Lancaster Green Ayre - The Barn Owls have returned.

[jamie92208]

Hi Jamie,

I think you've got a bit of Lancaster history wrong [or I'm wrong!]

The shell filling factory was previously Lancaster carriage and wagon works, one of their coaches from 1865 still survives on the Talyllyn Railway. I am not sure if L.C.W.W. owned the whole block, it is probably getting on for a quarter mile long, it became Standfast Dyers and Printers and is still going. Waring and Gillows factory was across Parliament Street from Green Ayre and just a little bit west, my Uncle served his time as a cabinet maker there. During WWII they made parts for the wooden Mosquito fighter/bomber. The factory closed around 1960-63 and became the embryonic Lancaster University in 1964 until the present site south of Lancaster was developed.

There was, and indeed still is a private house close by the southern end of the footbridge you are using as your scenic break.

 

I am following your project with interest, can't wait to see the finished article!

 

Edward

Thanksw very much for that Edward, I'm only too happy to be corrected.   I've also got a 5 coach Leeds Midland suburban set under construction which will appear on grren Ayre as an excursion for Morecambe along with a couple of 6 wheelers hauled by an O-4-4.  (As per a photo taken at Clapham)  the 5 coaches were of 3 different underframe lengths and from 3 manufacturers.  2 of them (I can't remember whkch pair but I think it was either the brake 3rd's or the composites) were products of Lancaster.

 

Thanks for the kind comments.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Well after a busy weekend helping to make our church look like Narnia for the coming week it's been back to the workbench.   2 1/2 hours later I got to the end of Fig 7 on all 8 bogies. Each now consists of 9 etches and 24 small lost wax castings.   I then had a a go at step 8 which involves fitting plastic springs and found a few problems but those will be soved and hoepfully tomorrow I'll get some more frames done.  I'm planning to get the bogies on the track by Christmas.

 

Jamie

[edward66]

Hi Jamie, pity you don't have more room to go in an easterly direction with the layout, after passing LCWW there is the complex that was Lansil, a pioneer manufacturer of rayon from cotton then the Lancaster Power station, coal fired, which had a fireless locomotive, "Lancaster No. 1" to move coal wagons to the lift which took them up and tipped them into a large hopper. Next to that was a high embankment carrying the Preston to Kendal canal over the Lune on what is considered to be one of Britain's finest bridges, the Lune aquaduct designed by John Rennie and east of the embankment were the sidings that held the coal wagons then Nelson's acetate, another manufacturer of cellulose acetate.

 

You would need a heck of a big room to hold that in "O" gauge! A lot of it dates from the 30s which is the wrong era for you anyway.

 

Edward

[jamie92208]

Hi Jamie, pity you don't have more room to go in an easterly direction with the layout, after passing LCWW there is the complex that was Lansil, a pioneer manufacturer of rayon from cotton then the Lancaster Power station, coal fired, which had a fireless locomotive, "Lancaster No. 1" to move coal wagons to the lift which took them up and tipped them into a large hopper. Next to that was a high embankment carrying the Preston to Kendal canal over the Lune on what is considered to be one of Britain's finest bridges, the Lune aquaduct designed by John Rennie and east of the embankment were the sidings that held the coal wagons then Nelson's acetate, another manufacturer of cellulose acetate.

 

You would need a heck of a big room to hold that in "O" gauge! A lot of it dates from the 30s which is the wrong era for you anyway.

 

Edward

Yes Edward wouldn't it be great if we had the space.   We were going to end the scenic section in the traditional place half way along the east side.  However we decided to move the break further around into the start of the fiddle yard.  The main reason is that prior to the 1933 resignalling the EMU's ahd to go oput to Ladies walk to reverse on b oth legs of their journey as they couldn't reverse in the up platform.  The new scenic break means that they reverse in sight rather than disappearing through the scenic break and then reappearing.   I then wanted a structure to make the break and happenned to have the plans for Ladies walk footbridge so have used that.  In a similar fashion the scenic break after Greyhound Bridge will be the bridge that carries the WCML over the Midland route but moved half a mile east.   On the castle branch it will be the footbridge that used to carry the footpath from Wharf Street up to the parish church.  I happen to ahve plans for all three drawn up when the line were electrified and various guards put in place.

 

Jamie

[Ohmisterporter]

..... then the Lancaster Power station, coal fired, which had a fireless locomotive, "Lancaster No. 1" to move coal wagons to the lift which took them up and tipped them into a large hopper. 

 

 

I believe this loco went to Heysham power station when Lancaster Power Station closed down. There were two fireless locos at Heysham IIRC. Used for shunting fuel into trains to and from Sellafield.

[jamie92208]

Well Happy Christmas to all readers.  Green Ayre is still progressing in between various family and other events.  One thing that has arrived is a copy of a painting in the November Backtrack that shows a pair of possible Midland Electric locos from 1914 posed at Millers Dale on a pssaenger train with an EMU waiting in the bay to depart to Buxton.   The front loco is a Siemens 2-6-2 with jackshaft drive in the same arrangement as many of the Swiss croccodiles, the other is a Westinghouse equipped Bo-Bo with two pantographs.   There are some good references in the article so I will have to do some delving and try and find an official diagram.  Tony who is recovering well fancies doing some scratchbuilding and the idea of a Midland Electric Loco in maroon and Gold appeals.  In the meantime we are working on a new point at the east end of the fiddle yard.  This will actually be a stock loading siding to help when setting up but will represent the wartime connection to the shell filling factory.   I've also taken delivery of the first resin cast columns for the Ladies Walk Footbridge from John  Patrick. So there is plenty to be getting on with.   Hopefully in the new year the EMU's will make progress as I finish the bogies and also start on the bodies.

 

Jamie

Edited December 25, 2013 by jamie92208

[ColinK]

Had a long walk today (Christmas Day) with lunch stop by the River Lune in Lancaster, just east of the road bridges where there appeared to be the remains of an old platform. Was that the remains of Green Ayre?

[jamie92208]

Had a long walk today (Christmas Day) with lunch stop by the River Lune in Lancaster, just east of the road bridges where there appeared to be the remains of an old platform. Was that the remains of Green Ayre?

Green Ayre was between the two road bridges, in fact the westernmost, northbound one was the railway bridge and the platform ends were at the south end of the bridge.  If the wall that you saw was east of the southbound (Stonebuilt) road bridge then it was probably a retaining wall that acted as some kind of flood defence I think.  On the other side of the road bridge there is an old yard crane that's mounted where the cattle docks were.   These finished just about where the platforms finished but were about 40 yards south.  It's a good place to walk off Christmas Dinner.

 

Jamie

Edited December 27, 2013 by jamie92208

[ColinK]

Thanks Jamie. Spotted the old yard crane too. We continued walking to Morecambe on the cycleway, which presumably was once the railway. Much more interesting than Christmas TV!

[jamie92208]

Thanks Jamie. Spotted the old yard crane too. We continued walking to Morecambe on the cycleway, which presumably was once the railway. Much more interesting than Christmas TV!

One of these days I'm going to get my act together and get up there with my pushbike and cycle all the way along there.  I think you can ride the old trackbed from somewhere near caton right through to Morecambe.  

 

Jamie

[trisonic]

Jamie,

 

Just been playing catch up. I hope I can get to see the finished article in the flesh!

Looks like a future classic...

 

Best, Pete.

[Ohmisterporter]

One of these days I'm going to get my act together and get up there with my pushbike and cycle all the way along there.  I think you can ride the old trackbed from somewhere near caton right through to Morecambe.  

 

Jamie

 

Bull Beck picnic site near to Caton is the starting point. Leave the car there and use the cycle track to either Morecambe or Glasson Dock. Nearly level all the way they are easy walks if you are so inclined. The former railway bridge at Crook O' Lune has just been reopened after extensive (and expensive) refurbishment. There is a break in the cycle track in Lancaster where it crosses Greyhound bridge at the site of Green Ayre station. The track to Morecambe follows the North bank of the river and the track to Glasson goes on the South bank. Very little evidence remains of the former railway infrastructure though.

[supersonic]

Ok Jamie I am in for the bike ride.  You organise it and provide the cavernous transport.

[trustytrev]

One of these days I'm going to get my act together and get up there with my pushbike and cycle all the way along there.  I think you can ride the old trackbed from somewhere near caton right through to Morecambe.  

 

Jamie

Hello,

       The cycle routes are all old track beds or canals in the area so are virtually all level.http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/web/?siteid=3732&pageid=28097

Very nice they are too.

trustytrev.

[jamie92208]

Jamie,

 

Just been playing catch up. I hope I can get to see the finished article in the flesh!

Looks like a future classic...

 

Best, Pete.

Thanks Pete for the encouraging words.    It's first outing as a full layout is Warley 2014 then it's proper launch with scenery as complete as possible is Wakefield 2015 with various other invites already sorted up to 2018.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Well today for a break from trying to make the Slaters bogies I had a go at making one of the two 60' motor coaches.   After much deliberation I have decided to use traction motors from abc on some scratchbuilt motor bogies so that they sit below the floor rather than projecting into the passenger compartment.  The tender wheels with outside bearings have been ordered so today it was a try at the bodyshell.  The sides for these were cut out over the last couple of years and I got the timber for the seats over a year ago.  I test built a trailer car last year and found that the body sides were very flexible so decided to try installing the seats early on to reinforce the sides.  This required sanding the edges of the seats to match the tumblehome.     A friend lent me a bench grinder and that has proved very effective in sanding down the edges to the required profile. 

 

Today I had a go at assembling the first one.  The inner layer of the side is 40 thou plasticard but I realised that I needed to cut this into three pieces to go between the partitions.  A first attempt ended up with the two short pieces at the wrong ends so that the windows didn't line up with the outer layer.  Fortunately the solvent was still fairly pliable so I tried again doing the centre section first and then installing the seats to hold it in place.   The tumblehome on the laminations isn't quite enough so I glued the lower section first, then installed the seats which were glued to the plasticard with Platic weld, then bent the upper surfaces round and glued them. 

This shows the centre section complete and the outer sections started.

The centre section showing the seats in place.

Eventually I got both sides done and this is the result with the outer laminations laid next to the bodyshell ready to be attached when i pluck jup enough courage.

 

I've also started chamfering the roof to accept the pantograph but ahven't got the profile quite correct yet.

 

Jamie

 

[jamie92208]

Another evening and some more progress.    Having learned a lot of lessons yesterday I set to work on Trailer car 2 (of 3)  T1 was done some time ago.   I set to work using the same techniques I'd proved on the  motor car and also installed the seats in T1.   This produced a good result and I took the plunge and put the outer laminations on Motor 1.  I then did the same on T2 and this was the result.

Not the best of photos but it does give me some sense of the legth of one of the EMU's for the fist time   150 scale feet or 1050mm  I was quite pleased with the overall result.   The pantograph wells show up on the motor car.

This shows the interiors of the driving trailers and the motor cars.  All the vehicles had driving cabs at both ends so could be driven in any combination.  Usually the motor car was sandwiched between two driving trailers.

 

Altogether I'm building two of the three motors, one with Westinghouse equipment and a pantograph and the other with Siemens equipment and two bow collectors. There will be  3 of the 4 standard driving trailers and one workmens coach converted from steam hauled stock.  The workmens coach is a modified Slaters kit of the correct diagram.

 

I've now adjourned downstairs with a glass of 12 yr old Scottish medecine.

 

Jamie

Edited January 12, 2014 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

After my adventures with the shed roof (See Early Risers P 2248) it was down to the club for some fun.  I spent most of the evening completing the point for the stock loading siding while Mel ballasted and Dave glued blue foam down.  We've now got a 7' length of main line ballasted and it's looking good.   I took the EMU bodies with me to see how they fitted into the reversing area and this is the result.

It just fits beyond the ground signal that will allow it to reverse ,  Beynd it the scenic break can be seen.

This just shows the stock loading siding.   I even mananged to fit the check rails and cosmetic chairs it just needs a tie bar but the test vehicle ran through it nicely.

 

I'll have to crack on with the  bogies for the EMU's now.

 

Jamie

[supersonic]

Happy New Year.  More Lancaster specific posts to come later

[jamie92208]

Things are continuing and we have now nearly got three baseboards ballasted, only 17 to go.   Meanwhile I spent yesterday helping lay new tram track at Heaton park and got talking to one of the leading lights.   I showed him the EMU bodies which were in the back of the car and he remembered riding on the original Midland Sets  (Withdrawn the year i was born in 1952).  he was able to rack his brains and tell me what colour the seats and the interior woodwork were.  A very fortunate piece of information.  he's only the second person I've met who can remember traveling on the original sets.    Now I just need to carry on cutting out windows on the sides for the second motor car.  The inner layer is 40 thou and I've 9 bays each with 8 windows in to do.  I've managed 3.5 so far but can oly do a few at a time before my hand gives out.  The other lamination is 20thou so isn't difficult.

 

Jamie

[ozzyo]

Hello Jamie,

 

if you've not seen it have a look at this thread it may help you (or cost you money).

 

A guide to using the Silhouette Cameo Cutter, in Scenery, structures & Transport.

 

OzzyO.

[edward66]

Hi Jamie, I was born in 1942 and travelled on the electric train to Morecambe with Mum several times in the 40s. I am pretty certain there were wooden slat seats but of course I don't know if that was on all the units. Do you know if this was the case or is my memory failing me?

 

Edward

[jamie92208]

Hi Jamie, I was born in 1942 and travelled on the electric train to Morecambe with Mum several times in the 40s. I am pretty certain there were wooden slat seats but of course I don't know if that was on all the units. Do you know if this was the case or is my memory failing me?

 

Edward

They were plywood called pierced sycamore with patterns drilled in it.  The other guy I've talked to who remembers them remember sliding along the longditudinal seats above the bogie when they braked.   They were solid from tyhe photos but with the patterns of drilled holes.   As far as Derek rememebrs they were a light colour to match the varnished light oak of the interior.

 

Jamie

[edward66]

Yes, I seem to recall they were a light colour, I don't remember the details like whether they were drilled plywood or slats but I was nobbut a young lad at the time! At least I was right about them being wooden.

 

Edward

[jamie92208]

Finally the seemingly endless task is done.   I managed to get all the 40 thou side for the motor coach done and and then it was plain sailing for the 20 thou overlays for the motor car and the last trailer car.

This is the end result.

Now all I have to do is find my jig for shaping the tumblehome as well as the muslin bandage, then get the remaining seat mouldings cut to length so it's all systems go for the remaining two EMU bodies.   I've also managed to get the artwork done for the caps that go on the bridge caissons. 

 

Jamie