[CeeDeeI]

Once you have the design finished and the materials to hand then the actual cutting and assembly is about 5 hours work, plus drying times for glue and paint. As for cost, somewhere between 60p and a pound, depending on where you get your materials. I can enlarge on this if needed.

 

[CeeDeeI]

Roof finished and in position with drain pipes attached. Class 20 sat in the valeting siding waiting attention. The track isn't permanently laid yet and much is waiting to be done.

 

[Thunder]

A very impressive piece of model making, if you had not mentioned that it was card board, i would have guessed it to be plasti card or similar, wish I had the time and patience to produce items such as that.

 

[CeeDeeI]

Time and patience eh? The twin pillars of railway modelling in my opinion but only needed if you are into DIY, otherwise today you can buy everything you need.
Here is the last photograph of the model looking from the front. I say the last because it was moved from it's present position to make way for a diesel refuelling point. New trackwork has been laid on Barchester to allow the two facilities to sit opposite each other for greater efficiency.

 

[Gwent rail]

Okay, the end result certainly proves your original post, encouraging others to consider card.
Now all we have to do is learn the practical skills, get used to working with a new medium and some reasonable models will follow.
Sounds easy put like that, but I'm sure that many attempts later I'll still be trying ( and failing ) to replicate your standard.
Doesn't mean that I wont try though -- Ah! railway modelling, such fun.
Thanks for the inspiration look forward to seeing more.

 

[Colombo]

I have built buildings out of cardboard in the past and I was happy enough with the results. However I urge a note of caution if your railway is in a garage or shed where the air will be damp. Over time, cardboard, if unprotected, may absorb water from the atmosphere and split. This can happen along the cut edges and on the inside of models where your paint won't reach.

I solved this problem by spraying the finished model, inside and out, with artist's fixative. This is a light colourless varnish that is designed to be used to fix water colour paints. You can buy it from hobbyshops.

My model of Richmond Station in Yorkshire is still intact after 30 years.

Colombo

 

[dwb]

>where the air will be damp
I assume that CeeDee doesn't get too much of that kind of damp where he is

David

 

[Dennis David]

Colombo,

I was just going to mention the same thing.

One other thing I thought I picked up in Bob's post ...
QUOTE New trackwork has been laid on Barchester to allow the two facilities to sit opposite each other for greater efficiency.

Besides building models he's thinking of his model as he would a real railroad albeit with some compromises of course.

I've had to make a lot of compromises with my own design but I like to think of how it would operate if it was the real thing.

 

[CeeDeeI]

With regard to the possibility of damp affecting card. All my models are built with the long term in view, some being over 50 years old, and to this end I have always used shellac on all surfaces where I consider a future problem may exist. I use shellac flakes but they are no so easy to come by today but a ready mixed shellac is button polish, used to cover knots in wood before painting.

As far as operation goes, although Barchester is a freelance layout in every sense of the word, it's very first priority is it's running abilities, both in the interest of it's operation, in this case to a very strict operating timetable, and that every item of stock must perform faultlessly over every inch of track from a walking pace to the fastest scale speeds that are required. With todays excellent models running qualities are not a problem.

 

[Colombo]

Dave,

Have you never heard of " the rain in Spain..........."?

No you are quite correct, Benidorm is quite dry, but for anybody out there basking or bathing in less favourable climes, I believe the tip is still valid,

Colombo

 

[neil_s_wood]

Thats an excellent shed. I don't mind card kits myself. I actually enjoy making them. My forthcoming distillery model will be made mainly of card. It has the advantage of being the most accessible modeling medium only requiring scissors and pva glue.

 

[CeeDeeI]

The next project was a refuelling point for diesel locomotives to match up with the washing unit. These two units are to be in the same complex. This first picture shows the platforms, two bare fuel tanks, one completed cross track gantry to carry fuel pipes and the bits for a second gantry.

 

[CeeDeeI]

Below is a quote from Dennis in an earlier post and I forgot to respond to it.

"Besides building models he's thinking of his model as he would a real railroad albeit with some compromises of course. "

You are quite right Dennis for me Barchester really lives, it has a life of it's own and is in fact Barchester Mk II. The first Barchester was in my loft in the UK and had to stay behind when the house was sold when we moved to Spain, less rolling stock, which is a story on it's own, and this Barchester takes over where the other one left off. The only difference in layout is the length, MkII being much shorter, but the history carries on from the first layout. Whatever happens on Barchester has to be accounted for in real life, costings, planning permission, commercial interests etc. Everything has a valid reason for what it does. All this probably sounds daft and way over the top to most people but I took my initial inspiration from Peter Denny's Buckingham Branch line and have never looked back.

 

[Makemineadouble]

Very impressive CeeDeel why did I think all your gantrys were made from plasti-strut ! Works of art comes to mind. I'm even more impressed.

 

[CeeDeeI]

The trellis work is made from post cards, the blank ones you buy from the Post Office or Smiths, very cheap and cover a lot of modelling. The frames are cut out as you can see and then glued back to back to give the cross effect.

 

[Makemineadouble]

consider writing something for Model Rail or Britsh Railway modelling. we won't mention that publication that comes from Beer

 

[Gwent rail]

Why not the "Beer Beano" ? It would be a great improvement on a lot of the offerings lately !

 

[CeeDeeI]

Oh dear the "Beer Beano", that wouldn't be my beloved Railway Modeller would it? I've been taking that magazine for over half a century and nearly everything I've learned about model railways has come from it's pages at one time or another. Still, not to everyones taste and there is quite a choice out there.

 

[CeeDeeI]

After the last photograph was taken I realised that the refuelling unit was in the wrong position, both for efficient operation and for a visually appealing object, so it has changed places with the wash unit. Neither model caused problems during the move.
Here is the refuelling unit in it's new place on Barchester and the second lattice crossover has been added and track laid loosely so that you can see how it will finish up.

 

[CeeDeeI]

The unit now has it's fuel storage tanks in position plus the fuel flow monitoring cabinets. The cabinets are there only for the time being as their place will be taken up by the hand fuelling pumps and the cabinets moved up against the trellis girders where they really belong. All the pipe work has to go in yet and that is the next stage on the model.
The red discs show where the lighting will be fitted for night time operations.