HOW TO DO IT: BUILD A MODERN STATION
Flashback - Day One: My original rough plans with the chosen track layout are mapped out roughly on a scale plan of the boards. I then laid track pieces out on the board, ensuring that no turnouts were on the baseboard joint. Flashback - Day Two: The foamboard bases for the streets are in place and work is in progress on installing the lattice of card strips which will form the platform. The platform front is faced with Wills stone sheets. The platform was surfaced with Wills sheets. These were cut to form the curved platform edge and fitted round the remnants of the Heljan platform surface, as the shelter was recovered from an earlier project. I filled between the two tracks with offcuts of 5mm thick foamboard to raise the ground level slightly, and filled round the edges and any gaps with Polyfilla. It was given a preliminary smoothing with a small spatula. I then smoothed the Polyfilla with a finger damped with water. This was particularly important for the area which is going to be gravel yard, but less so round the edges where there will be grass and weeds. I then filled in around the siding as this area is going to be overgrown. I installed the electric lights at this point, but keeping the cut-outs clear for access to the copper tape. Clearances were checked by frequent test running. Wills SSM316 palisade fencing pack is fairly new - and came out just at the right time. The mouldings are superb, with the trefoil tops cleanly represented. I made small holes in the Polyfilla and glued the fencing in place.
To complete the end of the station parking lot, I used the large double vehicle gates included in the pack and just cut off the pedestrian side gate. I placed the fencing carefully so that the gates fitted neatly in the gap.
The yard was painted to represent a gravelled hard standing area. I mixed some Woodland Scenics earth colour with Green Scene’s white textured paint to produce a light, sandycoloured surface with a bit of texture to it. Undiluted Woodland Scenics earth colour was used around the edges and areas which would be covered with vegetation. The late, great Jack Kine (of Michael Bentine’s It’s a Square World) taught me to outline such areas in dark brown. To weather the granite setts on the platform, I used Woodland Scenics slate grey, diluted with water, brushed on and wiped off with a tissue to leave a little in the recesses. Ratio GWR spear fencing was updated with a repaint in blue. The shelter and cycle rack were Heljan’s 2501 Tackley Halt kit, along with the supplied platform. Plenty of liquid polystyrene cement blended it into some Wills paving sheets and the granite setts. Nameboards came from the Heljan kit, but could easily be made from styrene sheet and plastic rod. Check the spelling of your station name - ‘Polwydellan’ should be ‘Polwyddelan’, but BR sometimes used old-style spellings. Another minor mistake - two fence posts side by side. The Ratio lineside fencing needs one post removing with a sharp knife before joining pieces together. It only took a minute to put this right, but it makes a big difference.
It is important to check clearances when placing items such as fencing at the lineside. The clearance here is tight and could be even tighter for a steam locomotive with outside valve gear.
Next comes the fun bit - deciding where to put all the vehicles, details and figures. I have a surfeit of buses, so I found homes for three of them. There’s evidently a bit of vehicle preservation going on in Polwyddelan.