West Sands - BR (SR) Electrified south coast branch terminus - MISSING PHOTOS SLOWLY BEING RESTORED

[Geep7]

Quite a bit of progress over the weekend with the fencing around the oil sidings.

 

Still plenty more to do to blend the fencing in, plus it needs a bit of weathering. And I need to finish the fencing off to the right of the gates.

 

The layout has also gained a tree in the station forecourt area, and I've made a start on the fencing between the road and the station.

 

A few more pics below;

 

 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by Geep7

[Geep7]

Peering over the fence earlier this afternoon, we see a push-pull fitted BRCW Type 3 and a 2H thumper unit sitting "on the blocks".

 

Looks like the management are visiting West Sands.... Are they here to enjoy a stroll along the beach and an ice cream, or something more sinister....?

Edited February 23, 2023 by Geep7

[leopardml2341]

10 hours ago, Geep7 said:

Looks like the management are visiting West Sands.... Are they here to enjoy a stroll along the beach and an ice cream, or something more sinister....?

 

I hope it's not surveying assets for closure plans

[Oldddudders]

3 minutes ago, leopardml2341 said:

 

I hope it's not surveying assets for closure plans

Having conducted such an exercise for Tunbridge Wells West to Eridge, I can assure you it was done on foot! 

[5BarVT]

5 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Having conducted such an exercise for Tunbridge Wells West to Eridge, I can assure you it was done on foot! 

And no doubt arranged specially for the wettest/windiest day of the year.

Paul.

[Geep7]

11 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

And no doubt arranged specially for the wettest/windiest day of the year.

Paul.

 

Unfortunately the layout is "supposed" to be set during a lovely sunny summers day, so no excuse there, although knowing our climate, it can happen anytime.....

Edited February 27, 2020 by Geep7

[Oldddudders]

13 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

And no doubt arranged specially for the wettest/windiest day of the year.

Paul.

Fortunately not, despite being late Spring, but it was a bit of a walk! And trains were still running of course, albeit not too frequently, and noisy DEMUs give quite a warning. 

 

Being Project Manager for the hurried closure of a branchline was not exactly the pinnacle of my achievements, but it happened and that's that. 

[Geep7]

Having had a couple of weeks away from doing anything on the layout (the next post will explain all) and being very happy with the progress made on the station end of the layout, I've decided to concentrate on getting something else completed, the substation.

 

So this evening I have made a start on the new cooling room at the rear of the actual building, and I have also made a base to mount it all on so I can work on it away from the layout.

 

 

As can be seen, space is a little tight, but I should have just enough room for another set of rafts to the left, and probably some more circuit breakers and the like. I'm probably going to remake the transformer, as I'm not totally happy with it.

Edited February 23, 2023 by Geep7

[Geep7]

As mentioned above, I've not done anything to the layout itself, mostly due to family duties, but also because I made a concerted effort to get my MLV finished for my club's (the REC) modelling competition.

 

 

 

It has had brass wire handrails fitted and is numbered as S68009, which, according to bloodandcustard.com, wasn't repainted into Blue & Grey until March 1970.

 

I have fitted cab interiors (from Replica), but need to add a driver or secondman in either end.

 

It just requires a bit of weathering, and then it will be finally complete.

Edited February 23, 2023 by Geep7

[AireValley1962]

That MLV looks excellent indeed.

 

What make of kit is it? (I perhaps missed you saying the type earlier).

 

Cheers, 

Will

[Geep7]

14 minutes ago, AireValley1962 said:

That MLV looks excellent indeed.

 

What make of kit is it? (I perhaps missed you saying the type earlier).

 

Cheers, 

Will

It's from DC Kits. Unfortunately they aren't in production at the moment, so they come up few and far between at shows or on eBay. I would dearly like an Oxted unit kit, but the last time I saw one on 'the bay' it went for (in my opinion) an extortionate amount.

 

The kit gives you all the bits to make up the main bodyshell, underframe and bogies, unpowered. But they do benefit, as I have done, in using white-metal and brass detailing parts to replace the plastic ones provided with the kit.

[Lyddrail]

Your substation is coming on well. Your transformer would likely be an earlier design as my picture below.

Cheers.

 

[Nearholmer]

That one has had its conservator tank removed for transit, so a good idea to refer to earlier photos too.

[Geep7]

Just now, Nearholmer said:

That one has had its conservator tank removed for transit, so a good idea to refer to earlier photos too.

The conservator tank is the round one on top, right?

[Nearholmer]

Yes, generic diagram:

And, if Lyddrail is who I think he is, he knows all this better than I.

 

Kevin

 

 

[Mike Storey]

21 hours ago, Geep7 said:

Having had a couple of weeks away from doing anything on the layout (the next post will explain all) and being very happy with the progress made on the station end of the layout, I've decided to concentrate on getting something else completed, the substation.

 

So this evening I have made a start on the new cooling room at the rear of the actual building, and I have also made a base to mount it all on so I can work on it away from the layout.

 

 

As can be seen, space is a little tight, but I should have just enough room for another set of rafts to the left, and probably some more circuit breakers and the like. I'm probably going to remake the transformer, as I'm not totally happy with it.

 

I am a bit lost Chris - what approximate year of construction would you be aiming for? I am (eventually) going to model a 1959 sub-station (at Queenborough) but it does not have a cooling room, and is actually even more confined in space than yours allows. I know Queenborough is slightly different to many (as Nearholmer has pointed out before) but I was just wondering......

[Geep7]

7 minutes ago, Mike Storey said:

 

I am a bit lost Chris - what approximate year of construction would you be aiming for? I am (eventually) going to model a 1959 sub-station (at Queenborough) but it does not have a cooling room, and is actually even more confined in space than yours allows. I know Queenborough is slightly different to many (as Nearholmer has pointed out before) but I was just wondering......

Ooh, erm..... that's a good question..... I'm supposing the branch was electrified at the same time as the coastway route from Brighton (late 30's), so I would think the sub-station would be of that vintage. Whether it would have been a brick-built one, I'm not sure.

[Nearholmer]

Geep7's is a 1930s substation, the initial mercury-arc rectifiers in which were of type which needed to be cooled by the circulation of water. The rectifiers installed later didn't need water cooling, what cooling was needed being achieved by air-flow, so later substations didn't need a 'recooler' (rectifier cooler) room.

 

The later substations also had indoor high-voltage switchgear, with solid (IIRC) insulated busbars, rather than outdoor switchgear with air-insulated busbars, which made for a more compact arrangement.

[Lyddrail]

Queenborough Sub is a Kent Coast Electrification design as said with indoor switchgear but a double size rectifier as it has 2 instead of the usual one. Transformers were a version with cooling vanes rather than cooling pipes. See pics from 2004, with I think original transformers.

Cheers. 

[Mike Storey]

18 hours ago, Lyddrail said:

Queenborough Sub is a Kent Coast Electrification design as said with indoor switchgear but a double size rectifier as it has 2 instead of the usual one. Transformers were a version with cooling vanes rather than cooling pipes. See pics from 2004, with I think original transformers.

Cheers. 

 

Wow, thanks Paul. These are brilliant pictures - much better than the ones I have tried to take on a number of occasions.

 

[Lyddrail]

Mike,

I have a few other pics plus scale drawings of a Kent Coast sub standard size if your are interested.

Cheers.

[Mike Storey]

6 minutes ago, Lyddrail said:

Mike,

I have a few other pics plus scale drawings of a Kent Coast sub standard size if your are interested.

Cheers.

 

Many thanks Paul, but I have the dimensions, and the rear will be largely hidden by shrubbery, so these pics are what I needed!

 

Thanks again.

[Geep7]

Ok, some slow progress on the substation.

 

The cooler room is now clad in brick plasticard, with a door into it, and a door added into the feed room.

 

 

I have made a start on the next set of rafts, and hopefully will be able to so some progress soon.

Edited February 23, 2023 by Geep7
Correcting the auto correct *sigh*

[Geep7]

What I have also done over the last couple of weeks is correct some more of the issues with my Hornby 4-Vep.

 

All the roof vents have been replaced with MJT shell vents and the horns with Replica ones. I have also weather it, spraying the sides with track dirt and then removing most of it with IPA and cotton buds. It's also removed a lot of the factory weathering, so the sides look like they've not long been washed.

 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by Geep7

[Mike Storey]

2 hours ago, Geep7 said:

What I have also done over the last couple of weeks is correct some more of the issues with my Hornby 4-Vep.

 

All the roof vents have been replaced with MJT shell vents and the horns with Replica ones. I have also weather it, spraying the sides with track dirt and then removing most of it with IPA and cotton buds. It's also removed a lot of the factory weathering, so the sides look like they've not long been washed.

 

 

 

 

That is much more how I remember them! And you have achieved a level of weathering I have yet to master.

 

A final touch would be the mix of rust and dirt that endlessly adhered to the bottom corners of every window, even after a CWM pass through, but that is asking probably a little too much!