June 2006.

Another month started and I am getting on quite well with the diesel fuel station. The latest results are shown below.




The assembled pipe work and other bits waiting to be mounted on the latticework girders.

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In the next picture you can see that the main pipe work has been installed and connected to both fuel storage tanks. Fuel tanker offloading is done from the right hand track as well as the refuelling operation. Now I have to add additional pipe work so that offloading can be done from either track.






The man is just testing the hand wheel for ease of movement.







Overhead view of the work so far. Additional pipe work needed as already mentioned and the refuelling pumps have to be changed as they are too big for their purpose.


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This next overhead shot shows the completed oil delivery pipework. It can be seen now that rail tanker fuel oil deliveries can be made from either track. The fuel pumps have been changed for those nearer to scale and I have taken the measurements from my local garage. The boxes against the lattice girders are for metering equipment.

 



What looks like a curve in the lower length of track must be an optical illusion as I double checked it when I first saw the picture.








 



The next picture shows a Class66 trying the fuel depot on for size. There is still quite a bit of work to be done yet as you can see.










Now the depot is beginning to really take shape with the warning signs, ladders and 'lights' added. Slowly but surely we are getting there.




Well the fuel depot is almost finished now. I have added a couple of canopies on the off-loading side of the unit and all that really remains is the groundwork, ballasting, grass and some railway fencing to complete the picture.










Here we have the fuel depot with it's own fencing, grassy area, ballast and wooden walk way for the staff of the depot. I won't be doing anymore work on this unit for now as there are more urgent jobs waiting my attention.




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I'm undecided at the moment about the next project. I have a couple or three choices. First off Jones the coal has been fussing about stables for his doddery old nags. There should be some I suppose and there is a small space behind the diesel wash unit and just in front of the coal drops so I could pop it in there.

Secondly the Barchester Sand & Gravel company, which has been slowly deteriorating over the last five years since it's closure and assets being sold off, has been taken over by the Barchester Railway Preservation Society (BRPS) and is in the process of being refurbished as a tourist attraction. The towers and crushers are now back in working order and all that is needed now is a couple of the specialised barge types so that tourists can see the complete operation, from the delivery of the rock to the finished product being loaded into the barges.

Next the General Warehousing complex, also now under the control of the BRPS, is back in business in a small, non profit making capacity and the canal basin jetty, where goods and parcels are loaded and off loaded, is in dire need of refurbishment on safety grounds.

I have decided to do the stables as I think they will be the easiest and quickest to put together as well as finishing off a large edge of the layout so a proper facia board can be fitted for some 12 feet of it's length. Probably won't be any pictures before the end of the month as I have had a couple of ideas about getting clearer photographs to put in the diary so will be playing with the camera as well as building stables. If I don't get back on here then see you at the beginning of next month.

Had more time to spend on the stables than I thought I would have so here are a couple of photographs showing the first and second stages of construction.





Showing one double stall stable finished and the other 'open' stable with it's part construction.






The two units together but without livestock yet. They are squeezed into rather a small space but adequate enough for their purpose.






Horses are a bit nondescript but the best I can do at the moment. Mind you, could say the same about Jones the coal.







This may well be the last entry for June now as not only am I playing with the camera but I have embarked on a big 'people' painting job. It's quite fiddly and consumes a lot of time but Barchester needs the extras now, or at least some of them.