Broadmeadow Upgrade & Signal Boxes.

A lot has happened on the Main North since I last posted about loosing my web site. I spent two weeks in hospital, getting home just in time for Christmas. Now I'm workin' on the railway.

I had previously posted about adding Point Motors & Control Panels to the Upper Deck locations & the hard to get/reach Points in Sydney Staging but the rest of the Lower Deck will stay as manually operated. 

Lately I added ballast to Broadmeadow so the Point's are "sealed in". Broadmeadow has been a major location on my layout & it's taken 30+ years to add ballast - nothing done quickly on my Main North. 

The "L" shaped Broadmeadow Yard, is in the train room.

With the Station Platforms, on a 40 cm wide by 2.2 M long section, in the aisleway in the garage. The up & down go a further 2.0 M to the Points into Newcastle or up to Murrurundi, Werris Ck & Armidale, using a single line.   

Joined together at the "cutout" in the brick wall.

Also shown is the Broadmeadow South Signal Box for the Points at the northern end of the Yard. 

Operating the Points in this "Cutout" area would be difficult if my Lambton Rd Over Bridge was mounted above them, in it's correct southerly location. 

I swapped around Broadmeadow & Lambton Roads & included the Broadmeadow Rd Level Crossing at the "Cutout". including Boom Gates that hopefully will be motorized. 

I added a Colour Light Signal as Broadmeadow to Hamilton Junction had them from 1935 as written in the Byways of Steam 22 article. I will add some more as I've accumulated many, hopefully adding the Occupancy to control them.  

Adamstown Signal Box controlled the Points at the southern end of the Yard, located adjacent to the the Lift Up Bridge into the Train Room, shown left.

Signal Boxes & Platform Steps are Stuart Walker's Model Railways kits, easily assembled - look they're on the layout so they must be easy.

I found two of Joe's Pc3 Station kits under the layout. Assembled one without it's base for the Booking Office, painted it & mounted it onto some 3.0 mm MDF, I thought it was a good substitute plus it's on layout issuing tickets to the lucky passengers . 

Adding Stuart's Platform Steps kit, got the passengers onto the platforms.

I glued Evergreen #159 styrene strips (6.3 x 1.5 mm) to the edges of the platforms, painted them with Tamiya XF-20 Medium Grey.

 

Troweled in my whitish grey sand & sprayed with Ballast Glue mix. I admit I should have added a little more black oxide to get them a little darker. Now they're dried & completed, they're much better than the 3 mm MDF I had.

Made a visit to Glen's Scale Model Co, the new hobby shop, 10 minutes from me, at Thornleigh.  I purchased some of Anton's Platform Lights that come with Nameboards & a Baggage Trolley kit. 

I printed "BROADMEADOW" in the smallest size font (8) & it just fitted onto the longer Nameboards.

My existing platform buildings will do until I scratch build some new ones, maybe. 

Added a hedge to the fascia, using Clumping Foliage & a couple of large Flower Pots.  

Now for the width of Lambton Rd, I found some photos in the Broadmeadow Station & Loco Facebook group, one taken from the end of the Booking Office looking towards the Premier Hotel.

This shows a yellow centre line & four lanes of cars without any lane dividing line. It also shows a Ford Escort & I've got one of these in my Shed, hopefully not here for much longer. Then I'll be able to extend the Main North - yeah right. 

Another photo from the Facebook group had me adding a Pedestrian Crossing with the overhead Sign.

I need to make some Bus Stop & No Standing Signs.  

My completed 400 mm Lambton Road Over Bridge. 

Because I didn't feel confident painting two lines, I used the 3.0mm Stripping tape I use for my Control Panels, cut down the middle & had to use Super Glue Gel to attach them to the matt road surface.

Made a Stencil for the Pedestrian Crossing after trying masking tape. Sprayed a few coats - done. 

I found a 13.0 mm plastic tube with a disc on one for the overhead sign. I found the "Legs" on the Internet but you Guys would be good at this. Using MS Paint program, I typed in "CROSSING" with the size 8 font again & moved it into the appropriate top of the Legs. Printed it but I'm out of colour on my Printers, glued it to the disc & corrected it with yellow paint. 

I mounted the sign using some .015" Phosphor Bronze wire & two wooden Skewers from the Kitchen. Now I'm the Cook, I'll never use them for Meals.

I finally found my HO painted "people", where some of them have found their way to Broadmeadow. I had to buy some Seats. 

I located a small Signal Box on the end of the platform for the North Broadmeadow Box, that finishes this Broadmeadow "diorama",

An overall view of my Broadmeadow Station. I'm very happy with it and have had a fantastic time researching & building it. Thanks a lot to the Broadmeadow Station & Loco Facebook group.

I'll "move on" to Sulphide Junction Station, that'll be my next Blog entry, then onto Hawkesbury River Station. Now that I've made some sandstone stations, I need to strike while the Iron's hot.