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Afternoon all,

 

After I sold my EM layout 'Mott's Lane', I have taken a break from layout building primarily due to not having a proper space for a layout. I've taken my time since and have decided that my next project will be a scale model of the former EWS depot in East London at Temple Mills. The layout will be 16ft in length by 3.5ft wide, split into four boards. I have ordered a cabin from Dunster house to house the layout - which is arriving on Friday. I'm looking for a long term project which will provide sufficient operational interest - which I think Temple Mills provides.

 

The prototype:

Given the EWS depot was so short lived (2001-2007 I believe) and it isn't around today, research has been quite a struggle. Flickr and Google earth have been life savers, with a combination of the two allowing me to design the track plan and the shed. I have embedded a few shots from Flickr below to give a feel for the prototype and what I am trying to achieve. All credit goes to the original posters from Flickr - please click the photos to see the original post

 

Temple Mills Depot

 

08561 | Temple Mills Depot

 

37047 at Temple Mills

 

Temple Mills Depot, East London

 

 

37521 at Temple Mills

 

60094 at Temple Mills

 

08 shunters at Temple Mills

 

66019 and 66100 at Temple Mills

 

37698_37114GB_250804

 

37114 Temple Mills 130304

 

One of the most interesting aspect of the prototype is that all of the track work it is flat bottom, and relatively new. My plan is to use Colin Craig's components and concrete sleepers from the ScaleFour society stores.

 

Track plan:

 

The design of the layout has been completed in Templot over a few evenings. Overall I'm very happy with how this has come out and I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks in the flesh once printed on A0. My plan is to get it etched into the baseboards then I can build the majority of the track in situ. As can be seen below I imported the screenshot from Google earth into Templot to trace:

 

IMG_8341.PNG.0b3f2fa9afa4e928274cd3a9767e0752.PNG

 

IMG_8340.PNG.1f353c8d697d8d46080a028fc8588f05.PNG

 

My plan is to use the Templot sleeper spacing for flat bottom concrete sleeper track combined with Colin Craig's point templates, which I've measured the prototype off of Google Earth. I intend to 3D print the common crossings in steel, and make the points from soldered copper clad construction. The plain concrete sleepers will be exactoscale concrete sleepers. 
 

439323523_P4templemills2.PNG.28839543a41a2664e5ab864224a0f1a5.PNG

 

Depot building:

 

IMG_9538.PNG.0dbd89ba9739c482228c3896e43ab2e6.PNG

 

I have designed the depot building using Inkscape (a free alternative to Illustrator), scaling/counting the bricks across the front of the building. This was then checked with the measurements from Google Earth. As you can see below the main elevations have all been drawn:

 

IMG_9537.PNG.d841b37cb75e29f1dc9bf4586552e592.PNG

 

I'm hoping to get these cut over the next few weeks so then I can build a mock up of the building to see how it all goes together. I have also designed internal walls, internal bracing and the roof, so hopefully it all goes together like one big kit. My idea is that this will then slot into the concrete hardstanding, which will hopefully be very solid, and act as a locater, so then it is easy to take the shed on and off.

 

Stock:

 

The main stock on the layout is going to be a mix of 08s, 37s, 60s, and 66s, which is perfect for modelling interests. My primary era for the layout is going to be 2003 to 2006, which should provide a nice variety of stock, both in the depot and the mainlines behind. 

 

IMG_2283.JPG.eab193fb41117594678fedff51bc57b8.JPG

 

I have made a start on most of the 37s for the layout, which can be found on my workbench. The paid I'm currently working on can be seen above - 37516/517; both in Loadhaul. These use the Bachmann 37510 release in DRS as donors, combined with Penbits bogies as well as a host of Shawplan/Pete Harvey etches. I'm also planning some departmental stock for the layout, namely; 901001 (ex 101), 950001, mentor and a variety of other test trains/engineers stock to work from the yard.

 

I'll update the thread with stock and layout updates as I go. The log cabin for the layout gets delivered on Friday, so as soon as that is up I can get the boards sorted with Tim and get cracking.

 

Thanks for reading - more to come soon hopefully! Any recommendations or comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

Kind regards,


Will

Edited by Southwich
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6 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

An interesting looking project.

 

So what happened to the depot and why did it close?

 


Thank you very much. I believe it was taken over by Eurostar as it was no longer required by EWS although happy to be proven wrong! 
 

There are a few shots of the demolition of the site on Flickr, like the below:

 

Demolition of the former EWS Diesel depot, Temple Mills, E10.  2007

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

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5 minutes ago, Southwich said:


Thank you very much. I believe it was taken over by Eurostar as it was no longer required by EWS although happy to be proven wrong! 
 

There are a few shots of the demolition of the site on Flickr, like the below:

 

Demolition of the former EWS Diesel depot, Temple Mills, E10.  2007

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

Looking at the plan in the ER volume of Quail, it would seem that the Eurostar depot is to the East of the EWS one, and there is no physical connection between them. Eurostar needed a depot site that was accessible from its new terminus at St Pancras. 

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1 minute ago, Fat Controller said:

Looking at the plan in the ER volume of Quail, it would seem that the Eurostar depot is to the East of the EWS one, and there is no physical connection between them. Eurostar needed a depot site that was accessible from its new terminus at St Pancras. 


Looking at Google earth on the time travel tool, my assumption was that the yard and depot were demolished entirely for the new Eurostar depot. Not sure if I’m correct but looks like the site as a whole (EWS depot and the yard) were both cleared and rebuilt? 
 

I think nowadays the site where the depot was is Orient Way carriage Sidings?
 

Kind regards,

 

Will

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2 hours ago, Southwich said:

Looking at Google earth on the time travel tool, my assumption was that the yard and depot were demolished entirely for the new Eurostar depot. Not sure if I’m correct but looks like the site as a whole (EWS depot and the yard) were both cleared and rebuilt? 
 

I think nowadays the site where the depot was is Orient Way carriage Sidings?
 

Kind regards,

 

Will

Orient Way was the replacement for Thornton Fields carriage sidings which were moved for the London Olympics.  I can’t remember timescales but 2007 is probably not far off the date that EWS would need to have moved on to achieve Olympic timescales.

Paul.

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20 hours ago, newbryford said:

Looks like a nice project and in the words of others

"Following with interest"

 

 


Thanks Mick! Size wise and subject - DL has been a massive inspiration for this project!

 

19 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

Orient Way was the replacement for Thornton Fields carriage sidings which were moved for the London Olympics.  I can’t remember timescales but 2007 is probably not far off the date that EWS would need to have moved on to achieve Olympic timescales.

Paul.

 

Thanks for the info Paul. Yes I think 2007 is correct 

 

17 hours ago, Mark Forrest said:

Interesting project and a promising start with both the planning and locos.  Good luck with it, another one to watch.

 

Thanks Mark much appreciated. A lot of thought has gone into this one. Fryers Lane was a big inspiration to go down the finescale route when I saw it at showcase, but I’ve regretted not going straight to P4. EM was a great learning project for me, so hoping to build something very reliable in P4 off the back of the learnings done in EM.

 

4 hours ago, lyneux said:

Mmmmm 60094. I have the plate off this loco!

 

Glad to see you have made a start Will.

 

Guy

 

Thanks Guy - why a coincidence that is! 076, 091 and 095 are planned in the fleet from the Boxenby modern fleet ;) 

 

4 hours ago, dj_crisp said:

Nice project Will!

I hadn't realised all of the track is flatbottom - I'm sure that'll keep you entertained... have you sourced the point kits from Colin Craig?

 

Thanks Will. Yes it certainly will. I haven’t got complete kits but Colin has really helped me with the templates and I will be using his components. I’m planning on 3D printing the common crossings in steel to save myself the time, and everything else will be filed from the EM Gauge stores flat bottom rail. That’s the plan at least…

Thanks for everyone’s interest so far!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

 

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566CAD72-21BF-42FC-A252-AE281AE60170.jpeg.cec510afc21de95fd5ef5626273e3547.jpeg

 

I’ve made a start on the first of Colin Craig’s flat bottom P4 points this evening - kindly sold to me by Nick Lee. All of the copper clad sleepers are down and ready to have the cuts made for insulation. I will make the insulation cuts and fill them before soldering on the rails as it makes it so much easier to fill and sand back whilst it’s still just the sleepers. 
 

My plan is to make this up as a test point for a programming track to practice getting the method correct before starting on the points for the layout, which will then be used for programming my locos and eventually testing automation.
 

I’ve used the 08 for a size comparison - bearing in mind this is the smallest sized point I’ve got on the layout.

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

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This will be interesting .

I model EWS and have done for 20+ years so deffo in my zone of interest.

 

it’ll be great to see a modern depot….that looks like a modern depot …

 

this is where the depot was, not sure if it’s Eurostar stabling or something else now, but I was certainly of the recall that the was due to Eurostar it had to be demolished 

 

 

834D5CC3-8030-491D-8B48-06099F9D6144.png

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9 hours ago, rob D2 said:

This will be interesting .

I model EWS and have done for 20+ years so deffo in my zone of interest.

 

it’ll be great to see a modern depot….that looks like a modern depot …

 

this is where the depot was, not sure if it’s Eurostar stabling or something else now, but I was certainly of the recall that the was due to Eurostar it had to be demolished 

 

 

834D5CC3-8030-491D-8B48-06099F9D6144.png


Thanks Rob - very kind although you’ll have to reserve judgement if it looks like a modern depot till I have something to show! I’m trying to be as in keeping with the prototype as I possibly can - so Google earth has been a god send.

 

If you look at where the footbridge is on the left, that was the bridge that ran through the middle of the stabling sidings of the depot, see picture embedded from Flickr below:

 

60005 at Temple Mills


I may be wrong, but I believe the area is now Orient Way carriage sidings which GA use to store their units and the ROG thunderbird uses.

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

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A bit more this lunchtime on the test point; I’ve cut the copper clad with the dremel, and then filled using Revell filler:

 

84CEFD2E-8A82-4F16-A7C1-5C87888DDFF9.jpeg.aa10fd37fdf4868c73efd51f6a92bf89.jpeg
 

The filler was applied as carefully as I could using a cocktail stick. I then left it to dry and sanded off using a nail file as can be seen. It’s much easier to do this now as you can use the file flat against the copper clad to get a perfect fill - and avoid the awful look of cuts in the sleepers later down the line.

 

5202615F-AA00-4060-AB22-3A376C1FC59C.jpeg.f1587dbe9ddf157022892f00dcd7ed31.jpeg
 

Ready for baseplates and rail now!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

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Will, looks like a very interesting project you have started. I look forward to following progress.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with, or have access to the Scalefour Society web site, but in the layout section of the Forum, Tony Wilkins is describing his Brimsdown layout construction. It includes flat bottomed track and turnouts in P4, so might contain some useful information?

Dave.

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Looking good Will and its definitely worth the effort of filling in the gaps. I should have done mine first like you did! Not overly successful but I did try and scratch wood graining in... not sure if it is noticeable though but fun to do after one of those days at work ;)

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On 26/08/2021 at 14:44, Dave Holt said:

Will, looks like a very interesting project you have started. I look forward to following progress.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with, or have access to the Scalefour Society web site, but in the layout section of the Forum, Tony Wilkins is describing his Brimsdown layout construction. It includes flat bottomed track and turnouts in P4, so might contain some useful information?

Dave.


Thanks Dave much appreciated. I do indeed - but I haven’t been on in a while; thanks for your tip I’ll give it a look! 
 

On 26/08/2021 at 15:21, dj_crisp said:

Looking good Will and its definitely worth the effort of filling in the gaps. I should have done mine first like you did! Not overly successful but I did try and scratch wood graining in... not sure if it is noticeable though but fun to do after one of those days at work ;)

 

Thanks Will much appreciated! I think that might be a bit much for these I’ll be honest ;) 

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

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On 25/08/2021 at 22:02, rob D2 said:

This will be interesting .

I model EWS and have done for 20+ years so deffo in my zone of interest.

 

it’ll be great to see a modern depot….that looks like a modern depot …

 

this is where the depot was, not sure if it’s Eurostar stabling or something else now, but I was certainly of the recall that the was due to Eurostar it had to be demolished 

 

 

834D5CC3-8030-491D-8B48-06099F9D6144.png

Hi Rob,

 

That site is used to store Greater Anglia EMU's. When they were building the Olympic Park, the island occupied by the ArcelorMittal orbit had some stabling sidings which had to be displaced, and I presume these were moved to Temple Mills

 

I hope this helps,

 

Matthew

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On 25/08/2021 at 21:30, Southwich said:

566CAD72-21BF-42FC-A252-AE281AE60170.jpeg.cec510afc21de95fd5ef5626273e3547.jpeg

 

I’ve made a start on the first of Colin Craig’s flat bottom P4 points this evening - kindly sold to me by Nick Lee. All of the copper clad sleepers are down and ready to have the cuts made for insulation. I will make the insulation cuts and fill them before soldering on the rails as it makes it so much easier to fill and sand back whilst it’s still just the sleepers. 
 

My plan is to make this up as a test point for a programming track to practice getting the method correct before starting on the points for the layout, which will then be used for programming my locos and eventually testing automation.
 

I’ve used the 08 for a size comparison - bearing in mind this is the smallest sized point I’ve got on the layout.

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

 

I'll be following this with great interest Will as I have four of Colin's kits to build!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 28/08/2021 at 08:05, Re6/6 said:

 

I'll be following this with great interest Will as I have four of Colin's kits to build!


Thanks John! Pretty much complete now:

 

3C64942F-650B-4A73-985E-FA7714E8179B.jpeg.772951061ed88832a8f2ffa325435797.jpeg

 

It has gone together very nicely! Just got the cosmetic bits to add as well as the tie bars. Such a good kit and goes together really nicely.

 

Just got 15 to go for the layout…

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

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  • 2 months later...

Hi all,

 

Just realised I haven’t updated the thread for a few months. Just to show the project is still going full steam ahead I thought it was worth posting an update to show where I’m at.
 

I’ve been very busy on various things over the past months, primarily the end of the garden going from this:

 

C1FD4DBC-6327-44AE-979E-05FECC1FDA5D.jpeg.fe1d3c13afe93ac759b48fb2bfba4c55.jpeg

 

To this:

 

D41D195C-DBD4-4A16-A648-1599CE6BEEA5.jpeg.ba359374ee2cccd7b9f11ea34f94ed94.jpeg
 

(The crosses over the windows have now been painted for anyone wondering ;))
 

Inside the workshop I’ve been beavering away insulating, using CLS from B&Q for the stud walls, rock wool and a damp proof membrane - it’s now nice and toasty after 5 minutes of having the heater on. Over the Christmas period I’ll get it boarded out with plasterboard and put some form of path in at the front - but for now it’s time for some layout progress!

 

Firstly I thought it was sensible to try a proof of concept for the P4 track - by completing my small scenic board:

 

FF8B1EE8-2868-4178-AC23-46FE151DA2AC.jpeg.9c9b1cd0783decf88f79deb9dc61bae5.jpeg

 

BC6F549B-2534-44CB-B526-9D92D87DF7E3.jpeg.848e67a874436d8d49dfce1e6fce12ec.jpeg

 

CD5B3F01-04B9-4763-93C3-AFE0DCBF8A8B.jpeg.09b8dbb00dcd6b9d4f6ae9ae12160825.jpeg

 

6905106E-CCBB-43C0-9DFD-99BA9030B673.jpeg.b86f4932af37c370ca6787d9a2506a3e.jpeg

 

This has been fully wired up using the DR5000 and DR4024 to power the points - very pleased with this! The Exactoscale  tortoise conversion unit mounted underneath works very well indeed. I’ve built a mix of flat bottom and bull head to try both construction methods and I’m very happy with the result - it makes for a nice programming track! It will also allow me to trial techniques of track weathering, ballasting and scenery before tackling the main layout. 

 

Onto Temple Mills. A big thanks to Tim for his help with the project so far - I had a nice trip up to Norfolk last Sunday to collect the boards. They only just fit into the car!

 

On Saturday night I was left to my own devices by SWMBO so I cracked on and assembled the three remaining boards which will all get a coat of primer at some stage this week. Please excuse the dodgy track plan and dark ish photos, I have posted a few of each board to show off the track plan below:

 

Board 1: (depot shed will take up most of this board)

 

5E8E8C6A-D041-4B53-A00D-794340B2156B.jpeg.c6213afb528b2f72ff952413bbf32ec9.jpeg
 

E0B5DB55-7B5B-4763-975C-930117444CA8.jpeg.5d08782d828becd0f9625ca89a247a74.jpeg

 

Board 2:
 

60EB0E13-49E6-46C6-B913-D1A0D286A0C5.jpeg.6161d32f6c27338be72435e447a973de.jpeg

 

Board 3:
 

D5668743-2541-4211-8994-01FE4E6F519E.jpeg.e80210865fcf54485f1b3e432e520ea0.jpeg


Board 4:

 

E48BED94-9D10-4D2F-8242-EE8FCE5FAD8A.jpeg.31818ebcf8a3d2018f5de355b65a3cb3.jpeg

 

The track plan now needs a bit of tweaking and then etching into some thin ply to start the tracklaying. 
 

To get an idea of sizes, I placed two 37s, an 08 and a 60 in the depot - think I may need some more stock! 
 

0921BFD1-C2F3-4666-9398-A8BE0E2DC3BE.jpeg.1807f3491d70347f87eefc03332bbeea.jpeg
 

1E19578F-7225-4D96-91E5-F65FB24B73CA.jpeg.8cab1d67c1120a9a4d9d39cc0fb55b0f.jpeg

 

324E2BF5-716E-45C2-BF0A-45A4955392A0.jpeg.40fa082e8d4a77b0b0598c33ef86488e.jpeg

 

Hopefully will be back with some more progress soon. Any feedback/comments would be much appreciated!

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

Edited by Southwich
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  • 4 weeks later...

Had a great time yesterday morning with Martin from @Rammstein2609 visiting to drop off the first cut of the depot building.
 

A big thanks to Martin for his help with the project so far and for bringing over some very inspiring modelling. A few tweaks needed but finally some progress after nearly a year of working on it! After this tweaks are done I’ll get the templot finalised, etched into MDF/ply and then I can start track laying in the new year

 

DF6496D0-9546-4A68-B176-16036EFE7537.jpeg.9e8b6cfa5758a413e26ab3020fb1c451.jpeg

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

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Starting to take shape nicely, really get a feel for how it will look with the depot building mocked up and the scale to it really matches the photos of the real thing which were posted earlier. Is there enough space in the background for a small strip of greenery as a sort of 3D back scene to add some depth to it all like there is in the photos of the real thing? Hard to tell from the perspective of the photo above. Either way cracking stuff and I'm looking forward to seeing it develop. 

 

All the best,

Dave 

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