16th September 2007: Work has now started, the side rails have been removed from the original boards and the new board bases have been cut out to rough shape ready for marking out the track.
17th September 2007: The track has been marked out and dimensions have been finalized ready for boards to be cut to final size.
19th September 2007: The middle board has now been fully built and is ready for painting.
23rd September 2007: All the boards have now been fully built and are ready for painting.
24th September 2007: All the boards have had their first undercoat.
3rd October 2007: All three boards have now been fully painted.
4th October 2007: Track has been removed to allow for the new set of points which will become the access to the New Goods Yard.
8th October 2007: The balsa wood strips which carry the sleepers have been glued in place.
9th October 2007: The sleepers have been glued in place ready for the rails to be laid.
10th October 2007: The first two rails for the new point have been laid and the length of straight track across the board joints has been glued down. The sleepers have been cut to length on one side.
12th October 2007: The sleepers and rails have been cut at the board joints, and the nose of the first point has been installed. The first length of rail for the second set of points has also been laid.
13th October 2007: The next rail for the second set of points, and a short length of track beyond the points have been laid.
14th October 2007: All the plain track has been laid.
15th October 2007: Board 1 has been wired up.
17th October 2007: The sleepers and rails on board 1 have been sprayed in sleeper grime.
19th October 2007: The sleepers and rails on board 2 have been sprayed in sleeper grime.
20th October 2007: Board 1 has been ballasted.
21st October 2007: Board 2 has been ballasted and the printed circuit boards that will control the New Goods Yard have been made.
28th October 2007: The framework for the raised cattle dock and end loading dock has been started.
29th October 2007: The wiring on board 2 has been started.
30th October 2007: The wiring on board 2 is nearing completion.
1st November 2007: The control panel that will operate the New Goods Yard has been started, and the grass bank has been sanded to shape. The wiring on board 2 is now complete accept for the wiring connectors.
2nd November 2007: The control panel has been finished and the wiring connectors on board 2 have been installed.
4th November 2007: New wiring required to operate the New Goods Yard has been added to the existing main line boards. More rails have been fitted to the second set of points.
5th November 2007: Wiring on the existing main line board has continued. One switch blade and the check rails have been installed on the set of points.
6th November 2007: Wiring on the existing main line board is now finished, and work on the points switch blades has continued.
7th November 2007: The first set of points is now completely built and ready for its operating system to be made and fitted.
11th November 2007: The first set of points has now had its operating system made and fitted. Board 3 has almost been fully wired.
12th November 2007: The ground level has been built up in the wide-way between the sidings, around the goods shed and the ramp up to the loading dock/cattle pen.
13th November 2007: The sleepers and rails on board 3 have been sprayed in sleeper grime.
14th November 2007: The wiring on board 3 has been finished.
17th November 2007: Board 3 has been ballasted.
18th November 2007: More rails have been fitted to the first set of points. One of the mainline boards has been ballasted, and board 3 has had its grass bank glued in.
21st November 2007: The gaps between the built up ground level and the rails have been filled with Das modelling clay. The grass banks behind the loading dock have been built up the traditional way using wooden formers and a lattice of cardboard strips covered in plaster and bandage. The plaster has been given a wash of brown acrylic paint to stop white showing through when the grass is added later.
24th November 2007: The ballast between the tracks has been laid on all the boards except for NY1 and NY2. The first set of points has been finished and is ready for motorising.
25th November 2007: The coal staithes have been built up from individual strips of wood and the ballast between the tracks has been painted. The solenoid that operates one of the original set of points has been re-positioned, and the solenoid has been positioned for the new set of points.
26th November 2007: The first photo shows the basic blanks for the Goods Shed walls being cut out on the ‘Vintage Hobbies Fret-Machine’. The second photo shows the basic blanks for the Goods Shed walls cut out. The third photo shows work in progress on the windows which will be plug-in units from the outside. The fourth photo shows the basic shell of the shed and lean-to are completed and a start is made on the brickwork with the plinths at ground level. The fifth photo shows another view of the basic shell of the shed and Lean-Too.
27th November 2007: The operating mechanism for the set of points has been finished, and the new track has been sprayed in track dirt.
28th November 2007: All of the ballasting is now complete.
1st December 2007: The whole of the new section including the adjacent boards were fully set up for testing. A complete test of all the new wiring and track was carried out, and no faults were found. The coal staithes have been painted, and are ready to be dirtied and the coal to be glued in. The new control panel has been mounted to the left of the main control panel.
2nd December 2007: The new ballast has been dirtied except on New Yard boards 1 and 2, and the last of the repainting work has been under-coated.
3rd December 2007: The grass has been glued to the bank on New Yard board 3.
5th December 2007: All external painting of the boards has been completed, and the yard crane is under construction.
6th December 2007: The yard crane has been fully built and is ready for painting.
7th December 2007: The goods shed has been tried in position on New Yard board 1, and it fitted after some minor fettling.
9th December 2007: The ground level has been built up around the goods shed and the paved area behind has been laid. Sand has been applied to provide texture to the un-surfaced roadways and it has been spray painted a mucky brown colour, although this doesn't show too well due to the camera flash.
15th December 2007: The ballast has been finished off in a couple of places on boards 1 and 2, and is ready to be dirtied. The remaining piece of grass bank has been fitted, and the crane can be seen in position.
16th December 2007: The last grass bank has been painted in brown ready to be grassed, and the last of the ballast beside the tracks has been laid and painted. The track ballast on boards 1 and 2 has been dirtied.
17th December 2007: A pickaxe, spade and sledge hammer, along with some buckets and oil drums have been made from scratch for the cut-out in the bank. These along with the crane have been sprayed in ‘1 pack grey etch primer’ and are ready to be top coated. The base of the crane has had the sand texture applied and painted in the mucky brown colour. It is designed to be removable from the board. This is so that if the crane were to get knocked when coupling wagons, the crane would just get knocked over, and will receive no damage.
19th December 2007: The crane has been spray painted in matt grey top coat.
20th December 2007: Detailing on the crane has been painted, and the rest of the grass has been glued on. The buckets, oil drums and tools have been painted and glued into the cut-out.
23rd December 2007: The main fencing panels for the cattle pen have been constructed from square section brass rod for the posts, and brass strip for the horizontals with the aid of a simple jig. The first protective transport box for board 2 has been made except for the lid.
24th December 2007: The protective transport box for board 1 has been made except for the lid.
1st January 2008: The protective transport box for board 1 has been finished.
3rd January 2008: The first 3 photos show that the ‘brickies’ have completed all the brickwork. The fourth photo shows the holes cut in the floor for the lighting, and the final shot shows one of the canopies under construction.
4th January 2008: The protective transport box for the goods shed is nearing completion.
5th January 2008: The protective transport box for the goods shed has been completed, and the transport box for board 3 has been started.
6th January 2008: The protective transport box for board 3 has been completed except for the partitions.
9th January 2008: Work has continued on the partitions in the transport box for board 3.
11th January 2008: The goods shed was tried in position for the final time on the board before completion, and the canopies have now been fitted to the shed.
12th January 2008: The coal-merchant’s cart has been built and painted during the last couple of months. This will be situated near the coal staiths along with some coal sacks, scales and workers, which are currently being prepared.
13th January 2008: The coal scales have been built and sprayed with grey primer along with the figures. The two sets of gates for the cattle pen have been built and, together with the fencing built previously, are awaiting mounting pins to be added before priming and painting.
15th January 2008: The cattle-pen fencing has been sprayed in ‘1 pack grey etch primer’, and is ready to be top coated in a creosote colour. Also the area around the coal staithes has been sprayed in matt black ready for coal to be added.
16th January 2008: The cattle-pen fencing has been sprayed in a creosote colour, and real coal has been secured using roofing felt adhesive in and around the coal staithes.
17th January 2008: The Southern Railway’s Scammel lorry has been built and sprayed in primer.
18th January 2008: The cattle-pen fencing has been glued to the loading dock using a jig to drill the holes. The gap in the fencing at the left side of the cattle pen will be closed by the good shed. The last photo shows the Austin BO28 1926 tractor placed in its position on the end-loading dock.
24th January 2008: All the figures have been painted including the milk churns and the packing crates.
25th January 2008: A packing crate has been added to the crane. The crate is removable from the hook for packaging and transport purposes.
28th January 2008: The Scammel lorry is nearing completion, the coal sacks have been added to the coal cart, and the Austin BO28 1926 tractor has received a trace of weathering to remove the pristine factory gleam from it so that it looks new, instead of spanking new.
30th January 2008: All the figures and packing crates have been sprayed in matt varnish to protect them, and some wagon tarpaulins have been weathered down ready to be added to the yard.
31st January 2008: A water trough for the cattle pen has been assembled using an accurately machined brass block to facilitate its building.
2nd February 2008: The goods shed is now painted, the windows fitted and the roof trusses in place. The final photo also shows the first trial fit of the already constructed roof, together with the doors which are built and only need to be fitted.
3rd February 2008: The paved areas behind and to the right of the goods shed have been weathered slightly using Carr’s weathering powders. Also the figures and crates have been positioned. The New Goods Yard is nearing completion after nearly five months with only the sheep, Scammel lorry, and goods shed to be completed. With most of next weekend being taken up by preparing and packing the whole layout ready for Brighton Modelworld, there is less than a week left for completion! We will make the deadline after all!
5th February 2008: The Scammel lorry has been finished. The transfers have been added, and it has received a trace of weathering.
6th February 2008: The sheep for the cattle pen have been painted and are ready to be fixed to the board in the cattle pen.
7th February 2008: The sheep have been glued down in the cattle pen using a jig to drill the holes. This was the same method used for the cattle pen fencing.
8th February 2008: The boards were laid out for the final time before Brighton Modelworld. All the scenery was set out except for the goods shed, and a few finishing touches were carried out.
9th February 2008: The structure is now complete with the roof and sliding doors fitted. The white parts are now ready for painting.
13th February 2008: The remaining painting on the goods shed has been completed, therefore the goods shed is now finished.
15th February 2008: The final result.