Jump to content
 

West Kirby Town: Parcels traffic has increased.


Dmudriver
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Premium

I had the good fortune to visit a very unusual O Gauge layout a few years ago. It had very little scenery and was mainly a showcase for some lovely locos and stock and  one of the features was a DMU with a driver on a seat that flipped at both ends when it changed direction so the driver was always at the front.

 

I won't name the builder or the layout because he prefers to keep things a bit low key as far as publicity is concerned but perhaps that is where the folklore about such things originated.

 

I can't recall how it was done.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Hi,

Wondered if you could do me a favour and confirm the wheelbase of the autocoach bogies please? 

 

I've had a conversion in mind to turn 2 of them into a 70 foot type (which was a bit more common) but I spotted last night the longer diagram had 9' bogies and I think Dapols are 8'?

 

Thanks!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Rod.

 

I have been away from your thread for a little while so have just had a catch up. The driver "leaving the cab" is something that I have not seen done before but is a relevant issue. I do know that Lenz in Germany has a driver in the centre cab V60 diesel which rotates with direction of travel and this I assume would be relatively easy to do, but a two cab diesel like the 25 perhaps presents a real problem. Perhaps he/she can be made to disappear into the wall at the back of the cab which would mean having sore sort of shutter arrangement to hide what would otherwise be a hole in the wall. In a DMU this would not be possible owing to the openness of the body with all its windows.

 

I also seem to remember that Marklin in Germany had plans to have a moving waiter in the dining car who moved up and down "serving his passengers" but I am not sure whether this ever went into production.

 

Keep up the excellent work on the layout and please let us have some more videos. They are fascinating and most enjoyable.

 

Rod  

  • Agree 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 29/06/2020 at 06:49, Hal Nail said:

Wondered if you could do me a favour and confirm the wheelbase of the autocoach bogies please? 

 

Hi.

 

They're 8' bogies.   Sorry about the delay in replying - even though I've been in the shed, I didn't have my ruler with me, then I forgot!!!  Old age catching up with me!!!

 

 

Rod

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
2 minutes ago, Dmudriver said:

 

Hi.

 

They're 8' bogies.   Sorry about the delay in replying - even though I've been in the shed, I didn't have my ruler with me, then I forgot!!!  Old age catching up with me!!!

 

 

Rod

Ha, tell me about it!

 

Pity but I thought as much. Better to have found out before I got one! Many thanks.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 28/06/2020 at 16:41, Hroth said:

Around that area in the real WK, there was the Tudor Cinema, a small MOT garage and towards the bridge abutments a bit of disused allotment scrubbery.  Rather than warehouses as such, perhaps something that would hint at the rear end of a cinema, with say a billboard detailing the latest attraction and a back-street motor wranglers?

 

Thanks for that, Hroth.  I must admit to not being familiar with the front of the buildings: however, the impressions I have are just of the backs which are mainly brick walls!!    I've seen an old map of West Kirby which shows a Public Hall in that area and I assume the back of that was just plain bricks  I've also got to take into account that the signalling diagram takes up a lot of space on the back wall so really I am just infilling below that.  

 

Rod

Link to post
Share on other sites

"Ground cover next" I said a few days ago, so I've done it.  Here's 3 pics showing what I've done.

 

497934644_IMG_20200701_175059-Copy.jpg.059035e3adff16514619eea53c424d30.jpg347931237_IMG_20200701_175111-Copy.jpg.10ebf349a656f2efbef060fe02e756ce.jpg673304767_IMG_20200701_175141-Copy.jpg.77fabad72c0afdecaa8425d808c9eb80.jpg

 

It's coming on - slowly, but I'm getting there.  Now need some sleepers, chairs and a Wickham trolley.   Plus a picnic table (thanks, jcarta)  or a park bench, even!! (alongside the fence at right angles to the track).

 

Watch this space!!

 

 

Rod

Edited by Dmudriver
spelling
  • Like 14
Link to post
Share on other sites

I would agree with the above comment it starts to bring the scene around the signal box to life, just that touch of green does make a big difference excellent carry on the good work. I think your scenery on the approach to the road over bridge from the fiddle yard is also an excellent scenic section, you've really captured the wind swept feel of that part of the Wirral , one can almost see the sand that has been blown in off the coastal area mixed into the base of the billowing embankment grass.  

  • Agree 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Dmudriver said:

 

Thanks for that, Hroth.  I must admit to not being familiar with the front of the buildings: however, the impressions I have are just of the backs which are mainly brick walls!!    I've seen an old map of West Kirby which shows a Public Hall in that area and I assume the back of that was just plain bricks  I've also got to take into account that the signalling diagram takes up a lot of space on the back wall so really I am just infilling below that.  

 

Rod

Originally it was The Queens Hall, a fancy function venue, which actually displayed films in the late 1890s. This burned down and the site was used to build the proper cinema. After it closed as a cinema in the 1980s? it became offices for Wirral social services before being vacated and the whole site turned into an Aldi, though the frontage of the cinema remains.

 

tudor_front.jpg.62395bfd2c4528062043432bfb5f78a4.jpg

 

Here's what it looked like as a cinema, you can see its just brick boxes behind!  All the views from Bridge Street concentrate on the station, the back of the cinema is always out of frame on the right....

 

  • Informative/Useful 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
44 minutes ago, billy_anorak59 said:

might obscure your lovely signal diagram if modelled?:

 

I think a nicely done grubby wall with a fire escape type door, below the diagram, would actually work fine and the imagination would fill in the rest.

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
On 01/06/2020 at 21:54, Dmudriver said:

Hi all.

 

I've done a video of the 14xx tank  and autocoaches.  Its here (just under 6 minutes long - with a bit of Class 25 diesel action, too!!):

 

 

Hope you enjoy it.

 

 

Rod

Sorry for being so late to the party.

 

Aside from the high standard of modelling in general, there were a couple of things in particular that i really like about your railway, and it's to do with operation:

 

1)  It's good to see a locomotive pause a short distance from the carriage prior to slowly easing up to couple, and

 

2) It's good to see someone using the sound on the locomotive properly.  So many modelers would have had the auto train chuffing continuously from the the off, but you eased off the steam as the train negotiated the pointwork (presumably to keep the speed in check) before opening up again when safely through.

 

Delightful stuff. More, I say!

 

Best


Scott.

  • Like 2
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, billy_anorak59 said:

If it helps Rod - this is the best I've got of the rear of the cinema - might obscure your lovely signal diagram if modelled?:

 

Thank you, billy_anorak59, that's a pic I've not seen before.  That is certainly the wall I had in mind.  But those platform lamps intrigue me - I've not seen a pic of those before.  I'll stick to the more modern ones!!

 

8 hours ago, Hal Nail said:

think a nicely done grubby wall with a fire escape type door, below the diagram, would actually work fine and the imagination would fill in the rest.

 

That's exactly the plan, Hal Nail!  I've ordered 5 of these from Intentio:

 

Regular.png.7c5c773e160013276188332fb02a05ec.png

 

I intend to stand them behind the signalling diagram and, as I'm not sure how high the wall is, I suspect most of the upper cladding will be hidden: however, it will be visible at the sides of the diagram.   It'll mean the wall is a lot longer than in real life but it is an impression I'm aiming at, not a scale model!

 

Watch this space!!

 

 

Rod

 

 

  • Like 6
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, scottystitch said:

1)  It's good to see a locomotive pause a short distance from the carriage prior to slowly easing up to couple, and

 

Hi scottystitch and thanks for your comments.  I've said earlier in the thread that my main interest is operations - having driven DMUs at Llangollen for over 13 years.  That is certainly how we were taught to couple up DMUs - and I was taught by a former BR DMU driving instructor - so I aim to drive the model as I was taught to drive the real thing, applying the same principles to locos as DMUs.  

 

6 hours ago, scottystitch said:

you eased off the steam as the train negotiated the pointwork (presumably to keep the speed in check) before opening up again when safely through.

 

Yes, that's why I did it: the speed limit is 10 mph through all that pointwork and I didn't want to be seen to be ignoring it.  Whether it's a scale 10 mph is another question!  I actually doubt it, and the reason I say that is when I got the chip for the 08 it was set for scale speeds.  To be honest, even for me those speeds were too slow and I altered the CVs to speed it up a bit.  So I'm aiming for something that looks right - or at least not obviously wrong!!

 

As for more videos - that's quite possible, but I'll leave them until I've done a bit more to the scenery.

 

 

Rod

  • Like 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, billy_anorak59 said:

If it helps Rod - this is the best I've got of the rear of the cinema - might obscure your lovely signal diagram if modelled?:

 

The parts of the building under the diagram would provide some interesting shapes, rather than a flat conventional building.

 

14 hours ago, Dmudriver said:

... I've ordered 5 of these from Intentio:

 

I intend to stand them behind the signalling diagram and, as I'm not sure how high the wall is, I suspect most of the upper cladding will be hidden: however, it will be visible at the sides of the diagram.   It'll mean the wall is a lot longer than in real life but it is an impression I'm aiming at, not a scale model!

 

The main thing is to fill in the blank space!  But it does need to look a bit grubby, until the late 30s steam locos worked up fairly close to that wall, and then "natural" dirt would accrete nicely.  The brickwork would never have been cleaned.

 

Of course, by the time modelled, the cinema might have been out of use and demolished, rather than being taken over by Wirral Social Services.  The site may have then been colonised by the car workshop, using buildings rather like the ones you're going to use.

 

Edited by Hroth
Battering a paragraph into making sense...
  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, billy_anorak59 said:

If it helps Rod - this is the best I've got of the rear of the cinema - might obscure your lovely signal diagram if modelled?:

 

westkirbyFBcrop.jpg.e3d415e8be1659b1e9ed91b5dbfa724b.jpg

 

Thats an interesting photo, blue with full yellow ends, but before the 503s were butchered to install end doors for safety purposes in the Loop.

 

image.png.38753cc78dfe6b8c59c7811651cb79a3.png

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_503

 

As Dmudriver noted, the platform lamps are "different", they, or single lamp variants, were installed on all the stations that were modernised when electrification took place in the late 30s.  By the 1980s they were replaced because galloping concrete rot made them unsafe.

 

 

 

Edited by Hroth
Comment on concrete platform lighting
  • Like 1
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hroth: It's Christmas 1972, apparently.

 

Incidentally, I've found another picture (FB) accredited to Reggie Lion, which might be of interest? It's 'sort of' the area in question, anyway. Dated 1982.

westkirby1982-FB.jpg.c0247cdc27eb46cf86b4f1179a216db7.jpg

Edited by billy_anorak59
  • Like 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, billy_anorak59 said:

Incidentally, I've found another picture (FB) accredited to Reggie Lion, which might be of interest? It's 'sort of' the area in question, anyway. Dated 1982.

 

That's another pic I've not seen before, billy_anorak59!!  Where are you finding them?  It took me a while to work out where that one's taken from - then realised it's from the landing on the signal post.  I didn't realise how many trees there were around the line at that time!!

 

And in the previous pic, I hadn't noticed the central doors in the cab ends - I think the platform lamps distracted my attention!!   Thanks for pointing them out, Hroth.

 

 

Rod

Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, pwr said:

That's a really good picture to help you plan where your conductor rails are going to go! ha ha

 

Nice one, Paul!!  That did make me laugh!!

 

But the answer's still "No"!!

 

 

Rod

 

PS   When the scenery's finished then there might be a bit of a rethink - I can''t play all the time - or can I?   No 503s available so relocated SR units, perhaps?    (After all, I've done it with the Thumper!!)  And Peter Clark does kits!!!    Maybe ........... maybe not!!

  • Funny 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Dmudriver said:

 

Nice one, Paul!!  That did make me laugh!!

 

But the answer's still "No"!!

 

 

Rod

 

PS   When the scenery's finished then there might be a bit of a rethink - I can''t play all the time - or can I?   No 503s available so relocated SR units, perhaps?    (After all, I've done it with the Thumper!!)  And Peter Clark does kits!!!    Maybe ........... maybe not!!

 

Now who's teasing?

 

Paul

  • Funny 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Dmudriver said:

No 503s available so relocated SR units, perhaps? 

 

The current class 507/508 stock were developed from units from the South.  Almost identical in appearance to a 313. Merseyrail are to replace them with stock from a company that sounds like it manufactures pencils...

 

Edited by Hroth
Didn't realise how odd it sounded when I re-read it...
Link to post
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Dmudriver said:

I didn't realise how many trees there were around the line at that time!!

 

The ones on the right were around the 1st West Kirby Scout Hut, sold off to build flats. 

 

 

12 hours ago, billy_anorak59 said:

Incidentally, I've found another picture (FB) accredited to Reggie Lion, which might be of interest? It's 'sort of' the area in question, anyway. Dated 1982.

 

The area in front of the trees is the Concourse car park, it was the headshunt area for the Joint. However it looks like the car park was still being built - 82 seems a little late for that.  Its nearly 40 years ago, so I won't be dogmatic about it!

  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...