Corrugated iron pump house.

 This simple structure sits next to the River Wye and the A6, just outside Buxton. I snapped it today on a bike ride, and thought I'd share it here as it would make a nice model;

It would appear to be owned and operated by one of the local quarries, but for what purpose I do not know.

The structure is in pretty good condition, and blends into its surroundings quite nicely.

On the rear there are signs that it has been altered at some stage, note the panelling on the right;

There is a spring marked next to it on the map.

Apart from being a nice simple hut it's also a good study of weathering, showing that not all corrugated iron structures are covered in rust and on the brink of falling down.

Behind the hut there's this sign;

Quite what it refers to I don't know, I can see no trace of a road anywhere near.

Paul.

Smint tin controller

I do enjoy using my mustard tin controller, and I decided that I'd like another but built into a smaller tin.

Construction is exactly the same (refer to my earlier post linked to above for details), the only difference is that the controller is 'upside down', that is the control knob is at the base and the wiring enters and exits through the lid;

Note the jack plug socket, the controller is powered by a wall-wart.

With the hinged lid open;

The output wire is a Kato extension lead suitably cut down. 

Not only does it look smart and interesting but it fits comfortably into my left hand with the DPDT switch resting between my ring and middle fingers. And the green LED really suits the tin's colour scheme.

As for the mints, ok but I prefer a mint imperial or a Polo.

With thanks again to Les, for his help and inspiration when building my mustard tin job.

Paul.

A lamp housing for a GVT coach.

 I was recently asked if I could turn a lamp housing for an N Brass Models Glyn Valley Tramway coach, in fact the same kit that I attempted some years ago. There's nothing supplied with the kit, and photos and information of this early coach are scarce. Will, who was building the kit, provided a drawing to work to based on some poor quality photos. Neither of us were happy with the result so Will revised his drawing. Again the results weren't quite right. At the third attempt we came up with something that we were happy with, and this is the result;

This was of course turned from brass on my trusty Unimat 3. The gently curved top was formed using a graver and my watchmaker's tool rest. To form the base to suit the roof curvature I first roughed out the bottom with a half-round Swiss file, then finished by drawing the base back and forth along a piece of wet & dry held on a roll of brown parcel tape, which was a rough match to the roof curve.

Here's another side-on view;

A simple enough job, the only complication was working out the size. It may or may not be accurate, so it's a case of if it looks right then it is right. Now all I need to do is send it to Will, and turn another for myself.

Paul.