Water supply and buffer stops for Hexworthy

A while back I got a resin kit for a water tower from Anyscale Models. It's a nice small size just right for 009, and the stone base fits well with Hexworthy. It came with some wire for pipework, but no outlet for locos to use, so I found a corner of plastic sprue and carved out the resin to set it under the tank, the filler bag is a piece of electrical heat-shrink insulation and a wire handle was added for operating a valve. 

While the tank is a nice size for 009, the base is too short - leaving the tank too low to fill a loco. I decided to make a platform for it to stand on, which could provide a coaling area too. The platform was made from pizza base foam and embossed as with the other stonework on Hexworthy, with some steps at the platform end and a wall behind. I will add the coal later. 

As you can see this now puts the tank at a good height for filling the tanks of locos. It is situated beyond the end of the platform alongside the loco release, where locos can be serviced after uncoupling from their train and running round. Similar arrangements are seen in preservation at Porthmadog and Welshpool. 

A close-up shows the pipework detail, a filler pipe and another outlet. The water is a piece of clear plastic painted murky green on the underside, there's a small gap which I should fill with gloss medium at some point. Really there should be some kind of level indicator or float valve on the inlet pipe. 

At the end of the running line a large stone forms a stop-block, hopefully preventing the road wall being demolished. The siding to the left has a Peco buffer stop. 

The problem with the Peco buffer stop is it looks a bit flimsy, not so bad on the end of a long siding but it doesn't look very substantial if used on a platform or running line. For the bay platform I beefed up the Peco moulding with some diagonal pieces of plasticard, suggesting hefty timbers set into the ground to reinforce the stop beam. It's simple but does make the little buffer stop look like it could survive a gentle nudge. 

Finishing Hexworthy station

 Back in June I showed a canopy fitted to the Hexworthy station building. I realised I'd taken a couple of photos of it under construction so thought I should share them! It's made from plasticard edged with some plastic valancing I've had for "one day" for years. The felt roof is just masking tape, applied in slightly overlapping strips. Also in this photo can be seen one of the chimneys with flashing fitted just before final installation.

The underside of the canopy is braced with plastic section and strip (the black diagonals are difficult to see but help prevent warping), and a centre rib made from the sprue from the valance. Paper-clip wires are fixed in place to provide a mounting to the building - holes were punched in the wall for them to push into. 

It was several months later until I got around to painting it. It was made harder when I realised the colour wasn't straight from a tin, I must have mixed it! Eventually I got a reasonable match to the doors, though this is a lesson to use an available colour when it might need to be matched in the future...

Anyway, with the canopy fitted and the chimneys now fixed, I think the station is finished. I have wondered about fitting lighting before it is too difficult, but there are more pressing matters so we will see.

Round the back there is less detail, with no gutters or downpipes, though since it will be a couple of inches from the backscene it could probably have managed even without doors and windows!

Hmm, the café in the old goods shed could do with some interior detail though. The roof is not fixed on yet...