Belfield Quay

SM32 - 16mm scale - 32mm gauge

Buildings

I can't remember where this photo comes from, but I am sure a model version is going to end up in the yard!

I couldn't resist starting a building and the office was the obvious place to start. 5mm black polyboard - 2 sheets laminated together formed the walls. It was just a 10 foot x 10 foot room with a small WC & lobby, but it was so big - there's nothing left of the baseboard! Don't panic, press on, use it as practice, may be it will all fit, actually, it might work, tight little spaces down the side, quite nice.....

I'd added the plinth, cut and glued on the 600+ bricks added the fascia boards and started gluing on the 400+ slates when that nagging doubt came to a head. In planning out the inside of the office/store/wc I'd made it wider than the photo version and it just wasn't right. I took a razor saw to it and reduced its length by 2 feet. I then realised that the roof overhang changed its apparent height, so I added a foot to its height too!

Not perfect, but acceptable and a lot better than the first attempt. It will also take up less room on the baseboard.

As the track was being laid, I realised that the section of track to the wagon works/engine shed could be extended to the back of the layout, to connect into the fiddle yard. The area suddenly took on more relevance and a building came into being. Made (as usual) of polyboard, but with timber and ply added.

However, when the office was placed next to it, doubts arose as to its suitability. It took up more of the road area than envisaged and would need to be pushed well back into the fiddleyard area to allow the yard to be developed as planned. After further thought, something like a garden shed seemed more appropriate - hang on....... Tucked away in the garage were two coaches that I'd never got around to finishing. Would one of them work?

The smaller coach had most potential. It was a stretched version of my standard coach, but fitted out as an observation saloon. Its layout leant itself to an outer lobby for coats, tools, boots, a sink, & mugs etc, and an inner office with a desk, filing cabinet and a couple of chairs. I liked the idea. The plush seating would have to go, but it's in a good cause and it's an interesting exercise, even if don't use it in the end.