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Queensbridge Road Wharf


garethashenden
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I have finally finished the wiring. Well, except for the fiddleyard. The points have been finished, the point motors installed, a control box assembled, wires strung around. Lots of work with not that much to show. I have tested most of the layout and things are working well. I can't check the first point yet, it's too close to the fiddleyard. I hope to have the fiddleyard track and wiring done soon, but I'll probably get distracted by something else first.

In the meantime, I have a video showing a bit of testing. Everything's gotten a bit modern for my Edwardian layout, Something else to sort out...
 
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Today I decided to shorten the main siding at the front of the layout. With the bufferstop in place there was very little room between it and the adjacent building. I didn't think it looked like a reasonable way for any sort of vehicle to access the wharf. I looked at a couple of options and ended up shortening the track by about the length of the bufferstop. I think it looks much more natural and less cramped.

Before:
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During:
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And After:
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How did you do the buffer stop?

D

They're reclaimed from the previous layout. The North London seems to have favoured timber bufferstops over rail built ones and I made these based off a couple seen in pictures. I think there's a bit missing at the bottom, I need to check. I made them from basswood, here are the construction pictures I have.

 

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  • 5 weeks later...
Progress has continued with track being laid in the fiddleyard. I made it over to Scalefour North a week ago and picked up the last package of Exactoscale P4 trackbase that C&L had in stock. This turned out to be the perfect amount to build a three road sector plate. I had considered four roads, but there wasn't enough space between the tracks to handle the stock. I also had almost the prefect amount of rail left over from the scenic section. I still have to wire it up, but trains roll smoothly over the track joints, so things are looking good. Having track on the fiddleyard has allowed me to finish testing the first point and I am pleased to report that it is functioning properly. It's so close to the baseboard edge that I had only been able to test it in one direction previously.
I have found a coupe of wagons, some unfinished, that need a bit more weight as well as a short section of track where the gauge is 19.45mm. Not sure how that happened, but it will be rectified.
Here is the fiddleyard part way through tracklaying:
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I made a bunch of temporary buildings today. I thought that having something would be better than nothing and I could work out the basic designs now. Most of the buildings are based on real ones I've found in London. Most have been rearranged a bit, but they should give the character I'm after. Everything is built out of foam board and tape because I had it to hand and it's easy to work with. Tomorrow I'll spay them all a light brown colour to help with the appearance. There will be a retaining wall sloping downwards to the right. It is partially marked out in pencil.

First up is a group of four buildings based on the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. I've mirrored them horizontally but they're otherwise modelled on the prototype. The biggest change is that the first structure is now trapezoidal to fit against the road where the prototype is rectangular.

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The next two buildings come from a street just south of Tower Bridge. They're both small warehouses with the charming small cranes mounted on the walls. Unfortunately I think I will have to leave these off the models. I think it would be more realistic for the cranes to be on the street side, which is where the backscene is. But there will be more cranes later...

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The next building features the road access to the goods yard. Unfortunately I seem not to have photographed it, so I have included an image from google maps. The building may change, it's one of two that still need to be finalised, but the length is fixed, the height's about right, and the arch for vehicular access needs to be there. It will probably get a hip roof as most of the other buildings have.

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The building at the end of the layout is the only one I've actually started work on, and I've barely started. It's based on the Metropolitan Wharf in Wapping. I have been planning on having some latice walkways between this building and the one with the arch to help hide the hole in the backscene. However, now that I'm actually putting them in place there is a choice between hiding the hole or having them line up with the floors of the warehouse. This will need to be rethought.

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Next we have a view of the bridge over the tracks. The building on the left will be a small factory manufacturing wooden packing cases. It was inspired by one of the buildings that now make up Camden Market, although there is no architectural similarities. In front of it, at the edge of the layout, is a staircase going from the street down to the canal. I have some 3D printed stairs to go here, but I can't find them anywhere.

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Finally there are the two other buildings on the road. The one in the corner hasn't been developed at all. The general size is right but I need to choose a prototype for it. The other one at the front corner is a rather interesting small warehouse in Limehouse. I'm not sure if it's been painted, the top and bottom look to be London yellow brick, but the middle seems to be red... But it has a crane, so all is good.

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  • 1 year later...

As so often happens with my modelling, I was going along on a project and suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to do something different. I realised that Queensbridge was never going to be finished if I didn't actually work on it. So I went and had a look to see if I could find a suitable project. I decided to start on the fiddleyard end with one of the two buildings. In the back corner will be a pub. I have some ideas, but this is the only structure I don't yet have a prototype for. So the obvious solution was to start work on the other building at that end. This is a small brick warehouse based on a building in Limehouse. Last summer I started work on one of the other buildings using a plywood core with Slaters brick sheet attached to it. This may work for some people, but I didn't find it successful. Windows are always where I seem to have trouble. So for this new building I decided on an all-styrene approach. Previously I have had difficulties fitting etched windows to brick sheet. The problem is always the arch. I love the look of arched brick windows, but they're problematic to make. I've finally settled on a solution that will work, make the windows to fit out of styrene strip. It's not done, but so far it's working.
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So to actually build the structure, I started with a rectangle of brick sheet cut to the correct size. When I photographed the building I used the measure app on my iPhone to estimate the height of the building. From that I made the width to fit the space and the proportions looked good. I marked out the approximate locations of the openings on the sheet, then set about making arches. I figured it would be easier to make the openings fit the arches than the other way around. I took a strip of brick sheet, two full bricks wide, and cut two thirds of the way through between each brick. This made the strip curve and allowed me to further curve it to fit the desired shape. I looked around for a small round object to use as a guide, so they would all be consistent, and settled on the cap for my bottle of flux. I cut the arches to 16 bricks long, curved them, and glued them to 0.010" sheet. Once cured I cut out the arches and trimmed the backing sheet. I left extra material above the arch for attachment, but the other three sides match the arch.
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Using the arches to guide the width and a photo to guide the height, I cut out 11 windows and 1 doorway. I also cut out a section in the middle for the three freight doors. There were inevitably gaps around the arches, and these have been filled in with putty. I then used 0.030" strip to block around the window openings, and then attached a sheet of 0.040" styrene to the back of the wall. Once the windows had been opened out again, the wall was mostly done. The two side walls are of similar construction, brick sheet on plain styrene. The windows are the next step, and that will be a separate story. 
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  • 2 months later...

All the wiring is done, aside from the lighting. I had been waiting on the setts until I was sure the wiring didn't need any changes but I have now begun with this project. It's slow going and I'm not trying to rush, no point in needing to redo it. I've been spreading thin layers of Das clay. The large open areas have thin foam sheet that brings the level up to about that of the sleepers. I've spread clay in between the sleepers, once that's dry I've applied another layer up to just below the rail head into which I press the setts with a modified paintbrush. 

 

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Edited by garethashenden
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20 hours ago, drduncan said:

I think the setts look extremely good.  How long is it taking you to do how much?

D

 

This section, to the right of the tool, took 40 minutes to lay the clay and press the setts. Maybe a 10/30 ratio. I need to find a better way to mix the clay. It’s too dry out of the package, so I’ve been adding some water and pva, but it’s inconsistent. Some areas end up dry and others wet, so that I need varying amounts of pressure when making the setts. I can press harder if needed, but soft squishy areas are a problem. The unevenness would probably be fine if I were modelling the ‘60s, but this yard isn’t all that old and should be pretty smooth. I’ll go over it with something to knock down the high spots once it’s dry, then we’ll see where we are.

 

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8 hours ago, enz said:

Hi

 

Those setts do look good. May I ask how big are they (or in other words, what's the interior dimensions of your paint brush)?

 

Thanks, Evan

 

The paintbrush describes itself as a number 4. The inside is 2.8mm x 1.8mm.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The first warehouse is just about done. Need to finish the roof and a couple of details, that’s it. The windows were all 3D printed.

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One of the challenging areas recently was curving the bricks into the doorway openings. I did this by creating a short bit of wall entering the building, rounding over the corner with a file, and then chasing each mortar course with a square needle file. It was rather tedious but the results were worth it.

1) Raw opening:
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2) With the new wall: 
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3) Rounded over:
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4) All bricked up:
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In position on the layout. The road is next. 
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Love the stone cobbles and the scratch building. :happy_mini:

 

I’m soon to embark on the scratch built elements of my own layout and if I can get them looking half as good as these do thus far, I’ll be chuffed. Looking forward to seeing how this lovely little layout progresses.

 

Nicos

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  • 1 year later...

I've now replaced the window with the broken mullion. In addition to that, all the other details have been taken care of an initial painting has been done. I used a whitemetal crane from Scalelink. In person its a little chunkier than the prototype but I still like how it looks. I added two platforms for the upper storey doors. I think that one of them should have been modelled up, but they're quite firmly glued now. Good think I've got several other similar buildings still to make. The downpipe is 1/16" brass tube with a curve put in at the end. It fits the look I was after. 

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I've also been working on the road in front of the warehouse. Getting the pavement at the right height relative to the building and the roadway at the right height to clear the trains at the back was more challenging than it should have been. In the end the building had to be raised about 1/2" off the baseboard. But the overall effect is correct and that's what matters. I had been procrastinating on the road because I didn't want to press all those setts, but then it occured to me that I could use Wills sheet for most of it and only make clay setts at the corner. I think I will employ this technique in the yard as well. If a sheet can be used whole, I'll use it. If I have to trim it then I'll use clay instead. That should speed things up without compromising the appearance. 

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While its too new for the layout the Bentley was the only vehicle I had to hand. Its an Oxford Diecast model and rather heavy handed. The WO Bentley Memorial Foundation are in the process of sending me some factory drawings so that I can make better models, but that's the subject for a future thread. 

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  • 1 year later...

Reinspired, I have returned to this layout. As previously seen I had started the building on the left hand end. Unfortunately I haven't worked out the ideal solution to the road/backscene interface and that had been mentally preventing me from working on the buildings in that area. So I have moved to the other end. I purchased two kits from JS Models, and had them custom made in brick rather than the usual stone. One is perfect for what I had envisioned, and the other will do. They both fit the scene and are very quick to assemble. With those assembled I started work on the building in the corner. This is a railway owned warehouse with an arch under it to allow access to the yard from the street behind. Next to it will be a London Hydraulic Company accumulator tower, helping to avoid all the roofs being the same height and giving me an opportunity to dive into the history of this fascinating company.

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I have long planned on having a narrowboat at the front of the layout, but I recently discovered that some Thames sailing barges were narrow enough to be used on Regent's Canal, so I'm going to have one of those instead. I bought a very inexpensive vacuum formed kit for one, advertised as "OO 1/72 Scale". It fits the width available perfectly, although it will take a lot of work to make a good model out of it. Does necessitate needing to look through something to see the trains, in this case masts and rigging, which is an element I enjoy in layout design. The masts will almsot certainly require a return to some sort of automatic coupling, AJs most likely, since I won't want to put my arm through there to undo the 3 links...

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I’ve been looking back over the previous posts and to be honest I can’t see an issue with the LH end. The mock ups are very atmospheric and provide the close in claustrophobic feel you show n the inspiration photos you took and the sort of thing I remember from the London near  riverside.

Duncan

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