Advice/commentary sought on a large terminus

[Mountain]

1407. Wow. If the walls could speak, what stories would they tell??? A good crop? A bad harvest. Men going off to war? Returning from war. Taxes and other vexations. Loves lost and won? A warm hearth on a damp night? A warm spring breeze flowing through open windows.
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Not to change a most interesting subject, on the question of this terminus I have in mind, I s aw this on eBay. What would it take to make it look less Continental and more British?

s-l1600.jpg

That used to appear at the back of the Hornby 1978 catalogue. It does have a British look to it but similar styles were found abroad. (The first of three pics you showed if you see the writing that you put. These buildings are not easy to get today. They are fairly rare as not many were sold due to them being pretty pricy due to their size and I believe that Hornby only sold them for two years. I seem to recall someone saying that Hornby didn't make them but just sold them. They are fantastic looking buildings if you can find one, and they do look like the style that many of our large town and city stations are. I remeber the buildings that I went in and the style matches that one except the ones I went in did not have a clock towet but some may have! The upper story windows and roof style and the first story windows and doors I often saw during my time on the railways.

[Chops]

I am beginning to wonder if the addition of chimney pots might be effective.

[Bufferstop]

E2E, Haven't found film yet but there's a photo of one, in an uncluttered state linked on the other place, https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gw ... ms1697.jpg
I've just received a copy of The Tyseley Story as a B'day present. There may be something in there.
As well as the ones at Moor Street another was installed at Snow Hill, along with the other space saving device a sector plate. (Half a turntable for anyone who hasn't met one before.)

[End2end]

Thanks Bufferstop.
Quite remarkable!
Thanks
End2end

[Chops]

I vacillated between the Skaledale and the Pola station. The Skaledale because its provenance is indisputably British, and the Pola because I like
the clock tower and its bulk- for once I have enough room to place such a thing. As the clock ticked down on the eBay auction, I cam across this:

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What attracts my eye to this one is that it is unabashedly Victorian, even though it is modeled after American, San Francisco specifically, architecture. But the period is right and it only has to seem British to capture the effect. (Likewise I run a bit of Joeuf and Electrotren because on this side of the pond anything with a buffer is European, ergo, that which is European is British, to the untrained eye. Never mind it is lettered for Renfe). This thing does not seem to have any chimneys. Perhaps if I could somehow affix some? Or wave an OO Union Jack over it...

[Mountain]

That is nice Chops. Really nice! Do you have space for it?

[End2end]

I don't know that a municipal building like that would have chimney's Chops.
Not blatant ones at least.
I can almost hear the architect in my head saying ...
"Ugly chimneys??... Aesthetics' dear chap, aesthetics!"

Amazing model though.
It reminds me of a main town hall or a winter pleasure garden in towns by the sea.
Thanks
End2end

[Bufferstop]

It's a bit early for a UK building without chimneys, centrally sourced heating didn't come in until nearly the end of C19 and then there were still many new buildings with multiple chimney stacks. Schools and office blocks were some of the first centrally heated buildings using a boiler house outback and large diameter cast iron pipes. Hotels clung to fireplaces in rooms, having the fire lit was another chargeable item in some establishments. The magicians who converted St Pancras into a modern masterpiece, from a definitely Victorian one, had to contend with walls pierced by vertical smokestacks when what they needed was horizontal cable ducts.

[End2end]

Of course Bufferstop is right.
I was thinking more along the lines of a building with large open areas inside rather than compartmentalised in to offices etc.
Thus, less and inconspicuous chimney's. Perhaps at the rear of the building.

Although some architects designed masterpiece's of chimney stacks incorporated into the whole design.
I've seen some very impressive designs even just in brick on private houses.
We are blessed in England with such historic towns. villages, houses and buildings still standing. We truly are.
Thanks
End2end

[Chops]

The insights are greatly appreciated. It is unclear how a chimney could be properly fitted without distressing the visual lines of the piece. Maybe just leave well enough alone. A Union Jack in 1/87 should be enough. My next question, and this sounds pretty lame, what colors would be recommended? A slate gray for the roof tiles, seems correct, but what of the walls and trim? Black or white for the window trim? I don't want to make this look like a candy store, left to my devices, or lack thereof. Actually, this piece costs no more than the very fine Skaledale station I was directed to (and thank you for that). As to the size, it is listed as 3.5 inches wide by 9 inches long. A bit small, I would think, but plenty of room to place it perpendicularly to the ends of the coaching tracks.

The typical platforms one see's of the British range are with these large white safety stripes. My thinking is those might post date the 19th century by quite some years. I am guess this was a postwar upgrade? I'll probably sneak in my own platforms, painstaking hafted from paper cuttings, closest I'll ever get to scratch building, as it doesn't have to be British, only seem British to untrained eyes.

[heda]

I'll leave the painting to those with more knowledge.
The white edging I believe was introduced during the war years to show the platform edge during the blackout.
If you want white (or any other colour) line edging take a look at nail tape, what ladies use to decorate there fingernails,

DIY TapeSticker Manicure Nail Art Tips Rolls Waves Striping Tape Line Stichu UK | eBay

Dave

[End2end]

what colors would be recommended? A slate gray for the roof tiles, seems correct, but what of the walls and trim?

For the walls, it depends on what you envisage the building was made from (materials), and it's location (weathering).
Some random pictures of large town hall buildings for inspiration
https://search.brave.com/images?q=old+t ... source=web

In old films you can see London was filthy and grotty with blackened buildings, even the palace's.
But now many have been cleaned up and you can see their original white or grey stone, marble or red brick.
Thanks
End2end

[Bufferstop]

You can use almost any colour of brick or stone as once the railways arrived "statement" buildings could have the materials brought in from just about anywhere, whilst run of the mill structures used what was available locally. Both GWR and Midland buildings were obviously built from the company's planbook in local materials. Our station is built in local red brick, but travel west and you will find identical structures built in sandstone.
As to colour of paintwork white or cream lining around windows and door frames was common whilst the frames would be painted in one of a limited range with good covering power, dark green, deep maroon, brown or black were the ones with lasting depth. Large "official" doorways were often gloss black to emphasise their authority. Think of No 10 Downing Street although I believe the gloss on the current door hides the fact that it's more than bullet proof, hence the man to open and close its mighty bulk.

[Chops]

Most helpful, this saves me a lot of random hunting on the web.

[Chops]

Putting in some of the terminal tracks. It is discovered that the use of this EZ Track has the effect of forcing one to keep it simple. The overall complexity has, by necessity, be reduced to allow the rigid track components can fit. This a good omen for me, as I tend to overcomplicate things
and then spend a great deal of time trying to fix the problems, with limited success. In this case, the terminal tracks will have to be relatively
short, perhaps four to five coaches maximum. All the switches are simply required by space to be easily at hand, which saves a lot of trouble when
things stall or derail on a frog, as they will, sooner or later. For me, simple is preferred. I'd rather be running trains than repairing recurrent problems. The main terminus, when it arrives, will fit into the end, perpendicular fashion. The modern station platforms can be swapped in or out with relative ease to permit dialing the clock back or forth 100 years. All the trains piled up there now will soon find some storage off layout.

For the fiddle yard, the original Henley Station found its way out of the village. The goods yard, which was taking on rather dense proportions in my fevered mine, was forced to reduce itself to a single spur, sliding behind the station to a small loading dock. Maybe, at most, a second spur could be split off from the main spur. The temptation is to crowd the end up next to the main, but that really looks cluttered, so I left a little margin of room to fill in with trees or walls, or hedges to break up the scene.

Again, this is all very new to myself, as we North Americans are not well versed in the practice of having railway stations being the central focus of our railways. The challenge is invigorating.