Bomen Station –construction part 2

S65 passes Bomen in the 1980s

The next stage in the construction was to dress the windows and doorways.  Resist the temptation to assemble, until this has occurred.    As my windows and doors are not available commercially, the following pictures show the process.

Ladies platform side doorway on south eastern side. As cut out

Archway filed into the doorway.  I used a half round bastard file

Brickwork carved away above the door with a chisel knife blade. Be very careful with this step

New brickwork pattern scribed into the corbels.  I know this new brickwork should be flush with the surrounding brickwork, but it is extremely hard to tell

Some styrene strips added to "bulk out" the brickwork, as the slaters brick sheet is quite thin.  The one at the top was filed to the same arch shape as the brickwork.  The  thickened brick edges were painted to add depth

More styrene added, to form the woodwork.  The woodwork for the crownlights was cut to size from 20 x 30 thou. strip

One down – 18 to go.......

I used evergreen styrene for all the framing.  A month ago, I purchased almost every size of  evergreen styrene strip from “The Railcar”, and having the exact sizes on hand makes the work go quickly. Whilst it is possible to hand cut sizes from larger sheets, life is too short. 

Now came the fun part – assembly, where good preparation pays off.   The base of the station was cut from a 40 thou thick  sheet, and the walls added slowly, checking with squares.  Reinforcing with 80 thou size square strip on the corners.  The station also slopes away at the rear, so I had to bolster the front platform with yet more styrene strips.  Virtually no gap in the side joins, which only needed a quick light sanding to finish.

All 8 wall sections, and the base, prior to assembly

Back of the station after assembly.  Note the way the brickwork extends below the station base

Front of the station.  The extended station base is to accomodate the platform roof posts. Unlike most of the NSW stations, the roof extends over to the platform, rather than finishes at the station wall, with a separate awning to keep the sun and rain off the passengers.    I am also toying with the idea of an interior, although getting information, and pictures is not an easy task. If anyone has any pictures, I would be grateful to know of them

Brick painting

I tried a new technique (for me) in getting the brick colour.  I headed off to the Wagga Wagga  Bunnings store, and found a colour card that I thought was  really close to the brick colour at Bomen station.   Then I asked if a 250ml sample pot be made for me.  The colour selected was Taubmans “Rusty Rail” – which seems quite appropriate for a railway station.

Back home, I mixed up a 10ml with some thinner (I had run out of Tamiya thinner, so used Simply Glues Y6b thinner instead), and sprayed using a badger 200 airbrush.  I was very pleased that the paint sprayed nicely.    At around $6.00 for 250ml of paint – a BARGAIN for a hobby task.  I hope the paint will stay viable for a while yet – the Bomen station lamp room/gentlemans toilet is a future build.

What did surprise me is how close the Slaters brickwork colour was to the “Rusty Rails” colour.  Under artificial light the slaters brick looked too pink, and even Rusty Rails, which looked right at Bunnings, is a bit bright compared to pictures showing the whole station.  Conclusion - Colours are fairly subjective on a model, so don’t get too hung up about it.

After letting the paint “set” for 24 hours, I got out my small paint brush, and carefully repainted all the trimming in Floquil Antique white – which is a good match for the off-white colour of the station.  This is one of the drawbacks of attaching all your windows and doors prior to the painting – although I am not sure I could have done it any other way, as there is unfortunately a bit of variation in my handcut door and window openings.   

Not quite finished the base yet. The lower concrete “barge board”, and window sills are to be applied;  then add the mortar lines, and the windows and doors.   

rear of station, with cardboard mockup roof.  

Station front - again with cardboard roof.  I might have to change my viewing perspective to see if the roof line matches the picture below

The real Bomen station - hopefully my model will look close to this when finished

Before stating on the posts, awnings, and roof, I thought I would check out the cardboard roof made earlier, on my station.  This is the last time for any changes before starting to cut out more styrene.

In the meantime, I am trying to get some details on the station interior.  Having an open door, and people will add some life to the station when completed.   I have also made a start on the awning supports posts, but you will all have to wait a little longer for this bit.

Happy modelling

Bomen Station –construction part 1

The Bomen station was originally built by Charles Hardy of Wagga, as part of the establishment of the terminus of the Main south line into North Wagga Wagga.  Charles was the owner of a steam powered brickworks in Wagga Wagga, and he also built the Station masters residence, the engine-shed, and other infrastructure.

S66 passes Bomen in June 1980.  44209 with a RUB set. Note the staff exchange stand, and hoop

Station front a few years ago.

Station rear

According to notes I found at the Junee Roundhouse museum, the plans Charles used were his own

This is a round-a-bout way of saying that it was unlikely that a model kit would ever be offered of this station. 

After I drew up the Bomen Station plans, I worked on other projects whilst sourcing the styrene parts I would need. 

Front and back views, with an marginally incorrect pitch on the roof.  I drew the plans to 1:100, and then enlarged them to 1:87 on a photocopier.

End views shows the fall of the ground away from the platform level. This fact has meant that my walls will have to extend below the platform, which slightly complicates the model build 

The first step was to make up a mockup out of cardboard.  This was mainly to test the roof profile, as my plans were not as accurate as they should have been.  Making a cardboard building is a useful exercise, for it also gets me thinking about the project, and tests out a possible construction sequence.   A better grade of cardboard would have been better than the cereal packet card I used,  and perhaps glueing on a copy of my plans front and side elevations would have given a nicer visual result

Cardboard mockup, showing the rear of the station building.  Took about an hour to construct.  Making a mockup is a fast and cheap way to populate your layout with structures, before replacing them with something better when time permits

The brickwork I found is not that close to the modified English bond that is on the prototype.  The brick styrene used is flemish bond, a sheet from the Slaters range.   Whilst this is a British company, and one would expect the brickwork to be OO scale and large for HO, in reality, the brick size was actually about right for the HO scale Bomen station.  But, all jokes aside, it should work OK, as only the best nit picker will know......

SE corner of the station, showing the english bond brickwork

Cutting out the windows and doors is a task that took me over 2 weeks, whilst other priorities took hold.  I have kept the cutouts for possible use for the chimneys.  I have only one sheet of the slaters brickwork, and the Bomen station toilet and lamp room building is another that has to be made, so being frugal with the material is important. 

The wall edges were then sanded to a 45 degree angle, which should minimise the gap when the wall sections are glued together.  As with everything, resist the temptation to rush to assemble, until all the preparation is done.

All 8 wall panels cut to size, and windows and door openings started.  I goofed with one of the windows on one wall, and my fix is currently quite obvious. Unfortunately, I didn't have more styrene to cut a new wall, but once puttied, rescribed, and painted the join might not be as visible.

All of the windows, and many of the doors will have an arched corbel cap, and a distinctive brick pattern.  This work is best done whilst the wall sections are “flat”.  Then will come the fiddly task of fabricating the windows, and doors.  This will be the subject of the next blog post on the station construction.

Detail of the brickwork pattern above the doors, and windows

 Part of my delay in starting the build of Bomen, was that I am continuing to tidy up the back half of the garage, in preparation for the construction of the future train room.   As a bonus,  I found my January –March 1989 copies of the ARHS Bulletin.  Rod S, over in Wagga mentioned to me about an article written by R Scrymgeour concerning the Tumbarumba branch Line, and in the 29 years since publication, I had forgotten its existence.  The article complemented the information and photographs I already had.    I have now placed  all the pages from the article into an A4 display book for easy reference.    There is a reason why old magazines get kept. 

Rails North PC1 station, similar to the station at Rosewood and Glenroy.  If I use this model, I will have to update it, with new paint, downpipes, and water tank

The future Humula Road single lane overbridge. I built this model in the 1980s to the plans that I drew of the roadbridge  on the Canberra branch line, just to the west of Queanbeyan station (bridge replaced in the 1990s). I built that bridge for a large 10 x 5 metre exhibition layout in the 1980s, that incorporated 2 railway scenes. The layout was an island, with viewing on all 4 sides.  One side and end had Molongo Gorge, to Queanbeyan, the other side and end Yass Junction to Yass town. Unfortunately, the layout was vandalised in storage, and it only made a few appearances.  There were some pictures of the layout in better days published in AMRM.

I also  rediscovered a few of my models constructed in the 1980s for an earlier home layout.  Two of these have a chance to be reused.  The station is a “Rails North” resin kit, being the standard NSW PC1 design – used on the Tumbarumba line beyond Humula.  The light blue is roughly the same colour as I remember of Rosewood station.  Whilst I do not have space for a full Rosewood station, I might be able to fit in a token platform between Humula and Tumbarumba.  The other model is a model of the bridge over the railway line in the ACT just west of Queanbeyan station.  I discovered a picture of a similar bridge carrying the Humula Road over the Tumbarumba line near Rosewood.    

Until next time.  Stay warm, and build a model or two.