Leek station- an O Gauge project

It's been a while since any build updates on the station were posted by me so here is a little progress report on probably what was a very tricky remake of a glaring oversight which was spotted then the model was nigh on completed. In thread #287 the back of this stone waiting shelter can be seen ... no worries except a photo came to light which showed three rear wall windows had been omitted, now this aspect has been covered by Andy Sollis who kindly came to the rescue which new window prints... you see we are both very pedantic when it comes to getting historical accuracy in our work... our Rule One is Get it made correctly or don't bother.

Anyway I had to cut openings for these additional three windows and cut into a model which had been completed internally being as careful as possible. First stop was to make a new external wall skin and marking out the stone courses and window positions with a scalpel, the new skin was offered up as a template and tacked onto the existing wall face where the corners of each window were drilled through with a 1mm bit. Now removing the new skin I carefully prized out the old outer wall skin to reveal the wall framework and proceeded to scribe the plastic for the new windows... a sort of join the dots with a sharp blade.




This really was a scary moment when the first window opening was made and the new skin offered in place, thankfully it all worked and the new hole aligned with the first window... now I could proceed with the other two openings knowing the remake process was working correctly.




So onwards and upwards with the rest of the windows and this is what the result of the surgery looked like... now the model shelter is starting to look like the original building did.




Here is the internal view showing Andy Sollis's exquisitely designed North Staffordshire Railway waiting room stove pots, the new window units are now in and glazed.




From the outside with all the elements fitted we have a better finish for Leek Station in my opinion... the decor surround window stones have been marked out in white prior to painting.




Finally this is the result we were looking for... the prospect of looking through the shelter and seeing light coming through from the new windows... it just adds that little bit of authenticity and character. Thank for watching and again apologies for the recent radio silence.

 

Not so very long ago a nice colour photo showing the back of the Leek station water tank and small brick staff hut came to light courtesy of a Mr Ed Walton... I've posted only the relevant portion of the image to show another aspect which has had to be remade namely the small brick staff hut. Generally the tank room is totally correct bar for the stone corbel row on the third course which was omitted and is hardly viewable, however the brick hut had to be remade as it was originally gauged in size from some not so focussed pictures which resulted in the hut being too large.




So now with such close up detail information I could calculate precisely the measurements and noted the inset in the wall which allowed for a telephone pole stay wire ... funny how it all comes flooding back after all these years when the memory is jogged with a picture. The new hut now taking shape ... and a word of caution if using the Slaters embossed brick sheeting in Gauge O... the bricks are not to an exact scale so please don't take this material as gospel, a bit of jiggery pockery is called for when getting things to fit as they should.




The view from the coal yard side as would be seen, Modeluguttering and chimney pot in place. Window frames and door made by myself as scratch builds.




Now to add the rest of the gutters and rainwater goods then fit the roof tiles... and there lies another issue regarding the tiles... believe me I've measured the laser cuts I'm having to use against original sizes and there are anomalies in widths for sure... buts that's another work around thing I'm currently dealing with.

 

Ah the wider than normal doors which were reused from the original 1849 station and the Staffordshire County Council build A53 road bridge.... hmm ... oh dear look at the time already... must dash its about now I have to take my meds. Can't be seen to be a weirdo on such an esteemed forum.

 

So with sunshine out in full force this morning and the fact that the forum has not been subjected to my numerous postings of the same subject recently, for your perusal and enjoyment here is a very standard looking brick and concrete road bridge scratch build currently underway in my workshop.

Seriously folks this is just a mock up shoot showing progress as the true to original orientation hasn't set.

 

Its been a while for me posting progress updates because I had to rebuild the workshop with new roof and uPVC french doors and a side door... even put a timber roof overhang at one end so it looks like a railway goods shed. Anyway finally got back to making progress on Leek station ... here are a few pictures.



Some of the building elements are now fitted against the platform which I've managed to re create the worn tarmac texture of the original station platform... this was done using a mix of various cement adhesives stained with black ink.After experimentation I found that Mapai Rapid Set adhesive mixed with dilute PVA offers a good likeness and is robust.



We have flowers ! Churnet Valley stations always had nicely trimmed gardens, mainly the flowers were ordinary cottage garden varieties like Russell Lupins, White Rock, Aubretia and Golden Rod... my creations were made using various scenic scatters. The stones are tiny bits from a bag of Polar White chippings.



Still have to tone out the "glaze" look of the stone wall of the waiting shelter but now the whole platform has been remade and the building elements come together nicely. The porters room and platform wall still needs work to complete.



So the bridge now has the beginings of the staircase, this is made from 3mm Foamex sheet and laminated with embossed brick sheet of English Bond.Looking beyond the bridge will be the next module extension which will contain the crossover road and the north end platforms to ramp with water column. No steps fitted in the staircase and I have had to order more embosed English Bond to complete the outer sides.



This is the only remaining bit of the original Leek station left now, the underpass in the staircase led to the Churnet Valley Inn which in pre-grouping days was owned by the North Stafford, the LMS sold the hotel side of things off but the entrance remained in use with BR right up until closure of the line to passengers. I won't be modeling the Churnet Valley pub as that would take too much room and time up but the lawn and tree with pathway will form the layout edge.

 

So now back to making models and first out the trap is the Leek Station signalbox designed and printed by Andy Sollis, 56 individually cut glazing panes fitted to the front of the cabin, about another 80 to go.