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York station in the 1950's.


kirtleypete
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Why is it that as soon as you publish something you go back, look at a picture and realise it's not correct?! 

 

These two pictures are the best I have seen of the 1904 footbridge as it was before the welded structure replaced it.  

 

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These two pictures show the corrected model:

 

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FB8.jpg.2d52318b10fe803780e45f0930d20e72.jpg

 

Peter

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Will you be doing the enamelled signs on the risers? Not sure when they went but they were certainly there in the sixties are seen in 'This is York' at 4:37. My childhood memories are that the lighter ones were on a yellow background, the darker ones (more tentatively ) a dark blue. I think there were some on a red ground too.

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This is such an evocative thread Peter.

 

Earlier on you mentioned about the old signal box being awkward as the locking room would be shared with WH Smith.  From my 1970's train-spotting memories, the old WH Smith bookstall didn't use the locking room space.  The stall was a traditional solid back wooden bookstall like the old Merit model, stuck on the side of the box with staff standing behind a large sloping counter on which all the magazines and papers were laid - quite a stretch for a little 'un to throw across his money when buying a copy of "Railway World"... 

 

The RH end I believe was the only part where customers entered the full depth of the stall - again from hazy memories that space was created to allow Smiths to put in some bookshelves.  Only when the old stall was removed did Smith's move into the former locking room space, where they are today.  That must have been c.1984 (? - possibly at the same time York was remodelled to become an open station? I have a photo of my first university girlfriend coming through the ticket barriers to visit me in the Xmas vacation 1983 so the barriers were still there then.  My photo was meant to be of Kate, not the barriers, but that's how accidental archive sources are created!)

 

Departure indicators - yes, in the 1970s they were tall varnished wood glass-fronted cabinets containing vertical roller blinds on the concourse to the left of the signal box before you got to the barriers (and also another one on Platform 8?).  The station staff would periodically wind these up (electrically) to show the next hour or so's trains.  As I remember them they were quite plain "Festival of Britain" style cabinets.  The NRM has an earlier more ornate NER period example on display (from Bishop Auckland) at Locomotion in Shildon:

 

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Nostalgia!

 

Richard T

 

 

Edited by RichardT
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The end of the footbridge with the curved stairs would have given me grey hairs if I hadn't already got them! I think I've finally got it right, with just the handrails to add. 

 

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I think one more step needs adding here, otherwise it will be a bit of a jump!

Peter

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Built up from plastic; the uprights are Plastruct U Channel and the horizontals are Slater's 40thou strip in the top and 30 thou below it. It's surprisingly strong once it's all together and hidden beneath the overall roof it won't be in danger of getting knocked. 

 

Peter

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Naturally having decided that I wouldn't paint the bridge, I went ahead and ignored my own advice! Brush painting it wasn't difficult using Tamiya acrylics.

 

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The model still needs weathering to match the signal box. 

 

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The kiosks under the bridge seem to have sold snacks but at the moment I've used the same pictures as on the bookstall....they will be very difficult to see when it's in place and if I can find something better it's easy enough to cover them up. 

 

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Finally the people in the old signal box can escape without needing a parachute! 

 

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It was certainly worth adding the adverts to the steps, they do show. I did them all for the Yorkshire Insurance Co as I couldn't work out what the darker ones were selling. 

 

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The signal box now has it's clock; I made it myself in the end as the one I bought was much too big. 

 

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The bridge has been a very interesting modelling challenge, which I must admit I enjoy. The far end will rest against the brick wall supporting the overall roof, beyond which the footbridge carries on but that will be a separate model. 

 

Peter

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I found a much better picture for the snack bars, and have weathered the bridge to tone it all down. 

 

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I need to do more work on the dark grey girder - it's amazing how a photo picks up things that the eye doesn't.

 

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Peter

Edited by kirtleypete
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While we wait for the parts for the overall roof to arrive I'm going to build the group of buildings around the water tank. Despite the proximity to the platform ends pictures have been hard to find:

 

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If anyone knows of any others please post them on here.  We think the buildings were painted white but they could have been cream - does anyone know? 

 

Thanks,

 

Peter

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It looks like I'll have to go with the information I've got; these are the shells of the buildings on the paper template. The biggest difference is the reduced width of the water tank but there's no way around that. 

 

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The tank house looks taller than it should because it will be sunk into the ground; ground level was on the line of the window sills making it look very squat. 

 

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Peter

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On 07/12/2020 at 10:24, kirtleypete said:

While we wait for the parts for the overall roof to arrive I'm going to build the group of buildings around the water tank. Despite the proximity to the platform ends pictures have been hard to find:

 

1871779948_WATERTOWERRMWEB.jpg.d9989a8813b8f15d3bf701ad20f8794c.jpg

 

If anyone knows of any others please post them on here.  We think the buildings were painted white but they could have been cream - does anyone know? 

 

Thanks,

 

Peter

The one’s surviving into the 70s were white by then.

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While I'm waiting for the windows and tank panels for the water tower to arrive I've completed the three smaller buildings, based on what little information is available.

 

I used this picture to create an A4 sheet of brick paper:

 

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On the buildings it is actually a very light grey which looks just right. 

 

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Peter

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Following a frustrating couple of days waiting for the parts to arrive for the water tank I have made a start on the coal drops. 

 

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They are 34" long and double tracked on the model although the real thing had four tracks which was unusual. The NER coal drops were open fronted, without the boarding and doors used on some lines, and boarded between the tracks to give a walkway. The wagons had bottom doors and the coal simply fell between the rails straight into the cell below. 

 

Although the coal yard at York is long gone the brick walls of the coal cells are still there, cut back and forming the boundary of a car park, so it was possible to work out the dimensions. Each cell is 20' wide and the rear wall is 15' high, very conveniently giving us ten cells.

 

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The drops in this picture have special rail called 'girder rails' but this wasn't universal so we are going to use chaired rail laid onto the wooden beams which seems to have been commonly used. 

 

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When the model is finished it will be sprayed black all over before the brick is added and then the coal itself.  I need to wait for a delivery of Plastruct now, though.

 

Peter

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