Lancaster Green Ayre - The Barn Owls have returned.

[lezz01]

Very nice Jamie I do like a jig. I have lots of jigs! I have a point building multi jig. So it does switch blades, crossing vees and stretcher bars. There's even room for more. I'm leaning towards midland pattern buffer stops and a soldering jig for vees as there is enough room for it.  I also have a B6 left and right jig and a plane track jig. Like I say I do like a jig.

Regards Lez. 

[Dave Hunt]

16 minutes ago, lezz01 said:

 Like I say I do like a jig.

Regards Lez. 

 

Prefer a square dance or a ceilidh myself.

 

And on that note I'll say goodnight.

 

Dave

[jamie92208]

6 hours ago, Dave Hunt said:

 

Prefer a square dance or a ceilidh myself.

 

And on that note I'll say goodnight.

 

Dave

That comment needs this

Jamie

[Dave Hunt]

I suppose that a "sorry" button would be appropriate? But I won't make a song and dance about it 

 

Dave

[jamie92208]

Good afternoon.   I went over to the shed with the intention of doing some more work on Skerton Bridge , last night.  However the best of intentions often come to naught.   I looked at the layout with the newly replaced Station board in place and thought, why not test the track out.  I realised that it probably about 6 months since I ran a train.  Nothing daunted I switched the layout on and connected the various cross baseboard jumpers.   After a bit of coaxing I got 996 and the three Lanky excursion coaches, running.  They ran rather better when I cleaned the track.  I also oiled 996 and resoldered a lead on one side of the tender pick ups.

 

Before I knew it an hour had passed.  It was good to play trains again.  The track through the station looked good and the train ran through it without going uphill and down dale so the work has been worthwhile.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Good evening from a pleasantly warm Charente.  For the past 5 years LGA has had an assortment of card mockups of buildings in the coal yard area.  There are several buildings that I have gradually collected detail about.  Quite a lot was gathered during the Green Ayre rises show in Lancaster.  I finally decided to do something about it and have made a start on two of them.  One is a coal merchants office.  This was the only photo I had of it that had any detail.

Anyway after reading an article about 'small' buildings in the latest GOG Gazette I thought it was time to have a go.  We had a trip out to an art materials shop in Angouleme called Cultura and I bought some sheets of 3.5 mm foam board.  Tonight I marked one up and cut out four pieces.  Apart from the window in the photo the doorways and other windows are guesswork. I presume that through the door there would have been a counter with the office behind it and an end window that gave views into the coal yard.  I then cut some rocket stick, that came from our last bonfire night in the UK and glued them on as reinforcements.

The mock up is behind.  The overall size came from the railway rating plan the height is guesswork based on the height of the boundary wall which is just visible in the photo.  The sides will be covered with DAS and then painted.   Another building was the stable block.   This was the mock up.

A friend in the horse world has told me that stable doors are usually 7' high and the back wall, where the horses head will be tethered is going to be about  7'6" high.   By chance in looking through some photos I discovered a picture of the back of the shed.

That gives me what I need.  Another small building will be Ernest Brooks Coal Merchants office.  Perusal of another photo produced this.

Again I know the basic dimensions and with the window and other detail plus the roof sign. This will be number 3.

 

There are various others such as a mess hut and a sack store to go.

 

Jamie

Edited April 20, 2022 by jamie92208

[TerryD1471]

On 01/06/2021 at 22:38, jamie92208 said:

Good evening from a pleasantly warm Charente.  For the past 5 years LGA has had an assortment of card mockups of buildings in the coal yard area.  There are several buildings that I have gradually collected detail about.  Quite a lot was gathered during the Green Ayre rises show in Lancaster.  I finally decided to do something about it and have made a start on two of them.  One is a coal merchants office.  This was the only photo I had of it that had any detail.

Anyway after reading an article about 'small' buildings in the latest GOG Gazette I thought it was time to have a go.  We had a trip out to an art materials shop in Angouleme called Cultura and I bought some sheets of 3.5 mm foam board.  Tonight I marked one up and cut out four pieces.  Apart from the window in the photo the doorways and other windows are guesswork. I presume that through the door there would have been a counter with the office behind it and an end window that gave views into the coal yard.  I then cut some rocket stick, that came from our last bonfire night in the UK and glued them on as reinforcements.

The mock up is behind.  The overall size came from the railway rating plan the height is guesswork based on the height of the boundary wall which is just visible in the photo.  The sides will be covered with DAS and then painted.   Another building was the stable block.   This was the mock up.

A friend in the horse world has told me that stable doors are usually 7' high and the back wall, where the horses head will be tethered is going to be about  7'6" high.   By chance in looking through some photos I discovered a picture of the back of the shed.

That gives me what I need.  Another small building will be Ernest Brooks Coal Merchants office.  Perusal of another photo produced this.

Again I know the basic dimensions and with the window and other detail plus the roof sign. This will be number 3.

 

There are various others such as a mess hut and a sack store to go.

 

Jamie

Absolutely cracking picture of a Crossley-bodied Crossley double decker of Lancaster City Transport. i never knew that particular configuration existed, but then I don't know everything, as many people will tell you!

 

I quite agree with Jamie that it's good to have a regular run on your layout, otherwise everything gets clogged up. I must declare an interest in that part of Lancashire having built a model of Hest Bank in 4mm, but I follow your exploits with interest, as 7mm is the "senior scale", and has the gravitas that smaller scales lack.

[jamie92208]

Thanks for the comments Terry.  If you PM me your email address, I've accumulated a few photos of Lancaster buses.  

 

Anyway, more progress with the 'small buildings'.   I have now made foam board armatures for three of them.

Laycocks and Ernest Brooks, the one that is in the background of the bus photo, are here. You can just see the start of the planking on the Brooks hut.

I have discovered that there was a toilet block virtually underneath the station sign, so may need to make some modifications in that area.

The stable block further up is here.

I had the ground plan and a back view and a former work colleague gave me advice on the height of the doorway.  Apparently you need to have room for the horse to throw it's head.   During a rainy day on Friday, I spent more time going through my archive of photos, which are filed by subject area, eg Coal yard, station etc.   I had examined most of the coal yard ones but decided to look in the Station folder and check all the backgrounds.   This popped out.

Taken during the station demolition, probably about 1968 it shows the front of the stables.   It gives me four answers

a)  The building was made of planked timber.

b) I'd guessed the window layout wrong.

c) the door location looks OK and the height seems about right.

d) I've got the slope of the roof  too steep. 

 

d) is easy to sort.  b) will be easy as well.  The planking will be the same as I'm using on Ernest Brooks hut, with cut strips of 1/64" ply.

 

Another photo was a real surprise.  On the plan there is a building just marked as 'hut' near the cattle dock.  This was my surmise that I used for the mock up in mounting board. These mock ups were made for our show at Nottingham on early  2016 and I got criticised on this forum for having so many mock ups.  My reply was that I wanted to get it right and that we were taking the layout to Lancaster a couple of months later as I wanted to get them correct.

By chance another photo brought up this detail.

The hut shows nicely to the right of gantry 9.   I also noticed a couple of cattle wagons in the dock. 

Anyway, another armature will be made this afternoon unless the boss decides that 'we' are gardening.

 

Jamie

Edited April 20, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

Quite a bit of progress over the last few days.  After sorting out the shape of the Hut I got on with making an armature to that shape from foam board.  Then started the long winded bit of cladding the three armatures with strips of 1/64" ply.  I cut these to 3.5mm with with a stanley knife then started gluing them on a few at a time. Then let it dry, cut off the excess then repeat, ad infinitum  However progress has been made.

This is what the Stables and the Brooks hut looked like this evening.

I've modified the Stables to match the photo.

Brooks Hit is almost all clad and I've even managed to sand the planks on one end to the correct shape.

The excess was then cut off those two and all three buildings had the next batch of wood glued on.

The little hut is on the centre.

I now need to work out what to do for the doors and windows.

 

Jamie.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

Good moaning.  It's a tad damp here but there has been progress.  The three wood covered buildings are now completely planked. I'm now pondering how to do the roofs.  At present I'm thinking of a piece of 3mm ply that fits inside the building with a piece of mounting board the overall shape glued to it. The mounting board will be covered in strips of masking tape then painted to look like roofing felt. I now need to cover the fourth shed in DAS and scribe it as stone.

 

This morning though I've performed a rescue mission.  Mr and Mrs Black Redstart have raised a brood in the roof space geting access via the eaves. As there are a few holes in the ceiling. Today though one of the brood was in the shed trying to get out. A parent was perching on the lighting rig calling it. It didn't seem to want to fly out of the open doors so I was finally able to catch it carefully using a kitchen sieve. It was then taken carefully  outside and released near the nest entrance.  Calm has bern restored to the redstart family.

 

Jamie

[Mike Storey]

9 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Good moaning.  It's a tad damp here but there has been progress.  The three wood covered buildings are now completely planked. I'm now pondering how to do the roofs.  At present I'm thinking of a piece of 3mm ply that fits inside the building with a piece of mounting board the overall shape glued to it. The mounting board will be covered in strips of masking tape then painted to look like roofing felt. I now need to cover the fourth shed in DAS and scribe it as stone.

 

This morning though I've performed a rescue mission.  Mr and Mrs Black Redstart have raised a brood in the roof space geting access via the eaves. As there are a few holes in the ceiling. Today though one of the brood was in the shed trying to get out. A parent was perching on the lighting rig calling it. It didn't seem to want to fly out of the open doors so I was finally able to catch it carefully using a kitchen sieve. It was then taken carefully  outside and released near the nest entrance.  Calm has bern restored to the redstart family.

 

Jamie

 

Well done with the birdies - my cats seem to sort out the wheat from the chaff in that respect.....

 

On your buildings, I have been looking for a foam board supplier round these 'ere parts - whence yours????? (And what do you ask for, exactly, cos "foam board" does not seem to pass muster)..

 

[jamie92208]

2 hours ago, Mike Storey said:

 

Well done with the birdies - my cats seem to sort out the wheat from the chaff in that respect.....

 

On your buildings, I have been looking for a foam board supplier round these 'ere parts - whence yours????? (And what do you ask for, exactly, cos "foam board" does not seem to pass muster)..

 

Cultura at Angouleme have a good range of sizes and thicknesses. I got 6 sheets of 3.5mm about A3 size for €2,5 each.  It's at the north end nearcZyke the pool place.

 

3 Redstart fledglings sorted today.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

I am pleased to report that no more fledgling redstarts have been found perched on the layout and the parents seem to be looking after them in the woodshed.

 

Apart from that I made some progress today and made a start on the roofs. The biggest ws the roof for the stables.  I used my proposed method of 3mm ply and mounting board for this one.  here the roof laminate can be seen drying alongside the building.

The other two buildings are small enough to manage without the wood I think. here they are. First Ernest Brooks Office.

And the Hut.

I then had a go with air drying lay to coat Laycock's office.  This was the result.

Two walls done so far.  The toilets need to go roughly where the sign is. I placed all the buildings and this is what the yard is starting to look like.

Four more to do in this area.

I then put John Patrick's brewery store in place.

I need to put the fencing up in this area.  Overall I'm pleased with progress.

 

Jamie

Edited April 20, 2022 by jamie92208

[Shez]

Its really good to see the layout back on the move again Jamie, and the buildings taking shape.

 

Also envious of your Black Redstarts!  A pair were reported at Ingbirchworth Reservoir in the spring but we missed them!  Still have not got them ticked on our list. 

[jamie92208]

24 minutes ago, Shez said:

Its really good to see the layout back on the move again Jamie, and the buildings taking shape.

 

Also envious of your Black Redstarts!  A pair were reported at Ingbirchworth Reservoir in the spring but we missed them!  Still have not got them ticked on our list. 

We had three pairs roosting round the house and shed last year.  I think that the fledglings are safely in the woodshed now. Nice birds to watch.  I often see them flying round the shed on a morning when I go through to let the hens out.  Thanks for the comments about the buildings.  

 

Jamie

[jazz]

OOPs, Accentally added to this thread, sorry.

 

In response to Shez here is a photo shot of my small layout. (Forgot to alter the camera from close up to a little out of focus in the distance)

 

 

Entrance to the fiddle yard which is also the entrance to the warehouse.

 

 

Looking down to the head shunt in the distance.

 

 

Looking back to the fiddle yard with cattle dock on the left.

 

Back to the headshunt. Coal siding on the right with loco shed, goods shed and a couple of office blocks.

 

 

 

Finally a long shot almost the full length of the line.

 

Edited June 21, 2021 by jazz
wrong thread

[jamie92208]

No problem, but you can't leave us in suspenders without the photos.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Good evening from a very maritime Charente.   There has been progress over the last few days.  My first job was to try and make some windows and doors for the Ernest Brooks office. The two windows have many panes so the first thing I did was to make a jig with slots for the window bars.

The various bars were then filed and the assembled criss cross fashion in the jig.

Two sets of windows were made up.

Then it was back to the roofs.  This is the roof for Laycocks office.  Two mounting board pieces and a bit of wood reinforcement for the ridge.

Brooks' office roof was reinforced the same way then covered with strips of masking tape and spayed matt black to represent roofing felt.

The stable block roof was covered the same way.

I decided to make Laycock's office a slate roof and had not quite enough York Model making slates left over. I need to do something for the ridge tiles.

The office needed a bit of reinforcement but will look OK with it's slate roof.

The little hut has been sprayed black as well so all in all quite a bit of progress.

 

Jamie

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by jamie92208

[sir douglas]

a Morecambe & Heysham seen at my local rally last Sunday, i know its way out of period but thought of sharing it here when i saw it

[jamie92208]

Good evening.  A bit of virtual progress today.   I had to spend most of the day sitting in an empty house waiting for a delivery, the slot was 08.00 to 18.00.  It finally arrived at 16.20 but all was not lost.   I decided to do a bit more research on more small buildings. The peace and quiet gave me time to go through all my photos of the coal yard and several other parts of the station looking for more bits of small buildings.   I was looking in particular for shots of the public toilets which were on the road side at the entrance to the station yard.  I got quite a lot  of information and this shot shows the front of the block to the right of the bus.

An aerial shot gave me more information.

From this and the ground plan which gave me the dimensions I had a go at drawing a plan and elevation.  This was the result.

It looks as if the poor old gents urinal had no roof as you can see the white porcelain brick inner walls on the aerial.  This lack of roof on the urinals was the same on Long Preston.  I think that it's built in a stone effect brick.  I have no idea what to use for the white porcelain except for painting some brick plasticard gloss white.

 

The aerial shot plus some other photos also settled another problem.  The largest of the remaining buildings in the coal yard is marked as mess room. I've managed to find shots of corners of a flat roofed single story building but it certainly isn't present on the aerial shot which dates from 1933.  I now suspect that it was a BR addition.  That saves me some work.  

 

Not a bad bit of progress.   I've posted on a Lancaster site on Facebook and hope to get some more info about the toilet block.

 

Jamie

 

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

Good evening from a country where football doesn't seem to be mentioned.  However there has been more progress.  In between other tasks I managed to spend a little time in the shed. This is a quick snap of the area of the plan where the aforementioned toilet block goes.

The area is nearly scale size on the layout but there has been a little compression.  This is what it looked like earlier today.

Looking at the plan and the photos the toilet block goes right in the angle of the coal yard wall and the fence on the station approach.  

I printed the drawing and put the dimensions on. Found a new sheet of foam board and did some marking, cutting and gluing.  With it being in the mid 20's here the glue dried quickly so I uprooted the station sign and tried the building in situ.

Obviously I need to remove a piece of wall and re-seat the station sign. but I'm quite happy with how it is starting to look.   The hut marked on the plan will not be missed and I'm sure that once I decide how to clad the foam board things will start to look right.   From my perusal of the photos yesterday I know that I've made a wrong guess with the Laycock's office and will remake that with the roof the right way round.   I had a quick look at the other end of the coal yard and there are only 3 buildings still to go.  All small huts.  The only other buildings needed are a couple of huts near the start of the Castle Branch and a rather nice little weigh office at the entrance to the goods yard.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

1

 

Edited April 20, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

If anyone has access to the Midland Railway Society Journal, the new ussue, No 76 has an article about two incidents at Lancaster on the newly electrified lines in 1908 when in one a painter was sadly killed and in the other a fireman had a very lucky escape. Saved by his wet flat hat.

 

Jamie

Edited July 8, 2021 by jamie92208

[Dave Hunt]

And very good article it is too. Apparently written by an ex-pat ex-copper living in rural France known as Jamie. Wonder who that could be.....?

 

Seriously though, well done Jamie - something really different and informative concerning Midland history.

 

Dave

[jamie92208]

On 08/07/2021 at 22:09, Dave Hunt said:

And very good article it is too. Apparently written by an ex-pat ex-copper living in rural France known as Jamie. Wonder who that could be.....?

 

Seriously though, well done Jamie - something really different and informative concerning Midland history.

 

Dave

Thanks for that Dave.  It's a good journal and the illustrations have come out well.  Anyway as rain called off the gardening, how sad, I've been busy trying to sort out an interior layout for the toilet block.  Perusal of the aerial photo has shown that the Gents end is open to the elements.  The amended drawing is below.

It is a complete guess but seems to work in terms of privacy and utility.   The gents end will be roofless so the porcelain products of Armitage and Shanks will need to be modelled, though fortunately not the interior of the cubicle.  The question has been raised as to whether there should be a customer in the urinals.

 

Jamie

Edited April 20, 2022 by jamie92208

[steve4rosegrove]

2 hours ago, jamie92208 said:

Thanks for that Dave.  It's a good journal and the illustrations have come out well.  Anyway as rain called off the gardening, how sad, I've been busy trying to sort out an interior layout for the toilet block.  Perusal of the aerial photo has shown that the Gents end is open to the elements.  The amended drawing is below.

It is a complete guess but seems to work in terms of privacy and utility.   The gents end will be roofless so the porcelain products of Armitage and Shanks will need to be modelled, though fortunately not the interior of the cubicle.  The question has been raised as to whether there should be a customer in the urinals.

 

Jamie

I note that the brickwork recognises the internal wall but I wonder if 9' walls rather than 41/2" would have been used?  i.e. English or Flemish bond i.l.o. stretcher / garden wall bond?  Super research and photo interpretation by the way.
Steve