Burchill Edge Sidings - BR Blue Carriage/NPCCS Sidings, with a nod to Manchester Red Bank & Bristol Malago Vale

[bgman]

On your topic of weathering (plaster) walls, I recently made this albeit to 7mm scale by casting plaster....

 

 

 

I use Vallejo Paint for the most part and once it had dried the mortar joints were scribed back to give the lighter colour.

 

It may be possible in your case to do something similar on the brick although you may find it very time consuming ?

Otherwise, another method I have used successfully with plaster is to spray the finished work with a gloss varnish, allow to dry and then run a dark wash onto the joints, which as someone has suggested will follow the mortar joints by capillary action. If you find there is irregular paint displacement a quick removal with a cotton bud will do the trick.

 

If you are happy with the result then once fully dry spray again with a matt varnish.

 

FWIW I never did use this bridge, instead opting for a brick one !

 

Hope you find a way that suits your layout.

 

G

 

 

 

[9C85]

I have received all my paint today and have made a start by applying the first coat to the Plasticard.  I will apply (and remove some of) the second coat tomorrow. 

I might just adopt the same method with the plastercast wall sections.  I will pick the least obtrusive section and use it as a test piece. 

Thanks for all the great advice 

[9C85]

22 hours ago, saxokid said:

Always the way that 9c85,hope your shunter is ok now...

Thanks saxokid.  It was running as good as ever last night 

[saxokid]

23 hours ago, 9C85 said:

Thanks saxokid.  It was running as good as ever last night 

Always the way that my frend...

[montyburns56]

Do you have enough stock to replicate this? 

 

 

[9C85]

On 25/04/2020 at 08:05, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Still not dank and dark enough for the nether regions of Manchester IMHO!

 

Mike.

 

 

I have just completed weathering a few sections of plasticard using the method I found on YouTube  (search Galgorm Hall). 

Here's the before shot...

 

And here's the after...

[9C85]

And here is a test fit of the wall for the access road down from the bridge. The coping stones now  need to be glued on.

[saxokid]

3 hours ago, 9C85 said:

And here is a test fit of the wall for the access road down from the bridge. The coping stones now  need to be glued on.

Your "brick work" looks spot on...

[9C85]

13 hours ago, saxokid said:

Your "brick work" looks spot on...

Thanks. I am really pleased with how it's gone as a first attempt. One final shot of the finished ramp wall in situ.  View from the access road down from the bridge 

[9C85]

Only another 1100 ft or so of wall to weather now 

Edited May 20, 2020 by 9C85
Typo

[9C85]

I found a couple of videos on YouTube today showing Red Bank sidings. The first one was filmed in 1990 after closure but gives some great fine detail, such as the trackwork, condition of ballast , walkways between tracks, point levers etc. 

It also shows an abandoned GUV and CCT at the end of a siding with what looks like the body of a Southern parcels van being used as a stores shed.

There's also a clip of some retaining wall  which gives an idea of the level of grime required.  I thought my weathering may have been a bit over the top but evidently not 

[9C85]

A 'Before, during and after' shot of the weathering on the plastercast retaining wall panels.  The right hand section is the finished piece of plasticard I posted a few days ago.  This section is beneath the girder bridge carrying the access road to the yard. 

The middle section has had two of the three stages of weathering, similar to that applied to the Plasticard, but I found that instead of using paper towel to immediately remove some of the freshly applied paint, I had to use wire wool dipped in white spirit to get it off the plaster. I have to apply one more coat of dark grey mixed from Humbrol acrylic black and white to get to the finished level of filth.

I think it will look OK. I will try to do the work in batches of three or four panels at a time, so by day three I will be working on nine or twelve panels  (24 hours between coats).

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by 9C85

[Rivercider]

30 minutes ago, 9C85 said:

A 'Before, during and after' shot of the weathering on the plastercast retaining wall panels.  The right hand section is the finished piece of plasticard I posted a few days ago.  This section is beneath the girder bridge carrying the access road to the yard. 

The middle section has had two of the three stages of weathering, similar to that applied to the Plasticard, but I found that instead of using paper towel to immediately remove some of the freshly applied paint, I had to use wire wool dipped in white spirit to get it off the plaster. I have to apply one more coat of dark grey mixed from Humbrol acrylic black and white to get to the finished level of filth.

I think it will look OK. I will try to do the work in batches of three or four panels at a time, so by day three I will be working on nine or twelve panels  (24 hours between coats).

 

 

I love what you have done so far.

I am a VERY amateur modeller, but I think consistency is the key here.

I have use eight brick arches on my layout, I weathered them up four at a time, and there was some variation between each set of four. I look forward to your progress, it is looking good

 

cheers 

[9C85]

11 minutes ago, Rivercider said:

I love what you have done so far.

I am a VERY amateur modeller, but I think consistency is the key here.

I have use eight brick arches on my layout, I weathered them up four at a time, and there was some variation between each set of four. I look forward to your progress, it is looking good

 

cheers 

Thank you for the kind words of encouragement. 

I am also a VERY amateur modeller - this is my first layout in over 40 years, and my first layout which wasn't just an oval of track on an 8x4 sheet of chipboard with the only scenery being a Hornby tunnel 

It is the availability of resources such as Google, Youtube and this forum  that has given me the confidence and inspiration to have a go at creating something. 

Back to the subject of consistency - you make a good point about doing things in batches.  I have just counted that I have a total of fourteen single arch wall panels and another ten with double arches. Perhaps I should try doing ' every other 3rd panel ' to break up the job - or is that over-thinking things?

Thanks again for the kind words and also for having the sense to take photos of the stuff going on around you when you were younger - the South Wales stuff is very poignant for me.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

There's also a clip of some retaining wall  which gives an idea of the level of grime required.  I thought my weathering may have been a bit over the top but evidently not 

 

Well, I did say!!

Looking good though, another couple of dozen layers of "Manchester sunshine" and you'll be there.

 

Mike.

[9C85]

On 18/05/2020 at 13:46, montyburns56 said:

Do you have enough stock to replicate this? 

 

 

 

Errrm... not quite 

 

[montyburns56]

3 hours ago, 9C85 said:

 

Errrm... not quite 

 

 

Just replace the retaining wall with a mirror. 

[9C85]

4 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

 

Just replace the retaining wall with a mirror. 

 

Genius! 

[9C85]

One final picture of the wall  (for a while anyway). I have just applied the third and final paint stage.  I used Humbrol acrylics to mix a dark grey but I thinned it down with white spirit  (if that's allowed?). I don't have any thinners yet.

This gave me a bit more time to lift it off/smudge it with the wire wool dipped in white spirit.

I promise that the next picture of wall I put up will be the finished article, so probably a month or so yet.

 

[9C85]

I have planned to have 5 coach passenger trains running on my layout and, up until today, I had been running a 5 coach passenger train and a 6 coach parcels train. This morning I got a Hornby TSO from Rails of Sheffield via ebay which meant that, including my two BGs, I now have eight blue/grey coaches. I thought I would take the opportunity to try and put together two four coach trains, which will add to the operational interest on a temporary basis until I get some more stock. Being a bit nerdy, I had to justify the make up of the trains to kid myself into thinking 'yeah, that could hapoen'.

The two trains I put together are as follows ...

Nothing special here. I see it as a last train at night/ first train in the morning working, where what would be a two TSOs at the far end have been replaced by single a BG carrying mail and/or papers. I realise that 3/8 of the train is 'van' , but I remember the 20:00 hrs Cardiff to Crewe service in the late 70s/early 80s being 5 or 6 coaches, one of which was a BSK and the rest being BGs or GUVs - and this was classed as a passenger working.

 

The second train is a bit more contrived, but it is made up from what I had left 

I see this as an additional set of coaches used to strengthen a long distance service such as Edinburgh to Penzance . The coaches will be added at 'my station just up the line' and removed at Plymouth.  The opposite will happen on the balancing service. I will have to decide whether or not I can allow the loco to propel the coaches out of the yard to attach to the South West bound service or if the 08 will drag them to the station. 

Getting a bit serious now... Sorry! 

Edited May 21, 2020 by 9C85
Typo

[Rivercider]

I like your thinking about the coaching stock make up.

On the WR in the early 1980s there were a number of trains booked to be formed of short rakes of stock, that also conveyed tail traffic of parcels vans. The 06.35 Bristol-Plymouth, and the 21.20 Bristol-Plymouth were two such trains.

Edit - as I recall the normal circuit working for these sets was for just the four or five mark 1s to go to and from  Malago Vale. The tail traffic of parcels would be added to the set at Temple Meads.

 

Here is the 06.35 Bristol Temple Meads to Plymouth coming off the Weston-super-Mare Loop Line and passing Uphill Junction. The BG behind the loco is part of the set.

 

50016 Barham at Uphill Junction. 15/6/82.

 

After arrival at Plymouth this set of stock formed the 10.00 Plymouth to Penzance service, plus or minus a van or two off the rear. Several local services between Plymouth and Penzance were similarly formed,

 

cheers

Edited May 22, 2020 by Rivercider
Additional photo

[9C85]

That is really helpful, Rivercider.  Thanks a lot

[Steven B]

Some shorter workings to/from Manchester in the early-mid 1980s with parcels vans attached:

23:37 Sheffield - Manchester P: GUV BSK SK (1985)

02:20 Manchester P - Grimsby: SK BSK GUV GUV GUV GUV (1985)

00:42 (MO) Manchester P - Cardiff: BCK BSK GUV GUV GUV GUV (1985)

01:20 Manchester P - Cleethorpes: BG BG BG BSK BG CCT (1982)

01:20 Manchester P - Cleethorpes: BG GUV BG BSK BG CCT (1977)

02:10 Manchester P - Cleethorpes: SK BSK SK CK GUV GUV GUV GUV (1982)

02:10 Manchester P - Lincoln: SK CK BSK BG BG CCT BG BG (1977)

02:50 Manchester P - Crewe: BSK BG BG GUV BG BG BSK (1982)

 

A typical Mk1 rake from Manchester/Lancs/Staffs would have been SK CK BSK SK SK. There was a BCK SK SK SK set roaming around the midlands around the same time which often ran with BG and GUV attached.

[9C85]

Another in the occasional series of arty farty Friday shots...

 

[9C85]

4 hours ago, Steven B said:

Some shorter workings to/from Manchester in the early-mid 1980s with parcels vans attached:

23:37 Sheffield - Manchester P: GUV BSK SK (1985)

02:20 Manchester P - Grimsby: SK BSK GUV GUV GUV GUV (1985)

00:42 (MO) Manchester P - Cardiff: BCK BSK GUV GUV GUV GUV (1985)

01:20 Manchester P - Cleethorpes: BG BG BG BSK BG CCT (1982)

01:20 Manchester P - Cleethorpes: BG GUV BG BSK BG CCT (1977)

02:10 Manchester P - Cleethorpes: SK BSK SK CK GUV GUV GUV GUV (1982)

02:10 Manchester P - Lincoln: SK CK BSK BG BG CCT BG BG (1977)

02:50 Manchester P - Crewe: BSK BG BG GUV BG BG BSK (1982)

 

A typical Mk1 rake from Manchester/Lancs/Staffs would have been SK CK BSK SK SK. There was a BCK SK SK SK set roaming around the midlands around the same time which often ran with BG and GUV attached.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to put up this information.  The more I progress with the layout, the happier I am with my choice of era and setting. I am tempted to eventually fit yard floodlights etc and be able to run night time workings in which, as your post shows, pretty much anything could run together. 

Thanks again.