Shedmaster

Hi Mick, I'm very pleased to say that the glazing is not corrugated. It is plain but very weathered and the panes sit in metal frames of alternate sizes, depending on where there are openers etc. The only thing I will need to do is get the mounting 'angle' right for the rainwater to run off correctly...... Hi Mr G, I too want some colour on but there are sooooo many things outstanding that very often I don't know what to do next. Long story short.... I cannot just make the smaller shed at five feet in length and make it strong enough to withstand handling, even going silly and using metal framing. I have had to 'design' this now so that the crane bay at the front and the very rear of the building will be fully built, but the central section will be open plan and built as an architectural thing at the end, if you like the last piece slotting into the puzzle. Its hard to explain without pictures but I'm happy that this is the way forward now, right.....where did I put that phone number for the laser cutters ?????? Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi Mr G ! Thank you for your kind words, I am very happy with this now even though my 'detail eye' has a habit of finding faults that others simply cannot see ! Maybe I'll have to scrap this building and start again you know......WAIT! Only Kidding........ Seriously, cant wait to get some paint and weathering on soon but will be in the design office tonight getting some basic stuff prepared. I still keep looking at architectural models in other fields and it amazes me just how perfect they all look in shiny clear and lit Perspex. All the best, Shed.

Hi Again, Just wanted to add a picture for reference to what I'm working towards recreating here......... This also shows the join lines for the asbestos sheets relative to everything else. Thanks, Shed.

Hi All and Happy New Year for 2016 ! I'd like to add a small update this evening to coincide with the release and final arrival of the new Dapol Class 73 'EDL', here at Stewarts Lane. Work has been focusing at a snails pace on the 'Electric Loco Shed building' and I've been stumbling between the drawing board and the nearest hard wall on where I can bang my head to encourage some intelligent thinking ! This is the current position... The ELS building is coming together nicely, with the asbestos sheet cladding and rounded corner sheets all secured in place. The joins between the sheets have been scored in to the plastic and the interior walling and girder work has been added : The building is 'plantable' and plugs in to its location exactly as intended. The staff access door has been recreated from scratch and small details such as the exterior box and yellow sign have been sized and positioned exactly as per their prototype position : 73 101 'The Royal Alex' arrived this week and is currently undergoing acceptance and staff training. An entry has already appeared in the fault book stating that one of the third rail current collector shoes was missing on delivery and guess what the reply was? N.F.F of course !!! Finally, I managed a constructive couple of days getting the shed building this far, paying particular attention to the curved corner sheets and the asbestos sheet positions, which I think has gone quite well. I'm now working on the rear end of the building design - as in this small scale I'm finding it very difficult to maintain structural rigidity. My brainwave round this for the crane bay has been to use different materials in places as you see in these pictures, but this won't work everywhere, so my thinking cap is on ! Kindest Regards, Shed. EDITED : Cos it's late, I is tired.......silly mistakes creeping in !

Hi Mr Grimley, Happy New Year to you Sir ! Happy to oblige with some pics for you, one here and there will be some over on my Stew Lane topic shortly so as not to hijack these pages...... During training at The Lane today, we practised coupling onto other vehicles, in this case Pullman Car 'PHYLLIS' from the Golden Age Models fleet : I'm more than happy with the colour matching here, although the prototype PHYLLIS is in far from pristine condition at the present time at Stew Lane. I'm gonna stick to my guns here and say that yep, I'm definitely loving this new 73'.........I wonder if I can rob a shoe and slipper assembly from somewhere ? Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, My Royal Alex has arrived with me for my Stewarts Lane project ( remember that? ) and all I can say is wow! Despite the suggested shortcomings noted by others, I am very pleased with my example, the lighter shade of Pullman Umber seems about right to me, if anything, it could be more shiny ? During 'fitter training' at The Lane, it was noted that one of the 3rd rail current collection shoes ( and slipper ) were in fact missing and not in the box but honestly, I don't think it will be missed. I drove 101' for many years on VSOE workings and even so cannot claim to know much about the livery details - but to me it looks like an 'ED' and will definitely suit my project. One oversight on my part is that my Stewarts Lane project involves lots of modern day Pullman cars and so this Loco. will not match them, as it is the cars that are painted the wrong shade of Pullman Umber, although I haven't tried the new arrival with my Golden Age Models 'PHYLLIS' just yet.....I'll try to report back at some point. Also, the lighting in all cabs will have to go....... My 101' is a good runner on DC at the moment with no issues, although I would suggest it doesn't get anywhere the prototype's 90mph top speed.... All is good with this one so looking out for a nice GatEx one to partner it ! Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, Just a note to add to my earlier post, in that I have now received my order from TrackShack and will most definitely be a returning customer. Absolutely no issues with this order at all in any way, just as it should be. Many Thanks to the staff here, see you next time, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, Just placed an order based on the comments within this thread alone. I've been aware of my wanted item being massively better priced with TrackShack but rightly or wrongly, have refused to order for ages simply because you were an 'unknown retailer' to me, despite your excellent feedback panel on your website. I'm really noticing the good feedback coming your way now and look forward to adding to this very soon, just wondering though, if it would be possible for an ad-banner within RMWeb somewhere to boost awareness or does this exist already and I've missed it ? Best Wishes for 2016, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Thanks for your link.......a most interesting thread, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, Just a few more.......from an authorised works visit some time ago : Hope you enjoy..... Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, So, what's the betting that if I did this in model form, I'd be laughed out of the club rooms ??? Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi All, I've just been advised that my 73101 is now en-route from Gaugemaster's Works to Stewarts Lane T&RSMD, eta tomorrow. Lets hope I'm shouting about it for all the right reasons when it gets here eh ? Kindest Regards, Shed.

Good Evening, Have I missed something or shouldn't the Gaugemaster Pullman versions be here by the end of November 15 ? (Yes, yes, I know my Stewarts Lane building still isn't ready for them yet ) Many Thanks for any updates, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Thanks Matthew, I can also foresee a rush of Southern Electric layouts, so have stocked up on conductor rail supplies here just in case there's a worldwide shortage just when I decide to install it. Chris, the framework took ages and is still not quite finished, but I'm liking the look of it. I'm now at the stage where I have to finish a few girders on the smaller part of the building and then I can start putting the outer skin on such as the internal brickwork, glazing and roof panels. Then, erm.....shouldn't it be time for weathering soon after that? Or maybe I'll move onto the scenery outside and ballasting the track........ ...surely I'm not that close to exhibiting yet ??? Just gonna go outside and check...... Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi Mr Grimley, I have to say I'm loving the way this is coming together as it looks truly realistic, as has been mentioned before about your hard work. I think I'm safe in saying that you won't realise it now, but you wont realise how good it looks yourself until later on, when say, the roof goes on the building and you can't see everything all at the same time. If you were standing there as a 4mm scale person, you simply wouldn't have the overview as seen in your pictures, so I do think the best is still to come with this and I for one cant wait to see it ! Not sure if that reads as nicely as it's meant to, but the point is the work so far is amazing and when it all comes together, you'll be grinning from ear to ear ! Incidentally, we may have a shortage of 56's down here at 'The Lane' so you may have to keep an eye on your allocations and make sure none of yours sneak down south light engine, stuff can go missing on TOPS you know ? Kindest Regards, Shed.

Thanks Mr G, I thought you'd appreciate the Grid, but don't get used to it mind.......47's and 73's will probably rule the roost here eventually, shuffling those Pullmans about ! Seriously(?), you've done an amazing job on your pits and building and I often look in and wonder if I shouldn't or couldn't have persevered with those Peco ones and just been cleverer with the laser work like you were. Anyways, progress does continue here but is always subject to interruption.......and tonight's excuse is Mr Roger Waters and The Wall, again, but this time, at the local cinema ! Kindest Regards, Shed. p.s for the sake of a clear understanding, I'm all for the music of Roger Waters but don't understand, involve myself with or align myself to any of his political views or involvements !

Hi, Forgot to add in last post that the external wall will now be glued to the clear Perspex at the base of the side walls and then the individual internal wall segments will be added along with the horizontal girders. This part of the building was laser cut 'before' the brainwave of having the 'I' holes laser cut out to accommodate the horizontals, so these will be added manually and aligned by the Mk1 eyeball ! Then, there are the roof access walkways and lighting to add as well as the two cranes and other internal details... I reckon at the current rate of progress, I'll have this ready for one of the model railway exhibitions in about 2045 ! ...and by then, you'll be able to just show a 3D printer a photo of any real life scene captured on your phone and ask them to 'print this in 4mm please', where they will then have it ready for collection an hour later ! Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, Talking of 'getting into it', despite no recent running session as planned, I can show some pic's of building progress instead : The main Electric Loco. Shed building is taking final form now, seen here awaiting its 'L' shaped corner asbestos sheet to finish off the edges : Inside, the building is coming together perfectly, with the indented panel lines visible representing joins(?) as per the prototype. To orientate you, the white rectangle on the lower left is the red staff access door. The brick wall will sit between the bottom of this door and the bottom of the asbestos cladding. The girders that extend downwards and lower than the door, so, 'underground' as it were, are where the building 'plugs in' to the layout and is thus removable. The working main doors are still on the table here, although subject to a possible redesign. Although very pure and bright just now, painting and heavy weathering will eventually set the mood properly : This next picture was taken as a spatial reference, to compare the model with a certain real picture that I have seen on the internet. (I'm not sure on the copyright rules so won't copy it here.) Although there is lots of detail still to add internally, at this stage I can see that I'm doing something right as far as the size and basic shape are concerned. Although progress is slow, I reckon it is going to be a fair representation in the end, and the ideal home for some of those new Dapol 73's ! That's all for now, Kindest Regards, Shed. p.s Littluns party went really well Thanks, and on the only decent summers day this year too !

Hi All, Good Evening, I'd like to offer a show of Thanks for Steve at Railtec Transfers, just to say Thank you for the excellent job on some recent VSOE Pullman car names from his 4mm range. Steve also very kindly modified one of his products to suit my specific needs for my Stewarts Lane project and it is just this kind of help that makes bespoke models possible. I'd thoroughly recommend making contact and 'asking the question' if there is something you need doing, as Railtec were extremely helpful for me, despite being a very small bespoke order. Many Thanks Steve, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, Good Evening, I'd also like to take the opportunity to credit Trains4U as being an excellent shop/supplier for our hobby as a result of my first purchase from them. My experience was that I found a discontinued item I wanted at an excellent price on their fully working and easy to use website. This was very quickly dispatched via my preferred courier and the attention to detail was highly professional in keeping me advised of dispatch and estimated arrival. I too will be returning to Gareth and his team in future, Many Thanks, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi WCML100, Thanks for your interest in Stewarts Lane..... I can say that plenty has been on going here, although no decent posts or pictures simply due to lack of time. I'm currently under orders to have the garden made good for our little boys forthcoming birthday and it's one of those jobs that turned out to be more work than anything else. Work did shift from the building to the yard track work some time ago. This has now all been laid right up to the two working yard exit signals. Well, working in so far as they are both fixed at red with a built in SPAD protection device, whereby should an errant move attempt to leave the yard, the track is short circuited and the Bachmann dynamis shuts off the track power. Points are fully working and utilising four COBALT IP DIGITAL Point Motors. So, currently, I'm cracking on where I can with the building girders for the smaller part of our shed. When these are done, I will then be able to dress the outside with the corrugated asbestos sheet and brickwork etc. The overall look is really coming together as planned. The front 'face' of the building has been made and is ready for fixing and then it will really start to have its identity and start looking less like a huge collection of expensive laser cut plastic shapes ! Most of the T&RS fleet are currently away 'on assignment' which is real handy as I am able to get on without temptation to 'play' ! I hope to be able to get a running session together in the next few weeks though and will hopefully have some decent photos for posting from that. That's all for now, Kindest Regards, Shed.

I had a good look at these during scanning them in......and I'm curious just how you managed to get any driving done in between filling them out ? Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi again, just a quick addition...... I wanted to include these two scans in the last post, but, let's just say that Me and the Scanner are not 'talking' at the mo ! The British Railways S.R Drivers Ticket FRONT : and REAR : Thanks, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hello everyone, Good Evening, Thank you for your interest in my topic here and your supporting photo's......I'm really pleased that you can relate to this area and that the pictures are jogging memories etc. I see that the outside of Orpington box is a little short on photo's, what a shame. I suspect it was probably a 'standard' BR Southern Region design off the shelf so to speak and would possibly have a lot in common with places like Rainham and Sittingbourne boxes ? Maybe the experts would be better placed to advise on this supposition ? Anyways, what I came in for : I have finally managed to dig out and scan some original British Railways paperwork, mentioned a few posts back. Firstly, the most relevant to this topic is my scanned copy of the Orpington Signal Box Train Register : I also found these in secure storage, along with all of my school reports, but you won't be seeing THOSE !..... ...the Guards Ticket...: Again, I hope these can be of use or interest to you ? Thanks, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi Jim, Well done that Man, yes it is. Since transfer to NR ownership, a lot of P-Way work is currently on-going to upgrade the track within the sidings, which now have 'Park Royal GUINESS Sidings' stencilled on one of the sleepers at the Wickham end of the yard near the entrance/exit. EDITED TO REMOVE REPEATED INFO Kindest Regards, Shed.