Following the comments after my last post, I decided - with the encouragement of Wenlock and Job - that it would indeed be a good idea to change the platform faces from brick to stone. If you've been following the saga, you'll know that the station area was originally going to be loosely based on Shillingstone on the S&D, which is why I opted for brick facing originally. As I started making the platforms, though, I made the fatal mistake of plonking my old GWR building on them as a reference, and then decided I was going GWR after all. No-brainer really - I had all the bits already left over from previous layouts, including yards of surplus fencing.

The platforms and associated fittings are all removable, though, so the S&D theme will have its day eventually - hopefully when those LSWR signals from Dapol make their appearance. But for now the brick-faced platforms looked a bit incongruous set against the stone station building, stone goods shed and stone-based signal box. It turned out to be a simple job to change them. I peeled off the brick overlays from the Peco sides and then substituted strips of Slaters stone instead. I did this with the platforms off the layout, one of the advantages of having them removable.

I painted the platforms with some grey and brown shades, then applied a weathering wash before taking it off with cotton buds.

Meanwhile, here's a shot of the general station area showing progress to date, including the nearside platform which is still being painted. The yard crane is the Bachmann version of the one at Highley, but it's slightly spoilt, in my view, by the crude "solid" wheels, compared to the open-spoked versions in the publicity shots. Having built a yard crane for Paynestown, I must admit I didn't fancy the bother of building a second but I suspect this may be a short cut too far, especially as it will be very much in the foreground. Perhaps there are some suitable gears somewhere? Otherwise, it's not a bad looking model.