Reddish ETD in 4mm Scale

[E3109]

Well I thought it was about time I started a thread on this, seeing as I've been at it on and off since New Year.

 

I *think* this is the right place for this thread but if not, Mods please relocate as appropriate.

 

Anyway. Reddish.

Lego is the chosen medium.

 

It's progressing well, work permitting.

Looking forward to posting the pics over the next few weeks or months.

[E3109]

Here are some of my initial musings in 3D. Taken a few months ago.
It's progressed much further than this now, but still a long way to go.

One of the photos depicts the end elevation, with another smaller one on top of it. There's a story there!
The smaller one was to give some idea of construction, it was put together at what I thought was approximate size, but without having access to drawings or dimensions. Only a mock up, but shows how far out you can be. Quite surprised at that as my guesstimations aren't usually too far out. Only when I started counting bricks on photos did I realise I'd underestimated the width by a hefty margin.

None of these Lego forms were used in the end, as further tweaks to the dimensions were necessary.

 

Post edited to rotate the pics the right way up.

 

Edited April 19, 2018 by E3109

[E3109]

Originally I was only going to use red Lego bricks, to get a feel for what the building would finally look like. Two things put paid to that, availability of red bricks, and more importantly it's much easier to make adjustments when the bricks are in random colours.

 

None of the Lego will be visible eventually, or hardly any. What a difference a bit of Slater's brick styrene makes.

 

Here's just one small part of the depot, the sanding tower, before and after.

Still some work to do on that of course, but I hope this gives an idea.

 

 

 

 

[E3109]

Posted this to give an idea of size. Just over 5ft long.

I was minded to do it in half relief, with a mirror in lieu of a backscene.

 

Too late now! 

 

Wilko's and Asda must love me, with all the copy Lego I've bought recently 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[E3109]

I've just got home from the Horwich Collectors' fair, met an old friend who is aware of what I'm doing.

He's built his own model in low relief, and rather impressive it is too.

He's a draughtsman by trade, thus he has a good eye for detail. Anyway unbeknown to me, he'd brought along his end elevation drawing of RS at 4mm/ft and gave it to me.

I was absolutely dreading the comparison but I'm truly buzzing now, my Lego frame matches his drawing almost exactly.

 

I'm at the stage where Slater's brick plasticard is being added to certain positions. The difference it makes when the Lego is disguised, well I'm a pretty average modeller but it's really starting to look the part now.

 

I'd recommend the use of Lego and/or its derivatives to anyone who's minded to use foam board instead.

It keeps its shape, and stays square whatever you throw at it.

 

A Brucie Bonus today was picking up an absolutely mint Triang EM2 for just £65, no pan damage, tipped off by my mate, cheers Ian.

 

I'm doing a bit of work on this project tonight, hope to post some more pics over the next few days.

 

Cheers

E3109

[woodenhead]

Got to admit when you first mentioned Lego then started posting images of it I thought you were taking the proverbial.

 

But now I see where this is going I applaud the ingenuity.

[E3109]

Cheers dude.

What's interesting is that ever since I started this project, my 'modelling mojo' for it has never abated, not even once.

I've got an absolute shed load of Asian stuff to do and as you can imagine, most of it involves scratch building and so on.

 

Asian railway modelling is my other passion but I'm more than happy to put that on the back burner right now, in order to see the Reddish thing through to completion.

[Mark Saunders]

Lego for adults produces a strong skeleton to overlay on to and there is no problem with right angles.

 

Mark Saunders

[E3109]

Lego for adults produces a strong skeleton to overlay on to and there is no problem with right angles.

 

Mark Saunders

Indeed Mark and I'd also like to add, that playing with Lego in recent weeks has made me feel about 30 years younger, it's all about enjoying yourself really and I don't think this project would be half as much fun if I'd used foam board or plywood.

[E3109]

Did I say I liked playing with Lego?

 

 

[E3109]

Initially, I was only going to make the pit roads from Lego, rather than the entire base. A couple of reasons for this, first off three pits at over 4ft long, and another about 18" and that would be a lot of Peco pits on the shopping list! 

Secondly, the spacing of the Lego stud centres means that a 2-stud gap is 16mm, pretty much ideal for OO track/pits.

I've left provision for lighting, you can see one of the apertures above. These are not currently cemented in, for obvious reasons.

 

Anyway, when I was making the pits a thought occurred to me, why not make the entire base from Lego, a decision I'm glad I made because it ensures that the pits are equally spaced throughout. Also, it provides a defined position for the shed buildings to sit on, via the 'antistuds' along the underside of the structure.

 

Once everything is 'nailed down' you won't be able to see the studs of course, although I'm still undecided whether to use plasticard or plain Lego-esque bases, cut to size. The ones they sell in Wilko, marked out as roadways. The height is a nice fit to the railhead. 

 

Regarding the track, I'm using Peco concrete sleeper code 75. All the sprues have been cut, and the sleepers spaced out to fit the studs, they are a tidy interference fit with the studs but please note, this doesn't work with wooden sleeper code 75 (or code 100 for that matter) as the sleepers are wider.

 

All the rail within the shed was flat bottomed, so no issues there. As for outside, well the new Peco bullhead is looking tempting! 

That can wait for now...

Edited April 23, 2018 by E3109

[E3109]

Regarding the traction that visited Reddish. Obviously 76s and 506s were a permanent fixture with it being their home depot, along with EM2s up until 1968.

Class 24s/25s, 40s and 47s were also extremely common there too.

 

Going off photographs, the following were also present from time to time:

 

08s (in for maintenance rather than pilot duties, these tended to be done with 76s rather than a borrowed Jocko. Even after withdrawal, 76015, 76040 and possibly others have been noted).

 

Co-Bos and Midland Pullman sets were maintained there for a time in the 1960s.

 

I've seen at least one photo each of a class 37 and a class 50 there.

 

Class 45s were occasional visitors, especially towards the end.

 

Class 87s (!) apparently every loco visited for power pack mods, these required the use of an overhead crane. According to form, Crewe Works didn't have capacity as it was busy with other work.

I do have an emailed photo of 87023 (named) outside the main shed, but don't know who took it thus cannot post it here.

 

 

Blue Square DMUs of classes 104, 108 and even 120.

 

304s and Bury 504s were also common visitors, presumably for the wheel lathe.

 

Merseyrail 502s/503s also went to RS from time to time (again, tyre turning?)

 

I think it was Charlie Petty of this parish, who said that Glasgow AM3s (303s) visited in the 1960s, for repaints.

 

So, clearly there was a lot more variety there than is commonly assumed.

 

Now I'm wondering about what other locos and units went there over the years.

 

It's not beyond the realms of possibility that the Departmental Claytons, which worked out of Longsight for a time may have attended.

 

I wonder if a class 56 ever went there? I certainly saw one undergoing exam in Longsight shed in 1984 (after the Reddish closure), which was unusual in itself.

 

Class 81-86 must surely have visited on rare occasions for the wheel lathe?

 

And perhaps 123/124 Trans-Pennine sets.

 

What about 310s, and thinking about it, I wonder if any 306s visited for component recovery for 506s, prior to breaking up at Horwich Works just down the road.

 

Clutching at straws now, but what about 10000/10001? If for no other reason than the fact that they shared similar bogies to the EM2s.

 

I'm surprised I've never seen any shots of the old DC Altrincham sets on there, surely as Manchester Area EMUs they must have visited on occasion, bearing in mind other 'foreign' Manchester EMUs did, as well as the Liverpool sets.

 

If anyone can assist here, I'd be very grateful and especially so if there are any photos.

 

Cheers

E3109

[russ p]

Mention of the Altrincham sets. Was that and the Woodhead system physically connected as in the overheads before the 25kv arrived at Piccadilly?

[E3109]

No, from what I can gather the Altrincham line ended at London Rd I.e. Piccadilly, at 13 and 14 and my understanding of this is that they weren't even through roads, just buffer stops! This seems so implausible nowadays, really need to check out photos of it to verify.

 

The Alty DC sets did go as far as London Rd though, in fact most of the OLE gantries between Oxford Rd and Piccadilly are genuine MSJAR vintage portals.

According to form the DC was cut back to Oxford Rd in 1958, and the short section between the two stations was altered to AC. It's possible that the bay platform at Oxford Rd is a legacy of this, in fact there were two bay platforms there and you can see where the former 'extra' bay was to this day.

I don't know what Oxford Rd looked like prior to its rebuild but perhaps the two bays were there even then. Many of the Altrincham services terminated there even before the DC was cut back.

 

This is a fascinating subject in its own right, I'm certainly going to have an Altrincham set on my Reddish layout whether they visited there or not. If only because I can legitimately put the pan up!

[E3109]

Class 87s at Reddish

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/drs20304/8495593850/in/photolist-dWJ953

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ron_h/4953158467/in/photolist-aXGtJa-aXGu6n-8xGerV

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/24041160@N02/6537517175/in/photolist-aXGtJa-aXGu6n-8xGerV

 

The last photo is from the Reddish Open Day in 1973, probably the only occasion any steam locos visited there?

[Michael Edge]

Regarding the traction that visited Reddish. Obviously 76s and 506s were a permanent fixture with it being their home depot, along with EM2s up until 1968.

Class 24s/25s, 40s and 47s were also extremely common there too.

 

Going off photographs, the following were also present from time to time:

 

08s (in for maintenance rather than pilot duties, these tended to be done with 76s rather than a borrowed Jocko. Even after withdrawal, 76015, 76040 and possibly others have been noted).

 

Co-Bos and Midland Pullman sets were maintained there for a time in the 1960s.

 

I've seen at least one photo each of a class 37 and a class 50 there.

 

Class 45s were occasional visitors, especially towards the end.

 

Class 87s (!) apparently every loco visited for power pack mods, these required the use of an overhead crane. According to form, Crewe Works didn't have capacity as it was busy with other work.

I do have an emailed photo of 87023 (named) outside the main shed, but don't know who took it thus cannot post it here.

 

 

Blue Square DMUs of classes 104, 108 and even 120.

 

304s and Bury 504s were also common visitors, presumably for the wheel lathe.

 

Merseyrail 502s/503s also went to RS from time to time (again, tyre turning?)

 

I think it was Charlie Petty of this parish, who said that Glasgow AM3s (303s) visited in the 1960s, for repaints.

 

So, clearly there was a lot more variety there than is commonly assumed.

 

Now I'm wondering about what other locos and units went there over the years.

 

It's not beyond the realms of possibility that the Departmental Claytons, which worked out of Longsight for a time may have attended.

 

I wonder if a class 56 ever went there? I certainly saw one undergoing exam in Longsight shed in 1984 (after the Reddish closure), which was unusual in itself.

 

Class 81-86 must surely have visited on rare occasions for the wheel lathe?

 

And perhaps 123/124 Trans-Pennine sets.

 

What about 310s, and thinking about it, I wonder if any 306s visited for component recovery for 506s, prior to breaking up at Horwich Works just down the road.

 

Clutching at straws now, but what about 10000/10001? If for no other reason than the fact that they shared similar bogies to the EM2s.

 

I'm surprised I've never seen any shots of the old DC Altrincham sets on there, surely as Manchester Area EMUs they must have visited on occasion, bearing in mind other 'foreign' Manchester EMUs did, as well as the Liverpool sets.

 

If anyone can assist here, I'd be very grateful and especially so if there are any photos.

 

Cheers

E3109

 

In the 1960s the Midland Pullman sets were maintained there as well.

[E3109]

In the 1960s the Midland Pullman sets were maintained there as well.

Indeed and I'm pretty sure there was a painted instruction on the outside wall, next to the oil stores, that stated 'PULLMAN OIL ONLY' until the bitter end!

Hoping someone has a photo of this.

 

Incidentally Michael I'm sure you bought my MTK 506 a few years ago via EBay, if so, how did you go on with it?

 

E3109

[E3109]

Damn. Just realised, it wasn't you after all.

But can I just ask, are you still making the EM1 type panto kits? Gonna need a few, due to the fact that the Heljan ones are pretty appalling!

 

Cheers

E3109

[Michael Edge]

No, not me, I don't need any 506 sets fro Wentworth Junction. Yes the pan kits are a normal production item, £7 each or £12 a pair + £1 postage. 

[Michael Edge]

I'm intending to start on it this summer, it will use the fiddle yard that I run Herculaneum Dock with now. I'll start a thread when it gets going.

[Sandhole]

Good Morning E3109,

            In answer to your question, the bay platforms were there before the rebuilding of Oxford road.

 The whole station was 1500DC. the units terminating at London Road.

There is a fleeting view of the station from above at the end of the film, 'Hell Is A City'. You have to be quick to catch it, but it is there.

I bunked Reddish many times in the '70s and have fond memories of the place. I'll be watching this thread with interest.

                                Chris.

[sagaguy]

No, not me, I don't need any 506 sets fro Wentworth Junction. Yes the pan kits are a normal production item, £7 each or £12 a pair + £1 postage. 

Interesting posts,i have a pair of these pantographs ready to fit on my Heljan EM1,has anyone got any tips or instructions on fitting these.I think it`s a pity that such an expensive loco had such rotten pans,my Trix EM1`s have better pans.

 

                                 Ray.

[sagaguy]

Good Morning E3109,

            In answer to your question, the bay platforms were there before the rebuilding of Oxford road.

 The whole station was 1500DC. the units terminating at London Road.

There is a fleeting view of the station from above at the end of the film, 'Hell Is A City'. You have to be quick to catch it, but it is there.

I bunked Reddish many times in the '70s and have fond memories of the place. I'll be watching this thread with interest.

                                Chris.

There is an out of print Foxline book on this subject but there is one on ebay.This line is described in great detail with plenty of pics of Oxford rd before & after rebuilding.

 

 

                                           

 

 

                                   Ray.

[Michael Edge]

Interesting posts,i have a pair of these pantographs ready to fit on my Heljan EM1,has anyone got any tips or instructions on fitting these.I think it`s a pity that such an expensive loco had such rotten pans,my Trix EM1`s have better pans.

 

                                 Ray.

 

They fit on the Heljan locos quite easily, in our kits we recommend building them in situ on the roof but for fitting to plastic loco bodies I assemble the pans on a block of wood with four holes drilled in it. All other necessary instructions are in the kit. 

[sagaguy]

Thanks Michael,i bought mine from DC kits but there were no instructions with them,is it possible to put a set on here?.

 

                            Ray.