Wednesday 25th June 2025

Worklist:

Infill roadway and adjacent ground.

Progress wall extension.

Add scenic materials to new sidings.

Upgrade electrostatic grass dispenser.

Stephen mixed a batch of plaster filler and brown paint powder, and applied it to the the road and grass bank extension. The wall extension panel he'd been working on was checked for size and alignment before being glued in place. A triangular wood core was made for the large brick coping and also glued in place. The plasticard brickwork will be added in due course...

Meanwhile, Geoff made a start on the grass/foliage for the new boards. Exactly matching landscaping materials were available in small quantities, so a mixture of old and new were used. 

Geoff has a specific look in mind for the siding, bordering on 'un-passable', but he knows what is passable, so it is realistic. The 'fresh' ballast will also be covered in a wash of 'dirty thinners'.

Geoff also found the electrostatic grass applicator and upgraded it from a battery to transformer power supply. Additional scenic material will be obtained before the next session.

For clarification, the 'Aldershot' exhibition is organised by the Farnham & District MRC at the Alderwood Leisure Centre, Aldershot, on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th October 2025. 

(Link to club website)

Wednesday 18th June 2025

Worklist:

Review Geoff's work on the new ground surfaces and paint them.

Adapt the workshop storage frame to the new board depth.

Geoff had completed the paper mache covering to the new scenic areas. It was now hard, allowing us to trim and sand the edges. He then painted the areas with brown powder paint mixed with diluted PVA. Grass and foliage will be added next week.

Meanwhile, Stephen worked on the extension to the wall at the end of the station. The new base panel was sanded to the correct thickness and a piece of 'English garden wall bond' plasticard cut to size. Contact adhesive was used to glue them together. A brick coping and oversailing brick course will be attempted next week.

We then moved on to the storage rack in the workshop. The extended boards now stuck out proud of the frame and prevented the cover screen keeping the dust out. The frame was moved off the wall and timber panels added to enclose the sides and shelves. 

Wednesday 11th June 2025

Worklist:

Set up all of the boards ready for a visit from Chris and Ted, the additional exhibition operating team, who were travelling down to see the progress.

Chris and Ted had only seen the work carried out since the NEC show on the blog, so after a brief description by Geoff, they were let loose on the controls. They seemed impressed with overall progress and everything went well, until they found a dead section on the mainline into the station. One short rail section at the frog was still fed by the point switch and so was ineffective when the point was switched to the siding. A great spot lads! A rail break was later cut and a jumper wire will be fitted in due course.

Ted and Chris getting to know the 'new bits'.

Chris had brought along his latest loco - a mainly 3D-printed 0-4-0. (More details at the bottom of the page). The test run was a success for the chassis and the Kadee couplings.

We then retired to a lovely riverside pub for lunch.

Geoff and Stephen later discussed Geoff's proposal to move the vertical display case forward, in more detail. It would keep the front of the layout flush and simplify reorganising the front drapes. We will look at it in detail in due course, but it seems like a good idea.

Monday 2nd June 2025

Worklist:

Review extension framework for Edwards boards.

Infill voids with foam.

Check ballast from last week.

Design, make and install scenic point equipment for new points.

Geoff had been busy making the extension frame for Edwards as previously described.

While Geoff worked on the previously laid ballast to remove stray 'stones', Stephen started infilling the Edwards framework voids with insulation foam blocks.

The new quarry water panel and how it will fit into the enlarged hole was discussed. A sheet of Perspex was found which would be perfect for the base.

Geoff moved on to the scenic point operation equipment and assessed the options and available fittings. Finally, a manual throw lever was agreed and found for the point in the sidings. However, it was a chunky white metal unit rather than a smaller/neater plastic unit, so Geoff filed away the visually surplus material. Components left over from the station lever frame were found and assembled into a 3 lever frame for the mainline point into the sidings. (1 lever for the frame lock, 1 for the tie-bar and one for the point lock). The latter caused Geoff the biggest problem, as it operates at 90 deg to the tie-bar and required cranks to achieve it. A choice of cranks were discussed and made. The tie-bar lock itself was made from plasticard and fitted in place.