Garden Railway Forum

I am now printing the station building to go alongside the row of cottages at the new station on the Railway in the Valley of the Mill.

It is a true scale copy of the victorian building - well as close as I can get bearing in mind it is to go on a flat site rather than the odd sloping position the original occupied.So here are two views of the 3 D model to give you an idea of what it looks like:
In this view you can see the front of the building - the track sits in front of the veranda. As far as I can work out the veranda does not act as a canopy as it sits clear of the track. Details are not yet added. It should have gutters and down pipes. I have made a first attempt at the lamp ( there should be a similar one on the other end of the veranda), and the posts supporting the veranda.
This is the rear of the building which demonstrates its unusual shape. The down end of the station is much wider than the up end of the station, hence that roof shape. I am using the same technique I used for the cottages - a facing covering a latticework frame. The lines on the rear wall show where it is divided into sections which will fit on my printer. That rear wall requires 12 separate pieces for the face, and 12 for the frame.

The station building is a large structure, the model will be 845 mm long overall (without the goods shed), so it is going to take some time to print.

There is a goods shed on the up hill end of the station which is sketched out in the model.

I have the facing of the front wall printed:
and I am currently working my way through the framework and adding it to the facing of the wall:
Trevor

How many Trevor Thompsons are there? You are turning out so much material you must have a clone working alongside.

Peter Butler wrote: Mon Nov 07, 2022 5:42 pm How many Trevor Thompsons are there? You are turning out so much material you must have a clone working alongside.

I think there is only one?

Trevor

The station building progresses:
That is the front and first end printed and assembled. I'm currently printing the second end. The face consists of 6 pieces, each taking about 5 hours to print, and the frame behind it is 4 pieces, each taking about 7 hours to print.

And to give you some idea of where it will fit:
That of course is the row of cottages in the background.

Trevor

That's some undertaking! It'll look great when it's finished.

Rik

There are four sides printed now and this is what it looks like roughly where it will go:

Trevor

Interesting that the back isn't parallel with the front. Is that based on the real cottages?

Rik

This is really starting to evoke the sense of atmosphere you get from the old pictures of the original Tan-y-Grisiau.

ge_rik wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 6:50 pm Interesting that the back isn't parallel with the front. Is that based on the real cottages?

It's the station building that is that interesting wedge shape - it really was like that. If you look at the drawings upthread, that is what will give the roof its distinctive appearance.

SimonWood wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 8:10 pm This is really starting to evoke the sense of atmosphere you get from the old pictures of the original Tan-y-Grisiau.

ge_rik wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 6:50 pm Interesting that the back isn't parallel with the front. Is that based on the real cottages?

It's the station building that is that interesting wedge shape - it really was like that. If you look at the drawings upthread, that is what will give the roof its distinctive appearance.

Oops, yes. I see that now.

Rik

ge_rik wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 6:50 pm Interesting that the back isn't parallel with the front. Is that based on the real cottages?

Rik

Yes Rik, the station building was built on a sloping site and the retaining wall at the back was pert of the building. I have plans for the building which were published in a railway magazine, and were based on a site survey. All I have altered is the slope of the site - I have a level area - so the floor plan is level. Otherwise it is a scale model - all the correct doors and windows in the correct places etc.

It made the roof difficult to draw - you will see that as it develops.

Trevor

The veranda is now printed and assembled:
Now on to the roof.

Trevor

You're printing a monster there Trevor, it's going to be huge!

Peter Butler wrote: Tue Dec 20, 2022 5:02 pm You're printing a monster there Trevor, it's going to be huge!

It is huge. I vowed not to make big buildings - but I'v done it again!

Trevor

The front part of the roof is now printed and fitted into place:
That was 72 hours of printer time.

Now on to the rear of the roof - which looks like it will take twice as long to print.

Trevor

All the roof sections are printed and assembled:
The chimneys are currently printing.

I should be painting it tomorrow!

Trevor

It's already looking absolutely magnificent!

SimonWood wrote: Wed Jan 18, 2023 8:18 pm It's already looking absolutely magnificent!

Thanks Simon. It feels like it has been a long time in the making - but it is exciting to be coming to the end.

I am looking forward to fitting it into position permanently!

Trevor

The chimneys and ridge tiles are now fitted:
And I have started the painting.

As an aside I should say something about the printing of the chimneys. As you will know by now I work exclusively in ABS - and I am getting perfect distortion free prints - every time. I now understand the cause of the distortion I was suffering - it was caused by the print cooling too quickly. I now have a thick layer of wool insulation enclosing the printer cabinet - and the distortion has gone away - even in UK winter conditions. The chimneys were an 18 hour overnight print run when the outside temperature was -3C, in a workshop which was unheated apart from the woodburner which ran out of wood at 1800!

Trevor

Wow! That's quite a build, look forward to seeing the pictures when it's fitted in place. I'm thinking of having another go with ABS (after several years avoiding it) to print out one of the quarry workers cottages later this year - I'll bear in mind your comment about the print cooling too quickly

Andrew

I can understand you avoiding ABS. I have wondered again and again if I was being stupid persevering with it. There have been a number of times when I thought I had the distortion issues sorted only to find that I hadn't really.

This time I am convinced I have actually got it fixed. For example the chimneys are perfect, and the ridge tiles which were printed on edge have really smooth surfaces.

A photo of the insulation around the printer to show you just what I have done.
1inch of wool allround and 2 inches on the top. And one part raised so you can see what is underneath:

Trevor