Signs of Progress

Station nameboards ready to be fitted! Laser printed, glued onto card and sliced matchsticks as posts.

The first nameboard in place!

Trial fit of the signal box. Note that a nameplate has now been fitted to the 'box as well.

Signalling the Changes

Work has started on Essington Signal Box. It is built from the Superquick kit.

The interior will be illuminated, so I've got to add some basic detailing - a lever frame, chair and a stove are all essentials! I've scratch built the frame from wire and stripboard. You can see it here is primer.

The detail is pretty basic - but once painted and fitted in the box I hope it will give a good impression of a lever frame.

Station Forecourt

Some photos of the station forecourt. The paving is self adhesive embossed sheets - very quick to lay and pretty effective. It's amazing what a difference a few details like this can make!

Little by Little....

I'm the first to admit that progress has been rather slow of late (no posts at all during June!), but I am managing the odd bit here and there.

Hot on the heels of the platform installation, I've fitted some working lamps on the platform. It's also nice to see a bit of 'life' in the form of people and animals starting to appear!

Most of the backboards with be painted sky blue, but to add a bit of depth behind the viaduct I've added a trusty Peco backscene. Only fitted on a temporary basis at the moment.

And a new locomotive! This is a repainted Hornby model. Not particularly realistic - but it goes like a rocket!

And finally...some electronics! This board contains 2 circuits. The one at the bottom right (with the large orange capacitor) is the CDU (capacitor discharge unit). This will drive the solenoids that are used to change the points.

The rest of the board contains some logic for the LEDs in the control panel - more on this when its actually up and running! Some of the chips on this board are 35 years old!

New Videos

The Train Now Arriving at Platform 1

We've finally built the platforms!