Wagga
Wagga station – model construction starts (finally)
I have a
confession to make – I have been thinking about this build for many years, and
for whatever reason, I never started construction.
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| 42201 and 42209 passing through Wagga in 1981. Wagga station building is in the "as modified" design, and colours |
Perhaps, I
was hoping that I could modify an existing model kit to make it closer to
Wagga’s station. The Stewart Walker range of laser cut building kits includes
the impressive Tenterfield station, another Whitton design. Would other people notice the compromises if
I kit bashed the Tenterfield station?
Or maybe, I
could get a set of Wagga’s station plans to Stewart, and perhaps he would laser
cut them. Rod Young did this for his
Wodonga station, (a link to Rod’s Blog pages “Comtrain goes HO! HO! HO!” is on
the top RHS of my blog) and the result is excellent.
Another
option was to get the building 3D printed – this would take me a lot of time in
drafting.
A further option, and the one I am currently pursuing is to fabricate the station from
basic styrene shapes. There is something
rather therapeutic about sticking little bits of plastic together.
I covered
the Wagga Wagga station history in a blog post last year.
Scratchbuilding
in plastic
Those
readers who have followed my blog may have thought that I have accumulated a
lot of basic evergreen styrene shapes,
and sizes in my “stash”. They would be
correct. It wasn’t cheap, but living in
Junee, there is not a “closest hobby shop” anywhere within a 4 hr round trip,
so the investment in styrene over many years is worth it. I am now in possession packets of all basic
styrene strip sizes, and many of the “special shapes” strips. Having a
selection should allow me to choose the correct size of strip. So rather than a closest hobby shop, I have a
closet hobby shop!!
Where to
start?
I wasn't going to attempt Wagga station until I had started with something simple. My success with the
Ladysmith toilet block, Bomen station, and the Wagga signal box were great
learning projects of steadily increasing complexity. Do I have the skills to complete Wagga
station? I won’t know until I try.
Wagga
station still exists, so it can be measured.
Having some facsimile NSWGR plans also helps, although the plans (on A4
size) lacks the fine details that will
be needed for a model. It is also of the
rebuild extensions – more of that later.
As per the
Bomen station, I photographed the Wagga station from many angles, and returned
home, to print the images onto A4 paper.
It was at
this point last year, that I was asked to rebuild the Bethungra Loop N scale
layout.
…..A
year passes……
2 months
ago, I returned to Wagga station, with
tape measure, and my printed A4 images.
3 hrs later, I think I have enough measurements for the station rear –
the main platform being off-limits until a train is due. Will leave the platform side for later.
Modern
restored, or as it was in the 1970s?
Over its
life, Wagga Wagga station building was added to – incorporating a refreshment
room, and parcels office, besides other things. Many of these “enhancements”
resulted in extensions to the station, which from an aesthetic viewpoint, made
the rear ugly. A heritage rebuild around
1990, “backdated” the station, removing the extensions, and restored it to its
former glory. Do I remain accurate to my
1970’s timeframe, or do I build what is currently recognisable? The former has the advantage of fewer fine
details, plus I have plans; the as built, and current heritage version can be
measured.
? what to do ?
è Start with something that was common to both
time periods. And start with something
that is HARD, and challenging. The pair
of walls on either side of the station entrance is a feature that exists today,
and also in the 1970s. The classical lines
and angles fits the challenging aspect.
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| Right Hand wall of the main entrance |
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| Main entrance |
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| Left Hand side of main entrance |
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| Main wall cut from 0.040 thou styrene sheet, and basic window trim added. 9 pieces of plastic |
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| Some architectural trim added. 44 pieces of plastic |
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| Continue with the trim. 55 pieces of plastic |
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| Add the side "stones". These in reality are actually just concrete. I had to make a compromise with the evergreen shapes. The size I selected for the block was slightly larger than prototype, and it made the "mortar" line just a bit thin. But the number of blocks are correct. Number of plastic parts now up to 85 |
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| The roof "triangle" was made from 5 lengths of very thick evergreen strip. Some 0.010 x 0.020 plastic strip for the trim on the top of the wall blocks, and across the top. Plastic count up to 93 |
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| More trim added. I had to cut the triangle gusset piece into two, as I was unable to fit the single piece I cut without having too many gaps. Plastic count up to 128. Unfortunate parallax distortion of the image. |
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| I added some quarter round styrene to the eight "triangle roof supports". Each of these supports has 4 pieces of plastic, and the Wagga station has at least 100 of these supports around the entire roof. Not quite as detailed as the originals, but I think it will do. Note that I have not attempted the rectangle rebates between each of the pairs of "roof supports". I cannot cut these out. Options would be to add a positive section of styrene, or to wait until painting, and apply a decal of the correct shape. Plastic count is 132. |
Summary
My
estimation that this wall has taken over 8 hours to fabricate, over a month of
elapsed time. At that rate, the station
will not get finished any time soon.
However, creating the other wall will be fairly straight forward, as the
time spent to select the correct size of styrene has been done, and I have a
pattern to follow
I have
shown my model to a few people in the Wagga area, who are familiar with the
station. Most think I am crazy, but like
the result. Rod Smith though suggests
that I use the wall as a master, and get the extra wall cast in resin. Rod also thinks that the Riverina Rail
Heritage group that he belongs to may also want a Wagga Wagga station.
Have I
selected the time period? I am happy to
take advice. The rear of the station is
the aspect that will be seen from the aisles of the layout, and an attractive
station rear, particularly one that is instantly recognisable, may progress the
build faster than the ugly version – despite the later being easier to build.
Until next
time
Nice work Rob, quite a challenge!
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Ray P