Railway station plans

[Brassey]

21 minutes ago, john new said:

I don't disagree, the main point though is architectural styles typically have a regional/international feel. If you recognise those when looking at a model made by someone that does not, then a wrong mix really screams at you, hence the advice to try to pick buildings that would go together. 

Whereas running Stevenson’s Rocket pulling a set of Mark 1 carriages alongside an intercity 125 with the Flying Scotsman banking doesn’t scream at you? Don’t forget Rule1 applies here and he can do whatever he feels like. So a thatched cottage between the pub and blacksmiths with the church behind with a wedding out front and funeral at back. Hopefully there’s room for the windmill and waterfall not forgetting the Morris dancers on the village green. 

[phil_sutters]

If you are not modelling a specific location why do you need plans? There are photos for almost every station built online now. Rough dimensions can be calculated from maps of the area. These are readily available from several sources. The most comprehensive is the National Library of Scotland (NLS) maps archive. Decide on suitable windows, doors and materials for your walls and roofs and take it from there. Make a mock-up from plain card if that helps to get your proportions right and enables you to see what fits in the space you have got. The chances are that if your space is tight, you will have to adapt the plans anyway. If you can't find a colour photo of the station you want to base yours on, look at current photos of the area's brick or stonework. Google Street view and estate agents' photos are readily available. Just choose older buildings from the era you want to model or earlier.

[spamcan61]

Many moons ago now Ian Allan published some planbooks of Railway Station buildings, they're often available second hand.

 

Some examples of the books:-

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5037311-southern-country-stations

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7869603-southern-country-stations

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4598447-gwr-country-stations

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21042040-great-western-railway-country-stations

 

I'm pretty sure Peco published some as well but can't recall the titles.

 

This is the best search engine I've found for tracking down copies of old books:-

 

https://www.addall.com/used/

 

EDIT: just to be clear, these are plans of buildings, which is I assume what you are after, not plans of the track layout.

 

 

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by spamcan61

[melmerby]

Books specific to one company or line are where you'll find the most useful photos and info.

A couple I have that spring to mind are:

 

"Stations & Structures of The Settle & Carlisle Railway" Anderson & Fox OPC

"Great Western Railway Architecture" Adrian Vaughan OPC

 

Both have extensive photos as well as several dimensioned plans (not just station buildings either)

 

 

[barney121e]

Now just got to fall back in love with the track plan.

 

[KingEdwardII]

2 hours ago, Brassey said:

not forgetting the Morris dancers on the village green

Nah, if there's a pub, that'll be the only place you'll find the Morris men. I used to think they lived in the place...

 

Yours, Mike.

[Willie Whizz]

5 hours ago, john new said:

I don't disagree, the main point though is architectural styles typically have a regional/international feel. If you recognise those when looking at a model made by someone that does not, then a wrong mix really screams at you, hence the advice to try to pick buildings that would go together. 

I remember, some years ago at a local exhibition in the East Midlands, a Great Central London Extension-style station layout based (IIRC) on Bulwell Central, which someone had the ‘inspired’ idea to recycle by adding an extension board featuring a semi-rural scene including a pair of Kent-style hop kilns. The modelling, as such, was quite , reasonable but visually it just made you go: “What the £¥€% were they thinking??!!”

[Brassey]

4 hours ago, barney121e said:

Now just got to fall back in love with the track plan.

 

Conspicuous by it’s absence is said Station Building…

[Nick Holliday]

13 hours ago, melmerby said:

Books specific to one company or line are where you'll find the most useful photos and info.

A couple I have that spring to mind are:

 

"Stations & Structures of The Settle & Carlisle Railway" Anderson & Fox OPC

"Great Western Railway Architecture" Adrian Vaughan OPC

 

Both have extensive photos as well as several dimensioned plans (not just station buildings either)

 

 

Many of this type of book are long out of print, and may be difficult to find at a reasonable price. I see, however, that there are a couple of new books on the Highland and Cambrian Railways’ architecture which might be of interest.

[spamcan61]

1 hour ago, Nick Holliday said:

Many of this type of book are long out of print, and may be difficult to find at a reasonable price. I see, however, that there are a couple of new books on the Highland and Cambrian Railways’ architecture which might be of interest.

Plenty of copies of  the Adrian Vaughan book for around 14 quid plus postage using the search engine I posted above:-

 

https://www.addall.com/SuperRare/UsedRare.cgi?title=&author=vaughan&title=Great+Western++Architecture&keyword=&isbn=&exclude=&bookshop=&binding=Any+Binding&min=&max=&dispCurr=GBP&order=PRICE&ordering=ASC&match=Y&timeout=15&store=ABAA&store=Alibris&store=Abebooks&store=AbebooksAU&store=AbebooksDE&store=AbebooksFR&store=AbebooksUK&store=Amazon&store=AmazonCA&store=AmazonUK&store=AmazonDE&store=AmazonFR&store=Antiqbook&store=Biblio&store=BiblioUK&store=Booksandcollectibles&store=Ebay&store=EbayUK&store=EbayFR&store=LRB&store=ZVAB&via=used

 

Ditto the S&C book available for £1.65!  upwards:-

 

https://www.addall.com/SuperRare/UsedRare.cgi?title=&author=&title=Stations+%26+Structures+of+The+Settle+%26+Carlisle+Railway&keyword=&isbn=&exclude=&bookshop=&binding=Any+Binding&min=&max=&dispCurr=GBP&order=PRICE&ordering=ASC&match=Y&timeout=15&store=ABAA&store=Alibris&store=Abebooks&store=AbebooksAU&store=AbebooksDE&store=AbebooksFR&store=AbebooksUK&store=Amazon&store=AmazonCA&store=AmazonUK&store=AmazonDE&store=AmazonFR&store=Antiqbook&store=Biblio&store=BiblioUK&store=Booksandcollectibles&store=Ebay&store=EbayUK&store=EbayFR&store=LRB&store=ZVAB&via=used

Edited July 7, 2022 by spamcan61

[melmerby]

Likewise on Amazon's marketplace.

Plenty of both

[Derekl]

"Through Limestone Hills" - Bill Hudson (OPC) has drawings of most of the stations and ancillary buildings, such as goods sheds, yard buildings, and the like on the Midland main line from Ambergate to Chinley. Obviously only useful if you are modelling the Midland, but a valuable resource if available.

[Harlequin]

Likewise on ABEBooks.co.uk, which is my goto source for books. (And from where I have just ordered some of the books mentioned above - thanks for the references!)

 

Re. The trackplan: There doesn't seem to be an obvious place to put a station building... And there's an unpleasant facing crossover in the station.

 

[Reorte]

On 04/07/2022 at 08:52, barney121e said:

Why should my mindset stop me scratch building something? Just because I am not modelling a specific place or era why should that stop me modelling a specific station where a ready made option is not available. 

All I want is to model a station that would fit the feel of my layout and was just after suggestions where I might find ideas.

 

As others have said there's not point in looking for plans at this stage, you need to look around at photos, or perhaps go out in person if there's anything nearby. The internet's full of photos. Without more specific requirements there's nothing anyone can do to help you narrow it down. Just keep browsing randomly until you find something you think might be right, and once you've got close to making up your mind exactly what you want to build then's the time to start looking for plans of it.

[Compound2632]

Two ways forward:

1. Find a plan of a station building you fancy and build that.
2. Having looked around at a variety of station buildings, you will have picked up a feel for what elements are needed: stationmaster's house (if not separate), booking office, waiting room, ladies waiting room, gents, parcels office, porters/lamp room etc. and then design your own, maybe incorporating features from stations you fancy.

To my mind, option 2 is likely to give the greatest satisfaction as involving the greatest creativity.

[Reorte]

31 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

Two ways forward:

1. Find a plan of a station building you fancy and build that.
2. Having looked around at a variety of station buildings, you will have picked up a feel for what elements are needed: stationmaster's house (if not separate), booking office, waiting room, ladies waiting room, gents, parcels office, porters/lamp room etc. and then design your own, maybe incorporating features from stations you fancy.

To my mind, option 2 is likely to give the greatest satisfaction as involving the greatest creativity.

And bear in mind that even if you're modelling the current time and those various station facilities have all gone there's a good chance that some or all of the actual buildings are still there. Even if they're no longer part of the railway they're still very much part of the overall scene and flavour of the location. This in turn might mean a combination of buildings to think about, e.g. a station building in private hands that still faces the platform, but because it's private there's a separate waiting shelter on the platform.

 

These sorts of considerations can be used to give yourself a reason to include some very different structure types from very different times if that takes your fancy.

Edited July 7, 2022 by Reorte

[Brassey]

2 hours ago, Harlequin said:

 

Re.The trackplan: There doesn't seem to be an obvious place to put a station building... 

 

Yes I alluded to that in my somewhat cryptic previous post.  And is there actually a station as we know it?

[ianLMS]

The Scalescenes kits are excellent starting points for someone wanting to delve into scratch building, but not sure how to go about it. There are 3 or 4 different styles of station within the inventory which may suit your needs. Build the kit first, see if you like it/have the skills & patience, then use elements of the kit to sratch one out to your specific requirements. 

https://scalescenes.com/railscenes/

 

Its what i did and i am happy with what i have built. My station building however was scratch built using designs contained within the Settle & Carlisle buildings and structures book already mentioned which suited the area and era i am modelling. Building the Scalescenes kits gave me the experience on how to go about it.

Edited July 7, 2022 by ianLMS

[melmerby]

4 hours ago, Reorte said:

And bear in mind that even if you're modelling the current time and those various station facilities have all gone there's a good chance that some or all of the actual buildings are still there. Even if they're no longer part of the railway they're still very much part of the overall scene and flavour of the location. This in turn might mean a combination of buildings to think about, e.g. a station building in private hands that still faces the platform, but because it's private there's a separate waiting shelter on the platform.

 

 

e.g. Langwathby (Settle & Carlisle).

Station is privately owned and used as a cafe

 

Entrance to the platform is not via the building but next to the small waiting room.

 

Note the former Goods shed in the second picture, now in use by a chicken packing company (last time I was there)

Edited July 7, 2022 by melmerby

[Reorte]

58 minutes ago, melmerby said:

e.g. Langwathby (Settle & Carlisle).

Station is privately owned and used as a cafe

This might sound a bit implausible, but Langwathby was exactly what I had in mind :) Probably because I used to use it, around the time that shelter was built (lived nearby, in Hunsonby, for a year).

[MyRule1]

It seems that @barney121e 's original question as to sources of plans for station buildings has been well answered in the thread but he has now, in my view, complicated things slightly by showing his track plans.

 

Unless he is going to put the station on a curve one constraint is the length of track between points. A Peco ST-604 is only 604mm long and the longest straight run is along the bottom edge which still seems to be under a metre in length. In addition, if the plan does show the baseboard size, the outer edges leave very little room for a platform or building.

 

But as @Brassey says it's his layout and if his aim is to get a station building on the layout that appeals to him and will increase his modelling skills then I wish @barney121e all the best with getting enjoyment out of the project.

[barney121e]

6 hours ago, Brassey said:

Yes I alluded to that in my somewhat cryptic previous post.  And is there actually a station as we know it?

Just for you, here is the plan with buildings. Not after plan suggestions, sorted this in another post and other forums.

[john new]

Not noticed it before but the exit pointwork by the SC is wrong as you have outlined it (facing not trailing). See the goods yard entrance on my now dismantled Classic Train set layout for a more prototypical entry using a diamond crossing and trailing points. This was a dealer display style layout using sectional track as you are doing, albeit 1950s 3-rail not the modern 2-rail; however, track geometry is similar. to today's trackage. The placement of the platform in the lower station is not prototypical, it was there just to show it off, dealer style, it should really have been at the back adjacent to the footbridges. Hope this helps.

 

Size: Layout was on two flush panel doors so 6ft 6” by 5ft.

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by john new
Extra note added on layout size.

[barney121e]

22 minutes ago, john new said:

Not noticed it before but the exit poitwork point by the SC is wrong as you have outlined it (facing not trailing). See the goods yard entrance on my now dismantled Classic Train set layout for a more prototypical entry using a diamond crossing and trailing points. This was a dealer display style layout using sectional track as you are doing, albeit 1950s 3-rail not the modern 2-rail; however, track geometry is similar. to today's trackage. The placement of the platform in the lower station is not prototypical, it was there just to show it off, dealer style, it should really have been at the back adjacent to the footbridges. Hope this helps.

 

 

Thanks

 

The plan does have compromises to fit the 8x4 space. Did come across another plan today which caught my eye so looking deeper into it, but layout plan is chat for another time.

 

Thanks for everyones recommendations on books, all very helpful.

[Brassey]

4 hours ago, barney121e said:

Just for you, here is the plan with buildings. Not after plan suggestions, sorted this in another post and other forums.

Not a suggestion but an observation. How does a train on the outer line get its wagons into the goods shed without trapping the loco against the buffers?