Aldershot Station: When One Project Becomes Many

[Music] Early in the summer, I decided to switch gears and start working on um a passenger station and platforms for the aldershot area of my layout. Up to that point, I'd spent a lot of time with laying track and bench work and basic scenery details. I was interested in starting a project that was different than what I had been working on, and I wanted to try my hand at designing um a laser cut kit uh to create passenger platforms and the buildings themselves. And that process moved really quickly and I was very excited with the things that I was able to produce. However, my enthusiasm started to fade as I realized I needed to continue to make revisions and minor tweaks. My ideas were good and my execution was okay, but I kept discovering that I was making very small mistakes in some of my dimensions, cutting on the wrong side of the line. So, a project that I thought would be quick and satisfying started to linger and linger and linger. And quite frankly, I've lost a bit of enthusiasm. And there is a very old saying that perfection is the enemy of good. And what that really means is perfection is the enemy of done. So I've made a commitment to myself to put perfection aside, focus on done, and finish these passenger platforms. [Music] So let's do a quick recap and talk about Alershot. Alershot Station is a passenger platform in Burlington, Ontario, served by Via Rail, Goransit, and Amtrak Maple Leaf. It's also part of CN's Oakfield sub with a CN freight yard right beside the passenger platforms. Track one is typically used to route freight in and out. This station is my main departure point when I head to the city, so I've always had a fondness for it. I built Alershot station on my previous layout, tore it out, and now it's back as a key feature of this current layout. I often visit Alershot for train spotting and on my last trip I became especially focused on the freight movements. That inspired me to make some changes to my layout and start collecting more freight cars. Thanks Alershot. [Music] All right, so I am working on my platforms here. You can see that I put on the first roof segment, but it's a bit too short. I'm thinking about lighting this. And there's no way that's going to look okay if I don't if I don't change that. So, I'm going to have to go back and cut a new one of these strips and make it a bit deeper. So, here is my drawing for the roof panels. I want a little more of an overhang. So, I think what I'll do is I'll introduce uh two more millimeters along the bottom. All right. So, that is the new roof piece. Um I've extended the overhang just a little bit. And if I get it into place, it covers up that gap perfectly. Okay. Happy with how this is progressing. This is the first platform, the left and right side and the center module. I'm finishing up painting two more of these for this section. I'm happy with that, which means I'm comfortable starting that. And the roofs are drying. [Music] So, things are progressing well. I've got the first three sections of the first platform finished or nearly finished. I still have some roof details and some other little bits to add, but what I can do is I can take a look at them over on the layout. And I've already taken a peek and I think I need to make some changes uh to the layout itself. So this is where the alershop platforms will be living. Um when I set this up, I designed it so that it was consists of six passenger cars as a maximum. And I'm now realizing that parts of the bench work and maybe the track arrangement isn't perfect. Um I think I need to make a couple changes. But first of all, let me show you what the platforms look like. So, there's something I want to change and something I'm not going to bother changing. So, the crossover I installed here is within the platform area and I wish I had installed it a little further down. At the time, I thought the passenger platform was narrower than it turned out to be. Secondly, this retaining wall is confused. I have a low retaining wall here and it jumps up to the full height here and it needs to get cut back further down. So, I've decided that I'm going to leave the crossover where it is. I don't mind that I'm going to have a fence running between the track anyways, and that'll be neat to have sort of a gate between them. Um, but I will need to cut some of this out. [Music] So, I'm still chipping away at the platforms. I have this sort of weird transition here where it goes into um a taller retaining wall. And for that wall, I've got these laser cut arches that match the city. I found some old woodland scenics rock molds. So, I think I'm just going to wing it and I'm going to dump some plaster into some of these and see if I can't mask the transition between the archways and the retaining wall with um a big chunk of rock. All right, here are my molds. I haven't used these in years, and I haven't really taken care of them either. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to mix up a thin coat of plaster, uh, dump it in, and see what I can come up with. [Music] So, I'm just going to spread the leftover plaster on a bit of tin foil, nice and thin, and when it sets, um, I'll be able to break it up and make like shale or rip wrap or whatever you call it, and I can dump it around the base of the stonework. The platform structures are done. They still need some detailing, some roofs, etc., but now is the time that I probably should add some lights. And honestly, I'll love it if they're lit up. Um, but it's just such a hassle to install them. And I'm using some really small LEDs. The model number of this is 0805. Um, they're 3 volts. There are 10 in a package. They were very affordable. And right now, I'm going to super glue them to the inside of each of the platform shelter areas. The first section is no big deal. It's got one center area here, one LED, two wires. Really easy. The center section has got five. And so that's five different LEDs I have to install, drill holes through the platform, and superglue. And then later I have to add a resistor to each one of these and wire it up. [Music] [Music] These are pretty green. Still pretty fragile. They broke apart. Um, and I've started to try to set them up. And I think this is too hard. So, what I'm going to do is I think I'm going to make a paper template that represents where I want the rocks. And then I can lay it on the workbench and try to design the rock face laying down rather than trying to do it vertically. [Music] [Music] [Music] So, I've just rough fit this sort of temporary rock face, and I'm really excited about it. Um, I never considered having a rock face coming in and out of a retaining wall, but now that I see it, I'm totally committed. Um, and I want to add more. It's a shame that I committed to the fascia before I got the rocks in. I need to figure out a way to make it look like it's cut through the tracks and somehow returns to the front of the fascia, which I don't think will be a very big deal. Maybe I'll add one or two more um to the retaining wall and add a few more around here. Um, so at this point I'm completely off track working on the platforms. [Music] So a change of scenery. I thought I would get out of the basement and come do a bit of train spotting. So I'm down at uh the CPKC Gul sub um trying to catch some freight action. So this is a really good time to pause the project because it's going in every direction possible. It started out as just working on these passenger platforms and now I've invested time and energy into something like 12 or 15 ft of scenery. I spent all last night um churning out a plaster rock mold and I need to let that plaster really cure before I start cutting it with the razor saw um because it's crumbling. It's really fragile. I also spent time designing and laser cutting the new retaining wall that goes up behind alder shot and then butts up against that new rock face. They're primed, they're drying, and I need to think about how I'm going to paint them and how I'm going to add graffiti. And to that point, I'm really interested in trying out the Blairline laser cut water slide graffiti decal set. I also need to resolve some of the roof details on the platform. I'm not sure if I want to hold true to the prototype or if I want to do my own thing. Likewise, I want to put some sort of chaotic ventilation systems on the top of them versus the sort of pristine, pure, clean white roofs that exists on them today. So, yeah, lots going on. I've very literally made a mountain out of a molehill or a hill out of a platform. So, this is a good place to pause, think about next steps, and get outside, get some fresh air, touch a little grass, and watch some trains. As always, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate all the support and uh I'll see you next time. [Music]