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Burnstow Dock (inspired by Ipswich/Great Yarmouth)


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Those photos of the cranes are fantastic! Lots of detail to see and also size-wise they are perfect for model docksides, as not so big as to completely dwarf everything else. I think there is a project coming to fruition elsewhere to produce a level luff dockside crane and I can certainly see myself purchasing such a kit, but in the meantime I could start estimating sizes etc from these and make mock ups similar to my buildings to get a sense of proportion etc. Thank you again, @Angliacan, for taking the time and trouble to provide your photos.

 

Steve S

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just a blast from past at a quay in Ipswich Wet Dock a Thames Barge this is the Will From Maldon. Looking into the type of boat which were common when like may docks around the East Coast were commerically active. Here in the mist of Wet Dock.  

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On 20/02/2021 at 11:28, Angliacan said:

Interesting Fact

 

There is still a commercail terminal within the Wet Dock Ipswich, this is the Anglo Nordon Timber Warehouse which see regular sailing from the Suntis, which most be the largest regular ship to pass through the Lock Gates into the Wet Dock.. The rest of the Wet Docks is Leisure   yahcts and  or  moorings for boats from Government Bodies such as Trinty House & Border Force. These photos were taken last Monday in early afternoon as the Suntis is leaving  backing out of Wet Dock Lock Gates at High Tide.

 

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The Anglo Norden Timber Warehouse to the left, the Quay which is where I'm standing taking the photo and the Suntis is in the Lock Gate.

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THe Suntis is unloaded by mobile cranes and fort lift straight into the Warehouse. Long gone is any rail traffic to the Wet Dock. The only Rail Srved Terminal in Ipswich is the West Bank across the River Orwell, with it branch line south facing of the main Liverpool St Norwich GEML, so traffic is from the south.

This is the only regular commercial use of the wet dock now.

 

Stu

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22 minutes ago, Angliacan said:

Just a blast from past at a quay in Ipswich Wet Dock a Thames Barge this is the Will From Maldon. Looking into the type of boat which were common when like may docks around the East Coast were commerically active. Here in the mist of Wet Dock.  

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For anybody who was wondering, the vessel shown on the right of these pics is a recreation of Noah's Ark - see https://arkmuseum.eu/, which has stayed at Ipswich due to the virus.

 

Stu

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What great pictures again, @Angliacan! One thing that strikes me in the first photo is the high level of water in the dock itself - that must be, what, three or four feet below the dockside? That would totally change the look of the quayside from my previous attempt using the Scalescenes dock edge and walls. Will be looking back at earlier photos with a fresh eye.

 

Steve S

 

Developments at Blackford Wharf temporarily suspended whilst investigating how to model a train ferry but more recent mock ups will be shown here shortly

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A photo posted on the dockside cranes thread has led me onto Flickr and the Ipswich Maritime Trust Image Archive - and a wealth of photos of all aspects of the area. They have 3,000 historic photos to look at... I may be a while!

 

I hope the following enables a link!

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/imt_image_archive

 

Steve S

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Just to say that anybody interested in the Ipswich docks and locality has a very deep rabbit hole to dive down if you follow the above link! Some remarkably crisp photographs (for their age) full of detail and character, plus the people who built, worked upon and sailed the River Stour.

 

Fascinating stuff, and as I often say...

 

HOURS OF FUN!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 03/03/2021 at 15:56, SteveyDee68 said:

Developments at Blackford Wharf temporarily suspended whilst investigating how to model a train ferry but more recent mock ups will be shown here shortly

 

A while ago I mentioned posting up a revised track plan... That has been superceded by a slight revision at the front left of the board with the use of a small Y point I tried out of curiosity. 

 

Meanwhile, a laser-cut half relief "Georgian House" from an eBay seller may form the basis of a customs house similar to ones I found on the 'net (Poole and Faversham, although it is more like Faversham) and I have been sketching out a couple more industrial buildings to try in various positions. I am planning on concentrating upon a couple of locos for this (and Woodhey Quay) this weekend, but if I get chance will put up photos of mock ups for comment.

 

Steve S

 

Poole Custom House

 

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Faversham Custom House

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Been for a walk around Ipswich Wet Dock, think I might have found the last bit of railway track on the whole Wet Dock Network. Looking towards Cliff Quay Brewery which was damaged by fire a few years ago. I think the track from the lockgate bridge would have been in the background. near the grass bank.

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The is no sign of any track on the bridge across the lock gate or around Cliff Quay.

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Or the cranes

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On 24/03/2021 at 17:06, Angliacan said:

Been for a walk around Ipswich Wet Dock, think I might have found the last bit of railway track on the whole Wet Dock Network. Looking towards Cliff Quay Brewery which was damaged by fire a few years ago. I think the track from the lockgate bridge would have been in the background. near the grass bank.

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The is no sign of any track on the bridge across the lock gate or around Cliff Quay.

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Or the cranes

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Not sure if there is any track left beyond normal public limits - Cliff quay has been developed quite extensively over the last few years but there might still be some on the "island" in the middle of the old docks.

 

Stu

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Quick update - job applications, Covid vaccination side effects and teaching in Liverpool for a week (I live in Manchester!) resulted in total exhaustion and no time/energy for modelling! However, I did manage to check out my new laser cut building as the customs house, but even with an additional basement/steps it looked completely dwarfed by the surrounding industrial buildings. However, inspiration has struck seeing a railway station kit being adapted as dock offices - I'll mock up the front of the Scalescenes large station building and see if that might work as a customs house! At some point, I am going to feel ready to say enough planning, get on with some doing!

 

HOURS OF PROCRASTINATION FUN!

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At last, some progress!

 

As always, there are compromises to be made, and at the moment that is the area given over to the actual dock. To increase that would mean reducing the depth of structures at the rear of the layout, which may in turn cause more problems than it really solves as buildings merge into the backscene.

 

Other than the Scalescenes large station building which I will kitbash into a customs house, and the Scalescenes grain silo and tower at the front left of the layout, all other structures are based upon buildings seen around Ipswich wet dock; The Cranfield Brothers mill and silo, Burtons Biscuit Factory, J&W Paul concrete silo and the conveyor across the entrance to the docks to the unloading tower, and part of the complex of corrugated clad buildings. If I can find room, I'd like to include a docks office building but that may be a stretch!

 

Now to finalise the track in the front left corner - to keep the Y or simplify? Cut track to fit in the remaining gaps, and wire it up for testing!

 

Photos to follow!

 

Steve S 

 

 

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Took some photos to be able to look at away from the layout. Currently thinking about which building to put behind the green building, whether to change the shape of that to a simpler over-track structure, and or whether to use that structure at the front right corner instead of the planned tower. The rear right silo will be based upon the R&W Paul building at the entrance to the Ipswich wet dock, whereas the silo at the left rear will be based upon the Cranfield Brothers silo.

 

Basically lots of Ipswich inspired buildings re-arranged a la Eric Morecambe - to misquote the great man, "I'm using all the right buildings, but not necessarily in the right order"!

 

Photos from left to right. Blue represents dock area. Please ignore mess in the background!!

 

Note - the tall silo at the left rear will extend another bay depth backwards, and the warehouse will have some depth (approx 3")

 

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The Scalescenes large station building seen centre - plan is to raise it on steps, as per Ipswich. Nit Not quite a full depth model due to the tracks in front!

 

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Another taller building will be behind the green building, with the "Burtons" inspired building to the left and the R&W Paul silo to the right. Typically, the paper for that mock up has shifted as I took the photo!

 

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Original plans had the small tower at the right front corner (final two photos). Still undecided whether to go with that idea or substitute for a larger building over the tracks with a ship loading mechanism, joined to the silo with the "bridge" as at the entrance to the wet dock.

 

Here are a few more views taken to check the "feel" of the buildings around the tracks.

 

 

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Photos are such a good way to check things out "fresh" - looking at the last, I can see that I haven't got the (blue) tower tall enough by about a third. That would make quite a visual difference, although I am edging towards the green structure positioned at front right instead.

 

Incidentally, the green structure was an experiment in using PowerPoint to draw accurate shapes as base layers for buildings rather than measuring by hand. Interestingly, despite being printed at 100%, the walls 'rotated' through 90 degrees to fit on an A4 sheet are 'stretched' by about a mm in the process. I will try drawing some simple shapes, printing them and then measuring them to check if indeed the software introduces errors. (If so, I shall have to try Inkscape again, which I am not at all familiar with!) Using a computer program to create the basic shapes makes repetitive elements such as windows much easier both to replicate and place accurately.

 

Thank you, @David jennings, for the encouraging words. I've tried sketching out ideas, but mocking things up is the best way I've found so far to be able to gauge if things look right.

 

Steve S

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And after all that, I am looking at the "customs house" and thinking that there just doesn't seem to be enough room in front for pedestrians to walk without being flattened by a passing wagon! Maybe another warehouse or a brewery type building instead?

 

As seen from the selection of buildings below, I have been saving inspirational images for quite a while! Given the large concrete silos and expanse of corrugated iron/weatherboarded structures already in mind, all rather utilitarian in design, I'm thinking something with more complicated rooflines and windows for contrast.

 

Eagle eyed readers will recognise Lancons Brewery from Great Yarmouth, and part of the Snape maltings complex. Perhaps the Exeter warehouses are too 'out of region' and the canal warehouse (crikey, where was that from?!*) simply too mundane to provide enough contrast to the other planned buildings.

 

I sense more mock ups!

 

HOURS OF FUN!

 

* Stourbridge! 

 

 

 

Lancons Brewery #1

 

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Not R&W Paul grain warehouse!

 

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Lancons Brewery #2

 

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Lancons Brewery #3

 

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Exeter (I think) warehouses

 

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Midlands canal warehouse (not a very big one - would be dwarfed by existing buildings!)

 

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Snape Maltings - I do like the archway, external staircase and brickwork ornamentation!

 

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The more I look at prototype photos of docks, the more I see multiple parallel tracks running alongside the wharf edges. I very much admire Millway Dock for that very reason - parallel lines, backed with functional buildings that don't specifically evoke a particular location. When I (eventually) build the docks for Broadhaven* I aim to emulate that sense of functional simplicity.

 

But that's for another day! Blackford Wharf is about having lots of shunting fun in a small area! It may end up looking  a bit like Ipswich (and may even have the right type of locos, too) but is not a model of the real location.

 

Just wanted to get that off my chest, because looking at eg 15 x 4 wheel goods wagons alongside a (relatively small) ship and that being roughly the same length was reminding me that my 3-wagon length sidings were waaaaaaay too short to be anywhere near like prototypical. It has been niggling me to the point that I have needed to write it down to remind myself that this is a compressed model and is a micro layout designed for shunting fun.

 

There. Done it. I can go to sleep now!

 

STAY SANE! REMEMBER - IT'S JUST A MODEL! RULE #1 APPLIES!!

 

 

 

* Broadchurch Marine became Broadchurch became Broadhaven - hey ho!

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Forgot my asterisk * corrected typos!
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The buildings are looking great Steve. They really add to the Dockside feel of the layout. I like the way you're filling the spaces, the buildings all work together, something I struggle to do, hence most of my layouts have been relativley building free!

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Another day, another quick look see...

 

What I find particularly attractive about the main Lancon's Brewery complex (rather than the stores in photo 1) is the different shaped (and styled/constructed) structures in layers - that would make a really interesting model providing lots of visual contrast with the (relatively) flat buildings around it, but I am left wondering if there simply isn't the depth available to do justice to such an arrangement of structures.

 

Snape Maltings provides some of the same contrasts in visual depth through the protruding hoists and external staircases, as well as the archway through to the rest of the complex; likewise the complexity of the fenestration of the windows of the arch building, contrasting with the simpler windows alongside. But is part of what makes this building work its length? Will shortening it to fill the available space lose the essential character of the building?

 

I must say that I also really like the ivy covering the wall of the section to the left - could I get away with that to provide a bit of greenery in an otherwise thoroughly urbanised/industrial environment? To that end, I am also looking to the overgrown tracks as depicted on Canute Road Quay for inspiration, to soften the harder lines of brick, concrete and corrugated iron.

 

A little more playing about pondering and mocking up required I think, and tomorrow is a bank holiday to have a go at it!

 

Steve S

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I'm enjoying following this. 

 

If you're wanting any photos of Faversham Standard Quay as is I'll happily pop across the creek and take some.  The buildings are tarted up but effectively unchanged. There are a few photos of it in operational days in the Middleton Press book. 

 

 

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Can anyone guess one of the rabbit holes I haven't gone down for Ipswich quay? Go on... Yep! The Francis Frith website. For some strange reason I haven't looked there! Guess I have some more useful image gazing to do this morning! With genuine thanks to @dpawsfor pointing me in that direction. Am also taking a little peek at the lasercut maltings link...

 

Thanks for the kind words and offer of photos, @ManofKent - I often think to myself that this thread might come over to anyone reading as a bit "what colour fluff is in my own navel today?" ... I've ended up writing this more as to record my own thought processes and be able to revisit them (which might explain me correcting spelling mistakes long after posting!) so should probably really be a blog, but so many folks are providing links to useful research material or posting up their own photos etc that I'm really happy for it to be a jump off point for anyone interested in any of the content. So please feel free to post up photos of Faversham Standard Quay - I know such "rabbit holes" can end up providing further unexpected inspiration (such as, in my case, the Snape Maltings, or Wells-Next-The-Sea for example.)

 

Steve S

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What did Oasis sing? "Don't look back in anger"?

 

Well, I looked back over the thread and realised that @Angliacan had provided a photo of the Cliff Quay Brewery complex in Ipswich which that has the same visual "interest" as the Lancon's Brewery complex from nearby Great Yarmouth .... time to take another look at the opposite river bank in Ipswich for possible inspiration.

 

Look at all those wonderful roof shapes!

 

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4 hours ago, SteveyDee68 said:

 

 

Well, I looked back over the thread and realised that Angliacan had provided a photo of an Ipswich building which has the same "interest" as the Lancon's Brewery complex from nearby Great Yarmouth .... time to take another look at the opposite river bank in Ipswich for possible inspiration.

Look at all those wonderful roof shapes!

IMG_1823.JPG

Well the building is the long closed fire damaged Tolly Cobbold Brewery, which closed when Ipswich Brewers Tolly Cobbold, wer bought out by Greene King and production switched to Bury St Edmunds.

Here a couple of other photos I took at the same time of Old Cliffe Quay Brewery.IMG_8271.JPG.572cc670200e6efc63866826ed49587d.JPG

 

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I will check if I've got any my in the various collections to see what more I,ve got.

 

I know I took some at Great Yarmouth a few years back will have to dig them out as well.

 

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