JCL

Cheers mister. Well I think I was rushing ahead with my coal facilities. Quite rightly, there's a bit of a debate about what was there, so I'm going back to my informants on the ground to try to get a bit more information. Of course the problem is that they will be remembering something that wasn't very important that was always around, that was removed in the mid 1960s. If I can't get the info then rule 1 will apply until something better comes along So, I wanted to do something simple before the waiting room on the Boston platform. How about an octagonal store shed with a, well hipped roof? Just on the other side of the haven at Wainfleet is the pinfold. Back in the day it was just a low octagonal wall with a gate in it used to store errant animals. At some point this job was no longer required so the walls were build up and a teepee style roof was added in slate. I've put together an octagonal building before (which I'd completely forgotten about). Cranbrook, an hour from Fernie, has a Canadian Pacific octagonal water tower - water towers over here had wooden sheaths to help guard against freezing - that I put together from photos last year. The great thing about both of these is that they are pretty plain! Anyway, the main thing will be to keep it sturdy, so I'm planning to use card for the sides and a thick sheet of foam board for the base. Mouth warbling, I'll go off and find some photos... Here they are Pinfold at Wainfleet The water tower at Cranbrook

He must get through a lot of orange paint!

That looks great! Good luck with applying it to the boards.

I'm sorry to say that I'm going to have to steal your idea! I promise not to pass it off as my own. They really look the bees knees.

Hi all Well, with a lot of help and advice (RMWeb really is wonderful), the signal box is finished! Well, except for the levers, but they are a few months down the line. Here are a couple of photos of the box in place. It will butt up against the paper wrapped insulation foam platforms and control the signals and points between Thorpe Culvert and Havenhouse. I was very daunted by how complicated and possibly flimsy a signal box would be, but it turned out better than I hoped for. Hope you enjoy the photos. Next on the agenda will be something easy (I hope). It'll be a continuation of the ballasting and coal staithes. Oh, and finishing the bit of platform just behind the signal box to add a couple of steps. You can just see the pink of the foam there at the moment. Although I know of no photos, the staithes in Wainfleet were built horizontally, and there were three of them, so I'm going to go with Redgate's great idea of using coffee stirrers. They look absolutely brilliant, and to this end I've been secreting stirrers about my person for the last few days as I've been wandering in and out of my local coffee shop. I've no idea, I know the owners really well!

I've read this a couple of times, but I'm not sure why it could be a problem. Can someone explain the issue around private listings? Edited pirate to private - blimmin autocorrect

One more with a bit of Photoshoppery. Church courtesy of Google Streetmaps It's September, and one of the last holidaymaker specials of the summer is returning to Sheffield after a bracing day out. In the yard a 4MT is about to leave with the 3 o'clock goods towards Boston.

While I'm at it, it's been an aeon since I put up some photos, and I've got a few things done between guests this Winter. The goods shed is glued down. It's amazing how a paving brick on top of the building will "square it up". The signal box isn't finished yet, but it's almost there. The station building is still to come as well. That said, the ballasting is coming on. I'm using straight Woodland Scenics light grey for the main lines, and a blend for the yard. My uncle was telling me that the ground was a mixture of beige and grey "rubble". The new hose is helping this, and I'm quickly catching on to using it properly. Anyway, here goes.

The last time I ballasted anything was a long time ago, and I remember not enjoying it at all. Not this time though! I was looking up ballasting on Youtube (not around the last time I ballasted anything) and found a video of a bloke with a home-made ballast vacuumer. This in turn was inspired by an article in a 1978 edition of Railroad Modeler over here. So I put the video into a post a while back in this thread and waited until I needed to start laying stone before I put one together. Well that time is now. Ingredients a jar (mine is about 6" tall) a 6' length of 1/4" tubing painter's tape (optional) plasticard/styrene a spare hose end (if available. This tool doesn't damage the hose if you can't get a spare) duct tape (of course) glue Method Drill two holes in the jar lid that are the same diameter as the outside diameter of the hose Cut about 2' off the end of the hose Insert about 2"-3" of the long end into the jar Wrap a thick layer of duct tape around the end of the vacuum cleaner attachment Make a hole in it and insert the tube into it. Glue this in. I used a hot glue gun. Insert the end of the short length of tube into the other hole. To form the flattened funnel that you use to pick up the ballast, cut two pieces of plasticard to the width of your track sleepers. I've a double track mainline, so mine is the width of the gap between the rails between the lines. This is so that you can rest the funnel on the rails and get an even suction both across it's width and down the length of the track. Use plasticard (or foam board) to build up the sides and sandwich them between the two ends. Although the funnel in the photos is rectangular, the sides are at an angle so that when the whole lot is sandwiched they a form a small gap at the top that is the hose can be put into to form a pretty air-tight connection. I haven't glued the hose into the funnel because there are times when I want to get at something in a tight corner. For strength, I wrapped tape around the funnel. A few notes: To regulate the airflow, I use the slider on the vacuum cleaner hose end, but you could drill a couple more holes in the lid in a row if there is room and put tape over them; exposing one or more holes to reduce the suction. If you have a couple of bottles the same, you can use them to store each of the different type of ballast and/or ground cover. Here's the original video that I watched, complete with annoying music, so feel free to turn down the volume. I think I've put it up on RMWeb before, so sorry if you've seen it already. WARNING Be aware that the vacuum cleaner is going to work harder than usual, so if it overheats it should close down. Just make sure you don't have it switched on for extended periods of time! And that's it! It took less than an hour to put everything together, and it's going to save me a lot of heartache while ballasting! My only problem now is that I've run out of ballast...

Thank you! More to come

That's just hurting my eyes, if you cross them a 3-D dolphin leaps out at you.

Hi cromptonnut, thanks for the link, I chatted with Dave last year about Wainfleet photos, unfortunately being a small country station not many photos are out there and we swapped what we had. That said, for anyone researching railways in Lincolnshire this really is the best resource that I've looked at out there! cheers Jason

Cheers Duncan. The other thing I'm going to do is put a bit of bracing under the awning to stop the bowing effect. Then it's just a case of siting it. I'm in the middle of building a signal box at the moment (link in the signature), which was initially daunting to say the least, but I'm really enjoying the build now - and I've learnt a huge amount in the process! It's almost done now and I can't wait to see it nestled up to the platform.

"No overseas buyers" I'm out

That'll be Mr "Mint with box" again then.

Do you know, saw that video some time ago, and I've half an idea someone had a crack at it!

I've finally finished the goods shed - well I've got it to a point where the only other thing I'm going to do is add some boxes and barge-boards on the eaves. The goods shed at Wainfleet is very elusive when it comes to photos. Any photos that there are tend to be obscured by other buildings, lorries, rolling stock or the edge of the photo, and the far side, the side, the road side, hasn't turned up on any photos at all! I have a little bit of information - there were two sets of doors, and the doors were on the inside and rolled on tracks. On the assumption that the vertical girders are the same on both sides of the building, I've just slotted them in. The building it matte card covered in aluminium corrugations that have been applied using double-sided sticky tape, and painted over with artists acrylics. The weathering was done with a wash of burnt sienna that was painted on and wiped back off again. Oh, and the windows are layers of card cut out with the Silhouette Cameo cutter that I have. It has really helped there as I'm not that great with a knife. Well, I say that, I can rustle up some mean breakfasts I've learnt a lot while building this, erm, building. If I was to do this again I would pay a *lot* more attention to getting the bottom edge level - good parts of it appear to be floating! I would also be more methodical about the order of putting things together so that a previous work doesn't make later work more difficult. Overall I'm pretty chuffed with how it turned out. Next up, signal box - ta dah!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LIMA-CLASS-37-NEW-/261201069765?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item3cd0cc06c5 For those that don't like long descriptions. Brand new unopened Lima cl 37 in an open box. Bit pricey for me. You can buy it now even though there isn't a buy it now button. Is this allowed? Not that I'm the eBay police...

We're yon side. I'll put the kettle on if you can smuggle in some stuffed chine! I'm ok for sausages, I've given the local butcher a recipe from Wainfleet that he makes up - sells like hotcakes it does, and it confuses the locals no end because there's no maple syrup in it I've introduced a Danish friend into the Lincolnshire dialect (Danish, we're probably related if you go back far enough), starting with "Naaaiiirrrn, meeeyyyatt!" - for those not in the know, that's "How do you do?". That carpentry is looking great though, it must take some working out! j

Hi Robert, if you're looking for a busman's holiday in the mountains, I'm looking to put a deck together this summer.

Hi Stephen Thanks a lot! If you get a chance, then any photos of the church, especially the crosses at the top and ornamentation at the front. If possible a photo of the non-road side on the right as you look from the front. No rush because I'm not going to start it for a few weeks. If you have a Tardis, a photo of the road side of the goods shed any time before the 1980s would be great too! Thanks again for the offer, its very kind. cheers Jason

Those houses look just the job - and the pantiles definitely place them in Lincolnshire. Mind you, Grantham was so far from my neck of the woods, it was practically abroad!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bachmann-31-950-Dominion-of-Canada-LNER-Blue-4489-L-Ed-Wooden-presentation-Box-/261197616253?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item3cd097547d They don't write descriptions like that anymore. It gets better/worse towards the end