Under Construction - Birmingham UK


Jim, lots of progress in one day. That soldering iron must be getting quite a work out.

The "proper" English thing has always been funny to me. I bought a 1966 MGB brand new when there were probably no more than a couple of thousand in the US. The owner's manual was straight from the UK and it even showed the steering wheel on the right side. After I finally got it figured out that the hood was the top, what we call a hood was the bonnet, and what we call a trunk was the boot, I was able to tackle the fine points, like spanners, sparking plugs, and tyres. :)
 
Hi Jim

I know American for most of those but Sparking plugs and tyres? Are they Spark plugs and Tires?

You guys must love Worcester and Gloucester (Woos-ter and Gloss-ter) :)

Cheers

Jim
 
Jim, you are correct, spark plugs and tires. You can imagine a 19 year old Ohio farm boy trying to figure out that manual. :) And the Worchester thing is even worse because we have have a city named Worchester and one named Wooster. :eek:
 
Hi All

Made a bit more progress on the trackwork for the London end station throat. There's nothing particularly funky at this end but the fact that nothing at all is straight makes it a bit interesting.

Cheers

Jim

trackwork%20london%20end%202.jpg
 
Thanks Jim

More progress on the London end for you. The complicated stuff on this board is done - just a couple of catchpoints to finish and plain track now.

trackwork%20london%20end%203.jpg

trackwork%20london%20end%204.jpg


Cheers

Jim
 
Jim, still looks like some might complicated trackwork with some tight clearances. You're a better man than me. :)

Steve, you usually use the circuit board ties because they do conduct electricity. The cicuit board switch throwbars make sure that the points are the same polarity as the stock rail. I'm not sure if Jim uses them the same way.
 
Hi All

Its always nice when you get to the stage where you can take a step back and say 'thats done'! About 99% there with my staff building = just need to secure the upper and lower floors together - add a couple more drain pipes and I'm there. I must say I am very pleased with this one!

staff%20building%20done%201.jpg

staff%20building%20done%202.jpg

staff%20building%20done%203.jpg


Cheers

Jim
 
Jim, it's been exciting following along as you worked on that building. I think this is the first time I've seen the whole structure and it's much larger than I thought. Very nice job on both the building and paint/weathering.
 
Hi All

A few (harsh) close ups. These are in pretty tight and please remember that the building will be over 3ft from the front of the layout and (mostly) behind walls!

Cheers

Jim

staff%20building%20close%20up%201.jpg

staff%20building%20close%20up%202.jpg

staff%20building%20close%20up%203.jpg
 
Oh, man, I don't think I'd like closeups like that on many of my buildings. :eek: Considering the size and that it's all scratchbuilt, I think you did an amazingly good job, especially with all the small details.
 
Everyone makes mistakes!

Back in Oct 2003 I had reached this point with my signal box.

signal-box%20old.jpg


I had made a master for the distinctive cladding and copied it in resin. But there comes a time when you have to step back and look at what you have done not from the heart but from the head. It doesn't matter how much time, effort and money you have spent to reach this point but there is one overiding question that needs an answer. That question is a simple one, "is it good enough?"

The answer might not be an easy one and as much as i didn't want to admit it at the time the answer was no! Could I live with it? Ultimately its not about living with it. Will do just wont do. It was inevitable that it would have to be redone.

I had not enjoyed the resin side of the build and I didn't think with my skills (or lack of) I would be able to produce what I needed so the alternative was to use Evergreen L section - nearly 25 packs of it! (70 lengths in total!)

It was 3/16 which was a tad too big so every length needed a sliver cutting off using a piece of H section brass as a guide.

The end result is something I am much, much happier with and I am now pretty much back to where I was in october 03 - This time I am happy to move forward with the model

signal%20box%20front.jpg


signal%20box%20back.jpg


Cheers

Jim
 
Jim, the first model would have been more than good enough for me. I can see how the rebuild really improved the looks but, without a side by side comparison, I never would have known that it could be improved.
 
So let's see whether he got it right:
(Looks fine to me! Though there's a little weathering on the white parts that affects the appearance.)

800px-Brum_New_St_Signal_Box.jpg
 
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