What locomotive have I just bought (and what can be done with it)??

[Il Grifone]

Insulfrog points switch the polarity, so with the points set to the curve, the curved sections will be live and a locomotive will pass happily from one road to the other. There is no need for a feed between the points.

It is recommended to feed points from the toe and to avoid problems both rails on the curves need an insulated rail joiner. Obviously it will then be necessary to arrange switching so that one controller feeds both point toes.

For a lift out section, feeds will be necessary to both rails. These can be via contacts built into the cassettes and the baseboard or a plug and socket. The former will be easier to use and the latter easier to make (and probably more reliable!)

[LMS Bess]

Aha! Cheers, that makes sense. 

 

After checking my stock to find, shock horror, the points I already have are L facing not R, I went back to my designs and figured out that in fact, the end of the line with L points probably makes a better layout, although we're now quite far from the A5 diorama idea but perhaps it is willed.

 

This is on 15cm x 100cm and whilst it would take up the whole of my intended shelf with no room for staging area, it could be set up temporarily somewhere there was room with either staging area attached or cassette traverser.  

[LMS Bess]

So, whilst I ponder possible plans and await my bank account to heal after a trip to London (National Maritime Museum and London Docklands Museum among other delights), it's time to think about one of the elements that will go into this layout, and that's the traveling crane. I picked up the Dapol traveling crane, and now, one option is simply to use that crane as is but there are some interesting differences between it and the prototype which could make for an interesting kit-bash ... which I think I'll probably adopt as an evening project. Or at least make a start. 

 

Here is a professional quality diagram showing the differences. We have:

 

a) Real one has a little chimney. Cranes appear to be from 1900s/10s ... maybe a small diesel engine in the cab powers the pulley, jib, and movement as I can't see where they'd store the coal up there. Either way there's a little chimney on the cab, and that's a nice easy job to do. 

 

b) Real cables enter cab at front rather than running to winch at top back. 

 

c) Real cab front has only one window, a small one. Can be done with some sanding down of window-frames and inflling and putty etc, or perhaps I'll just make a new front panel out of plastic sheet. 

 

d) Here's where it gets interesting. The real boom is quite different to the one on the model, and also connects under the cab rather than to lower front. It's solid looking from the side and has a different, finer lattice pattern. I wonder too, not being an expert in cranes, if this is a fixed boom in real life ... as, squinting at photos of the harbour, the metal wheeled thingy on which the cabin sits looks like it could move around enough to get the hook where it needs to be without the boom moving at all.  

 

Now, I have some modest experience in making trestles/lattices/whatever the technical term is. I once did a wooden one for a US-style elevated coal dump. And it worked! To an extent. The essence is to draw out where your sticks are going to go on paper including their exact thicknesses, cut out your sticks, and stick them to the paper and to each other, then peel off/cut out the paper so only the sticks are left, and hope everything sticks together. I would probably use styrene strips for this. 

 

However - for speed it is worth asking - does anyone make a brass or plastic piece in the shape of the boom in the photograph there marked D? So, narrowing towards one end, held together with diagonal crosses?  

 

So far, I am not even looking at anything below the bottom of the cabin. As you can perhaps see, it's on little wheels which run on rails on top of a big metal thing that sits on top of a harbour wall ... which would completely block off my scene unless I redid the scene so I'm looking in from the sea-side in which case you won't be able to see the ship. There'll be a solution no doubt. I wondered about showing a collumn of the harbour wall and then a 'cut out' showing a view of the tracks. That may not make any sense whatsoever. When I get on to that bit I'll provide another high quality diagram. 

 

I shall endeavour to do at least the little chimney on the roof at ... some point this week, and post photographs. 

 

 

Edited September 11, 2021 by LMS Bess
Grammar

[LMS Bess]

Oh yes - here's what looks like one of the same crane units but setup on the ground level. It would be great if it was the same because then a) I could use it for a reference for my overhead crane with peace of mind and b) it looks like it's on train wheels which are the same gauge as the track, and mounted on a little flat wagon, which makes everything simpler if the same applies to the overhead ones as I can probably just get a flat wagon or chassis kit from Peco and mount crane unit on that. Also shows where door is. Looks to be made of corrugated iron too which might help answer the question of material and colour (metal often painted red IIRC to protect against rust but I could be wrong and might paint it black to be on the safe side). 

[LMS Bess]

In fact ... in fact ... I may simply leave off the overhead crane, say that it's trundled off somewhere stage left from where my 'camera' is, and just fudge it so there's one of those little flat wagon mounted crane units there sometimes. I would think a strong enough weight inside would make for a crane car that won't tip over.  

[LMS Bess]

Having a play around with embedded track on a spare bit of track - cobbles texture doesn't quite come out in the photo but I was surprisingly happy with what I could do by scribing plasticard. Obviously I haven't yet trimmed the exact size piece needed to go between the rails. 

 

 

[LMS Bess]

A rough sketch of the guideline drawing I might use to do the crane jib: 

 

 

[LMS Bess]

Here we see the very preliminaries of the backdrop painting depicting a ship. I scoured the internet to find plausible SR Folkestone vessels and came up with SS Isle of Thanet. Starting from a photograph, I bodged together a formula on excel that lets me type in the real length, the length as it appears on any side-on picture (of any size) and then based on that, how long a distance in the photograph comes out in OO gauge painting size. Ish. It's very ish. Then I did a rough sketch of the ship on some paper - looks about right to me. When I really get down to this part, factors like the angle of lean of the mast and how different forms connect to each other will be more tightly controlled. 

 

I do not know why the photo of the picture is upside down.    

 

 

[LMS Bess]

The right way up. It's the little things that matter 

[LMS Bess]

I'm also looking into the possibility of having a tramp steamer turn up because I adore them. Different ships on different interchangeable backdrops - series of little projects. Could be fun. This website is interesting, lets you search for ships by port registry, year built etc: 

 

http://sunderlandships.com/search.php

Edited September 13, 2021 by LMS Bess

[Il Grifone]

'Scalescenes' do a couple of ships and some smaller craft (Usual disclaimer).

 

https://scalescenes.com/dockscenes/

[LMS Bess]

Well I've yet to put the little chimney on the crane (maybe tonight) but I have ordered some stringers to connect two handy bits of plywood it turned out I had lying around and which are long enough when joined. There we are - it pays to look at what's in your piles. I am thinking about removable legs, bearing brackets. This is interesting. 

 

Speaking of timber, in my tramp steamer for backdrop research I found amazing pictures of ships carrying timber above decks, as you can see from the delightful Stesso pictured below. 

 

Then I went on the ever handy IGG 'Goods And Not So Goods' website and studied how timber is transported in period. Apparently a lot of baltic oak barrel staves were imported and some pit posts. So I've set about making them as removable loads for open wagons. Pit posts are WIP, here are the stave loads.

 

One lot is made out of cut down and sanded matchsticks, the other lot wooden coffee stirrer cut up. Stained with watered down burnt umber acrylic and grey pastel powder then sanded again - the staves should look seasoned apparently. Then superglued to strips of cardboard then the strips to each other.  

 

    

 

 

[LMS Bess]

I also found this amazing picture, not from Folkestone but from the London dock-side, showing how exactly barrels were craned between ship and train. We might assume that whoever is ordering barrel staves to Folkestone might also be exporting their barrels on the same route to avoid an empty load one way.

 

What I couldn't find out was a) whether English booze in this period (1930s) was exported much b) what else might be shifted in barrels c) whether people bothered to import British barrels anywhere else or just made their own.

 

Any barrel-o-logists are welcome to chip in as it would be nice to have a rationale for barrels in/out and maybe even try to hustle together something like that crane attachment:

[The Johnster]

 

Abergwynfi Avon Colliery sidings from the mountainside above with good view of how pitprops were stacked in opens, but I've seen shorter ones stacked vertically.  It's railtour day.  I have a wagon load that replicates this, the raw material being reed scent diffusers.  The props were imported from the Baltic, including Russia despite the Cold War, Belgium, and France, the region south of the Loire estuary.  They were normally deck cargo on the ships.  At Folkestone they would be destined for pits in the Kent coalfield, and there was probably a pit prop depot at which they were 'aged' and conditioned before onward transmission to the pits.

[Sabato]

 

Posted 3 hours ago

 

What I couldn't find out was a) whether English booze in this period (1930s) was exported much b) what else might be shifted in barrels c) whether people bothered to import British barrels anywhere else or just made their own.

 

Any barrel-o-logists are welcome to chip in as it would be nice to have a rationale for barrels in/out and maybe even try to hustle together something like that crane attachment:

 

 

Of course, it's quite possible this is imported booze, Madeira, brandy or port as examples. Later used for maturing single malts. Hmmm, luvverly. 

 

[LMS Bess]

I have put the little chimney on the crane. And removed window frames from bits that shouldn't be there, and thinned down the frames I'm keeping. I'll be coating the cabin here in metal siding so the windows I don't want don't need filling in which is a relief. 

 

The pieces on that old Airfix kit fit together really well, I must say. 

 

Also my pit props at top. I've gone for the longer style to start with - according to IGG they were sometimes shipped long and cut down later. 

 

Also some 6mm American Civil War soldiers. I'm 2/10ths of the way to a regiment each in blue and in grey, and I'm switching back to trains for a bit as a relief.

 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by LMS Bess
More info

[LMS Bess]

9 minutes ago, Sabato said:

 

Posted 3 hours ago

 

What I couldn't find out was a) whether English booze in this period (1930s) was exported much b) what else might be shifted in barrels c) whether people bothered to import British barrels anywhere else or just made their own.

 

Any barrel-o-logists are welcome to chip in as it would be nice to have a rationale for barrels in/out and maybe even try to hustle together something like that crane attachment:

 

 

Of course, it's quite possible this is imported booze, Madeira, brandy or port as examples. Later used for maturing single malts. Hmmm, luvverly. 

 

Ah, of course! 

 

Now to find the exact dimensions of a Madeira barrel. And possibly hit

 the offy for some research. 

[LMS Bess]

A mostly finished wagon load of pit props. Just needs trimming etc. The ones at the back were too short but only the front ones are visible so okay. 

 

Also I got my hands on a heavy duty guillotine at work. The colleagues being sympathetic to my project, I was able to do a lot of choppin' for the next loads. 

 

I have also drawn the lines for the crane jib! 

[LMS Bess]

And here's what I've been able to find in terms of ship to train process ... some interesting opportunities here. One of these is Hartlepool docks, I'm unsure of the others. I especially like the bloke doing it by hand! Also for the eagle-eyed, another interesting crane attachment can be seen here.

[LMS Bess]

Also I've been mentally developing the backdrop idea. I'm thinking now, some kind of low relief situation using 5mm foam board jutting out of chipboard. The side of the ship being brought out just a little would allow things like having a derrick extending out, boarding planks, etc. 

[LMS Bess]

The jib. To my eyes, horribly angular, barely straight, and a massive liability. However. I'll do the diagonal braces tomorrow, and black paint covers a multitude of sins. 

 

[LMS Bess]

We have a jib. I ... quite like the cut of it. Or at least I don't dislike it. It'll do for now. 

 

 

[LMS Bess]

More interesting/maybe useful pics from my research quest: meat and how it was handled and another special crane attachment. I'm looking into SR refrigerator vans for meat currently to see if anything is available or close enough.  

 

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by LMS Bess
Van not wagon!

[cctransuk]

4 minutes ago, LMS Bess said:

More interesting/maybe useful pics from my research quest: meat and how it was handled and another special crane attachment. I'm looking into SR meat vans currently to see if anything is available or close enough.  

 

 

 

The latter two photos were almost certainly taken during WW1 in France or Belgium; note the military presence and the Continental rolling stock.

 

CJI.

[LMS Bess]

Indeed. They must have been glad to see that lot come in ...