Priory Road - North East Essex in BR days

[Izzy]

Thanks Andy. Although I can work quite quickly the thread only starting last September rather hides how long a time frame PR has really taken. Many posts deal with past construction in trying to bring it all up to date.  I actually started the design via Templot in Dec'17 with construction of the baseboard in Feb'18. 

 

I have tried sealing card edges as you suggest but hit the problem of them going shiney/glazed and then finding it difficult to paint match them. I am probably a little heavy-handed with the application of the technique. Recently I got a can of 'Ghost' which dries nice and matt and think I must train myself to work more slowly and apply coats of it to individually cut parts to seal the edges - after painting - before assembly.

 

cheers,

 

Izzy

[Izzy]

Bridging the gap

 

When stating recently that the OHLE wires had been strung under tension I omitted to say how it was held in place at the exit into the sector plate fiddle yard. I only realised this when it came to fitting the bridge here permanently into place.

 

The backscene is curved to match the radius of the sector plate. I did this to try and offset the usually angular nature of such aspects and give as much space on the actual layout as possible, using a small amount of baseboard estate that would have otherwise gone to waste. It looks better in real life than the poor photo. As such the bridge also follows this curve to aid the deception whereas in real life no bridge, I think, would be built like this. At the rear, as at the opposite end, it is curved. Just a very small radius, but taking away the angular crease line of a right angle joint. Probably seems a bit of a waste with such a low backscene but does help. The backscene is more about providing added structure and stiffness to the baseboard as it is of minimal depth.

 

 

Anyway, at the rear of the exits I glued a piece of pcb drilled to take the OHLE wires. These are set slightly higher than the default to try and ensure that a pantograph won’t get caught on them going out to the layout should it’s height get altered slightly by mistake, by being caught when putting a EMU on the tracks etc. A small bit of belt and braces.

 

 

 

When it came to fitting the bridge in place over the wires I wondered how easy it would be to make alterations or repairs to them if anything here went wrong. Then it occurred to me that screwing the bridge into place as I had done with the Station buildings might be a good idea. Again being easy to remove if needed to give unimpeded access.

 

So that’s what I have done. More 8ba bolts. Mount board can be drilled/tapped quite easily to take threads, with of course the more layers the better. I also tend to run cryno down the holes and re-tap to provide a more robust thread if the bolts might be screwed in/out multiple times, which can tend to wear the threads if the board thickness is just a few layers.

 

 

 

Izzy

[Izzy]

I just thought I would post these just in case this is the best they look if painting doesn't go to plan.

 

Some cabs have been made which can - just - be squeezed into the fronts with care.

 

 

And this is with the roofs loosely plonked on alongside the corridor connections.

 

 

I have worked out that I need to apply the BR grey first, then mask for the blue, thinking the blue will cover better over the grey rather than the other way around, with of course the ends masked off for final application of the yellow. I shall be using Precison enamels through my Neo.  I did harbour thoughts the Halfords grey primer might be close enough to do for the BR grey, but sadly the tonal difference is quite marked. Oh well...

 

Tamiya masking tape seems clean enough to give good edge definition between colours but getting the grey panel mask the correct size in the right place will be the challenge. And leaving enough time for one coat to harden so the tape won't pull it off. This weird up/down weather temperature means it could take quite a while to get it all done.

 

I will use some white ink-jet decal sheet for the white lining though.... In the distant past I have used waterslide transfer paper sprayed with paint and then cut to size for boiler band lining, but I don't need to paint, or rather now, ink-jet print the colour so that's a small bonus.

 

Izzy

Edited August 14, 2022 by Izzy
spelling !!!! restore images

[Izzy]

Coach bogie pickup.

 

Although I fitted a stay-alive pack to the 2-car 309 unit as it only collected current from the motor bogie it kept nagging at me that I should try and fit some extra collection to the other bogie in the motor coach, in a just-in-case belt and braces way. In a previous post Tim Watson mentioned he had used simple split-axle collection on the Oerlikon set on CF and I thought that perhaps I could do the same.

 

However, when I looked at the Farish bogie and the re-machined metal pin-point wheels used it seemed a better idea to try and just fit wiper pickups as major alterations to the basic coach or bogie wasn’t part of the plan. They could ‘wipe’ nicely along the wide backs of the wheels out of sight or harms way.

 

 

 

I could consider this because I have a small amount of very fine PB wire, at a guess it’s about 5/6thou (38swg or gauge 6 AWG). So quite hard/stiff but very springy over a small length and not causing much drag resistance. I’ve had this for literally decades and wouldn’t know where I got it then, or if it’s still possible to obtain today. It’s great for simpson springs, and the two small coils left are only used very sparingly in situations such as this.

 

Two thicker PB wire lengths were used to produce a T shaped result that could be fitted through a hole drilled in the bogie bolster and bent to lay in the space between it and the coach floor

 

 

 

 

The brown stuff is non-stick heat resistant cooking parchment which I was given by my wife and now use for a lot of simple soldering on the cutting mat.

 

 

 

After trimming to length Expo fine wire was added which runs along the centre of the floor to the motor bogie wiring points.

 

 

The main task here was ensuring they did not restrict the bogie movement. I could not run it inside the coach under the seating as this was being added after all that had been arranged to fit and there wasn’t the room.

 

 

 

Works okay which is the main thing.

 

Izzy

Edited August 14, 2022 by Izzy
restore images

[Caley Jim]

Where there is a need for a very short, but flexible spring, adding some coils will increase the flexibility without increasing the overall length.  For every coil you are increasing the length of the wire by 3.142d (where d is the diameter of the coil), and therefore its flexibility, without increasing the overall length of the spring.

 

Jim

[Izzy]

Machining Farish metal wheels for 2FS.

 

I thought that following the description of adding pickups to the (Farish commonwealth) 309 bogie I should say a bit about how I machine the Farish metal wheels to suit 2FS since it was using these with their wide expanse of metal that allowed the PB wire wiper pickups to contact them easily. These particular ones are the newer Farish 7mm coach type which are still metal, many of the wagon wheels now being plastic centred with metal rims.

 

The design of these metal ones are the same as in the past, fitted with a small plastic bush into which the axles are a push fit. The Farish cast metal loco wheels follow the same basic design. Both types are nickel plated although the coach and diesel loco ones are brass turnings rather than mazak castings.

 

The problem with the plastic bushes is that they can distort fairly easily. This means that some wheels can be less than true running, some quite badly so. I have found on average about 50% are like this.

 

Here is a very short video of my testing a set in my wheel spinner. This is a little tool I made to test wheelsets of any pin-point axle length. Just running a set along a flat surface using the mk1 eyeball is great for quickly and easily sorting the wheat from the chaff, but often only one wheel will be faulty on an axle and this helps show where the issues may lie. Just ‘wobbly’, or eccentric on the axle as well or instead. Neither is any good. I don’t know if the video is good enough to see that one is okay but the other is not. Really needs to be full screen. Sorry it’s not clearer. Usually a few spins are used but half a dozen videos doing this would be… boring

 

 

Anyway, whatever the case it isn’t therefore wise to machine these wheels on their axles since they may not be true, and doing so might also distort the bushes even if they are from the maching forces involved. Or make them loose on the axles and then the wheel worthless unless new bushes can be found/made.

 

So I always take wheels off their axles, push out the bushes from the front - as there is a slight chamfer on the wheel rear which gives most bushes a little lip from when they are first inserted - and just machine the metal part alone. As the tyre isn’t being touched, just the front and rear faces, I use a simple way of doing it.

 

My workbench lathe is a little (15Kg) Sieg ‘Baby’ CO. These are no longer available but it’s about the same size as a Unimat, which I couldn’t find at the time. Well, not at a sensible price anyway. Sitting it on the workbench means I can look through the LED anglepoise magnifying light - and see what I am doing! It has been modified quite a bit. A 24v scooter motor now powers it via those PWM controllers from ebay with the power coming from a 24v supply used to power LED strips. It also has a ER16 collett chuck from Arceurotrade and I made indexible handwheels for it, using slightly larger machines in the shed. It also has a Unimat quick change toolpost. The tailstock & drill chuck has been removed in this shot. More room to work.

 

 

 

Anyway, this shows the setup. A piece of 5/16” steel bar in the collet tapped 8ba. It protrudes just a bit this way around with the crude reversable faceplate adapter I use to mount the wheels. This was just made in plasticard and is modified/adapted/replaced as needed for the particular job/wheels in hand.

 

 

 

 

The wheels are held by a 8ba bolt with a taper to roughly hold the wheel central. Absolute concentricty not being needed, just true to the lathe carriage and flat at 90degrees to the crosslide on the faceplate adapter.

 

I remove 0.2mm from the backs in gentle 0.025mm (1 thou) cuts. A small round nose tool is used going in from the flange after finding the rear face and setting the indexible handwheel. The first cut needs care as the Nickel plating is a bit harder than brass. A full depth flat is left in the centre. This means the bush can be re-inserted for maximum depth and hopefully assist in wheel trueness. The new flange edge is dressed with a flat needle file - very carefully and lightly while holding both ends so it isn’t ripped out of my hands causing injury.

 

 

 

The wheel is then reversed and the fronts taken back to give an overall depth of about 1.5mm – from the rear of the flange. Wider than the 2FS norm of 1.3mm but not looking too bad. The new front edge is lightly dressed as per the rear.

 

 

As the very centre cannot be machined like this – not without risking maching/breaking the 8ba retaining bolt – this is taken back level with the front outside rim with a needle file later, and before re-fitting the bush. Then the wheels are re-mounted on their axles. The bit of the bush that then sticks out the front is cut off with a scalpel. I always twist wheels onto their axles while pushing the axles in. There is a natural ‘screwing’ action involved which tends to help keep the wheel true on the axle. This goes for push fit wheels on their axles (or into muffs) in any scale.

 

 

 

These were before the treads were cleaned up after a wash of paint. You can see the depth of the 0.2mm cut on the rear of the geared axle. These are of course kept nice and clean for the wiper pickups on both the motor bogie, and it’s companion. On ordinary coaches I usually give them a wash of paint as well. The axles on Farish wheels are 1.5mm against the 1mm that 2mm SA ones use. I mostly give them a coat as well to help hide their size, should it be in a position where it’s more obvious at times.

 

Izzy

 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Izzy
restore images

[Izzy]

A couple of shots a bit out of normal context. Quite some time ago I acquired this rolling stock for a project since abandoned. A Dapol freightliner 86 with some Farish intermodal wagons, and a Dapol regional railways 156. As they are all now 2FS I have not been able to move them on, and with the news in the latest Rail Express that in real life both have had, or are having, their last hurrah on GE metals I thought I’d give my models a run on PR. A kind of personal tribute to them.

 

 

 

I very much doubt a Freightliner 86 ever got to St Boltophs under the wires let alone hauling some intermodals, but they have run up the GE main line through Colchester on their way to Ipswich for many years. They are now due to be stood down. With the cessation of loco hauled passenger services by Greater Anglia due to the arrival of the Stadlier Flirt 745/755’s the class 90’s used for this will become spare and used by Freightliner instead of the 86’s.

 

 

The same situation has occurred with the 156’s. They have left the region. These have visited St Boltophs along with 153’s since about 2005, having been used on the Sudbury line services which have often started from there since Beeching cut days when the Stour valley line was truncated at Sudbury. For many years Cravens 105’s were used, and I do have one of these sets to cover this service in the BR Blue era. Another in green is planned for earlier times.

 

Normal service will be resumed….

 

Izzy

[Derek Russan]

Limonene now back in stock.

[John57sharp]

On 23/05/2020 at 12:21, Derek Russan said:

Limonene now back in stock.

I just ordered some from you after reading that you would have some on this thread. Cheers

 

John

[Izzy]

A LNER Type D concrete platelayers hut.

 

A while ago I mentioned that the odd small hut or two would be added as part of the detailing that was slowly being applied. Originally I had in mind those types used as lamp huts, often of corrugated iron construction, or a brick built goods yard one. But as I looked at Priory Road while musing where such a building might be placed it occurred to me that there wouldn’t be one, not a lamp hut anyway. There probably would have been one in the past if there wasn’t a small room allocated in the main buildings, but with colour light signals and electric platform lights the need for such facilities would have not been required any longer in the timeframe that Priory Road is set, the 1960’s to 1980’s.

 

So, what to do. I have some road vehicles of various sorts which will feature and add some presence but I thought it would be nice to have a hut of some kind as balance to what already existed on the buildings front. The kind that are there in the background but help fill the scene. Then I came upon a thread dealing with the making of a LNER type D concrete platelayers hut. I thought one might fit quite well into the scene.

 

This was in 7mm. It seems there are several kits around in both 7mm & 4mm for these huts although I found no two looked quite the same when it came to size or details ……. However, as is so often the case, not only were there none in 2mm, but details and/or drawings of these were conspicous by their absence. References were made to the ‘standard’ concrete panel sizes, whatever they might have been, but little else. The huts seemed to use several different sizes. Hmm.

 

So, what to do, again. Well the usual for me. Find as many photos as I could. And then try and scale one using basic known measurements such as width of a door, height, etc, and then see how that panned out. Knocked out in inkjet paper the first attempt scaled out far too big when placed on the layout. Reduced by 20% the next looked just right. As luck would have it once I had done this I found a sheet of window etches – Ratio produce several sets Signalbox/Industrial etc - and on one of these a 9 pane window turned sideways fitted perfectly…….so that settled it. Sometimes I am easily pleased….

 

I used 15thou scribed plasticard for the side layers to represent the concrete planks and the door. These bowed rather nicely, as can happen, so the sides were then backed with another 15thou layer to get it all flat and square and rebated at the ends to join it together nice and squarely with 10thou overlaid to get the uprights and top lintels. The roof was another 15thou rectangle with 10thou for the edging, the outside supports double layer 15thou. The chimney was 15thou layered squares sanded down to loose the layering. The pot is Albion 1mm tube. It all sits on a 15thou base. The etched window sits on acrylic sheet being cryno’d to it after painting. It was similarly fixed in place flush with the outside edges.

 

 

 

 

A coat of matt white enamel when dry was given a thin wash of black turps while the roof centre got dark grey followed by a hint of green and then yellow with a dusting of white pastel later brushed over. The window and door were green via a very old pot of Humbrol HR 113 stock green which looks about the right shade.

 

 

 

Not sure I quite got there with the weathering but it will have to do as it’s now fixed down via a bit of Anita’s tacky pva. Some ground work and static grass etc might help bed it into the surroundings when that is undertaken.

 

 

Izzy

[bécasse]

It just so happens that I am working on producing some drawings of GER brick huts, etc, at the moment. Here is the drawing of the small brick hut erected in the Edwardian era and used for things like oil stores, crossing keeper's huts and shunters' bothies. The window shown in one side was only(?) included when used as a crossing keeper's hut, and the ventilation arrangement with some header bricks omitted (and a perforated zinc screen cemented between the double-thickness stretcher courses) is conjecture but ventilation would have been required in oil stores and this would have been an easy (and, more importantly, cheap and secure) way of doing it.

 

I haven't added a scale to the drawing yet but the roof is 9'-0" long, 8'-4" wide and ~7'-9" high. The brick bonding shown is correct.

 

[Izzy]

Ah, that looks interesting. Thank you very much for sharing it. I think that perhaps one might find it's way into the yard for staff use so long as it doesn't overwhelm the area given the road vehicles planned. Interesting to see that it had a curved roof reminiscent of the later corrugated types. Makes a nice counterpoint to the hipped type. What might this have been produced in?

 

regards,

 

Izzy

[bécasse]

The roof is cast reinforced concrete, around 3" thick to my reckoning. It was obviously cast off-site and probably craned onto the brick-base. You will note that it would readily fit on a flat wagon.

[Pete the Elaner]

On 22/05/2020 at 13:40, Izzy said:

 

I very much doubt a Freightliner 86 ever got to St Boltophs under the wires let alone hauling some intermodals.

 

 

I can't think of any reason they would have needed to go there.

Platform 2, the factory over the wall & the yard (which I always remember as being disused) were all removed in the 80s, I think this was before 86s were used on freight through Colchester. The triangle could have been used for turning things, but I doubt 86s would have needed it.

 

The only diesels I remember seeing on the branch (I could see the line from my bedroom window in Alresford) were 37s & 31s, although I believe some locos went to Clacton in preparation for Colchester open day. I am not sure why because Colchester had (& probably still has) a shed & washer.

 

On 22/05/2020 at 13:40, Izzy said:

For many years Cravens 105’s were used, and I do have one of these sets to cover this service in the BR Blue era. Another in green is planned for earlier times.

 

 

I remember 101s on the Sudbury service. I don't remember seeing 105s but they may well have been used.

 

I also remember 308s & 302s being used on the Clacton/Walton services before the first 313s (008, 033-035), then the 308s again, then more 313s, this time 061-064 before they were renumbered 096-099 before being replaced by 310s & 312s.

I expect 309s got to St Botolphs too, but not on their normal duties in the period I remember.

[Izzy]

8 hours ago, bécasse said:

The roof is cast reinforced concrete, around 3" thick to my reckoning. It was obviously cast off-site and probably craned onto the brick-base. You will note that it would readily fit on a flat wagon.

Ah, I hadn’t realised they used cast concrete back then for things like that. I’d been thinking felt or lead but neither seemed to fit right. More knowledge gained! Thanks.

[Izzy]

8 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said:

 

I can't think of any reason they would have needed to go there.

Platform 2, the factory over the wall & the yard (which I always remember as being disused) were all removed in the 80s, I think this was before 86s were used on freight through Colchester. The triangle could have been used for turning things, but I doubt 86s would have needed it.

 

The only diesels I remember seeing on the branch (I could see the line from my bedroom window in Alresford) were 37s & 31s, although I believe some locos went to Clacton in preparation for Colchester open day. I am not sure why because Colchester had (& probably still has) a shed & washer.

 

 

I remember 101s on the Sudbury service. I don't remember seeing 105s but they may well have been used.

 

I also remember 308s & 302s being used on the Clacton/Walton services before the first 313s (008, 033-035), then the 308s again, then more 313s, this time 061-064 before they were renumbered 096-099 before being replaced by 310s & 312s.

I expect 309s got to St Botolphs too, but not on their normal duties in the period I remember.

Yes, Paxman’s Brittania works closed in 1982 and was demolished in 1987. The site is now a car park. The original re-engine of a class 21 to 29  - D6123 - was carried out there, since it had rail access.  There has only ever been the one platform to my knowledge. 
 

Good to know 101’s worked out of it. I have a Farish example in green that can be used.  All the photo info I have shows Cravens 105’s, working in the green era to Brightlingsea when it was still open, and in the blue to Sudbury. I’ve ridden on the latter to it for a nice little ride out but not the 156/153’s that eventually replaced them. 
 

I have harboured ideas of making a 302 or 308 set as they were of course the main users of the station on local all-station services between Colchester and Clacton/Walton, the 309’s being of course mainline stock that only served selected stations. They did get used on local work in later years on occasion.

 

Thanks for the info

 

Izzy

[John57sharp]

That little hut fits in there a treat Izzy, nice work.

 

John

[Pete the Elaner]

3 hours ago, Izzy said:

There has only ever been the one platform to my knowledge. 
 

 

I don't remember anything more than the short stub of platform 2 which can be seen in the Wikipedia photo. I remember track existing for it. There was also a crossover to allow steam locos to run around & I think EMUs used to stop short of this & always wondered why but now I realise that it had no other use so this would have been to save unnecessary maintenance.

There was some sort of rusty flat or well wagon sitting at the end carrying an equally rusty old tank (the military type) dumped there for years. I used to wonder what it was doing there. It went well before I had any interest in photography so I only have my (probably very ropey) memories.

I would not have remembered anything earlier than around 1976.

[Izzy]

Hi Pete,

 

What you refer to as Platform 2 was an end loading dock. Military traffic from the Garrison was often loaded/unloaded at St Boltophs. It was still used for this during the first Gulf war IIRC. I can remember seeing lines of flats with Military vehicles sitting on them waiting to go, Lorries, guns etc.

 

There is a track diagram here which shows the extensive goods sidings it had:

 

https://signalbox.org/~SBdiagram.php?id= 442

 

This is pretty much identical to very early photos of it as far as the actual track layout went. It didn't alter much until the late 80's when rationalisation kicked in with a vengeance as it did everywhere. I think by the time you knew it, there wasn't a lot left, most of it given over to a car park. A multistory Magistrates court sits there now with just the single line into the platform.

 

Izzy

[Izzy]

5 hours ago, John57sharp said:

That little hut fits in there a treat Izzy, nice work.

 

John

 

Thanks John. The view is of course from the rear, from the 'proper' side all you mostly see is the roof! I keep thinking I should have reversed the viewing side in some respects, but then find some aspects just wouldn't work. It's all a compromise isn't it, this modelling lark.

 

Izzy

[2mm Andy]

18 hours ago, Izzy said:

A LNER Type D concrete platelayers hut.

 

A while ago I mentioned that the odd small hut or two would be added as part of the detailing that was slowly being applied. Originally I had in mind those types used as lamp huts, often of corrugated iron construction, or a brick built goods yard one. But as I looked at Priory Road while musing where such a building might be placed it occurred to me that there wouldn’t be one, not a lamp hut anyway. There probably would have been one in the past if there wasn’t a small room allocated in the main buildings, but with colour light signals and electric platform lights the need for such facilities would have not been required any longer in the timeframe that Priory Road is set, the 1960’s to 1980’s.

 

So, what to do. I have some road vehicles of various sorts which will feature and add some presence but I thought it would be nice to have a hut of some kind as balance to what already existed on the buildings front. The kind that are there in the background but help fill the scene. Then I came upon a thread dealing with the making of a LNER type D concrete platelayers hut. I thought one might fit quite well into the scene.

 

This was in 7mm. It seems there are several kits around in both 7mm & 4mm for these huts although I found no two looked quite the same when it came to size or details ……. However, as is so often the case, not only were there none in 2mm, but details and/or drawings of these were conspicous by their absence. References were made to the ‘standard’ concrete panel sizes, whatever they might have been, but little else. The huts seemed to use several different sizes. Hmm.

 

Izzy

 

Izzy,

 

The hut looks really nice.

 

There is a drawing for an LNER sectional concrete hut in the March 1975 issue of 'Model Railways' magazine. The external dimensions are listed as 9'-11 5/8" x 14'-6" with the height to the top of the roof edging as 9'-2 3/4". There is also a resin model available in 2mm/N of one of these huts - the one I have was sold under the 'Loch Tat' name (I think they were originally made for the N gauge layout of that name) and was I think bought from the 'Ten Commandments' stall at an exhibition. The downside is that the model is a solid lump of resin, so you can't see through the window, but it's quite nicely cast aside from that. I think this is it listed on their website;

 

https://tencommandmentsmodels.co.uk/product/lner-concrete-hut-single-lt3/

 

Andy

[Izzy]

Thanks for that Andy. Giving mine a run over with a vernier it seems to be a little bit undernourished compared to those measurements, wide enough but 6" lower and 12" shorter which is a shame. I'll try and see if I can locate the actual drawings now I know when and where they were published to better see how it compares. I have a feeling that the outside panels were wider than the window ones. I do try and take a pragmatic approach and as it looks okay will probably leave well alone, but all the same I do like things to be right if at all possible.

 

I had a look around on Ten Commandments and see that they offer both 3 sizes of LNER concrete huts (apparently in plaster) and 2 sizes of the type D, 3 panel and 4 panel, encompassing single and double windows. This does seem to replicate what info I had managed to find, and I now wonder if the Type D nomenclature refers to the basic design rather than an actual specific size.

 

Izzy

 

 

[justin1985]

12 hours ago, Izzy said:

I had a look around on Ten Commandments and see that they offer both 3 sizes of LNER concrete huts (apparently in plaster) and 2 sizes of the type D, 3 panel and 4 panel, encompassing single and double windows. This does seem to replicate what info I had managed to find, and I now wonder if the Type D nomenclature refers to the basic design rather than an actual specific size

 

 

There was a range of about half a dozen types of hut produced under the Loch Tat name - all very nice in solid resin. Much more detailed than the plaster Ten Commandments models.

 

I'm pretty sure I remember seeing them on sale from BH Enterprises most recently. They're definitely separate from the Ten Commandments range.

 

Justin

[Izzy]

Thanks Justin. I have located a copy of the March ‘75 MR on eBay, looks to be a good issue with quite a few useful plans. It rings a bell from the distant past. I used to save plans/drawings/info from mags but decades worth went missing somehow some years back. Although often not as good, I do prefer to make things from scratch/kits where possible as I just like doing it.

 

thanks again everyone, 

 

Izzy

[Allegheny1600]

Hello Izzy,

I don't model in your scale but I do like the area and I find your work tremendously inspirational, it is quite exquisite and I love it!

Really, really - well done.

Following with interest,

John.