Warren Branch

[sb67]

Hello Chuffinghell, 

I've just found your thread and I really like what you're doing, I've a question, in one of the earlier posts I noticed the layout was built on top of a radiator, has this caused any problems or is it always switched off, I've got a similar problem and I've always avoided building anything above it.

Steve.

[chuffinghell]

I couldn’t sleep last night so I mocked up the coaling stage and although it allowed locos to pass along the headshunt it’s far too close for my liking

 

so I’ve cut it down by 1/2”

 

I’ve also decided to leave out the left had planked wall so you can at least see onto the stage from the left hand side of the layout, it has also allowed me to move the access steps to a safer area

 

I could move it further towards the left of the layout, although I don’t want it too close to the ash pit and look cramped

 

I’ve always liked Ratio kits, very easily modified and/or adapted

[chuffinghell]

23 hours ago, sb67 said:

Hello Chuffinghell, 

I've just found your thread and I really like what you're doing, I've a question, in one of the earlier posts I noticed the layout was built on top of a radiator, has this caused any problems or is it always switched off, I've got a similar problem and I've always avoided building anything above it.

Steve.

 

Thanks Steve

 

Unfortunately it was the only wall available, so it was unavoidable 

 

I’ve put ‘deflectors’ on the top to direct the heat into the room instead of straight up and the radstat has been turned down (just to take the edge off in cold weather)

 

It hasn’t caused a problem yet

 

once the wiring is finished I’m thinking of putting heat reflective material under the boards

 

Chris

 

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by chuffinghell

[Stubby47]

You will, at some point, need to leave a coal wagon alongside the coaling stage - will it be sufficiently clear of the points?

[chuffinghell]

3 minutes ago, Stubby47 said:

You will, at some point, need to leave a coal wagon alongside the coaling stage - will it be sufficiently clear of the points?

 

I think so, there is scope to move it to the left a little

[chuffinghell]

Last month for my Birthday my son bought me a Ratio Pump House kit

 

He must know I like Ratio kits but he was unaware that I’m limiting on space

 

Would a cutting in the embankment next to the stream/river/canal with a retaining wall be feasible?

 

Not in this location, I’ve just done this to illustrate what’s going on in my head 

Edited June 17, 2019 by chuffinghell

[Stubby47]

Definitely. The world is full of adjustments and compromises- digging into a bank to site a building is exactly what would have happened. 

[chuffinghell]

59 minutes ago, Stubby47 said:

Definitely. The world is full of adjustments and compromises- digging into a bank to site a building is exactly what would have happened. 

 

Cool!

 

The only problems with the kit are

 

1) it’s brick built and I would have preferred stone

 

2) the chimney is a little too modern for mid to late thirties.....isn’t it?

 

It might be better to scratch build a stone building or adapt an engine shed? And make a brick chimney

 

Possibly re-purpose parts of current kit do I can at least say I’ve used parts of it

[Stubby47]

Have you tried using the Scalescenes paper sheets ?

 

You might be able to wrap the brickwork and the chimney in a more suitable covering, so using and adapting the kit at the same time.

 

(Usual disclaimers apply).

[Martin S-C]

On 13/06/2019 at 22:42, chuffinghell said:

 

I’ll try that on another piece, as far as the effect I’m going for........quite frankly I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing so any help, tips or advice is gratefully received

 

 

Since you posted this I have been looking a lot at stone buildings with mortared joints and the result is 50/50 between light coloured mortar showing and dark recessed joints in shadow. I suppose more recent repairs or builds use light mortar. I personally would still go with darker joints than lighter but feel free to do oherwise!

[chuffinghell]

15 minutes ago, Martin S-C said:

Since you posted this I have been looking a lot at stone buildings with mortared joints and the result is 50/50 between light coloured mortar showing and dark recessed joints in shadow. I suppose more recent repairs or builds use light mortar. I personally would still go with darker joints than lighter but feel free to do oherwise!

 

I may go with the darker mortar but I’m liking the idea of lighter mortar in small areas as repairs

[chuffinghell]

Would it be likely to have a pump house next to a canal as I’m thinking of modelling a canal instead of a river

 

mainly because a canal is man made/engineered which probably suits my style of modelling better

[Martin S-C]

Yes, pump houses were beside canals but usually only on the summit level so they could pump water up into the highest level of the canal.

 

If you do model a canal, try to place the towpath on the downhill side where they were most of the time for reasons of strengthening the banks.

[Harlequin]

I think I read recently that a station on the Berks & Hants got it’s water supply from the Kennet & Avon canal but I can’t find the reference. The GWR owned the canal so they could do that...

[sb67]

21 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

 

Thanks Steve

 

Unfortunately it was the only wall available, so it was unavoidable 

 

I’ve put ‘deflectors’ on the top to direct the heat into the room instead of straight up and the radstat has been turned down (just to take the edge off in cold weather)

 

It hasn’t caused a problem yet

 

once the wiring is finished I’m thinking of putting heat reflective material under the boards

 

Chris

 

 

 

Thanks for that Chris. 

Steve.

[Fat Controller]

9 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

Would it be likely to have a pump house next to a canal as I’m thinking of modelling a canal instead of a river

 

mainly because a canal is man made/engineered which probably suits my style of modelling better

Pumping houses next to canals are fairly common, the most obvious being that at Crofton, on the Berks and Hants. There, you have, if you imagine a section through the hillside:-

River Kennett

Kennett and Avon Canal (with associated reservoirs)

railway

Pump house.

There would have been a pump-house near you, on the Caldon Canal, but I can't remember where; it is about forty years since I walked it.

Brick structures would have been common, as there was usually clay available close-to.

[chuffinghell]

2 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

................Brick structures would have been common, as there was usually clay available close-to.

 

That makes sense, my main concern was this looks too modern for a mid-late 30's era

 

 

[Stubby47]

Perhaps more relevant is when would the pumphouse have been built, rather than the 'current' timeframe.

 

It might have been there since the late 1890s.

[chuffinghell]

7 minutes ago, Stubby47 said:

Perhaps more relevant is when would the pumphouse have been built, rather than the 'current' timeframe.

 

It might have been there since the late 1890s.

 

Quite right, I should have said the above looks to have been built after the time period the layout is based.

 

I could be (more than likely) wrong though

[Martin S-C]

3 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

Perhaps more relevant is when would the pumphouse have been built, rather than the 'current' timeframe.

 

It might have been there since the late 1890s.

Or 1790s. Brindley was prominent in canal building from the 1760s.

I agree, that sadly the structure is too modern. You can still use its components as parts of other buildings however so all is not lost.

 

Galton on the BCN, West Midlands:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/New_Smethwick_Pumping_Station.jpg

 

Crofton on the Kennet & Avon:
http://www.kennet-avon-canal.co.uk/Kennet-Avon/Crofton-Pumping-station.jpg

Leawood on the Cromford Canal:

https://assets.atlasobscura.com/media/W1siZiIsInVwbG9hZHMvcGxhY2VfaW1hZ2VzL2YwZG94eDAyaDF1amhmazQxOWE0ZDczMzNiNjkyMjMxMTNfMjY3MzI0N185ZGM4MjEwZi5qcGciXSxbInAiLCJ0aHVtYiIsIngzOTA-Il0sWyJwIiwiY29udmVydCIsIi1xdWFsaXR5IDgxIC1hdXRvLW9yaWVudCJdXQ/2673247_9dc8210f.jpg

All very modellogenic structures. In our exchange of PMs, Chris, I forgot to mention that the pumping station would be below the canal and pump water up into it from the water source. My error, so apologies for that.

[Harlequin]

I think there may be some crossed wires here. I thought we were talking about a pump to lift water from the river or canal into the water tower rather than the pumping water into the canal.

 

In that context I'm thinking of small pump houses like the one at Wallingford, which was little more than a timber-clad shed (a very sturdy shed, I'm sure) in the station forecourt. It was possibly windowless, it's hard to tell.

 

Chris, please set us straight!

 

 

[chuffinghell]

1 hour ago, Harlequin said:

I think there may be some crossed wires here. I thought we were talking about a pump to lift water from the river or canal into the water tower rather than the pumping water into the canal.

 

In that context I'm thinking of small pump houses like the one at Wallingford, which was little more than a timber-clad shed (a very sturdy shed, I'm sure) in the station forecourt. It was possibly windowless, it's hard to tell.

 

Chris, please set us straight!

 

 

 

errrrrrmmmm

 

I was thinking of a steam driven pump/boiler house pinching water from the canal to feed the railway? 

[chuffinghell]

I'm always causing trouble and/or confusion 

[Martin S-C]

Not at all. My mistake in thinking the pump was serving the canal. If its serving the railway, that's another matter entirely and what small knowledge I have ends on the subject!

[chuffinghell]

Changed to accommodate a 60ft narrowboat