Hi Geoff.. Erik here again.. Just had a good look at your latest pics.. Absolutely brilliant, Ater looking at them, I ran a video containing East Grinstead, to compare I could not see any differences at all, I am in ore.. Hope to see more pics fairly soon .. Absolutely great.. Cheers Erik..
Hello Erik Just working on Sainsbury's at the moment. It is a fairly important structure next to the Station, so I am putting some care into it so that it looks quite good in the game. I will put up some shots when I have finished and then it is just the mainline station. I have a lot of my own recent photos of this Station so I am hoping that I can use these in the modelling and still get a good result.
Hi Geoff How are you getting along with Sainsburys and the mainline station...also, I was wondering. do you really work in a cupboard under the stairs.. If you do?.. I know how this works ... As I used to dable with Photography, in a pantry under the stairs. as it was the only very dark place in the house.. Anyway back to the important subject.. Any more pics soon.. Very best regards Erik..
Hi Erik I have pretty much finished East Grinstead, Mainline station and the new bridge as well, and I am now working on the Platforms at Kingscote. This is a much welcome change to the modern environment at East Grinstead where it was a bit tedious modelling shopping trolleys, air conditioning units and third rails. Whilst there are some detailed models required at Kingscote, such as the station buildings and the signal box, these are very satisfying to create. I don't think I will include working levers in the signal box but it will have windows that you can see through to the inside. I will put up a few more screen shots soon. As a reminder, I will be taking part in the Bluebell Railway Model Railway Weekend on the 29th and 30th June 2024 which is well worth a visit even if I was not there !
Hi Geoff....Glad to hear from you.. I was a friend of Kingscote in the 90s..And did a fair amount voluntary work there, Some of it on the signal box. Quite a number of repairs on the structure, I also made the first set of steps, Regarding The Bluebell Railway Model Weekend.29.30 June ..Will you be there both days. I will try and get there to see you.. Best regards Erik..
Hi Erik Kingscote is actually a gem of a station, particularly with the flower beds on the platform, and the small yard. Its lack of public parking means that it can seem a little left out at times, but in the summer many people do get off to look around and sit in the sum with a fizzy drink and an ice cream. A pleasure to model. One feature that I have not had to tackle before is the subway, so I have a few ideas to recreate this in the simulation for both Kingscote and Horsted Keynes.
HI Geoff.. Erik here again, How is your Kingscote coming on, any pics yet, did you get the subways sorted? I am really looking forward to the model railway weekend, hope to see you there.. Best regards Erik..
Hi Erik and all I have been trying to upload a lot of images but it is really difficult to get this to work properly on this forum as I seem to get duplicate images posted and in the wrong place and the more I try to correct this, the more duplicate images get posted! I will try again tomorrow but I have finished at East Grinstead and I am working on Kingscote now and as a reminder I will be at Horsted Keynes over the Weekend at the Modellers Weekend so you can come as see progress for yourselves and a whole lot more besides at Horsted Keynes and Sheffield Park.
HI Geoff.. Sorry, I did not get back to see you last Saturday, I did a quickish look around Sheffield Park, but by the time I got back to the platforms the only train was the last, one up and down. So I could not say cheerio.. I really did enjoy seeing you. A lovely way to spend a few hours. So full of interest. Thanks for everything. How was Sunday? Your latest pics are very good. as usual. I was very pleased to hear you say that your route, might be available to us lot out here, some time , I do hope so.. Very best regards Erik..
Hi Erik Sunday was a bit different with more families visting. I will never cease to be amazed at the number of children who are familiar with Train Simulator, which is great for me as it allows me to sit back for a while and let them demonstrate how it all works. Even those that have not tried it before seem to pick it up quite quickly. It was nice to meet up with you again and isn't the Cinema Room at Horsted Keynes a great place to spend a day or two with some of the Bluebell Railway's biggest locos passing regularly just a few feet away and the smallest, Fenchurch, running a shuttle service between Horsted Keynes and Sheffield Park letting us know it is there every now and then with a very loud whistle which is way beyond its size. Steam, smoke, whistles, model railways and loads of people make this a really great event to take part in. See you next year! In the meantime back to some serious modelling to get the Stations finished.
Hi Erik and all Kingscote is coming on very well with the rather obvious Buiders Yard taking up much of the view. I have also pretty much finished the Goods Yard and move on next to the other areas around the station and platform ending up with the canopy on the down line and finally the main station building.
I have been back and changed the display of some of the earlier images from thumbnails to full size. I had a great deal of trouble in posting images a while back and ended up with just thumbnails on the forum, but this time I have had no problems, perhaps something has been fixed. There is still a slightly annoying restriction of only being able to post 5 images at a time, but we get there in the end. Looking back at screen shots I have posted, even I am surprised at how realistic some of them are. There are also reminders, however, of where I need to take a bit more care with my modelling!
HI Geoff.. Thank you for the latest pics.. Almost like being there, brilliant.. It makes me think back to the 1990s when we were building Kingscote station up from the single platform and very run down area, to what it is today, a little gem. something, I am extremely proud to have been part of. I am getting slightly emotional looking at your pics. Again, thank you. I must pull my self together.. A couple of weeks ago, I took a trip to the Spa Valley Railway, It looked very much the same, since my last visit, some years ago, I spent about four hours there, just enjoying the whole atmosphere. I do not drive anymore, so I have to get to places by bus, luckily to get to Spa,, and Bluebell I can use the same bus route, So when I get to East Grinstead I can decide whether to get off, go to Bbell, or stay on and go to Spar, via Station road, Groombridge, Very handy.. Anyway, thank you again for your excellent work..Untill next time.. Cheers Erik..
Hi Erik I am modelling Kingscote Yard as it is today and with two roads into the yard although there were three originally. I know that the Bluebell Railway are trying to buy a few feet of land from the Builders Merchants so that the third road can be reinstated, and if that does happen I can update my route to match. Some not very old maps show the three roads so I am not sure when the third one was removed, probably before the time you were working there though. The background information you gave to me has helped a lot when modelling the station, and I find myself standing in the scene sometimes looking at what I have done from ground level, and it is often easy to imagine that I am actually there! Which reminds me that I need to add a few more sounds to the Stations.
I have been having some fun with small details - * I have added the small storage cabinet outside the Goods Office * Some Milk Churns were required on the Dock * The roof of the Tin Hut was not quite right so I have made it a bit darker * The platform benches at Kingscote are unusually long, so I have made a few of these * The Platform Station Name Board is very unusual and I have added this to the route
Hi Acorn! Looks great so far! If you needed a place to host eventually, I can speak to the other guys at British Locomotive Studios, and ask them what they think? Keep up the good work - Dan
Hi Dan Thanks for your post There is still quite a lot to do, and it is always difficult to decide what level of detail to include, but progress is not too bad at the moment and I have just started on the down Platform Canopy. I would eventually like the route to be distribited widely, but have not yet decided how I want to do this. I will be in a better positon to decide when it is nearing completion. One final Station Name Board -
I have been working on the canopy at Kingscote and I am nearly there with some small details to complete and the lights. Time for a bit of a break to take the kit to the North Downs Model Railway Circle Exhibition in Tadworth on Saturday. In the meantime, a few shots of the Canopy -
I have continued to work on Kingscote Station and have added a few more structures including a placeholder station building to give a bit more context to the placement of the final huts, Signal Box and smaller buildings -
Hi Geoff,,,Erik.here.. I have just seen some more of your excellent pics, It is amazing if i sit looking at them, long enough I , Find myself thinking,, I did some work on that, I built that, a very nice thing to be able to do. Sorry I have not been in touch for a while, I have been in hospital for just over a month I came out a few weeks ago. I am now on the mend. Looking forward to the station buildings.. Cheers for now.. Erik..
Hi Erik Sorry to hear that you have been in hospital but happy that you are now out and on the mend. I am working on the Signal Box at the moment which you will be able to see inside. It will not have any moving parts but there will be a fair representation of the equipment in there. I hope to put up a shot soon and then on to the last model, the Station Building.
Hi I have just about completed the Kingscote Signal Box and attach some screenshots. There are a few final tweaks to do but overall I am pleased with the results. It does take quite a long time to create a model like this when you include the research, finding the right textures and the actual modelling, but it is all worth it in the end.
Hi I have been tidying up a bit around the Signal Box and it now better represents that actual area. I have also started on the Main Station building which I will be building in four separate sections plus the Canopy. I hope to have a walk through Booking Hall, but that might be more complex to do than I think. I have completed the Toliet Block and move on next to the Booking Hall section. A few screenshots -
HI Geoff.. How are you keeping ..I have not seen any thing from you since December.. Have I missed something. How are the station buildings going ok.. hope to hear soon.. Cheers Erik..
Hi Erik and all I have received confirmation that I will be taking part again in the Bluebell Railway Modellers Weekend over the 28th and 29th June 2025. In the Cinema Room again at Horsted Keynes. I am still working on the station buildings at Kingscote which have taken some time due to the detailed architecture and also the interior of the Booking Hall, but I am on the last section of the buildings now, and will have it all finished shortly. I will put up screenshots soon. Kingscote is a delightful Station but I think Horsed Keynes will be a little easier even though there are more buildings. I should be able to duplicate some of the Sheds and Station Buildings with minor changes as many look similar in size and style. One 'bonus' at Kingscote is that there is no parking, so you have to take a train trip to get there!
Hi all I have just about finished Kingscote Station which I think is just as delightful in Train Simulator as it is in the real world. I took a little extra time to model the interior of the Booking Hall which has turned out to be a little bonus feature but has taken a long time to do and really demands a bit more detail than I have included. I don't think I will have the time to do this anywhere else on the route although the opportunity may arise. The Station Clock works in real time and starts working at the scenario opening time and keeps real time whilst the scenario is in progress. The Signals are still effectively placeholder although I have them working properly in and around the Station. I will do a final check for anything to fix and then move on down to Horsted Keynes. Here are some screenshots -
