OO/HO African profile model railway in Kenya: 11 - the station
Posted: 06 Mar 2020, 16:43
I started the station building, a Metcalfe card kit, a while ago and then got bored with it. Restarted it today. Metcalfe call it a "wayside station" but it's big enough for a small African town terminus in the 1960s, I think.
Once I've finished the station building, I can work on the platforms. I have some card kits (I think both Metcalfe and Superquick) but my platforms will be nearly two metres long, and it'll be tedious building that from card, so I'm going to try a tip I got from my brother-in-law in England. On his layout he simply cut long strips of plywood and painted them grey. I'll try the same, with either plywood or chipboard. The height of two pieces of chipboard will just be slightly lower than a British platform, and a bit higher than some I have seen in South Africa and Kenya, although both those countries also have full-height platforms in some stations. I plan to have just one long platform with a track on each side of it. Platform 1, where the long express trains come in, will have an isolated section at the terminus end so that the station pilot can come and remove the coaches and release the train loco. Platform 2, for shorter and local trains, will have a run round loop. The platforms will probably be about 20 cm wide, but the station building will sit on a wider bit at the terminus end. I'll probably make the ramp at the country end of the platform from one of the card kits.
Once I've finished the station building, I can work on the platforms. I have some card kits (I think both Metcalfe and Superquick) but my platforms will be nearly two metres long, and it'll be tedious building that from card, so I'm going to try a tip I got from my brother-in-law in England. On his layout he simply cut long strips of plywood and painted them grey. I'll try the same, with either plywood or chipboard. The height of two pieces of chipboard will just be slightly lower than a British platform, and a bit higher than some I have seen in South Africa and Kenya, although both those countries also have full-height platforms in some stations. I plan to have just one long platform with a track on each side of it. Platform 1, where the long express trains come in, will have an isolated section at the terminus end so that the station pilot can come and remove the coaches and release the train loco. Platform 2, for shorter and local trains, will have a run round loop. The platforms will probably be about 20 cm wide, but the station building will sit on a wider bit at the terminus end. I'll probably make the ramp at the country end of the platform from one of the card kits.