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Tucking Mill


queensquare
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I thought it was about time I started a thread on my new little layout Tucking Mill as its now out of the bag that its due to make its first proper exhibition appearance at this years Warley in November.

Now, just to avoid any confusion from the off, this is not Tucking Mill viaduct on the SDJR but is, or rather would have been, just a few hundred yards away next to the mill and the canal in the valley below the viaduct - anyone who knows this stunningly beautiful area around Bath will know what I mean. I am building Tucking Mill viaduct but this is a permanent part of my home layout which will evenualy feature Bath Queen Square and runs around my workshop.

The Tucking Mill which will form the subject of this thread is the terminus of the North Somerset Light Railway, conceived in 1902, opened in 1905 under the Light Railway Act and closed in the mid 1950's when the last of the mines that were its main source of traffic closed.

I will not elaborate further here on the history of the line because I haven't made it all up yet, suffice to say that Mike Arlett's book, 'The Railways of Midford', outlines a variety of schemes that were put forward in the early years of the 20th century to build a line up the Cam Valley to tap the potential traffic, principaly coal. What was eventualy built was the Camerton and Limpley Stoke line, made famous by the Titfield Thunderbolt, but one of the schemes offers the intruiging possibility of a line, essentialy following the same route, but with a terminus at Tucking Mill and a short spur to some exchange sidings on the SDJ at Midford. These exchange sidings will feature on my home layout and the little terminus will be my new exhibition layout and the subject of this thread.

The terminus is situated next to the mill which gives the layout and viaduct its name and adjacent to the Somerset Coal Canal whose traffic it would take. As well as Fullers earth from the mill (more about tucking and fulling in a later post), traffic would include timber from the heavily wooded surrounding valleys, much of which would be sent up the line as pit props and high quality cut limestone for building work from the quarries up on Combe Down which had originaly come down, via a tramway, to a wharf by the canal but now goes out by rail.

I will leave this opening post with a couple of pictures to give a flavour of what is to come but will add more details, particularly as the panic of the novemember deadline sets in!!

 

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Tucking Mill viaduct in the workshop, the NSLR exchange sidings are to the left.

 

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The new layout will feature a passenger service!

 

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The layouts only exhibition outing to date, Camrail 2011. My good friend John Greenwood flanked by the Grand brothers. I think the scenics may need a bit of work before Warley!

 

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Location, location, location. The terminus essentialy sits where the trees are in the centre of the picture. The mill buildings, now demolished, are immediately to the right of the photographer next to the cottage with the former canal and wharf to the left of the fence.

 

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Here I am stood pretty much on the site of the small engine shed, the station is behind me, the branch and canal follow the line of trees to the left of the lane.

 

Jerry

Edited by queensquare
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Lovely stuff Jerry.

 

Am already liking the layout, the viaduct in the back of your workshop equally impressive and I spot a little 4mm BR Blue tucked beneath it all... :D

 

Look forward to see it develop between now and Warley.

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  • RMweb Gold

I like the lever frame I assume that it switches point motors. Looking at the beautiful scenery in the photos it a good job you're a dab hand at the scenics. look forward to seeing this.

Don

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Thanks all.

Don, the levers do indeed work point motors, and in time a signal (honestly!) and the gate to the private siding leading to William Smith's stone wharf. I have used Cobalt motors which so far seem good.

 

Ian, the carriage on the OCT is one of Shire Scenes etches. They are a bit of a fiddle to make and remain very delicate but do make up into lovely little models.

 

Jerry

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  • 2 weeks later...
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A few more 'snaps' taken on my phone to show that progress is in fact being made.

 

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The first three shots show the backscene being fitted using 6mm MDF. I have put a concave curve in to increase the apparant depth. The second picture shows ply formers being glued in place to give the curved rear corners to the 'sky', thick balsa strips were later glued in place and sanded to give a smooth curve. Finally we see the front pelmet which conceals the built in lighting being added.

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I looked at a number of possible prototypes for the station buildings but in the end plumped for these based on those on the K&ESR for no better reason than because I find them very attractive. They do give a very Colenal Stephens look which is not wholly unreasonable for the supposed history of the NSLR - honest!!

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The engine shed is entirely freelance. A station as small as Tucking Mill would probably struggle to justify one but Kim said we had to have a shed so there you are!

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The Mill which gives the station its name and reason to exist. Still needs some doors and more dry brush work to breath a bit of life into the stonework.

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A couple of overall shots of the layout to date. Still an awfully long way to go but it is starting to get there.

 

My next post will outline the process of Fulling and Tucking which will be in a few days when I have a bit more time.

 

Jerry

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...Fulling and Tucking...

 

I don't fancy trying to pronounce that after a few beers...I'd be getting myself in a right mucking fuddle... :D

 

This is shaping up really nicely Jerry...those last two photos start to hint its going to be another classic such as HC...:yes:

 

I presume you have installed the layout lighting at this stage so you can work with the scenic colours under the 'final light' conditions?

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I don't fancy trying to pronounce that after a few beers...I'd be getting myself in a right mucking fuddle... :D

 

This is shaping up really nicely Jerry...those last two photos start to hint its going to be another classic such as HC... :yes:

 

I presume you have installed the layout lighting at this stage so you can work with the scenic colours under the 'final light' conditions?

 

Thanks Pete, yes, I have to be very careful about typing it as well!!

 

You are spot on about the lighting. I see proper lighting as a crucial part of any layout design and always include it when planning, I see no point in spending hours creating a model only for it to languish in the dark.

 

Jerry

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That's looking absolutely fantastic Jerry - looking forward to seeing it at Warley.

 

Could I ask how you have created the textures on the buildings?

 

Andy

 

Thanks Andy. The corrogated iron is my usual heavy grade tin foil scored on my trusty coffee pot lid. The stone and pan tiles on the mill are Kibri, the slates are cut from strips of paper. Painting is a combination of enamels and acrylics. Weathering is paint and powders but still requires more work.

There are still a few more buildings to make, and a Scotch derrick for the timber yard but these are the key ones so getting these done is a huge leap forward. November seams a long way off until I look at the list of jobs still to do!

 

Jerry

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Could I ask what lighting you have used? I am sure I read somewhere that you used T5 tubes/fitments (B&Q?) with Highbury and found them very good, and I presume that you have done the same again.

 

I found some T4 tube light strips the other day and wondered if they would be as good to use.

 

Izzy

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Thanks Andy. The corrogated iron is my usual heavy grade tin foil scored on my trusty coffee pot lid. The stone and pan tiles on the mill are Kibri, the slates are cut from strips of paper.

Jerry

 

Thanks Jerry - I have some Noch pantile sheets which look very similar to those you've used on the mill - just got to find a suitable use for them now!

 

Could I ask how you've done the brickwork on the station platform? It looks very nice.

 

thanks,

Andy

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I found some T4 tube light strips the other day and wondered if they would be as good to use.

 

T4 is a size (actually 1/2"). More importantly look at the other numbers on the tube something like 830 or 940 - the 8 or 9 is the colour rendering 8 being 80% or better 9 being 90% or better. This is how well the light source will reproduce colours (based on a standard set of cards unfortunately). The last two are the colour temperature in 00°K so 30 is 3000K and 40 is 4000K. The lowest numbers are more red/orange (warm colours) and the higher colours more blue (cold colours). Daylight is in the region of 3000K.

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T4 is a size (actually 1/2"). More importantly look at the other numbers on the tube something like 830 or 940 - the 8 or 9 is the colour rendering 8 being 80% or better 9 being 90% or better. This is how well the light source will reproduce colours (based on a standard set of cards unfortunately). The last two are the colour temperature in 00°K so 30 is 3000K and 40 is 4000K. The lowest numbers are more red/orange (warm colours) and the higher colours more blue (cold colours). Daylight is in the region of 3000K.

 

 

Thanks Rich,

 

Handy to know about the Kelvin code on them. Now I know what to look for when getting a unit. To be honest I sometimes find the 'daylight balanced' types to be rather too cool under some circumstances so ones around 3000K should be fine, just adding a little touch of warmth.

 

Most of these light strips are of course produced for under kitchen cupboard use, I've looked at them in both B&Q and Wickes. The T4 sized ones are quite small and not very heavy which are both useful bonuses which attracted me to them. I believe Jerry stated the T5 tubes don't get too hot in his experience, which is certainly an advantage with small layouts in confined spaces.

 

Izzy

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To be honest I sometimes find the 'daylight balanced' types to be rather too cool

 

That's not too surprising. Generally the warmer the climate the cooler the light preferred. Our climate is not particularly warm and so we prefer a warmer coloured light. It used to be normal to see 835 in our shops (I think only Sylvania make that spec now) but it was a preference not shared by much of the rest of the world and the major European manufacturers have tried to move us to 3000K or 4000K. The difference between T4 and T5 in size is 1/8" of an inch. They may be more efficient (like T5 are more efficient than T8) but it is all a bit foggy to me now because I moved on from the lighting industry nearly 5 years ago.

 

You can get some nice effects with the light though. After a long discussion with David Eveleigh he had what must have been an interesting conversation with a gentleman in an electrical/lighting wholesale/trade counter place. The result was Framsden being lit by a mixture of halogen spots and a small fluorescent fitting with a cool colour temperature (I cannot remember exactly). The result, combined with his painting artistry, is something of a grey scene with the sun breaking through the clouds in the station area. For me it is a very nice effect that many people will not notice, or if they do they will probably not realise the impact of the lighting elements in how it is created.

Edited by richbrummitt
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Thanks Jerry - I have some Noch pantile sheets which look very similar to those you've used on the mill - just got to find a suitable use for them now!

 

Could I ask how you've done the brickwork on the station platform? It looks very nice.

 

thanks,

Andy

 

The brickwork on the platforms is embossed plasticard. The brick edging on the top is from evergreen planking cut brick width at 90 degrees to the grooves which gives a nice flexible strip. The platform surface is card. The lot is painted with a mix of enamels and acrylics as previously mentioned.

Hope that helps,

 

Jerry

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A couple of pictures which hopefully answer most of the questions re. the very simple lighting arrangement which is near identical to Highbury. The new lights are a little yellow for my taste and I will change the bulbs for something a little 'whiter' before I get stuck into the scenic work. Rich Brummits info on what the various figures on the bulbs refer to was very useful.

 

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Jerry

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Thanks Jerry, the pics are very helpful with regard to my initial question re the lighting. I have just completed the basic construction of a small shunting type layout using mountboard (38"w x 8"d x 9"h) and thought I should think about how to light it before starting on track laying. Actually I am also trying to do the basic backscene as well.

 

Thanks for the inspiration I have gained since first seeing HC in RM, and now Tucking Mill.

 

Izzy

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Thanks all.

Don, the levers do indeed work point motors, and in time a signal (honestly!) and the gate to the private siding leading to William Smith's stone wharf. I have used Cobalt motors which so far seem good.

 

Ian, the carriage on the OCT is one of Shire Scenes etches. They are a bit of a fiddle to make and remain very delicate but do make up into lovely little models.

 

Jerry

Jerry

 

I've just ordered some 'Cobalt's so I'm glad you're happy with them!

 

Off to the 'Shirescenes' web site then...

 

Regs

 

Ian

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