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Exhibition Layout project: Bricklayers Arms circa 1844

Entries in this blog

Early 0-4-2 banking engine

In the Summer 2016 edition of the Brighton Circular I posed a question regarding the identity of a loco illustrated in Samuel Brees' 'Railway Practice' 1846. His claim that the drawing was of London & Croydon Railway locomotive 'Croydon' was clearly an error and thanks to the perpetuation of this mistake by E. L. Ahrons and others, it's identity has never really been queried.   Thankfully my article sparked a bit of debate and some excellent responses were written in subsequent Circulars.
5&9Models

5&9Models

17

Canterbury & Whitstable Railway, Tayleur 0-6-0

It's been a very long time since my last post (which I think was a 4mm scale chair!) but I've nearly completed my latest build: Canterbury & Whitstable Railway, Taylor 0-6-0 goods loco, no.121,  c1847. The bulk of it was constructed whilst convalescing with a broken left metatarsal. What a tragedy to be signed off work and have to sit there day after day with my foot up, drinking tea and model making, life can be so cruel! A friend offered some Portescap motor/gearboxes in exchange
5&9Models

5&9Models

21

Wagon turntables

Just completed the first cassette of dummy wagon turntables to go outside the goods shed at Bricklayers Arms. This is a set of four, one table inside the shed and three outside. The set will sit at 90 degrees to the front of the shed serving one of the bays. There are six bays each with a set of turntables, three with three and three with four, plus another set of four at one end. Each set is joined by the running lines, one inside the shed and three outside.     To start, two long rails we
5&9Models

5&9Models

6

George England 2-2-2

Over the few years I've been a member of RMWeb, I seem to have erroneously created several blogs. My clumsy grasp of computers has been a bit frustrating as I never know where I've posted and have a horrible habit of posting new material on the wrong blog and so on. Therefore a little bit of belated Spring Cleaning is required and I have copied the info from my previous 'George England 2-2-2' blog to this one so that I can have it all in the right place. So, apologies to those who have read the
5&9Models

5&9Models

16
Tartan Paint

Tartan paint !

Continuing the theme with some ModelU 3D printed figures, I've been experimenting with 'Tartan paint'.   Seems to work quite well on Rose's shawl as she has it out with Charlotte over some recent unladylike behaviour. I mean really! What is she doing out in the street without her bonnet on? Disgraceful!           Apologies for the horrible model makers fingers!    
5&9Models

5&9Models in Tartan Paint

16

London & Croydon No.5 'London'

The London & Croydon Railway ran it's first trains in 1839, and typically for Railways of that period with no facilities to build it's own locomotives, the L & C turned to established engineering companies. Some of them, G & J Rennie for example had reputations forged in other industries but we're nevertheless keen to exploit the rapidly growing demand for engines to run on the newly created iron road.   Aside from a later locomotive Coryndon designed by John Chanter and built by P
5&9Models

5&9Models

11

Greyhound Place

I think I have finally completed the buildings at Greyhound Place, Bermondsey. This is the collection of buildings next to the Greyhound Pub at the Eastern end of Bricklayers Arms c1845. I've slightly tweaked the date of the layout by a year as I want things to show signs of settling in, and it allows a bit more artistic licence when it comes to the rolling stock.   These images show the back yards, there are only a couple of children to add and a few bits of general domestic 'stuff' t
5&9Models

5&9Models

11

L&G Royal William Pt.5

London & Greenwich Railway No.1 Royal William - Pt.5   This is the last part of the series on Royal William for now until I make the Stephenson tender to go with it.   It's all done, an interesting project and a good opportunity to try out a few ideas on the cheap! So the lessons learned are as follows:   Sprung plunger pick-ups on such a tiny engine were more trouble than they were worth. In the end I simply fitted some tee shaped wiper pick-ups between the wheels. Easy, simple and ef
5&9Models

5&9Models

15

London & Greenwich Railway - Royal William - Pt .1

London & Greenwich Railway - Royal William – Part One   The London & Greenwich Railway opened for traffic in 1836. Built on approximately four miles of brick arched viaduct, it was the first Railway to serve the Capital. Royal William was L&G No.1, built by Charles Tayleur & Company to Stephenson’s ‘Planet’ design. Although there is a fairly well known tinted drawing of this locomotive, we are lucky to have a drawing from the Vulcan Foundry archives, which confirms (or othe
5&9Models

5&9Models

11
Jenny Lind

Jenny Lind takes a break (while her crew go down the pub...!)

Following a great little video recently produced by Anthony Dawson about the locomotive Jenny Lind of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway, I felt inspired to give my own 4mm scale model a little break from the monotony of the display cabinet.   The original locomotive was the first of a batch designed by David Joy and built by E.B.Wilson of Leeds. Delivered in 1847, it was a very successful class of locomotives which owed much to the  design of John Gray who had been Locomot
5&9Models

5&9Models in Jenny Lind

7

SER 'Coffee Pot' No.126

Loco No.126 was made at Ashford in 1848 but was not completed until 1850. The engine was either started at Bricklayers Arms and finshed at Ashford or visa versa (I would be grateful for clarification if anybody knows better). Primarily used on line inspection duties, it remained in service until 1861 when it was sent to Redhill as a pumping engine, returning to Ashford in the early eighties where it was scrapped.   The 4mm scale model is very small, I've posed it with a contemporary goods wago
5&9Models

5&9Models

8
Bricklayers Arms c.1845

Saturday morning on the Upper Grange Road

Ex petty officer Solly is in a bit of a pickle.  Having recently been suspended from active naval service owing to a regrettable incident with a cannon, he has decided to consume an increasing quantity of London’s best porter. Unfortunately, not only did the calamity result in the loss of his right leg below the knee, it also neatly removed his left thumb. He now has to swap his crutch to the left in order to hold a bottle in his right hand. After several bottles this balancing act can

London & Greenwich Railway - Royal William Pt. 3

Royal William Pt.3   A little more progress and I've been able to trial fit the driving wheels. Clearance was a bit tight on the central boiler stays but I think this is due to the slightly over-scale flanges on the 00/EM tyres. A bit of fettling to the stays with a swiss file sorted the issue.   The leading axle is only a spare carriage one at the moment, just to get a feel for where the front axle rocker should be and to determine the correct height and levels etc. It's difficult to ap
5&9Models

5&9Models

2
Stables for Bricklayers Arms

In a stable condition...

I hesitate to call this 'Bricklayers Arms Stables' because that's not what they are. However, they are the stables for Bricklayers Arms which is confusing I know but I'll explain.   Whilst Bricklayers Arms station building, goods shed, carriage and loco sheds and coke depot are recorded (some photographically, others as outline drawings) the original 1844 stable block is not. There appears to be no record at all of its appearance. Therefore I have chosen to model the 1856 stables
Bury Goods 0-4-0

Bury goods 0-4-0

This scratch build is something I have been wanting to do for years but have never quite plucked up the courage.   There are several 'sticking points' in modelling a bar framed Bury loco, the obvious one being the distinctive wheels. All Bury locos had them so unless you get those right you might as well not bother with the rest. Thankfully, a friend very kindly drew some up and 3D printed the centres to be fitted into Gibson tyres of the appropriate diameter. However, I found the prin
Activity in the cattle yard

Activity in the cattle yard

Thankfully, in my case at least, lack of blog updates has not meant lack of activity. The past few months has seen slow but steady progress towards completing the cattle yard at Bricklayers Arms c1845 and therefore entering the final straight in terms of completing the first baseboard of this four baseboard exhibition layout.   The following pictures are a collection of various cameos and scenes which hopefully go some way to telling the story of a busy (ish) mid 19th century yard in 4

London & Croydon Railway No.5 'London'

I've had this loco simmering away in my work-in-progress tray for a year or so now. Originally it was to be South Eastern Railway No.13 'Vortimer' of 1842, but due to the way I've built the power bogie in the tender and the fight for space between the brakes and the pick-ups I've decided to complete it as L & C No.5 'London'.   Essentially 'Vortimer' was braked on both sides as far as I can tell, whereas earlier Sharpies such as this one were braked on the right hand side only. I will post
5&9Models

5&9Models

5

Build a Bodmer competition (not)!

In 1845 the Swiss engineer John George Bodmer constructed a pair of 2-2-2 locomotives at his Manchester workshops for the Joint Committee of the Brighton, Croydon and Dover Railways. Born in Zurich in 1786 and later apprenticed to a millwright, the young engineer showed much promise and a strong talent for innovation. He moved to Lancashire in the 1820s but continued his connections with Switzerland and Baden in Germany. His particular invention was that of an opposed cylinder steam engine in wh
5&9Models

5&9Models

15
Ballasting at last

Ballasting at last.

An opportunity presented itself to drag the baseboard outside yesterday and take some photos in the rather dull afternoon light. At last I feel some progress is being made, or in other words, what a difference a bit of ballasting makes!   I took a few more photos to show how some of the areas are finally tying together after some further detail was added.   Oooh look, ballast at last! This is my own somewhat unconventional technique since the ballast in the 1840s was al
5&9Models

5&9Models in Ballasting at last

18

London & Croydon Railway 0-4-2 'Croydon'

The construction of Rennie's 'Croydon' banking loco for the New Cross incline continues. Last night's milestone was managing to shoe horn a Portescap RG4 into the very limited space available.   Next job will be to make the sub assembly of footplate/outside frames and cylinders.   Mrs Rennie looks on wondering just who her husband expects to be polishing all that copper!
5&9Models

5&9Models

3
Early Carriage Truck

An early carriage truck.

No drawings survive for these late 1830s carriage trucks but they frequently appear in contemporary illustrations and there are written accounts describing them together with references in company minute books. This one conforms to the dimensions given by Wishaw of a Grand Junction Railway carriage truck c.1837.   ‘The carriage trucks are each 13 feet 8 inches long, 7 feet 1-1/2 inches wide, and the sides 1-1/2 inches high; the weight being about 43 cwt., and the price £130.’  
5&9Models

5&9Models in Early Carriage Truck

8

Tonight I made a chair.

Once the children were safely tucked up in bed and with an unexpected hour to spare and not really fancying tackling anything big, I decided to make a chair. Scrap brass for the seat, a bit of wire, some solder and a lick of paint.  
5&9Models

5&9Models

7

London & Greenwich Railway - Royal William Pt. 2

Royal William - Pt. 2   Having made a bit more progress over the last few evenings, here is a little more about the loco itself.   The image below shows the mainframes with firebox and flimsy inner frames (more trunk guides than frames). The firebox and frames will be detachable from each other in order to remove wheels in the future, although I can't image a scenario where I would want to do that. The boiler and smokebox are also detachable in order to extract the motor if needs be.  
5&9Models

5&9Models

4
Adams Light Locomotive in 4mm scale

William Bridges Adams Light Locomotive

In the latter half of the 1840s, William Bridges Adams began to dabble in locomotive design with the help of several key figures, particularly the resident engineer of the Eastern Counties Railway, James Samuel. He had established a works at Fair Field, Bow in 1843 for the purposes of expanding his business building carriages and wagons for both rail and road and locomotive construction was a natural progression.   Together they developed the principle of the light locomotive which was
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