Warren Branch

[Graham T]

With so many ideas kicking around, I'd be inclined to park the whole thing for a day or two.  Turn your attention to something else on the layout, then come back to this with a clear head.

[KNP]

That is something I do very often when there is a case of not seeing the wood for the trees.

Park it and come back later without the same ideas buzzing around.

[chuffinghell]

59 minutes ago, Graham T said:

With so many ideas kicking around, I'd be inclined to park the whole thing for a day or two.  Turn your attention to something else on the layout, then come back to this with a clear head.

 

 

50 minutes ago, KNP said:

That is something I do very often when there is a case of not seeing the wood for the trees.

Park it and come back later without the same ideas buzzing around.

I'll carry on finishing off the building and the coal staithes and come back to positioning later. 

[Nick C]

16 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

What about this way?

 

 

 

?

I think this is the best so far, makes good use of the space at the end of the yard that would otherwise be empty. 

[chuffinghell]

1 hour ago, Nick C said:

I think this is the best so far, makes good use of the space at the end of the yard that would otherwise be empty. 

I must admit the area beyond the building is basically useless so the building acts as a barrier and breaks up the space

 

The added bonus is the front of the building is more easily seen

 

Admittedly I wanted the staithes the other way round so you could see inside etc

 

I'll have to give it more thought.

 

As far as seeking permission from GWR is it feesable that all of the buildings and businesses were already there before the GWR took ownership?…and the previous owners weren’t so GWRish maybe?

 

Edited June 19, 2021 by chuffinghell

[chuffinghell]

Anyway in the meantime

 

 

 

I’ll use body filler to create the ‘mounds’ before covering in coal…..well that’s the plan 

[Julia]

14 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

I must admit the area beyond the building is basically useless so the building acts as a barrier and breaks up the space

 

The added bonus is the front of the building is more easily seen

 

Admittedly I wanted the staithes the other way round so you could see inside etc

 

I'll have to give it more thought.

 

As far as seeking permission from GWR is it feesable that all of the buildings and businesses were already there before the GWR took ownership?…and the previous owners weren’t so GWRish maybe?

 

 

 

The questions I would ask are "What is the space beyond the hut?" and "How do they vehicles and machinery to the points beyond the hut when it's time to do maintenance?"

 

There is also the "What came first?" You have a canal there, which clearly came first, could it be the coal merchant was there from that era, and their right to operate was grandfathered in ? I find it useful when doing something like this to write the history. 

 

What happened? In the beginning they wanted a railway line to here, but they had to persuade land owner it was a good idea, and the terrain meant... and then other actors in this are... You don't need to fully write it out, but the bullet points. 

 

J

[Schooner]

Couldn't help myself:

 

• The Y point has been kept, but it leads to a long curved point into shed and dock sidings, which helps to introduce a bit of space to the yard (120+mm between tracks)
• Long mileage siding is both prototypical and gives plenty of play value - it's become a staple of American shunting layouts, where each car has a spot rather than a dedicated siding, for example.
• Three potential spots for coal office and bins shown (although there are plenty more) for direct comparison.

Trying to match previous photos for comparison:

 

And, if I've understood correctly, the 'normal' view:

 

Sorry it's all a bit rough, and for messing about with an already excellent design - just trying out some ideas (it's more fun than chores!) and thought I might as well share. As part of doing this (I may or may not have copied the whole layout so I can play trains at Warren too... ), I revisited the start of this project. Inspirational as ever. Chris, you really do the most outstanding modelling, and should be very proud of how far you've come. 

 

Cheers,

 

Schooner

[Andrew P]

2 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

I must admit the area beyond the building is basically useless so the building acts as a barrier and breaks up the space

 

The added bonus is the front of the building is more easily seen

 

Admittedly I wanted the staithes the other way round so you could see inside etc

 

I'll have to give it more thought.

 

As far as seeking permission from GWR is it feesable that all of the buildings and businesses were already there before the GWR took ownership?…and the previous owners weren’t so GWRish maybe?

 

Chris, Why not have the Coal Staithes at 90 degrees to the Track, I've seen it done before on the real railway and also on some Layouts.

As seen here on Bacup, a model of a prototype.

 

And my Porth Merryn.

[Andrew P]

The other option is to have the back to the Track that you like, BUT move it to the left in front of the Point, so it would leave a larger area for unloading.

[chuffinghell]

Getting there slowly

 

 

 

 

Not quite finished yet

[MrWolf]

That looks better than any of the generic "coal.office and staithes" kits you can buy. I suspect that it's because it's more detailed and fits in with the local architecture.

Also, a lot of the kits are pretty long in the tooth, dating back to when modellers started to demand realism and a little individuality, rather than buying items off the shelf to tick off the "must have list" of train sets.

We do seem to have gone backwards in order to favour the collector market. I think that we are very lucky to have the likes of Wills, Ratio and Slater's still in the game for the general items of layout construction and a number of the smaller manufacturers keeping us supplied with the small details.

Not all of us have the skills to design our models well enough for mass production!

[Nick Holliday]

16 hours ago, Andrew P said:

The other option is to have the back to the Track that you like, BUT move it to the left in front of the Point, so it would leave a larger area for unloading.

Apart from the general idea that coal pens (staithes to me are raised stagings for loading ships!) were seldom placed like this in relation to the track in GWR yards as @Nick C has noted, putting them where you suggest will cause chaos, as wagons unloading at your trackside pens will have to be moved to gain access to the sidings. 

I would suggest moving your weighbridge and hut to the front of the layout, as its current location requires anything using it having to make 180º, or tighter, turns to get onto it from either the road entrance or the yard. Then the pens can be placed along that back edge, as @Andrew P has done. This frees up your sidings for other traders to use as the require, and not have sections tied up for just one merchant.

[Andrew P]

4 minutes ago, Nick Holliday said:

Apart from the general idea that coal pens (staithes to me are raised stagings for loading ships!) were seldom placed like this in relation to the track in GWR yards as @Nick C has noted, putting them where you suggest will cause chaos, as wagons unloading at your trackside pens will have to be moved to gain access to the sidings. 

I would suggest moving your weighbridge and hut to the front of the layout, as its current location requires anything using it having to make 180º, or tighter, turns to get onto it from either the road entrance or the yard. Then the pens can be placed along that back edge, as @Andrew P has done. This frees up your sidings for other traders to use as the require, and not have sections tied up for just one merchant.

My thought was that they would be unloaded in the Siding as per normal, see spotty bits by the siding, and the Pen, (I agree, I always called them either Pen or Bin) would just be alongside the Point, out of the way in front of the Point. It would not be a point of unloading, especially over a Point, if you get my point, haha.

[chuffinghell]

Gutter and drain pipe added and the clay has finally dried. I used DAS clay for the coal mounds, I forgot that I had some….never used it before 

 

The building is not 100% finished yet though

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by chuffinghell

[chuffinghell]

It’s sort of worked…I think?

 

 

[Tortuga]

Sorcery! How are those heaps staying up without support!? Witchcraft!

[chuffinghell]

20 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

Sorcery! How are those heaps staying up without support!? Witchcraft!

Is that better?

 

I’m thinking that coal is very sparkly

[Alister_G]

1 minute ago, chuffinghell said:

I’m thinking that coal is very sparkly

 

Matt varnish

 

Al.

[Schooner]

Not all that glitters...

[Tortuga]

6 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

I’m thinking that coal is very sparkly

See? That’ll be the magic dust! Witchcraft I tell thee!

[chuffinghell]

Which way round?

 

A

 

B

 

I’ll need a chap with a shovel helping the other guy to bag up the coal

 

 

[MrWolf]

Picture 1. Looks less uniform.

 

The second picture looks like all one heap. (IMHO...)

[chuffinghell]

3 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Picture 1. Looks less uniform.

 

The second picture looks like all one heap. (IMHO...)

I thought that too

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by chuffinghell

[Tortuga]

Just now, MrWolf said:

Picture 1. Looks less uniform.

 

The second picture looks like all one heap. (IMHO...)

Was just going to say something along those lines!

 

I think it might depend on how you arrange your coal bins relative to the track (backing onto or opposite), but I think picture one looks better.