Ashton Row Pumping Station

[TurboSnail]

My entry for the cakebox challenge will be based on the interior of a large water pumping station, inspired by that of the Kempton Park preserved static engines (see here: http://www.kemptonsteam.org/) and some even larger American ones - I haven't looked at many of the other entries yet, so hopefully no-one's got to this idea before me! I did a placement year for the Thames Water research department so was a frequent visitor to the nearby site and surrounding area, hence the name Asheton Row, cobbled together from various local place names, with a 'e' added so that the lawyers of the same name don't come after me!

 

I want to use this challenge as an opportunity to try out some new stuff, including: 3D printing, using textured plasticard, and a foray into 009. If all goes well, I have (distant) future plans for an entire layout based around a water treatment site, so it could be integrated into that some day. 

 

If it's anything like my normal projects, progress will be very slow, but I've managed to make a start on some of the CAD work, namely the flywheel for the steam engine - and yes, I am planning the engine to be a scale 10+ metres tall! The cakebox will be on it's side, looking into the 8x6 end, which will hopefully give quite a different perspective.

 

Finding a large OO scale flywheel is not the easiest thing, the old Airfix kit was my immediate thought, but that is now fetching over £20 on eBay, which is a bit steep considering I only need one part of it. Traction engine flywheels were also considered, but would require machining that I have no access to, which is why I'm turning to 3D printing. I drew up this one on CAD - 75mm diameter, or in scale, about 5.7 metres. Only part of the engine will be modelled, to do the complete engine would require significantly more cake.

 

Edited September 20, 2018 by TurboSnail

[TurboSnail]

Since I'm pretty unsure about the layout of this project, I'm planning to make a mockup of it in CAD to get a good idea of how it will look before I commit to buying parts - it's also much easier to make scale dimension changes than drawing it out by hand. Initial ideas came and went, I'm now thinking of something like this:

 

 

We have the narrow gauge line coming into the building at the back, which drops coal into the bays below. The engine will stand on the platform on the right, with only the flywheel modelled at present. Since I'll only be making about half an engine, I'm thinking about strategic use of a mirror to disguise the join with the left hand wall...

[Tref]

Interested to see this progress, apart from it being great for the CBC, I have a pumping house on another project of mine, and reckon I might be able to steal ideas!!!

[TurboSnail]

Adding a very basic model of the static engine's frame makes me a bit more confident that everything will fit.

 

 

For an idea of scale, the base that the engine stands on is 30mm high - a 6ft OO scale person is about 24mm. I still need to figure out how and where to include the conrod and cranks though. I've also added part of a chimney in the front left corner to obscure the edge of the scene.

[TurboSnail]

Some more progress made, including simulating what it might look like with a mirror on one side.

 

 

 

Some stuff has also gone off to Shapeways to be 3D printed - the flywheel, starter engine and bearing mounts. This is my first order with them, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

 

Once I get home for Christmas, I'll be able to make a start on the box and supporting structure.

[TurboSnail]

I got back from Uni to find a package from Shapeways has arrived. This means I might have to do some work on the world's slowest progressing Cakebox Challenge entry...

 

 

So I have a flywheel, starter motor (basically a small steam engine used to start the massive steam engine) and a couple of bearing blocks for the flywheel. All were printed in their 'White, strong and flexible - polished' material; the polishing should mean that the individual layers are less obvious, and it seems to have worked pretty well, although it will be easier to tell once I get some paint on them... eventually. Going for the 'Frosted ultra detail' material would have massively increased the cost and not completely got rid of the issue, so I'm glad this material choice paid off. 

 

 

 

 

The flywheel and starter motor even mesh pretty well. The starter may be pretty crude, but I can add some more detail like pipework and valves later on, as these aren't particularly suited to 3D printing.

 

[TurboSnail]

The mirror acrylic tile turned up, so I've made a start on the structural card parts. The whole thing is designed to fit into a space of 200x200x150mm, so should meet the 8x8x6" size rule which is about 203x203x152mm (I'm too young to remember what inches were...). All the dimensions are taken from my CAD model, so I can just copy measurements without having to work anything out.

 

[TurboSnail]

Found a pic on the Abandoned Miniatures facebook page of a diorama by a chap called Gustavo Andrade.

 

 

A good source of inspiration, although mine will depict a much larger engine, with a lot less rust!

[TurboSnail]

Some people seem to be able to make 6,000 cakebox challenge entries using nothing but their spares box and a few offcuts - not being blessed with a spares box the size of a small warehouse, I'm going the opposite route of buying stuff that I've never tried using before. Hence I am now trying to get to grips with plasticard, of the Slaters variety. Starting with 4mm brick for the various raised sections, I couldn't resist mocking it up to get a feel for how it will look. The plasticard still needs to be painted or coloured in, but that's for another day. Wouldn't want to make too much progress in one go!

 

 

[outcastjack]

I like where this is going, really looking forwards to seeing the engine start to go together in situ.

[GeoffinOz]

I think this is the reason for the cakebox challenge, to try new stuff and techniques without ruining your layout. It has been ideal for me with white metal kits, ground cover and spray guns all new, and a different scale, usually N Gauge, doing OO, next might try On18, (O gauge on N track)

[TurboSnail]

Bricks are now looking more bricky - coloured using a wash of mortar colour, then doing the brick faces with several reddish pencils, an idea I nicked from Phil Parker. Worked out better than I expected too, it gives a fairly uniform look with subtle variations in colour. Only issue is, I now have to spend a lot of time colouring in the main walls, although if the University bookshop is anything to go by, colouring in is a surprisingly popular student hobby!

 

 

[TurboSnail]

Returning to this much-neglected project while I have some free time. One of the other main reasons for making a CAD model of the whole thing is that I can make scale templates for things like the engine frame, here being cut from 0.5mm plasticard. Much easier than trying to transfer dimensions by hand.

 

[Guest ShildonShunter]

I like the beam engine in the old building by Gustav. Your modelling is really great looking forward to seeing more.

[TurboSnail]

The engine is starting to come together, or at least half of it, the rest provided by the mirror.

 

[luke the train spotter]

Looks very nice. Looks like a good solid structure, just like the real thing.

[Guest ShildonShunter]

Very nice looks really great looking forward to seeing more.

[TurboSnail]

I keep getting distracted by other projects! Anyway, stairs and handrails went on last night, using a OO scale man for reference. Lots of holes in the floors needed patching as well, as it was built around the frames.

 

[Guest ShildonShunter]

Tom nice job on the stairs and where the handrails will be situated.

[TurboSnail]

Had to do some repairs after the trip back to Uni, but it has now been painted and reassembled. Next up is the mechanism and flywheel, so I need to think about how that will work.

 

[Guest Bishoptrains]

Tom very nice modelling i have enjoyed reading your progress on this build looking forward to more progress on the pumping station..

[TurboSnail]

Finally got round to doing the tiled walls of the pumping station, the result is not 100% convincing but will do for now. The reason I was putting it off is because the walls had bowed really badly, so I've had to add reinforcement to the backs, which might take it outside the cakebox size limits. But that's a problem for another time.

 

[Dava]

One of the features of many of the Victorian pumping stations was the ornate decor which was applied.

 

Maybe scope for some cunning use of photos and stick-on effects here?

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=victorian+pumping+station&rlz=1C9BKJA_enCA613CA613&hl=en-GB&prmd=ismvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjg_dbi9ZPbAhVLJcAKHU0tA0cQ_AUIESgB&biw=1024&bih=653

[TurboSnail]

More assembly has happened this afternoon, quick question though; should the narrow gauge line go all the way across the side or stop at the edge of the coal drops?

 

 

[Andrew Cockburn]

Looks to be an interesting project, certainly something a little different from the norm. And re the matter of the coal drops line, I'd leave it like it is in the last picture/fully extended, though why is there a gap in the coal drops, instead of them being one long continuous structure?

Edited May 21, 2018 by Andrew Cockburn