Mikkel

Excellent photos Dave, and thanks for an always interesting selection of posts across the year, in two different scales.

Joy of operation is key I think, so I'm glad to hear that the lever frame has improved yours. 

The tunnel signal looks almost other-worldly in this setting. I went back to re-read your post about it, but see that the photos have gone. Do you know if this type was widely used around the country? 

Thanks Matt and Stephen.

I hope you noticed that the engine was green. There is also a red one, I wonder if Shrewsbury could be done in Brio 🙂

Thank you all.  Mike, I am 1969 vintage so just a post-steam upstart! I hope to live as long as my dad. He was very poorly at the end though, so it was time for him to go.

Simon mentioned the music in the video - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. I understand there is scholarly debate about where the comma goes, so I left it out like many before me. But surely it must be after Merry, not before?

Thank you all for the greetings, congratulations and condolences. I never know quite how personal to be on the internet, but on the other hand we are not robots.

The Brio set is our son's and I got it out for his son to play with. He's still a bit too young, so I can have fun with it in the meantime 😄

I took the opportunity to do some servicing on the locos. After 15+ years in storage one had a weak electrical joint and another needed a bit of work on the gears. Now all fixed. The mechanism is very simple but they work well enough.

Thank you very much, Mike, for sharing these details on the build.

The point controls are something else! I like the idea of using wood for the grips. And thanks for the tip about the corrugated iron, it looks a lot better than bought-in plastic and the shed is a triumph.

I know what you mean about kitbuilt chassis, I struggle too and still haven't made a good one. Good thing we have RTR chassis then - when it works out.

Thanks for the christmas greetings, best tree stand ever! Merry Christmas and happy new year to you too.

I really like that, effective scene with a few well considered items. What is teh souce of the benches please - or did you make them yourself?

Thanks Andrew. The irony is that the gables will face away from the main viewing side. Maybe I should consider not having a backscene, so that I can see it from both sides  - it's hardly going to leave home anyway.

4 hours ago, Barry Ten said:

Wonderful, inspiring work as ever, Mikkel. Makes my own paltry efforts this week (a Wills station kit) look rather underwhelming!

Thank you Al, although nothing on your superb layouts is ever underwhelming.

Well, they are imposing at least!

The mansard roof towers on stations were even exported to lands afar:

There's more on the history of Kidderminster mainline station here:

https://www.svrwiki.com/Kidderminster_mainline_station

I was struck by this: "By the 1940s, nearly 300 railwaymen were employed at Kidderminster in various capacities including the passenger station, goods depot and goods yard, locomotive shed, traffic department, P-way and S&T."

Three hundred souls! How many at the mainline station today? 

I've been looking into Kidderminster as I'm thinking of modelling the warehouse for Farthing one day (the current SVR Museum). The 1878 build date doesn't quite fit my potted history of Farthing though. 

On 17/12/2023 at 13:48, PaternosterRow said:

My trouble is that I have tended to buy trains that simply take my fancy and now have a rather eclectic, albeit small, collection across many eras and motive types etc. I’m then kind of stuck and so have to model layouts for them all!  I

He he, that sounds like a slippery slope - but of great benefit to the rest of us who get to see your layouts. 

On 17/12/2023 at 13:48, PaternosterRow said:

I suspect that you will be modeling that odd spike atop the GWR spear railing that you found on your recent trip?

Argh, I should never have shown that, now I have to do it 😄

On 17/12/2023 at 13:48, PaternosterRow said:

I will I’ll be posting some construction of Bilston pictures soon and will definitely share my DIY corrugated panel method. 

Great, I'm looking forward to that.

Thank you Mike. Perhaps the 2123 virtual modeller will simply enter the Multiverse (TM) where all images and film ever made will be available - at the price only of your soul 🙂

But yes, we all ought to be taking more photos of the everyday railway environment around us, especially the dull stuff that someone will search madly for in the future!

Ah yes, very nice. The basic principle with two flat-topped towers at the sides appeared in different shapes and forms at various locations:

Southall

Ross on Wye

Winchester Chesil - the most balanced composition if you ask me.

4 hours ago, ChrisN said:

Mikkel,

I would never say you were pretentious.

Thank you 😀 But Newbury station is a bit, I think. The GWML Route Structures Gazetteer (direct PDF download link here) describes it as "free Jacobethan style" and dryly concludes:

"As a large, well preserved example of Edwardian GWR station design, Newbury Station is of medium architectural and historic interest (but no archaeological or artistic interest)."

4 hours ago, ChrisN said:

Interiors:  You know I love interiors, which is why I do not fix my roofs on as it is the only way they can be seen, unless you fit internal lights.  I am not keen on lights.

Yes, and I take great pleasure in watching your interiors (now that sounded odd!).  Regarding lights, I am on the fence but...

15 hours ago, RCP said:

Where did you get the original GWR drawings from?

They are reproduced in one or two publications on the DN&SR, including C.W. Judges "A historical survey of the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway". They are only overview drawings though, with frustrating references to "see detail drawing" which is then not reproduced. Here is part of it, with only the wording adjusted to Farthing.

15 hours ago, stevel said:

Mikkel, I am Gobsmacked, this is looking stunning, incredible words fail me.

Thank you Steve! Though worth keeping in mind that there are definite compromises. E.g. as mentioned the SEF English bond brickwork isn't quite as "tight" as the Newbury style. Then there are those window surrounds, and the mortar courses are arguably too light, etc etc. But the various dimensions follow the drawing fairly slavishly, and I think that does help. 

18 hours ago, MikeOxon said:

This is a real tour de force, although I felt quite exhausted just reading about it.  All that detailing of the string courses, buttresses, finials etc!

 

I hope you will take a very well-earned break for Christmas 🙂

 

Mike

Thank you Mike, the detailing did become a bit dull in the end. But then I think of those modellers who have built even larger structures with just a scalpel, ruler and card or similar. Iain Robinson and Allan Downes for example. Truly impressive.

Incidentally, the loss of images in this thread is particularly sad, I remember thinking "we should download these images for the future", but alas never did.

17 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Impressive and inspiring work Mikkel, as ever a great combination of artistic and engineering skills. 

Well worth the effort for the sharpness of detail and sense of place.

 

Rob 

Thanks Rob. If it can convey an impression of Newbury I'm happy! And thanks again for your info and suggestions on the bullnose bricks. Perhaps on a future build I can honour them better. 

17 hours ago, Neal Ball said:

Terrific work @Mikkel, I'm looking forward to seeing it progress.

Thanks Neal, I'm going to take a break with this build and finish a coach now - seeing all your coach builds is very inspiring.

20 hours ago, Bluemonkey presents.... said:

Wow wow wow! Mikkel this is fantastic and a real inspiration, not to mention very useful pointers. 

Fantastic modelling as always, some real discipline and excellent use of the Silhouette Cutter. 

Looking forward to the next stages as well as finding out about your new method for brick painting.

Thanks Matt! I doubt I would have undertaken this structure without a Silhouette, it really is a big help. Although in some respects it is already old technology. Like others, I suspect, I'm trying to find my place with all the recent advances in modelling technologies - a world where almost everything is possible. I'd like to find a balance somewhere between the traditional approaches and the new ones. The way you are mixing approaches is very inspiring.

19 hours ago, ChrisN said:

Mikkel,

That looks brilliant.  It is over twice as long as my station which I thought was quiet big.  Fortunately my one is fairly plain.

 

If you decide to make it separate parts, then you will need to work out how to fit them together and make sure that they do not move.  I am working on that with my platforms as I have made it with cardboard it needs to be removed if the layout is packed down. (Shh! I am working on it not being.)  It will need something so that the parts fit together and then do not move.  If not you will need a very long box.  🙂

 

Vocabulary.  Building vocabulary is a whole separate study, which most English speakers will not know, but never fear, Lady Google is never far away.  It is 'string courses', but not sure about 'pinnacles' as these are on the top of buttresses.

Hi Chris, and thanks. I have pondered the style differences between Newbury and Traeth Mawr, the first being rather busy and arguably pretentious, the other a bit more serious and God fearing (I mean the stations, not the modellers! 🙂). Perhaps a reflection of their parent companies, also?

Thanks for the good points about sections vs a single unit. If I go for a single unit it would fit in one of these, interior measurements are 92.5 x 33 x 17 cms. 

https://www.plasticboxshop.co.uk/home-storage-c1/bedroom-and-bathroom-organisation-c16/underbed-storage-boxes-c42/pack-of-3-55-litre-extra-long-shallow-under-bed-storage-boxes-with-lids-p1721

19 hours ago, Nick Gough said:

Very impressive Mikkel.

You have definitely captured the design and look of the prototype.

 

Nice work on the detailed elements and stonework.

Thank you Nick, I'm pleased that you think so as you have photographed the station (thanks again for all the photos!). The fine details are really representations rather than exact scale copies, but they work reasonably OK for the overall impression. I'm currently looking at the canopy brackets on the approach side - they are going to be a challenge, but at least they are not as ornate as some!

20 hours ago, Simond said:

This is fantastic!

 

you said “More on that later” referring to painting the brickwork.  Do please post on that too!

 

cheers

Simon

Thank you Simon, and I will. I'm trying to limit the length of these blog posts a bit, so will do a separate one on recent experiments with paint and weathering pigments. It's rather crude and not without problems though!

20 hours ago, magmouse said:

Mikkel, I am smitten by the header image - the carriage, driver and two lady passengers creating a tableau with the building frontage. A perfect composition! The gable ends are magnificent, and the whole thing is already tremendously evocative. Looking forward to the next instalments you have teased us about…

 

Nick.

Thank you Nick. The carriage scene is something that I look forward to making, inspired by photos such as the one below at Truro. That, incidentally, is of another and better known GWR station design style of this period. I actually like this style better than the Westbury/Newbury style, and initially considered transposing the Winchester variant to Newbury. But I eventually decided that the other design was more appropriate for the Berks & Hants extension, where Farthing is located.

19 hours ago, PaternosterRow said:

I can’t believe how accurate the build is - everything lines up perfectly both horizontally and vertically.  That’s so hard to do in 4mm and yet you also found the time to worry about the bullnose effect around the windows!  Personally, I can’t see any problems with that - the scribing of the foam works perfectly and those stone headers, lintels and intricate details are just unbelievable.  The finials are also a touch of brilliance.  More precise, excellent craftsmanship from a person who carefully plans and then patiently follows that plan - museum display quality as usual.  Knowing you, those interior details are going to be unbelievable too.   As your ‘small bites’ get bigger at Farthing you are going to have to learn how to do photographic stacking to accommodate them.  I have never been able to master the technique unfortunately and stick to the old F8 and you’re there rule!  

Thanks very much Mike. I will have to disappoint you on the interior details though, as I'm hoping I can get away without them!  I very much admire the interior details that others do, but I'm trying to cut some corners as I have bad experiences from the past of getting stuck with overly ambitious projects. And I have my weighbridge hut below in recent memory - none of the (admittedly sparse) interior details are visible from the outside, despite windows on two sides.

So I'm hoping that if I put up enough interior walls to block views and light I can manage without interior detail. But I would be interested to hear what others have experienced in this regard with larger structures.

20 hours ago, eastwestdivide said:

Finials? Not 100% sure. 

19 hours ago, Dave John said:

Excellent as ever Mikkel, a lot of work in a building that size. 

 

Your nomenclature is correct . Finials at the top, the linear stonework would be described as string courses and the supports below the stonework as corbels. 

 

I also use the silhouette to scribe the rear of embossed styrene, makes cutting through with a scalpel very accurate. 

 

Thank you both. They seem to be purely ornamental rather than structural, which is why I have been confused about the correct term.

20 hours ago, kitpw said:

I think you should award yourself several bites for the building so far (and several more when it's done, I dare say). 

Thank you Kit. I'm sorry that I couldn't honour your very clever suggestion on how to do the bullnose bricks and profile around the windows. There were three problems: (1) My skills; (2) the thickness of the brick sheet relative to 4mm scale; (3) I had already gone too far in the the build - if I had thought about it earlier I could have cut the window apertures over-width, allowing me more options. I was getting bogged down with the problem so decided to simply move ahead.

20 hours ago, Dunalastair said:

Looking very good. Reads as if you are rising to a significant challenge at that size.

 

Walls and gables? Hopefully you will get further than the current condition of Invershin on the Far North line.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invershin_railway_station

I thought it was a closed station at first look! So this means I can prototypically start running trains into the main platforms 🙂

Aha, another surprise attack from the master!  So discrete that I almost missed it, as I suspect others have.

Good to see another of your layouts, Mike. I admire your broad-minded approach, moving effortlessly through widely different periods and settings of British railway history.

It would be interesting to see more of your methods and progress on construction. This layout doesn't seem to be in your external blog , but perhaps it's forthcoming in a mag?

Thanks Andrew, I can see the point of the strenghtening piece!

22 hours ago, David Bigcheeseplant said:

I am doing a similar project of Princes Risborough bay platform, I had the original plans and the up building still stands. I had assumed that the bricks were standard 3" x 4" X 9" plus I knew how many rows of bricks there was. when I drew up the building it didn't look right, when I did a site visit and the brick were 82mm between courses so I adjusted my model and it matched the drawing exactly. 

My model is drawn in Fusion 360 render attached

 

It looks very good. Thanks for the info on the bricks.

Did Princes Risborough have the discrete profile/edges around the windows as at Newbury?

I gave up featuring these after a couple of failed attempts, but they might be possible if you are printing the building?

1 hour ago, ullypug said:

The solebars are included

Thanks, that's good news. With the MJT bogies it looks quite manageable then. Although it sounds as if the clerestories need some thinking.

Useful to see a Worsley Works build, they don't feature on here often.

Can I ask: I see this one is listed as "Sides ends floor and clerestory roof". Does that mean you build the underframe yourself?

That Sulzer looks like a good fit with your style for this project.

Figures have improved recently, you know! 😄