kirtleypete

They were all done from scratch based on photo's and a ground plan. I used my own building papers for the stone and slate reduced to the right size and drew the rest; it's a very enjoyable way of producing a model but it would only really work well in this scale. Peter

I have been commissioned to model the buildings at Millers Dale station for an N gauge layout - a bit of a shock to this 0 gauge modeller! I decided that the best option was to produce what is basically a paper kit for myself; even with such a popular station areas seem to have escaped the camera but happily my customer wants it to be 'based on' Millers Dale so any thing I've got wrong can be excused by that. This is the artwork I drew: I began construction with the main station building which on the yard side is a standard Midland design seen all over the system. The goods shed won't be attached to keep it a manageable size. I took the artwork to my local printers and had five copies of each sheet made which are obviously identical; each wall was cut out and the opening removed, it was stuck to a piece of black card and again cut out before being stuck to the identical artwork from another sheet, giving inset doors and windows. I know that leaves three sheets unused, but I wasn't confident about not making several mistakes to begin with. This is the platform side, which will be mainly hidden by a deep canopy. I'm perfectly happy with the printed doors and windows in this scale, they are much neater than I could have made from strip and of course don't need painting. I'll keep posting as the models develop, and ad more pictures when I deliver them and they are in place. If the artwork would be of use to anyone send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll e-mail it to you. Peter

John Smith and I spent Saturday working on John's O gauge exhibition layout 'North Foreland'. When we first built it time was short before the first Exhibition and the area around the 'Dehydrated Rambler' pub had to be rushed; it was time to do it properly. The pub is a typical Kent clapboard structure, owned by the widely admired 'Estuary Ales' who are based at the Mudbank brewery in Whitstable, overlooking the Thames estuary. It is high Summer in 1947 and the pub waits to welcome the thirsty traveller. Most of the back garden was lost when the South Eastern railway built the line to North Foreland, but fortunately the cellar was untouched. Next to the pub is a small field with sheep and a couple of donkeys.....rumour has it that the black sheep comes from Masham. The water trough is a model by the French firm MK35. We use a lot of their figures too. Although the back of the pub can't been seen from the viewing side it still had be modelled. So there it sits, basking in the warm Kent sunshine and waiting to welcome you for a pint of Old Muddy Bitter or something equally enticing. Normally there is a van parked behind the chap with the barrel lettered for the brewery, and a couple of cars are parked by the pub. Things are finally getting back to normal after the war in this part of Kent. Peter

I wasn't able to be there today and so didn't have the pleasure of meeting David, but I'm delighted to see the road finally looking so busy....you can almost smell the diesel fumes! Peter

We had a visitor today. David, who had spotted the photos of the lines of red buses outside the station posted on this thread, and the absence thereof on the model, and decided to help us fix it in one go. And yes, buses come in 3s! Thank you. Peter

The crossing does look bright in the picture Michael but it's actually two shades of grey, I tried to make it reasonably dull but perhaps it needed toning down a bit more. It looks better in the flesh. I'll have another look at the pole, it's easy enough to move. We are still trying to find something suitable for the globe on top. Peter

As you will see there are still jobs to be done, but I think it does now look like York station in the late 1950's. It has been a huge pleasure to have the chance to be involved in the project, especially now that we can sit back, look at it and run trains. Peter

I've just got back for another day working on 'York' and we have agreed to call it the end of the first stage, although there will be the odd day over the Summer as things arise. Here then is a set of pretty pictures. More below..........

Another visit today; I have put together and painted the NER canopies. I have begun cladding the far one, but have brought them home to finish. This is the entrance by the hotel; it looks odd because the board in front has been removed to give me access. The two clean panels will be weathered on my next visit. Difficult to photograph, but this shows the detail up in the roof area. Finally I have completed the two yards behind the hotel, much easier to get at with the boards separated. It all looks a bit clean at the moment, but the basics are there now. These little jobs seem to take an inordinate amount of time and when they are finished no one notices! Peter

Have a look at www.stationcolours.com ... you should find the information you need, plus colour patches, Peter.

The original NER canopies need to be modelled. The pillars and brackets were 3D printed and are already fixed in place on the platform, but the canopy itself has to be removable. Naturally they are mostly curved! I began by cutting out the girders that support the roof. On the real thing they are quite slender metal fabrications but on the model making them like that would not be anything like strong enough, so I have cut out triangles of 2mm plastic and added the detail on both sides. They look very solid here but when they are painted and weathered they should look OK, and they will be very difficult to see anyway. The U shaped pieces on the bottom slot over the brackets and hold the canopy in place. Because the canopy reduces in width along it's length every piece is different. I added a bracket to each side from a piece of L shaped Plastruct. The Plastruct supports the plastic strip that forms the sides, following the curve of the platform. Longitudinal timbers (plastics!) were glued to the tops of the brackets; these are not attached to the canopy itself but help locate it. The laser cut valencing was prepared. The top of the canopy is partly glazed so it needs to be painted before this is attached. Now that one is complete I can do the remaining two knowing the method works. I've got another 13 of the triangular pieces to make before that can happen, and yes, every one is a different size! Peter

Another good day today, I got a lot done. The canopy on the left is new; it does not look like the real one as we haven't the room for an island platform. There will be tracks in the foreground in due course...I hope I've left room! My customer is currently in York and naturally visited the station....he sent me a picture showing that the platform overt he Leeman Road bridge is wooden so I've made the alteration. I've also done more to the entrance area; I need to finish off the white piece at home so I'll complete it all next week. I will fill that great gap in the roof - I forgot all about it today. The next part of the story carries on below........

I've had a long day on the layout today although I don't seem to have achieved much. I had hoped to finish it this week but that isn't going to happen. I have put the footbridge in place, which can simply be lifted off as it covers a baseboard joint. The canopy on the right that had to be removed is being put back. The roof around the footbridge is fixed to it rather than the platform. The canopy at the far end has been extended to the correct length. The walls and canopy on the right slide out; I have kept them in two pieces as it much easier to handle like that. The aluminium on the right is lifting a little as the wood underneath is not perfectly flat, something that is easy to put right. There will be a similar canopy all the way along the platform in the foreground. That is going to be an awful lot of nearly flat corrugated roof! I have done a little to the other side of the station; this will be completed when all the canopies are in place. I've brought items home to work on tomorrow and I'll be back down there on Friday so more pictures then, Peter

I've pretty much completed the area around the Leeman Road bridge now apart from some fencing and odds and ends. It's all very compressed but I think it looks convincing. There's that car again! I am assured more vehicles are on their way.............. Two of my favourite things....rock 'n' roll and Diana Dors! Looking the other way. I'll be back on Wednesday so more pictures then. Peter

What scale is G3 David? I built an American narrow gauge layout about fifteen years ago in 1/20.3 scale, and a French narrow gauge which used 45mm gauge track and I think was the same scale as G3. The buildings were huge, they all had to be packed separately and took up a lot of room in the van but it was worth it for the chance to model the fully detailed interiors. I must admit I'd struggle loading it and unloading it these days though. We used Preiser figures and some LGB loco's so I suppose it must have been G Scale. Peter

There is something about large scale that is really appealing, - I love watching the G3 layouts at shows. I'm enjoying watching this develop David, Peter

Good point, that would be well worth doing. It seems that it may not be necessary to rebuild the signal box after all which will make my life a lot easier next week! Peter

I think they were just offcuts being used as legs....nothing goes to waste! Looking at the pictures again the expanse of grey tarmac strikes me...the 1955 photograph shows no white lines at all. I was posed with my brush and pot of paint, but to no avail. We're so used to seeing lines all over the road it's a shock to see how well they seemed to cope without them! Peter

I've spent another day on the layout today. Frustratingly the two sections I delivered don't fit properly, something that can happen when you're building them away from the layout however carefully you think you've measured everything. I've left them to sort out next week. This gives an idea of how it will look, but I've got to reduce the width of the signal box by 8mm as I didn't allow for the thickness of the yellow brick wall when I drew the template. The idea of modelling the whole thing on a sheet of Aluminium works very well though. As I wasn't in the right frame of mind to do that today I have completed the area around the hotel and the grass bank between Leeman Road and the river. finally bringing all that area together. A lot of people don't realise that there was only one car in York in 1958! It's amazing how much better the hotel looks with the area around it modelled. It can still be lifted out if necessary. We decided that a simple grass bank was all that was needed here. i laid in the basic contours using sheets of black card glued in place with a hot glue gun, and then added the grass using a horrible bright green mat which was all I could get. All is not lost! The grass mat is just the undercoat; I sprayed it with Photomount and sprinkled on various colours and lengths of static grass, just using my fingers. I'll complete the road on my next visit. I even remembered to dust the river! I'll be going back on Monday and between now and then there are lots of small jobs to complete for the layout. Peter

After some pretty serious tidying up (!) I've got both pieces on my workbench so the gap I need to fill tomorrow is more obvious. The problem is that the footbridge needs to be removable and separate from both sections of the model, so there will be three items that need to look like one when they are in place. I'm only modelling the footbridge as far as the platform edge, then the rest will be made separate again with the far platform and canopy. I ought to go into Jigsaw production! Thankfully the canopy lines up nicely in height and alignment, and the footbridge will be between the two parts. Peter

The second section is nearly done, leaving the footbridge to build tomorrow and the area around it. The waiting room is complete and the framework of the canopy has been built up. This is the other side of the model. The framework has been painted and now the roof of Wills sheets is being added. Where these need shaping I always cut them from the back, it gives a far neater cut. I use a Stanley knife, this is no time for subtlety! There is a gentle slope to the front edge. I'll be delivering the models and trying them in place on Thursday. Peter

As long as it fits when I deliver it! I've begun doing the right hand half of the wall and canopy, leaving the footbridge in the middle until both sides are complete. The paper template marks the edge of the platform. Peter

Download a 25" OS map of the station area from www.old-maps.co.uk - it's a very useful website. Peter

This will do for today - the lawn needs mowing! It's not an architectural masterpiece, is it. This is the side facing into the train shed. Peter

I've made more progress this morning: The canopy covering is Wills corrugated asbestos. This end is much more complicated but it makes a satisfying model. Access to the steps leading into the small annex on the signal box seems to have been up a spiral staircase from the platform, but on the model it is too close to the edge to do that. At the moment I'm leaving the part below the canopy to the imagination. Peter