Today’s meeting was attended by a very select band and after the important business of teas and coffees had been dealt with, we got down to discussing signal boxes and other buildings. A number of buildings were displayed on the table, and we set about discussing each of them in turn. First up was the signal box for Lenham Junction that Tim had built to a plan from Roger. This was a solid job and featured Tim’s customary brickwork with individual bricks picked out in different colours.
The next item was the small brick-built hut that John Page 3 of 4 Page 4 of 4 B had built for Queen Charlotte Dock. Although made from a fairly standard kit it had gone together well and was an attractive feature on the dockside. We then looked at John P’s Port of London Authority signal again built for Queen Charlotte Dock and featuring the PLA blue colour scheme and a very detailed interior. There was then some discussion on “true” colours and the variations thereof occasioned by time, climate and the working environment. John P had brought along a very fine signal box that he had built over 10 years ago for the loft layout that he had at the time. Built to a freestyle design from card and balsa wood with full internal details John’s only regret was that with the passage of time he was not able to produce such fine work these days.
I had my model of Margate Sands station building with me which is very much a work in progress. I explained how I intended to deal with the slate roof once I had modelled the inspection hatches and also passed around the 3D printed balustrade sections made for me by David Lowe. The surprisingly fancy balustrade at Margate Sands would be impossible to model in any other way so I am enormously indebted to David. Roger had also produced a Midland Waiting Room that is to be repurposed as a station building for our new micro-layout Badlesham. It may not be quite micro enough but will be quite an attractive feature pro-tem at least. Teas and coffees were provided in the usual way by David Ho thankfully avoiding the bottle of milk in the fridge with a June expiry date. Chris
