Green Lane Wharf - OO in a shoebox

[TechnicArrow]

A canal wharf Inspired by the new Scalescenes boxfile layout? No, surely not...!

 

Technically the truth; I was thinking about a canalside layout about a year ago, but the idea eventually turned in to "Arrow Paints" with no canals in sight. But it superseded my first shoebox layout "Green Lane Wagon Works", so I wanted to see if I could do something with those boxes and track. And it looks like the 3rd box of Green Lane has a lid with sides as deep as the box itself, effectively forming another box... So what if I took that third box and it's lid, and built a self-contained layout in it? I think this is going somewhere...

 

The plan, in bullet points:

> The front siding will be laid into a quay, with any canal and boats tacked onto the front

> A building similar to the scalescenes over-the-track warehouse will cover the right hand end

> The buildings will be fixed, but arranged to fit around eachother when the layout is "closed" into one box

> Chain/rope shunting will be required to reach the left hand end of the front siding, which probably won't look like it does at the moment

> A fiddle-stick under the bridge will provide power and make the headshunt a useable length

> The layout can be fairly era-less without looking odd, so both GWR and BR stock can be run

 

The result: a layout that can (hopefully) be packed down into one shoebox! If you don't count the rolling stock, controllers, tools...

[luke the train spotter]

I really like the idea of chain shunting, can't wait to see that modelled!

[TechnicArrow]

This afternoon featured about an hour of frustrating soldering, but I can now say that the track all works, as proven by the pannier happily trundling about.

 

The variety of extra wires ensure all rails are always powered from the single headhunt feed, to eliminate any problems from the terrible point blades and contacts. 

Then I couldn't resist experimenting with chain shunting!

 

The chains themselves, a long one and a short one, are spares from the Hornby PWay crane I've detailed up with proper cables. I added a bent staple to each end of the chains to make a larger, squarish link that's easy to slip over the chunky hooks on the rolling stock. 

The bollards are plastic drawing pins, whose smooth curved shoulders guide the chain perfectly. I'm still playing with positions to see what works best, there's already pinholes all over the layout!

So far, I'm very happy with their operation, which will be even easier once the track is inlaid so the chain can't get caught up on it. 

After all this, the track has been glued up and weighted down. We'll see if it's still in the right position tomorrow! 

[luke the train spotter]

Awesome! Seeing your success I may have to integrate chain shunting into a future layout. How smooth is the wagon moving? Does it jerk at all whilst the chain goes round the pin?

[TechnicArrow]

25 minutes ago, luke the train spotter said:

Awesome! Seeing your success I may have to integrate chain shunting into a future layout. How smooth is the wagon moving? Does it jerk at all whilst the chain goes round the pin?

 

The pin is very smooth, there's no jerk as the chain passes it. However, on uneven track, the wagon sometimes gains momentum and rolls forward then stops until the chain tensions again. Hopefully now the track is glued that won't happen, but I'm thinking about adding friction to the wagon wheels if it doesn't. 

I'm definitely going to film a demonstration video at some point, but the upload speed at home is pretty bad so I don't know when you'll get to see it! 

[Calidore]

That's a really inventive feature @TechnicArrow, I like it a lot. Would be great to see it in action when you're able.

 

Adam

[TechnicArrow]

Thank you! I think I first saw it done in model form on Chris Nevard's Brewhouse Quay, search YouTube for it. 

 

Meanwhile, the track still seems to be in the right position!

This morning, I started mocking up buildings. The two inner box walls were cut back, as well as the old road bridge supports. The existing warehouse will gain an extra bay in place of the tower structure, with the new right-hand wall part of the second box to hide the joint. Then a gate against the backscene will provide road access to the yard and wharf, followed by a low relief warehouse with large loading doors. This adjoins the end warehouse that spans the tracks.

 

The end warehouse will probably be brick, with doors across the tracks below. This building will help to hide the holes in the end wall, required to fit two wagons on each siding. I also hope to add an automated winch outside the large doors of the low relief building at the back. 

 

The narrowboat is a placeholder; I built it at uni last year and coloured it with whiteboard markers! 

 

The next step should probably be in-laying the track, there's plenty to do! 

[Sweet pea]

Excellent! It’s great to see a little layout develop with some chain shunting. Look forward to seeing more.

[TechnicArrow]

Thanks! I'm glad you like it, and hopefully there's still plenty to come! 

 

The majority of today was very enjoyably spent cutting up card and placing it around the track. I started with the front-left siding, and then extended along the front. 

 

Then progressed backwards accross the two warehouse sidings... 

 

... And finally completed the road entrance area. I extended this around the corner onto the original box to meet the existing platform, such that road vehicles will be able to end-load onto it. I also pushed the pin-bollards through the enormous card sandwich (5 layers and counting), and put the building mock-up back in their place. 

 

At the left-hand end, I salvaged bits of stonework from the girder bridge supports to replace the angled wing wall with a vertical retaining wall. The bufferstop is the one initially used on Arrow Paints!

 

All in all, I'm rather pleased with it. Most locos and rolling stock still seem able to negotiate the yard, surprisingly well in some areas but with a few judders in others. The layers of card mean the surface is high enough from the table to form a reasonable canal bank; I'll have to make do with a sheet of paper suitably decorated for the water itself. 

Tomorrow I hope to finish off the ground cover; paint the hard standing, ballast the plain track etc. But then it will be time to start the buildings!

[Multigauge]

Some lovely ingenuity shown here TechnicArrow. 

[TechnicArrow]

The ground cover's nearly there! After a day of experimenting with grey paints, I got a patchwork of colours I was happy with. A small amount of sand was mixed into the paint to give it texture, and black paint lightly brushed over to give a little weathering. The road entrance area was painted as tarmac rather than concrete. Finally, I've started the ballasting, using dried fine garden soil; it's an interesting material to work with, but I think it works well. It just needs a lot of tidying up! 

 

I've also managed to remove the "tower" structure from the existing warehouse, ready for the extension. 

 

Small weeds will be added around the layout, most likely once the buildings are ready to be "planted". 

[Sweet pea]

The extension to your layout is looking good.

[TechnicArrow]

Thank you @Kevin Johnson! 

 

Today, the warehouse extension was completed. The end from the kit the other stonework came from was used for this purpose, cut down by a third to fit the space. The windows are very thin strips of white card with clear plastic behind. The right-hand end wall and corner capping are part of the second box, to keep some structure and hide the join. The roof is far from perfect, but it's removable so I'll come back to it at some point. 

 

The platform was cut square and tidied with a wall and edging, and a set of steps addd. The tarmac area has had kerbs added, again thin strips of card scored every 12mm to represent standard 915mm kerbs. 

 

Finally, I touched up the ground cover and added grassy weeds to hide gaps and fill corners. I'm already loving the photos I can get in this small scene, and it's only half built! 

 

These photos aren't in the proper order of operations for chain shunting, but they give an idea. 

Tomorrow, it's probably time to make a proper start on the end warehouse. Let's see what I can do! 

[TechnicArrow]

As a student, I am familiar with the art of procrastination... 

 

Rather than start the buildings, this morning I tidied up the quayside. I took the excess card off and flattened the fronts, before adding a facing strip of thick card. This was overlaid with brick paper, and spare metcalfe kit ridge tiles for the coping stones. It still needs mooring bollards or rings, but it looks pretty tidy. 

 

The awkward step is where the boxes join, since the quays weren't quite flush. But real canal faces are rarely perfect, so I'm not bothered by it. 

 

This afternoon I did start the buildings, replacing the mock ups with some stronger card shells. I altered the design of the rear building to incorporate a pitched roof and winch beam, and will add an extra office building to the left of it (the one that's there now is a placeholder; it looks too modern). 

 

The final addition today was a simple wire tool, that makes it so much easier to hook and unhook the chain!

 

Work has now started on designing the brick/stone paper cover layer on the computer; once they're finished, I'll print them off and get building! 

[Sweet pea]

This is looking really good, the idea of building a layout with some chain shunting involved is rare but it’s great to see. 
The little wire hook is a good idea.

[TechnicArrow]

Not a fantastic amount of progress, but I've been posting nearly every evening so I feel I should keep it up! 

 

I started by building an office building kit. This kit came with "Railway Modelling Explored", a 10-part free guide Railway Modeller did ages ago that's found it's way into my collection. It's meant to be used as weighbridge office, but the supplied plate is a bit small.

 

Following that, I've started on the rear building. This uses a similar stone cladding to the existing warehouse, but will feature brick window arches and end wall. The winch pulley is a spare from the Kibri crane I mechanised, and will be painted at some point. Overall I'm very happy how this building is shaping up. 

 

Looking back at the scene, I think the office is a bit too large - there isn't enough space for lorries to pass from the yard entrance on the left to the quayside on the right. I think I will print off a half-relief version of it; I scanned the kit before I built it, which was suggested in the instructions.

Finally, I've finished the digital skin for the end warehouse - hopefully I can print that tomorrow too. 

[SteveyDee68]

Looking really good. The chain shunting also looks great, and using board pins as capstans is a great idea. Do you think that painting them might cause any problems? Or do you have some white ones to use? Please keep us fully informed of any issues with chain shunting, as I am sure there are more modellers than just me interested in stealing copying this aspect of working wagons in awkward spaces.

 

Your structures are also looking good, with design elements tying the different structures together. Looking forward to seeing how your model progresses.

 

Steve S

Edited February 22, 2021 by SteveyDee68
Stupid double space after full stop typist training kicked in!

[sb67]

Fantastic layout TechnicArrow. I love the chain shunting, very ingenious 

[009 micro modeller]

I love the chain shunting and the bollards look good - you can’t immediately tell they’re drawing pins.

[TechnicArrow]

Thank you all! I can't say the push-pin bollards are my idea, but I have no idea where I saw it done first. I don't have any colours other than red, yellow and green, so I'm hoping a bit of gloss black will keep them smooth and not wear away too quickly. Maybe some smooth varnish will help. 

Operationally, I'm already very happy with everything. Hooking and unhooking isn't much different to dealing with tension locks once you've got the hang of using the tool, and it makes you think a lot more about the role of "shunter", walking around moving chains and throwing points. 

Scenically, the use of the chain means I have a usable kickback siding the full length of the scenic area, despite a short headshunt and no run-round loop. 

 

Anyway, back to buildings! This morning I printed off this sheet:

 

And started working on the buildings, right to left along the layout. First, I applied the brick covering to the end warehouse, cutting out the door and window openings to match it. 

 

To be honest, I'm not that happy with it; the printer has washed everything out a bit despite turning the brightness up before printing, so details such as the concrete lintels and brick arches over the windows are a bit lost. It clearly still needs windows, doors and flat-roof detail too. 

Next, the rear warehouse got it's brick end wall, corner capping and brick window arches and door lintels. 

Third along is the half-office, which unsurprisingly went together in about half the time of the full version! The window frames were drawn with a felt tip and cut from the paper with a sharp knife:

 

Then I focused on the last area, the entrance gate. I built the gate from scored card, and framed it with some scale 6ft high brick walls. This are has to be flat against the backscene, since it buts up to the front of the overbridge when the box is closed up. Said backscene is a simple rural scene, another old Model Rail freebie still knocking around my collection. All together, I'm pretty happy with how things are looking! 

[TechnicArrow]

All that happened today was I added doors to the end warehouse. These are sandwiches of card scored to represent planking, with a reinforcing framework added to the inside.

 

Now they just need painting. The insides will be a grubby white, but colour do you think the outside should be?

[Sweet pea]

Nice progress on your shoebox layout, I do like the printed brick and stone affect on the buildings. 

[simonmcp]

On 31/05/2020 at 20:57, TechnicArrow said:

To be honest, I'm not that happy with it; the printer has washed everything out a bit despite turning the brightness up before printing, so details such as the concrete lintels and brick arches over the windows are a bit lost.

If you did indeed turn up the brightness that would wash out the colours. If there is a setting for 'Saturation' on your program or printer settings you could increase that to make the colours deeper. Simon

[TechnicArrow]

@simonmcp by "brightness" I do indeed mean "saturation", and by "program" I mean "MS Word"!

 

@Kevin Johnson Thanks, I always enjoy working with card and paper more than embossed plasticard - it doesn't need painting for a start! 

 

Modelling this week has been pretty slow, due to both mild illness and university work. But with those out of the way, I finally got back to tidy up these buildings. 

That includes replacing the arches with better bricks and the concrete lintel with a strip of card, adding windows (sharpie'd frames), and painting the doors white inside and chocolate brown outside. There's now also a small platform inside the warehouse. 

The bollards also got painted black, as well as the recently added point levers. Finally, we're getting somewhere! 

 

The paint doesn't appear to have hindered the chain shunting; I did have to think carefully about where to put the point levers though!

[TechnicArrow]

More wet weather, so more modelling... 

 

Finally, the rear warehouse and office buildings have been fixed down. The thread for the warehouse winch passes through the backscene via a tube taken from an expired biro, which helps to reduce friction. It's then fixed to a disc, the same diameter as the height of the winch; as the disc is rotated (by hand), the winch is continuously pulled up and then let down. There's a large sack on the hook to provide enough weight to pull the hook down. 

 

Once the buildings were fixed, I added neat PVA and green scatter material along the walls and in the crevices in the concrete. 

Next, I realised the canal quayside needed mooring bollards, but smaller than the push-pins for the chain shunting. I could just buy them... But that felt like cheating, I haven't spent a penny on this layout yet. So I scratchbuilt them, a piece of spare plastic sprue and a couple of layers of card hole-punchings forming each one. 

I also added a hand/guard rail to protect the point lever from both model vehicles, and me! It uses wire from an unbent paperclip. 

 

I fond that the bollards help to reinforce that the front is a canal quay, even though there's no proper boats or "water" yet. 

Both they and the railing pass the yard crew's extensive "sitting" and "leaning" tests, it seems! 

 

There's not much to do now, although I do need to build a boat and the buildings want proper rooves.