Page 20 - November December 2014

On30 lineside platform for coal or merchandise
John Levesley
Laser-etched birch plywood kit by Poppy’s
Wood Tech £15.50
During a recent Sunday morning stroll around the Railex model railway exhibition in New Milton, the M&M models stand caught my eye, in particular a display of 7 mm scale laser- etched plywood structures and scenic accessories. Much of the range is very much UK-focused but some items were certainly reusable on a 1/48th O, On30 or On3 layout. In particular my eye was caught by a nice-looking model of a sleeper/plank-built elevated platform for use by the lineside, with sufficient wooden sides/partitions to support a variety of configurations and uses. A feature of the platform is that the supporting legs are vertical legs with diagonal bracing reproduced in the style typical of many US railroads.
The full set of parts, after an application or two of Weatherit. I also used contact adhesive (superglue would be fine instead), a craft knife, cutting board and a couple of brushes.
The deck and its underside glued together, and below, the three diagonal braced leg sets set in longitudinal stringers.
The legs and stringers fixed under the platform.
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The top of the platform.
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The underside finished off with the additional diagonal bracing provided. The instructions left me a bit puzzled before I started this stage, but once I had the bits cut out and in front of me it was obvious how it all went together.
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20 ROUNDHOUSE