GRANBY JUNCTION - Shunting Siphons for the Up Parcels with a Manor!

[john dew]

Thanks for the positive comments and all the "likes" guys ........much appreciated

 

Kit-bashing and a 43xx again. What is there not to like? :-)

 

Thanks for the tip about the stanchions, John, they could save a lot of fiddly work.

 

Thanks Mikkel........they come in a one or two rail version....I tend to use the latter. They are great for guard rails on gantry signals.......much quicker to do and look far better than super glueing horizontal and vertical wire

[john dew]

Hi John

 

I think the overall look you have got there is good, even the close ups are nowhere near as bad as you seem to think they are. Remember if you don't point things out people never notice them. That shot of the lamp is particularly good.

 

Looking forward to seeing even more now.

 

Jim

 

Thanks Jim......thats very civil of you........your layout was one of the ones I had in mind when I repeated my "broad brush" caveat. I am still recoverig from the shock and awe at seeing the exquisite truss and tile work on your shed and continue making unfavourable comparisons with my own attempts

 

You make an interesting point about the writer drawing attention to defects before the reader has noticed them. I know that I, like many others, am frequently guilty of this. I dont think it is entirely false modesty..... I thinkabout one is so close to the model and the fault is perceived to be so glaring (albeit not glaring enough to be scrapped)  that one feels obliged to tell the reader about it in advance.......when in reality it is so minor it would have gone unnoticed!

[aberdare]

Thanks Jim......thats very civil of you........your layout was one of the ones I had in mind when I repeated my "broad brush" caveat. I am still recoverig from the shock and awe at seeing the exquisite truss and tile work on your shed and continue making unfavourable comparisons with my own attempts

 

You make an interesting point about the writer drawing attention to defects before the reader has noticed them. I know that I, like many others, am frequently guilty of this. I dont think it is entirely false modesty..... I thinkabout one is so close to the model and the fault is perceived to be so glaring (albeit not glaring enough to be scrapped)  that one feels obliged to tell the reader about it in advance.......when in reality it is so minor it would have gone unnoticed!

 

Hi John

 

Your reply made me smile as I have just been doing some more painting on the shed, as I was doing it I was thinking 'that bits crooked or sticking up and wondering how I missed it', so I am going to keep quiet about those 'little' imperfections and make sure I never show them in detail. Like you, when I step back and view it the overall impression of the build looks like it should and when it sits amongst all the other bits I know it will be fine. 

 

Your layout has that Wow factor when viewed and that's the very same thing that I want, I've a long way to go yet though.

[john dew]

I have got a little behind with my posting.......I like watching Rugby and there is always a delay re playing in Canada......so when the Six Nations are on I switch off the computor in case I see the result!     All is well I can now continue:

 

I have been working on the ramp that serves the coaling station.........

 

 

This shot shows the issue I had with the surface mounted Tortoise.......It was both higher than the coal ramp and closer to the service line than I wished



 

The shot show how little clearance there is under the base board for the mineral trains......hence the 1/4" ply mounted on the normal 3/4" baseboard and the surface mounted Tortoise

 

Ply supports for the ramp and card formers set out the shape of the embankment





Add some walls and pillars rescued from Granby II and repainted.


I have been struggling with how to handle the space behind the coal station and indeed the continuation beyond over the window sill and I have finally come up with this solution





In an abundance of caution the foamboard above the tortoise is removeable!

The embankment and retaining wall have been extended to the edge of the baseboard

The white card on the main baseboard is the underlay for the "concrete" infill





The formers are covered with masking tape and tissue paper soaked in PVA


You will probably recognise the Metcalfe Warehouse that has been modified to low relief........it was originally destined to hide the storage yards on the other side of the room.......but I was never really happy with it there.........I think it has more potential over here




Green/Brown acrylic paint roughly applied.

The front retaining wall completed



Woodland Scenics grass added

A hand point lever has been added to give some sort of purpose for the Tortoise alcove. 

The intermediate retaining wall completed

Wills wood fencing tops the embankment .........as you can see I ran out but supplies are speeding their way across the Atlantic from Cornwall

In the foreground.... a tentative attempt to replicate concrete


Shot cropped to remove the fence gap.........the foam platform will eventually be extended, as will the low relief factory, behind the coaling station.

 

 

Finally a distance shot to show the project in the context of the layout as a whole

 

 

 

 

 

It also shows the start of the next phase......the second baseboard is loosely in position along with some more service roads  and I am now fiddling with the initial placement of the Engine Shed

[john dew]

Thanks for the "likes" guys!

 

This last week I got myself, not for the first time, in a Catch 22 situation

All the work so far has been on the one board......which is wired up and screwed to the joists.......




In addition to the Entry and Exit Roads the TT has a road for the Sandhouse and six roads for the GWR Shed

I am hoping to add a road for the Wheeldrop and if I can 2 roads for an LMS Shed......which would,I believe, be similar to Birkenhead.......joint site but separate Engine Sheds.

None of this can be done until the second board is in position.



 I decided against inspection pits for the shed service roads but I do want one for the Wheeldrop siding.......so this has to be marked up and the aperture cut out off site............I also need to install the tortoise for the carriage sidings

Geometry is not my strong point .......right angles I can handle but the GWR shed will be pie shaped and although I was pretty careful setting up the service roads I was not comfortable that each angle was identical........a difference of 1/8" at the TT extrapolates to something significantly greater at the end of the 24" service road.

In short I wasnt absolutely certain where the right hand outer wall of the shed would finish up......................so instead of laying track I decided to build half the shed so I would have a better visual handle on the space available..........not exactly City and Guilds draughtmanship! 


So the first job was to get the foundations for the shed set up.......I had already been playing about with levels and determined that two layers of Matt Board (Mount in the UK?) would keep the level just below the code 83 rail

I had thought of covering the top layer with Scalescene paper like I did for the Warehouse but the concrete is more suitable for street scenes....lots of tyre marks

So I decided to try painting the boards a mucky grey......it took a while to get it adequately covered  and despite a lot of effort tended to look flat.......rather like painted matt board

My wife suggested they lacked texture.

So I lightly scored the boards and then with the back of a scalpel made the cut a little more obvious .......creating expansion joints






Then using my wife's pastels I highligted the cuts



Rubbed the black into the cracks and added touches of brown and grey




And here it is in position........The lighting is different but hopefully you can see the effect




I know I should have inspection pits but doubted my ability to cut out the apertures after the TT was calibrated and in any event the track here is code 83 not the 100 on the pits I saved from Granby II........similarly I decided against check rails. I spent forever doing them on the warehouse but once it was in position (a) you couldnt see them and (b) the slightest error messed up the operation









Half of the area will be covered by the shed....but all in all I am reasonably happy with the effect

Now that I have a level (?) surface I can start assembling half the shed 

 

[john dew]

Once again thank you for the "likes" gentlemen!                Lots of progress with the Engine Shed.

Its being built using components from the Scalescenes two road north light shed. The outer walls are standard Scalescene.........2 x 2mm card core, window apertures cut out.....  covered with printed paper..... laminated together.......  and then finished with buttresses and plinths.





There are no internal walls in the kit so I modified the external walls by cutting the window spaces to the floor creating passage ways between the units

The kit entrance spans both roads.......this would not work with 6 roads radiating from a TT so I used the gabled entrance from the small engine shed that John introduced last spring






Although I didnt start this project until late fall I have had a sort of grand design for some time.

I printed out a load of components for the shed, cut the card to size and took it all away on the boat.........amazing how much can be done in a marina or sheltered anchorage

Net result I came home with 7 almost completed walls and 6 entrances......almost because I forgot to print the windows!

With most of the components all to hand, assembly was surprisingly quick




I started off with the centre road and made sure the entrance was exactly at right angles to the track (and central.....I made a template and for greater certainty tested with real locos)

The first wall was attached exactly bisecting the "Pie slice" between the tracks.....buttresses on both sides provided a solid base for glueing and overcame both visually and practically non 90o joints

Only when completely dry (somewhat late in life I am learning to be patient) did I secure the second wall using the same approach.

Once dry the end piece was cut to size and fitted in place

As I suspected there was a variation in the angle of the roads resulting in the end pieces varying in length.......it wasnt quite as bad as I feared although it may haunt me when I fit the roof

So here are 3 of the six units completed





Rightly or wrongly I decided to only have two of the six ends with windows.......I dont think I am going to detail the interior and the windows are pretty grimy anyway.


The small shed comes with exterior vents so I may make some up and put them on the solid walls





The outer wall is at 90o .......primarily to save space .


And from the front:





If I hadnt been taking progress photos I doubt if I would have been able to correct the alignment of buttress #2.......fortunately the glue hadnt dried when I previewed the shot!

In truth the roof is haunting me already......the Scalescene kit has north lights made up in modules that are parallell to the entrance and spanning the two side walls.......clearly this will not work with the shape (whatever it should be called) that I am constructing.

I have played around with a couple of ideas but wont come to a decision until the other 3 units are built..........but I cant do that until the second board is secured and the balance of the service tracks laid

The good news, now that I have the first 3 units built, it is relatively easy to mark out the exact location of the remaining 3 and then check the clearances and mark out the carriage sidings and final point...............tomorrow's job




 

 

[john dew]

Originally this post was to be a celebration of the last spike but that will have to wait until next week.

I have been diverted by John Flann my modelling neighbour (he lives in Utah about 2000 miles east of Vancouver)

For the past three years John, in addition to entertaining us all with his tales of Little Hintock, has been, to me, a constant source of advice, assistance and encouragement. 

This time he has surpassed himself........after my comments/concerns about the shed roof in my last post I received the following:













Pretty impressive and amazingly helpful. 

So I discarded my previous fuzzy concepts and attempted to put his idea into practice.


Here are the three sub rooves cut out



I can see there is already an advantage.....I will rig some sort of drain between each roof  leading to a grating in the unplanned notch that has appeared between each gable

Coping stones will eventually finish off the tops of the walls and gables

Adapting the North Lights was more than a little tricky

The North Lights for the kit comprise 4 rows each with two lights that completely span the two roads........our plan is 3 rows each with a single light
 
These components probably give a better idea of the standard layout




These have to be cut down to a single light for each roof




These shots are of my second batch by which time I had learned the importance of prefolding the cover sheets (at the bottom)!

Once the openings are cut out the side pieces are added and the units joined together in a sub assembly



Corner pieces on light card conceal the butt joints

The unfinished strip on the side is where, on the original kit, the sub assembly is glued to the sidewalls

The next shot shows the individual rooves fitted and an aperture cut in the main roof to accommodate the sub assembly




The sub assembly sunk into the roof with flashing added




The roof is clad with Scalescenes Pebbledash which I think suggests the the granite chippings one finds on industrial flat rooves


Now actually installed......the paper is wrapped around in true Scalescene fashion and as the original card was cut to size creates a nice snug fit.



There is a little touching up still to do and eventually some weathering.

The kit comes with some rather flimsy cut out ventilators.....I need to do a bit more work on them to make them more robust.




Overall the effect is exactly what I had in mind (and hopefully what John had in mind) so I am pretty happy and more than a little relieved..........thank you again John

 

The gables are perhaps a little redundant......I built them when I was thinking of a pitched roof and subsequently changed my mind......its kind of late to change so either the GWR architect also changed his mind or he opted for a decorative facade!

 

 

 

One down.......... Five to go

Although first I have to build 3 more sheds........and before I can do that we need the last spike!

 

 

 

 

 

[Mikkel]

Hi John, I seem to have fallen behind on progress here - and what progress! You don't sit around, do you!

 

I really like the effect of the shed base, and how the shed itself is working out. The  transcontinental neighbourly cooperation you've got going around the roof is pretty impressive. 2000 miles seems quite a bit after all!

[john dew]

Thanks Mikkel.................glad you like it. I have to say progress doesnt seem that fast to me and I am not spendng any time at all running trains. Hopefully that will change pretty soon.

 

Best Wishes

 

John

[john flann]

John, delighted it worked out for you.

 

 

Another explanation for the presence of the gables might be that the original traditional pitched roof(s) were damaged by fire (not unknown), and the flat roof was a more economical way of restoration..

 

 

Regards,

 

 

John.

[john dew]

This post is mostly a record of progress.......the shots are not great but hopefully tell the story 




The final baseboard is now in and secured. All the remaining tracks radiating from the TT are in place, wired up and indexed.


The roof has been finished on the partially completed GWR shed covering tracks 4, 5 and 6









The drains between the roof segments are Woodlands scenic I profile painted mucky brown.......I am still fiddling with both the quantity and the best way of fabricating the ventilators




 Next to the shed are track#s 3, 2 and 1..............these will eventually be covered by a continuation of the GWR roundhouse shed

The road with the tracksetta and pit is for the wheeldrop and a small workshop  (actually the Scalescene single road shed from which I got the main shed entrances)

Next to that are the two LMS roads......I am a little undecided about the curve.....it was a saw off between having a decent straight run off from the TT and getting the tracks parallel for the 2 road shed.......its somewhat sharper than I would have wished...... its not a huge issue operationally because that road will be used by smaller locos......I just need to convince myself it is visually ok

Finally the big operational plus that will result from this project.....between the shed roads and the existing mainline I have managed to squeeze in 3 carriage sidings......more of this in the next post

Here is a close up of the Ratio wheel drop ex Granby II



I will set dummy track for it between the hardstanding


I plonked a couple of buildings on just to see how it would look....imagining the GWR shed is extended by 3 more units




The Scalescene Workshop needs some detailing....Chimney/Doors etc but otherwise looks the part. I am less certain about the Metcalfe unit



Its another survivor from Granby II (but only just!) It will need a lot of TLC but even then I am not sure how it will stand up against the Scalescene finish.......perhaps a temporary stop gap until I run out of things to do!



I am not going to be able to place all the buildings that I think would be associated with this size of shed but I will try and scratchbuild some small structures at the back to suggest a booking in office and maybe a mess room. The aim is create a sense that the complex has developed, over a number of years, in a rather haphazard fashion in response to everchanging techniques and demands........which is what I imagine happened on the prototype

My apologies for a somewhat dry and dusty post......I have had my head down beavering away......even been running locos on the reception track and TT.......and I kind of got behind with my correspondence!

[john flann]

John, two glasses raised there, I thought I saw the third on the layout.

[john dew]

  Thanks John.......but I think it is glass for my paint water! Proper glasses next post

 

Best wishes

[john flann]

It might look like paint water John, but gin I suggest it looks more like.

 

Whatever you deserve the gin. This time of the year and time of day, I prefer a measure, well more than one, of Scotch.

 

Cheers!!!

[john dew]

Finally..........a glass with something more palatable than paint water


The Last Spike






Regular readers may well feel there have been more delays with this post than Hornbys 42xx 2-8-0 T release

This is the earliest photo I could find...... December 2008




I havent done a great job keeping records but, for what it is worth, I guess there must now be about 200 yards of track......RR&Co tell me I have 80 turnouts and 120 blocks.

Anyway the great moment has arrived......the final piece of track has been laid. 




To get the length of carriage sidings I needed we had a bit of an issue with the brewery and the railway had to slap a compulsory purchase order on the Star and Dragon's yard





So here are the three sidings all ballasted with the retaining wall rebuilt and re aligned .......complete with cosmetic Outer and Inner Home Signals for the adjacent Down Main





Fortunately the landlord can still get his barrels delivered









This aerial view shows why I was so keen to get the carriage sidings in




The two far sidings can each accommodate up to 3 carriages......one will be used as a headshunt for parcel and milk traffic and the other for coaches that will be added and detached to trains from Birkenhead to the South

The near siding can accommodate a rake of 4 60' carriages which means that I can now run regular out and back services from Granby to Manchester, Shrewsbury (LMS) and Aberystwyth on the old Cambrian Line (GWR)................more on this in later posts




A picture is worth a thousand words. This is the last time these older (12+ years) carriages will carry coachboards.......in prototypical fashion they are being cascaded down to the Ordinary Passenger service to Shrewsbury and their place on the Express service to South Wales will be taken by a rake of the new rather splendid Hornby carriages  

So thats the background to the last spike........now back to the party



Last Sunday we invited the family round to lunch......ostensibly to celebrate my eldest daughter's birthday .........although in reality there was a far more significant event to celebrate!



My daughter's dog wasnt too impressed.....our dog had the good sense to hide.

Everyone else had a great time



 

[M.I.B]

What a great layout.  Thank you for sharing.  I will keep returning to this for inspiration for my own.

[Mikkel]

John what a great post, it put a big smile to my face. The three new sidings look great. The last two photos are full of fun ( except the poor dog!). It's too rare we see families and layouts together!

[aberdare]

Well done John for reaching that Golden Spike moment which is something we would all like to achieve at some point, even so I am sure there will still be the odd tweak here and there yet.

 

I look forward to the day when I can celebrate in the same way.

 

Jim

[john dew]

Thank you so much for the all the replies and "likes" . I am glad you didnt find it too self indulgent..........Mikkel, I was uncertain about including the family shot but I am glad that you felt, like me, that it helped capture the moment.

 

I may have hyped up the last spike a bit too much Jim......the last track has been laid but there is still a daunting amount of construction before I can consider the layout finished.....if, indeed, a layout is ever finished

 

Regards from Vancouver

[Jim Bob]

Hallo John,

 

I only found your amazing build project on this website a couple of days ago. Since then, I have been catching up on all your posts and am glad you found it "finished" enough to show to all the family!

 

But, as you say, there is always a good excuse to carry on working on it. If, like me, you actually prefer construction to running, you really don't want to "finish" at all - then what do you do?

 

Thanks for all your inspiration!

 

Best wishes,

 

Jim

[john dew]

Thanks for the kind words Jim.......It is really only the beginning of the end of construction......so.hopefully I will then have more time to run trains.......I do find myself to be poor at multi tasking. Regular running does suffer when I am building.

We have had unseasonably warm weather here so I have been dragged out into the garden and progress on the layout has slowed somewhat

The big focus has been on completing the "concrete" infill






I used the same method I described previously. Matt/Mount board painted sludge grey....weathered with pastels rubbed in.

This second phase took considerably longer because of the set in track for the wheel drop hoist and the compound curves leading to the LMS shed.




Finally completed......its not exactly finescale but the advantage of modelling gritty industry means I can get away with less than perfect......in fact I guess perfect would be imperfect!

I was pleasantly surprised in that the curved road now seems less obvious once infilled.



The part completed shed has been temporarily removed so I can sort out the placement of the Water Cranes and Yard Lamps.

Even allowing for the wide angle lens I find it astonishing how much space is taken up by this very compressed facsimile. In real life the acreage must have been vast




The three GWR cranes are Mikes Models ex Granby II.......they are super models but quite delicate and mine have suffered some damage over the years......so a spell in the repair shop is called for. 



 

At one stage I thought of surface mounting them......then changed my mind but forgot to cut out the apertures when I was laying the concrete! So a touch of retrofitting was called fo............they do look far better bedded in:




In order to emphasise the dual company set up I have bought a fourth crane......




Mikes Models ex LNWR between the two LMS roads...........and now I need some help.

What colours should I paint it? I know very little about LMS colours. The research I have done leads me to believe that the LMS were relatively slow to impose a corporate scheme on the buildings of their constituent companies.

I am inclined to think that in 1947 the crane, and indeed the Shed doors etc, would still be in LNWR colours.....albeit very faded............... I think that means a reddish brown coupled with either off white or quite a deep sort of institutional yellow/cream

Any help/advice would be much appreciated although I suspect most people who read this are, like me, GWR fans.
 

[M.I.B]

The base for the Shed looks great.  Again - inspirational. thanks for sharing.

[john flann]

John, as always I'm impressed by the scale and expanse of your latest masterpiece, all of a piece with the rest.

 

As to colour of the water cranes etc engine sheds were grimy places at their best so nondescript darkish gray would, I suggest, be most representative.

[M.I.B]

John, as always I'm impressed by the scale and expanse of your latest masterpiece, all of a piece with the rest.

 

As to colour of the water cranes etc engine sheds were grimy places at their best so nondescript darkish gray would, I suggest, be most representative.

I disagree - there is a post somewhere on here regarding GW water cranes.  In GW and BR (W)  days, they were painted a number of different versions of the same colour scheme and the photos presented on the post showed this.  Regardless of how grubby everything was, the colours and paint scheme are obvious.

 

No idea what colour an LNWR crane would be though.

[john flann]

MIB, the reasoning behind my comment is that John's period is pre-1947 and post WWII, by then little or no maintenance (including painting) had been carried out for many years and there was no money at that time for things like paint, so grubiness was the order of the day.

 

I don't doubt that out of the towns and in rural by the ways pre-war paint had survived quite well though by now faded, and original colours in evidence.