was achieved, despite the lack of heating at my workbench, allowing me to further progress the station building. 

 

The station building walls are almost complete now:

 

 

 

A couple of photographs where I trial-fitted some of the platform canopy perched on some lolly sticks, to see how it would look:

 

 

 

 

And finally after adding glazing, the four walls were assembled and trial-fitted on the layout; it's beginning to feel like it is all coming together now.  Just the brick-work to be completed and the roof surface... and some door-knobs!  There still remains much work to do on the canopies, valencing and support frame, so it will keep me busy for a while yet.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is starting to look really promising indeed. Hopefully you'll feel that it's worth all the effort when its complete - it's certainly looking so! 

[Chamby]

On 21/02/2022 at 18:23, Mark90 said:

This is starting to look really promising indeed. Hopefully you'll feel that it's worth all the effort when its complete - it's certainly looking so! 

 

Thanks, @Mark90.   It is taking a lot longer than I anticipated, probably because it is my first attempt at scratch building and the learning curve is significant, but yes, it is very rewarding seeing it come together.  It also is changing my perception about what I might be able to achieve with this layout.  For example, I had originally intended kit-bashing the two required signal boxes, but now I can see how scratch building is both personally do-able, and will achieve a much closer representation of the originals.

 

There will always be compromises of course, space constraints being the main one in terms of deviation from the prototype, and time in terms of my modelling priorities.  But hopefully I will ultimately capture the look and feel of Leicester Central, albeit in a much compressed form, such that it becomes instantly recognisable and modelled to a decent standard.

 

 

[DCB]

Looks good, I find the GC fascinating. I don't understand where the working timetable comes into this layout configuration. An awful lot of passenger loco diagrams involved engine changes at Leicester, with locos working to and from but not through Leicester.  Even pre WW2.   There was at least one daily Swindon - Leicester - Swindon diagram  for a Swindon "Hall" with a balancing GC loco working to Marston Sidings, near Swindon on the "Fish."   Just interested to know how trains are changed.

[Chamby]

On 23/02/2022 at 01:31, DCB said:

Looks good, I find the GC fascinating. I don't understand where the working timetable comes into this layout configuration. An awful lot of passenger loco diagrams involved engine changes at Leicester, with locos working to and from but not through Leicester.  Even pre WW2.   There was at least one daily Swindon - Leicester - Swindon diagram  for a Swindon "Hall" with a balancing GC loco working to Marston Sidings, near Swindon on the "Fish."   Just interested to know how trains are changed.

Hi DCB,

 

Leicester Central Shed was unusual on the GC in that the loco's assigned to it were primarily rostered on passenger services, it being approximately half-way between Marylebone and Manchester.   The other main depots on the London Extension were Annesley, Colwick and Woodford Halse, mostly handling the freight traffic for which the line was renowned.  

 

In simple terms, the loco's were diagrammed as far as Leicester, but their trains would normally continue on to their destinations farther North or South.   On arrival at Leicester, the relieving locomotive would already be simmering alongside, usually in the bay platform or sometimes in the adjacent goods loop.  The arriving loco would uncouple, and as a light engine it would then run either to the loco facilities at the south end of the station (turntable and water tower) or farther south to the main shed if it needed coaling as well.  The relieving loco would simply move forward out of the bay, back up to the waiting train and couple up.  The Leicester operation was slick, with as little as 4 minutes being taken for the loco-swop.  

In the case of the GW 'Halls', the return diagram was usually an afternoon local service originating at Leicester and running back as far as Woodford Halse, and thence back to the Western Region via Banbury.

 

A highly recommended read is The Great Central From The Footplate by Rowbotham and Stratford (1988), Ian Allen Ltd, ISBN: 978-1-906974-05-3.  It is a fascinating account, well written by former Leicester shed men.

 

The operation at Leicester itself is easily replicated.  A turntable will be installed at the south end of the station, in the top right hand corner of the diagram below, that will double-up as both the south end of the station and service the existing 4-road loco shed, which in reality had its own turntable.   (My model omits the extensive Goods depot, as modelled by Shipley MRS, so in my miniature world the shed is now much closer to the station).  The bigger challenge at the moment is once the train has departed - I'm going to have to re-model the kickback 'carriage' sidings into a proper storage loop at some stage.

 

Another consequence of the station re-modelling is that I will also have to re-work some of the track layout at the station approaches.  These are compromised by the necessary curvature on my layout owing to space restrictions, and my dependence upon proprietary track work.  Scratch-building the track will be required... another new skill to master, but all in good time.  As I have said before, this is an evolving layout and savouring the modelling journey is far more important to me than rushing to achieve the finished article!

 

I must have a go at improving the track diagram later! 

 

Phil

 

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by Chamby

[Chamby]

Moo!

 

Following a discussion at the Bodmin Club a couple off weeks ago, a fellow member who does a bit of 3D printing offered to produce some cows for my cattle train.  After providing him with the dimensions of the inside of my cattle wagons, they duly arrived the following week - in a lurid pearlescent blue colour!

 

A bit of research then, into cow breeds that were common in the 1950's, and I settled on Hereford's as they have white heads and I thought these would be more visible when placed inside the wagons.

 

This is what a herd of Hereford cattle look like, when lined up to go in the wagons:

 

 

This is how they look when the wagons are populated:

 

 

 

Inevitably, being a DCC man the discussion on club night moved to adding sound.  It just had to be done, This is the wagon converted to sound:  a re-purposed Loksound v4 chip was wired up to a twin sugar lump speaker, loaded with a sound file of cattle mooing sourced from a free download site on the internet.  The resulting train can be observed here:

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/501719290936160/permalink/645069013267853/

 

I thought the sound effect might send people mad after a while, but they just don't stop smiling!

 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by Chamby
Replace lost photo's

[5BarVT]

Can see why you laugh.

The question now is: is there anyone around who can say how much noise cattle made when on trains?

Paul.

[Oldddudders]

Adds a whole new dimension to the oft-heard "Shut up you old cow!"

[James Harrison]

Sounds a bit more beefy than the usual tinny soundchips. 

[Chamby]

48 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

Can see why you laugh.

The question now is: is there anyone around who can say how much noise cattle made when on trains?

Paul.

 

I have been advised that cows made the most noise during loading and unloading.  On the moove they were relatively quiet, so yes a bit of modellers license is required.  

 

This project was for a bit of less serious modelling though, and it has been worth it already seeing people’s faces light up when they hear it...

[Chamby]

Well it's been a while.  Family matters have taken over somewhat with the death of my mother-in-law following a bout of Covid, and all the fall-out from that.  The garden has also gone mad with the combination of lots of sunshine and rain in Cornwall this year, requiring rather more attention than usual!  However more recently some modelling time has been found, and an update is due:

 

The station has been further worked upon and the basics are now permanently in place.  The building has been secured on the layout, the extra section of platform severing the central through lines and forming the two bays has been inserted, and Redutex paving has been laid under the canopy; the station has now permanently assumed its 'H' shape.  It is still seriously foreshortened from the real location, but should allow more prototypical operation in future.

 

 

Another job undertaken in the last few months has been to replace the room's wall lights with ceiling downlights, this has significantly improved things both visually and for photography.  I particularly like the shadow effect now created underneath the platform canopy...

 

 

 

There is still much detailing work to do on the station:  the canopy has been constructed in removable sections and I need to improve the alignment of the valencing in particular.  Benches and other platform 'clutter' are currently on the modelling bench, as are people.  The end of the bays and platform access steps need their safety railings, and the 3-D printed hydraulic buffers need to be painted and installed.  All in good time...

 

Otherwise, work has also been progressing with the raised roadway and bowstring over-bridge.  The real Leicester Central saw the railway traverse a long bowstring bridge just South of the station, however with my limited space this was not possible to model, so I decided to keep the spirit of the bridge alive with an over bridge instead, but at the North end to provide a scenic break.  This is an SMS laser-cut kit, which stands on scratch-built buttresses covered with blue-brick sheet:

 

 

The road surface and pavements are in the process of being re-worked.  I originally started to install sticky-backed paper sheets for the cobbled roadway, and Metcalfe paving, however the roadway was lacking relief and too light in colour... the paving on the other hand was far too coarse to my eye.  Having found the Redutex sheeting superb for scratch-building the station, I decided to invest in more sheets to form the road surface and paving.  To date, the old paving has been removed and new strips of 2mm thick hardboard are currently being cut and installed to raise the kerb and take the Redutex paving:

 

 

The buildings are simply the displaced Bachmann GC station buildings, temporarily relocated for now.  These will be replaced with an appropriate industry in due course.

 

Phil

 

 

 

Edited July 24, 2022 by Chamby
typographic error

[Chamby]

Just a quick update to show the completed cobbled roadway and paving on the raised section, now much improved thanks to the Redutex sheets:  

 

 

 

The stuff doesn't come cheap, but I have found it easy to use and to my eye it looks much better than the paper alternatives.  If you take into account the price of new RTR rolling stock these days, it doesn't compare so badly!

 

Now to find some manhole covers, drains and tone it all down a bit...

 

[TrevorP1]

Not sure how I've managed to miss this Phil. Duly 'followed'. Excellent progress there especially for a 'one man band'!

 

Although I've no modelling aspirations, I'm always interested to see anything from the GC although any knowledge I might have gained is more from the southern end. This is probably to do with helping out in the early days at Quainton Road - that was an awfully long time ago!