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Power grid infrastructure - electricity substations.


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With the introduction of Gaugemaster’s Fordhampton model this seemed an appropriate opportunity to start a dedicated topic to these structures which are largely overlooked but play a vital roll in energy conversion and supply .   The great aspect is that they can be located just about anywhere , towns, cities , villages, industrial estates and rural settings , for over ninety years they have become part of the British landscape making them an idea addition to many layouts .67F9AF9D-6B08-4197-8B6B-A51C72EB9C86.jpeg.d289da428d5481e6d4fa94d1c93d83a8.jpeg0E5D1AD0-98B7-473F-94F6-B111CAE6A077.png.f082cb0a008cc2c678130a2625955015.png8E85E37B-69A3-400D-8FC5-F3DB07C0A7B5.jpeg.4c305fb60c26fbb29c585ce3300f473d.jpeg

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So, what is the history of these, then? When would they have started appearing in locations that are relevant to railway modellers? And how much has their appearance changed over the years - is this kit suitable for different modelling eras?

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That looks to me like a relatively modern (1990s onwards) 3 phase general distribution substation. It's not the kind of thing that would be associated with traction power, but would be seen by the lineside in outer urban/ industrial areas, and occasionally in rural areas.

 

You wouldn't often see that in the middle of a city where land is more valuable because indoor switchgear is much smaller and fully enclosed.

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I must say that the kit does not look much like a UK substation to me. Generally speaking outdoor switchgear would be found in a Grid substation, one where the high voltage (400kv/275kv/132kv) is transformed to 33kv for distribution in a town or larger conurbation. The 33kv output would feed Primary substations which might be two outdoor transformers but indoor switchgear, relay room etc. This would distribute power at 11Kv to more local distribution substations, again usually indoors with indoor switchgear. The output would be 415v 3 phase for local distribution. Outdoor gear is seen in rural and semi rural areas but the large stacks of insulators in the kit suggest high voltages as found at Grid subs and these are large affairs and would feature much large transformers than appear in this kit.. 

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7 hours ago, Zomboid said:

That looks to me like a relatively modern (1990s onwards) 3 phase general distribution substation. It's not the kind of thing that would be associated with traction power, but would be seen by the lineside in outer urban/ industrial areas, and occasionally in rural areas.

 

You wouldn't often see that in the middle of a city where land is more valuable because indoor switchgear is much smaller and fully enclosed.

There are a few dotted about in towns and cities as well as rural locations . On both the East and West coast mainlines they supply power directly from the National Grid to the overhead catenary . The accompanying photos illustrate their proximity to the railway network .E6C5CF57-E2C8-4CB0-85A8-43F6B596EFE3.jpeg.b441ef904403720f02f7310f6cfcccb7.jpeg0009B193-282E-480B-9792-7730D5529BD8.jpeg.f70d5028ab85c3c6e03c3b446a7a96ae.jpeg5ABFEE97-6A3B-4123-8779-AA55BA1331A8.jpeg.d180123c10a6108c5991b657e2607dbc.jpeg

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7 hours ago, Hibelroad said:

I must say that the kit does not look much like a UK substation to me. Generally speaking outdoor switchgear would be found in a Grid substation, one where the high voltage (400kv/275kv/132kv) is transformed to 33kv for distribution in a town or larger conurbation. The 33kv output would feed Primary substations which might be two outdoor transformers but indoor switchgear, relay room etc. This would distribute power at 11Kv to more local distribution substations, again usually indoors with indoor switchgear. The output would be 415v 3 phase for local distribution. Outdoor gear is seen in rural and semi rural areas but the large stacks of insulators in the kit suggest high voltages as found at Grid subs and these are large affairs and would feature much large transformers than appear in this kit.. 

Originally this was probably manufactured abroad under a different brand ,especially as Gaugemaster’s Fordhampton range also features a few ex Hornby kits too.  In terms of off the shelf British prototypical substation models , very little appears to have been produced .  
 

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5 hours ago, Pylon King said:

There are a few dotted about in towns and cities as well as rural locations . On both the East and West coast mainlines they supply power directly from the National Grid to the overhead catenary . The accompanying photos illustrate their proximity to the railway network .E6C5CF57-E2C8-4CB0-85A8-43F6B596EFE3.jpeg.b441ef904403720f02f7310f6cfcccb7.jpeg0009B193-282E-480B-9792-7730D5529BD8.jpeg.f70d5028ab85c3c6e03c3b446a7a96ae.jpeg5ABFEE97-6A3B-4123-8779-AA55BA1331A8.jpeg.d180123c10a6108c5991b657e2607dbc.jpeg

There are no proper power transformers in the kit, so that particular substation doesn't supply any OLE. The configuration is all 3 phase as well, and AC railway supplies are mostly single phase - autotransformer supplies as found in a few places are two phase, but are also fitted with massive transformers.

 

As traction supplies are often located in multi purpose substations you might find some of the stuff in that Fordhampton kit at a site which supplies the OLE (or DC network), it does not include any of the components actually used for the railway.

 

Traction substations are much smaller. Most of them use indoor switchgear, and those that don't are much smaller because 25kV clearances are much smaller than shown.

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.  That model has cylindrical transformers - rare in this country.  The UK has always gone for chunkier squarish ones  -  see this (a 3rd-rail one)  - click on picture to expand thread  ;

 

 

Likewise always more building to hold control gear.

 

Access gates/driveway to the heavy transformers was essential.  Favourite way to move them on, or off, was to jack them up and push them on scaffold tubes laid on scaffold boards until a crane could safely lift them.  I saw a 25 ton one being moved by 4 men.  Tirfors were used if their were slopes.

 

.

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10 hours ago, Pylon King said:

Originally this was probably manufactured abroad under a different brand ,especially as Gaugemaster’s Fordhampton range also features a few ex Hornby kits too.  In terms of off the shelf British prototypical substation models , very little appears to have been produced .  
 

I figured it was probably re-boxed Faller,  but a quick online search only revealed this Faller one, which looks quite different:-

 

https://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/faller-transformer-station-model-kit-iii-ho-gauge-130958/?gclid=CjwKCAjw8cCGBhB6EiwAgORey5URHvdF9Jl1ubOy8TxbgaLfTS7p2WXMyhcn_o3-1keb8hfUFDn6EBoCw7QQAvD_BwE

 

...and this more showbiz Kibri one with lighting:-

 

https://www.modellbahnshop-lippe.com/Landscape+&+Decoration/Trade+&+Industry/Kibri-39840/gb/modell_35419.html

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14 hours ago, Zomboid said:

There are no proper power transformers in the kit, so that particular substation doesn't supply any OLE. The configuration is all 3 phase as well, and AC railway supplies are mostly single phase - autotransformer supplies as found in a few places are two phase, but are also fitted with massive transformers.

 

As traction supplies are often located in multi purpose substations you might find some of the stuff in that Fordhampton kit at a site which supplies the OLE (or DC network), it does not include any of the components actually used for the railway.

 

Traction substations are much smaller. Most of them use indoor switchgear, and those that don't are much smaller because 25kV clearances are much smaller than shown.

No  doubt there’s a degree of modelling license in this kit ,.

 

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8 hours ago, spamcan61 said:

It appears to be originally made by Atlas .23D95DCC-EA2E-4DA2-814B-BDDC09A07C3E.jpeg.d7fcc661014893cf503372cffc8a3267.jpeg

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Having squinted at it for a bit, I have to say I’m struggling to work out what it represents, although maybe some US switchgear is constructed very differently from U.K./EU kit.

 

Maybe it’s a model of an impression of a grid sub.

 

The bits in it might be useful for making something U.K.-ish, though.

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On 21/06/2021 at 01:11, Pylon King said:

There are a few dotted about in towns and cities as well as rural locations . On both the East and West coast mainlines they supply power directly from the National Grid to the overhead catenary . The accompanying photos illustrate their proximity to the railway network .0009B193-282E-480B-9792-7730D5529BD8.jpeg.f70d5028ab85c3c6e03c3b446a7a96ae.jpeg

Is that East Worthing ?  If so, I used to walk over the bridge in the early years of this century (at a time when my interest in model railways had lapsed) but my impression is that the bridge side was too high to even think of trying to take a photo.

 

No it probably isn't - seems to be too much of it (too long). So where is it, pretty please ?

 

ĸen

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11 minutes ago, zarniwhoop said:

Is that East Worthing ?  If so, I used to walk over the bridge in the early years of this century (at a time when my interest in model railways had lapsed) but my impression is that the bridge side was too high to even think of trying to take a photo.

 

No it probably isn't - seems to be too much of it (too long). So where is it, pretty please ?

 

ĸen

East Worthing .

AFE56339-80E3-486A-B5F1-C2972A69311B.jpeg

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9 minutes ago, Pylon King said:

East Worthing .

AFE56339-80E3-486A-B5F1-C2972A69311B.jpeg

Thanks. I didn't realise it was so big. Actually, it was more the late 1980s and 1990s when I walked over that bridge (at lunchtimes, from a few hundred yards to the north), maybe it has grown since then :)

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Quite a few grid subs in towns are next to railways because they were built on the sites of small, first-generation, town generating plants, which had access for coal delivery by rail. Tunbridge Wells is a good example - hard to believe, but there was a gen station there from the 1910s to I think 1950s.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All

Newbie here, first post!

I’m a plastic modeller of many years who’s built my first OO DCC sound layout in lockdown. It’s modern day and focussed on the Bristol area freight, industrial and nuclear movements.
I saw this kit and was excited as I’ve already built my first pylon (laser cut, cheap and went together easilly) and I hadn’t previously found a “UK” substation.

Oh dear, I’m disappointed.

I don’t think it’s U.K., possibly US or continental, round transformers don’t look right and definitely not the colours shown on the box lid. 
The instructions are terrible, poorly printed vague drawings which give little idea of exactly how parts fit together. There appear to be colour call outs in letters but these aren’t referenced anywhere, either in the instructions or on the box.
The plastic isn’t exactly Hornby  bendy vinyl but it’s getting there. Lots of ejection pin marks. The “assembled” picture on the back of the box doesn’t match the instructions. Given that it’s not a U.K. installation I wonder whether it’s really OO scale, I suspect it’s probably HO, which is a bit naughty given the box is labelled as ‘OO scale”.

I was so dissapointed I emailed Gaugemaster yesterday and received a rapid reply saying they had referred my comments to their product development team, I await their response.

 

So here’s my question.

Given the massive advances over the last twenty years or more by plastic injection moulded kit manufacturers, Tamiya, Wingnut Wings, Airfix, etc. etc. Why are railway modellers so poorly served with third grade ancient kits?

The Hornby kits are generally appalling in my experience, absolutely awful, terrible vinyl plastic, loads of flash, 

and seem to date generally from the fifties and sixties?

Others don’t seem much better.

Why is that?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject.

V Best and Hi!

TonyS

 

 

Edited by dhdove
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On 08/07/2021 at 14:52, dhdove said:

Hi All

Newbie here, first post!

I’m a plastic modeller of many years who’s built my first OO DCC sound layout in lockdown. It’s modern day and focussed on the Bristol area freight, industrial and nuclear movements.
I saw this kit and was excited as I’ve already built my first pylon (laser cut, cheap and went together easilly) and I hadn’t previously found a “UK” substation.

Oh dear, I’m disappointed.

I don’t think it’s U.K., possibly US or continental, round transformers don’t look right and definitely not the colours shown on the box lid. 
The instructions are terrible, poorly printed vague drawings which give little idea of exactly how parts fit together. There appear to be colour call outs in letters but these aren’t referenced anywhere, either in the instructions or on the box.
The plastic isn’t exactly Hornby  bendy vinyl but it’s getting there. Lots of ejection pin marks. The “assembled” picture on the back of the box doesn’t match the instructions. Given that it’s not a U.K. installation I wonder whether it’s really OO scale, I suspect it’s probably HO, which is a bit naughty given the box is labelled as ‘OO scale”.

I was so dissapointed I emailed Gaugemaster yesterday and received a rapid reply saying they had referred my comments to their product development team, I await their response.

 

So here’s my question.

Given the massive advances over the last twenty years or more by plastic injection moulded kit manufacturers, Tamiya, Wingnut Wings, Airfix, etc. etc. Why are railway modellers so poorly served with third grade ancient kits?

The Hornby kits are generally appalling in my experience, absolutely awful, terrible vinyl plastic, loads of flash, 

and seem to date generally from the fifties and sixties?

Others don’t seem much better.

Why is that?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject.

V Best and Hi!

TonyS

 

 

   The Gaugemaster kit was originally produced by  North American company Atlas and is indeed 1:87 scale . With  prototypical British power grid infrastructure in 1:76 scale , modellers have generally  had limited options .
   Severn Models and N-SCENIC produce brass/laser cut products which greatly reduce costs . Substations are more or less non existent with only Hornby and Bachmann focusing on 11kV and third rail structures while P&D Marsh have a 132kV  substation , sadly only available in N .

  The most logical reason is down to production costs ,as substations tend to be rather complex structures , affordable injection tooling would be prohibitive.  

ABE0409B-6A43-45B7-AFB2-7A28200A1588.jpeg.4c8ac61ac694c2ff52b1f91805378336.jpeg4CC187B7-967F-49B2-B4CA-20FB2E04E24D.jpeg.e81a01fc687f6747af1360411d469649.jpeg

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