Boxenby depot

[Grimleygrid]

Whilst doing some planning for Grimley depot I was thinking about putting a lightweight overhead crane (as per the ones normally found in many of the small maintenance depots around the country) in the other shed. Then I got thinking that this would stop me having the new Bachmann lifting jacks, unless I just had one road with the overhead crane. This then got me thinking of perhaps having a larger depot shed and my thoughts turned to Toton??¦..

 

I think it was back in 1987, whilst a teenager I came across a Modern Railways which had a photo of Toton depot and I could not believe it. The sheer size of it and all the locos there just shocked me.

 

After doing some further research I really wanted to visit said depot and managed to organise a visit on a Sunday in February 1988. This I have to say was fantastic, as I live in Essex it was very hard to see Choppers, 56s and 58s so to see a large shed and sidings full of them and in one place was just amazing. Sorry to bore you! Ever since that visit I have been fascinated by Toton and always thought how good it would be to have a model of such a large depot although it would be very big in 00. So the long and short of it is that I have now gone completely raving mad and decided to start a new project which is going to be a model of Toton but known as Boxenby TMD. It would be nice to have a large depot to park up some of my 60s in!

 

Here are a couple of photos taken back in February 1988:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other day I managed to find my notebook for the 20^th of February 1988 and cannot believe how many Grids and 58s were there that day!

 

Although I plan to have my depot loosely based on Toton it will not be exactly the same as I can only work from photos that I have and those that are available on the internet.

 

After further research I decided to see how big the depot would be by coming up with some rough scale drawings of the depot shed.

 

 

 

 

 

As this didn??™t put me off I decided to come up with a rough track plan on the kitchen floor:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the layout plan so far:

 

 

Due to the demise of the class 60 my plan is to have Boxenby in the period 1988 to 1992 but due to the majority of my stock being for the EWS period, initially the depot will be for the present day until I can build up enough locos to go back in time. Whether it is because that period was great with 20s, 31s, 37s, 45s, 47s, 56s, 58s and the 60 just entering traffic and with so many different liveries to be seen or was it just because I was young and what I remember the railway to be like I am not sure. All I know is that I really enjoyed going out and about then and loved seeing such a variety of traffic. As mentioned before I am looking forward to having BR blue, Large logo, Original Railfreight, Red-stripe Railfreight and Trainload/Sector liveries. Quality!

 

The other week I had some scale drawings printed off ready to construct the depot shed but then realised that I didn??™t have a large enough surface to allow me to build it! So that was put on hold until the first board had been constructed.

 

Yesterday after a visit to B&Q and the local wood merchants, Grimley Senior and I spent the afternoon building two boards. So there is no going back now??¦??¦..

 

Here they are finished in my garage. The larger of the two is taller than me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully I can make a start on the depot building over the weekend and have the shell finished to allow the first of the inspection pits to be put in place.

 

 

 

 

 

[Lukasz]

Well this is amazing.

 

I wish you alot of luck in completing it but judging by Grimley you won't need it.

 

 

Lukasz

['CHARD]

Love it, and the very best of luck with your project!

 

I had to look because when I saw the name, I expected another micro depot in a box file. LOL

[big T]

Nice one Alex - I'm looking forward to seeing this project develop!

[Sandhills]

....and they say i'm mad !!

 

Great looking project Alex & one I will really enjoy seeing develop. Looking forward to lots of updates & hopefully my family of construction 60's can pay a visit in the future. Just make sure you build it so it can be moved outside. I can see the sun drenched pictures now !

 

Good luck mate, that is going to be as epic a scratch build depot as Jim's shopping centre !!

 

 

[porkie]

Alex this sounds great , I know what you mean about wanting a big depot layout. Tinsley has always wanted me to model it, But I just dont have enough room for something of that size and I model N gauge ....

 

Good look with it mate and look forward to seeing your progress

[Grimleygrid]

Thanks Lukasz, not sure I share your optimism!

 

 

 

Thanks Worralls, I am beginning to think that a smaller depot might have been a better idea!

 

 

 

BigT, thought you might like it! Might have to extend it to allow some MGR trains to run passed! Only joking??¦??¦

 

 

 

Hi Jon, Tugs 1 and 6 are more than welcome to visit any time. Don??™t worry it is being made to be fully transportable outside!

 

 

 

Porkie, well there is always time in the future for you to model Tinsley. I certainly didn??™t think 20 years ago whilst walking around Toton that I would attempt to build a model of it!

 

 

 

[Grimleygrid]

I have made a start on the woodwork for the main depot building and after spending a couple of afternoon??™s in the garage with Grimley Senior a bit of progress has been made.

 

To start off with one of the drawings was stuck to some plywood using double-sided sticky tape and then the outline was cut out using a jigsaw. This then gave the basic shape of the shed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Different parts were then cut out until I had several sections which hopefully when joined together will form the basic skeleton of the depot shed. There are still a few adjustments to be made to the inner sections but once these have been made construction will begin.

 

I stood the sections up on one of the boards to see how it will look:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday I spent the afternoon finalising the dimensions for the battens which will be used to join up the different sections. Hopefully at the weekend I can make a start putting it all together.

[Jamie]

monstrous shed Grimley! Rumour has it there's been a rush on shares in Slater's Plasticard and Wills companies...

 

Are you leaving the roof part/wholly transparent to see inside?

[Arpleymodeller]

If or when full scenic detailing takes place inside the shed it will be a suberb piece of modelling,it would take a large amount of locos to fill! B)

 

Top work Grimley

[GM]

Wow good luck with this! I'm in agreement with James with the suggestion to make part or whole of the roof transparent if your up for the challenge of adding interior detailing for such a vast depot!

[0O00]

Someone's been busy!

 

At least you will have somewhere to 'store' all of your 60s! Not WNXX-style though!

[Grimleygrid]

Jamie, it certainly is a large shed. When I laid out the pieces on the board the other day it did surprise me a little!

I am planning to construct the shed with the roof completely separate and detachable. This will allow you to see inside the shed once the roof has been removed.

Arpleymodeller, I do plan to detail the inside of the shed not sure how it will turn out though!

 

Yes you are right it will take quite a few locos to fill it, especially as it will be able to hold 34 locos inside. Not sure I have enough at the moment and certainly won??™t tell Mrs. Grimley that more locos are required, well not just yet!

 

Thanks GM, I am up for the challenge and do plan to add full interior detailing. I also plan to have a 60 with roof panels and engine room doors open revealing the engine. And also once Bachmann release their lifting jacks plan to have a Grid off its bogies. I must be mad??¦??¦??¦..

 

Hi Baggie, yes I have been a bit busy with my latest obsession! I am quite pleased with progress so far, hopefully more can be done tonight subject to the adverse weather conditions!

Aye, they will only be visiting and certainly not to be stored like at Toton. Be nice to have somewhere to see them all in one place. Really looking forward to going back to 1988??¦..your Original Railfreight Tractor will have to visit!

[Waverley West]

Crikey Alex. Just dropped in on this thread for the first time expecting to see a few photos, plans and ideas, not baseboards, building frames and track!!

 

Great progress. Really looking forward to seeing this develop!

 

Cheers,

Dave

Waverley West

[Grimleygrid]

Thanks Dave I have made a bit of progress! My wife thinks it is starting to become a bit obsessive??¦??¦??¦

I am fairly pleased with progress so far and once the main shed skeleton has been put together I can make a start on marking out where the inspection pits will go!

 

Hopefully you will have something to see after the weekend!

 

Yesterday Grimley Senior and I spent a couple of hours doing some woodwork for the depot building in preparation for construction of the main shed. The cross pieces have been cut with some being a little on the delicate side, so battens have been added to some of them to add a bit of strength.

 

Here you can see some of the cross pieces drying on the kitchen floor after having the battens attached:

 

 

Hopefully later in the week a start can be made on putting the first pieces together allowing a first real look at Boxenby TMD.

[P.C.M]

Hi Alex,

Looking good, Here are a couple of pics for some more inspiration, not that you need it, at this rate you will be bying blue locos by Spring. Oh 45104 is at Cambridge you said you might do this as a model.

 

Cheers Peter.

[sjl1973]

Hi Alex

Keeping a close eye on this, if you want some tugs to borrow, let me know! what size are the boards then?

Simon

[Grimleygrid]

Thanks for the photos Peter, very helpful and interesting. I like the one of the Peak up on the lifting jacks, I plan to have a Grid up off its bogies.

When were the photos taken? 1984 ish? I see a pair of Thornaby 37/0s on shed, there must have been a working to Corby which included a stay at Toton, as when I visited 501 and 502 were there.

Think I will need to get a few more pairs of Choppers though, don??™t think three 20s will be enough!

Will definitely be modelling 45104, great shot of it at Cambridge. Was it there for a special occasion or had it worked a passenger service?

To be honest I think it may well be a while before I can afford any new stock as the inspection pits alone require quite a bit of cash and then with the track and DCC hardware, funds for new locos will be almost non-existent!

But we shall see??¦??¦.

 

I have spent the past couple of days just finalising the depot plan which is almost there, just a couple of little issues which need sorting. My plan is to assemble the depot shed at the weekend which I am quite excited about. This will probably give me a wake up call when I see just how large the shed is!

Not sure Mrs. Grimley is going to share my excitement!!

 

Hi Simon, thanks for the offer. The Grimley pool does have a couple in it which will be made available!

The first board which is for the depot shed is 1.2m x 1.5m with the second 1.2m x 1.75, the latter being for stabling and the point work. May need to add another board on the end, will have more of an idea once the shed has been built.

[Poindexter]

Hi Mr Grimley.

Been a follower of you layout(s) for awhile and loved the work you did on your Bachmann TMD shed. Boxenby looks like it is going to be a monster!!

I thought you might like to view this YouTube clip of Knottingley TMD and MGR coal workings. No connection etc etc, just a good professional Video.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0SkapMBB94

 

Guy

[Grimleygrid]

Thanks for the kind comments Guy. I do like the Bachmann shed, they have done a nice job on it.

 

Blimey Railwatch, I have not seen that for a while!

Remember watching that all week back in 1988, we have it on video somewhere. That was always my favourite part the Grids around Knottingley, always a great place to visit for seeing 56 on MGRs.

Thanks for the link, really enjoyed watching that last night. Red-stripe Railfreight 56s, love them, will have to have a few of those for my new project!

[P.C.M]

Hi Alex,

Sorry, forgot to add the dates. The Toton pics were 31.5.86 so a bit early for your time period, you could get away with less Peaks. 45104 was on a railtour 25.4.87 .

 

Cheers Peter,

[Grimleygrid]

Thanks Peter, I did wonder if it was on a Railtour. I think it will be predominantly 56s on shed and for the later years 60s!

 

Yesterday Grimley Senior and I spent a good few hours dry fitting the depot shed in preparation for gluing and pining. A few extra pieces of wood were cut and although we had a couple of minor problems which hopefully will be addressed tonight it seems to look how it is supposed to. It certainly does look like a mini Toton and gives a good idea of how the finished depot will look.

 

Here are some photos of the depot clamped together:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am planning to make a couple of adjustments this evening, get the whole depot frame together and once happy get it glued at the weekend.

[Pete Harvey]

Looking Good Alex that will be quite a space to cover should be good when its done.

 

Pete

[big T]

Good progress Alex!

 

I'm sure you can fit a loop round the back & have some HAA's tanking through behind a large logo 56!!

 

Some good pics too PCM.

 

It takes you back - 45's and 20's with Railfreight grey bones - winner!

 

I may invest in a 45 now! hmmm!

 

 

[cromptonnut]

I have only two words.

 

"Completely nuts".

 

Following this one with interest.