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Fryers Lane - Speedlink in the '80s (P4)


Mark Forrest
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8 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

Or have a crane lowering it into position / taking it away.

Interesting idea. I'm not sure I'd have enough space for a decent sized crane and want the scene on Fryers to look fairly mundane, so probably not what I'm looking for, thanks though.

 

7 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

It could be a hire depot; an excuse to have a few Portaloos and Portastores lined up as well.

I've been using the websites of several companies dealing in hire and sale of Portakabins for research, the thought of modelling one of them hadn't crossed my mind.

 

I have an idea for some steps up to the upper 'kabin; it's likely to involve some brass etch, swearing and burnt fingers...

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15 minutes ago, Mark Forrest said:

Interesting idea. I'm not sure I'd have enough space for a decent sized crane and want the scene on Fryers to look fairly mundane, so probably not what I'm looking for, thanks though.

 

I've been using the websites of several companies dealing in hire and sale of Portakabins for research, the thought of modelling one of them hadn't crossed my mind.

 

I have an idea for some steps up to the upper 'kabin; it's likely to involve some brass etch, swearing and burnt fingers...

The crane could simply be a lorry-mounted HIAB; that's how I've seen them being picked up and set down. Though they're bulky, they're relatively light.

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22 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

The crane could simply be a lorry-mounted HIAB; that's how I've seen them being picked up and set down. Though they're bulky, they're relatively light.

True, I'd imagine a large forklift could do the job too

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  • 1 month later...

Mark, 

 

for what little it is worth, I would leave well alone- I think the steps look spot on:  they  already look pretty lightweight to me.  Perhaps once they are primed and toned down?...

 

Best wishes, 

 

Paul 

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5 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Prolly a bit late, but I thought these had possibilities as a lightweight jobby.

 

https://www.modelscenerysupplies.co.uk/brands/Auhagen Models/80101

 

Mike.

Interesting, that's more like the sort of thing I had in mind.  I already had the Langley one though so I'm using up stuff I have "in stock".

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4 hours ago, Mark Forrest said:

Interesting, that's more like the sort of thing I had in mind.  I already had the Langley one though so I'm using up stuff I have "in stock".

They had some double deck ones near me until quite recently.  Pretty sure it was one flight of steps within the length of the building, but the door might have been in a different place to yours.

 

 If you google double deck portakabins and switch to images you will find some like what you have done.  The supports for the landing for some seemed very lightweight.  I did look briefly at the proper portakabin website but didn’t immediately see any images that might help, but it might be worth a more in-depth exploration.

 

Hope of some assistance!

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23 hours ago, 26power said:

They had some double deck ones near me until quite recently.  Pretty sure it was one flight of steps within the length of the building, but the door might have been in a different place to yours.

 

 If you google double deck portakabins and switch to images you will find some like what you have done.  The supports for the landing for some seemed very lightweight.  I did look briefly at the proper portakabin website but didn’t immediately see any images that might help, but it might be worth a more in-depth exploration.

 

Hope of some assistance!

Thanks.  Yes, I’m thinking the single flight of stairs, it was more the design of the handrails in the Auhagen example that Mike suggested that I had in mind.

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  • 6 months later...
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Having recently rediscovered my modelling mojo, I thought I'd take a look at something I'd been meaning to do for a while; point rodding.

 

I bought a pack of the Wills rodding ages ago, not long after it was first released, only to discover it's massively over scale so decided against using it.  However, I decided I'd give it a try, hoping that it wouldn't look too bad and be a relatively quick fix (compared to soldering fiddly brass components).

IMG_20200121_121018.jpg.2e6eefbb10e666e626f7362ee28888be.jpg

 

I didn't think the facing point lock looked too bad, thought I might get away with it once painted and weathered to tone it down a bit; but I'm not sure I can live with the rodding and stools.  Some shortcuts just aren't worth taking, I think an order to Modelu will be required.  I can at least use the Wills stuff to mark out the distances between the stools and work out how many are needed (or save it in case I ever do anything in 7mm:1').

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 22/01/2020 at 19:55, Mark Forrest said:

Having recently rediscovered my modelling mojo, I thought I'd take a look at something I'd been meaning to do for a while; point rodding.

 

I bought a pack of the Wills rodding ages ago, not long after it was first released, only to discover it's massively over scale so decided against using it.  However, I decided I'd give it a try, hoping that it wouldn't look too bad and be a relatively quick fix (compared to soldering fiddly brass components).

IMG_20200121_121018.jpg.2e6eefbb10e666e626f7362ee28888be.jpg

 

I didn't think the facing point lock looked too bad, thought I might get away with it once painted and weathered to tone it down a bit; but I'm not sure I can live with the rodding and stools.  Some shortcuts just aren't worth taking, I think an order to Modelu will be required.  I can at least use the Wills stuff to mark out the distances between the stools and work out how many are needed (or save it in case I ever do anything in 7mm:1').

 

 

 

 

Hi Mark,

 

Hope you’re doing ok given the ongoing virus situation!

 

I just wanted to ask if you had anymore photos of the point rodding kit please? Like Will I’m also considering using it at Motts Lane so any photos would be much appreciated. Hopefully the isolation brings some more progress at Fryers and on your new layout!

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Will

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On 19/03/2020 at 12:31, Southwich said:

 

Hi Mark,

 

Hope you’re doing ok given the ongoing virus situation!

Hi Will,

Good thanks, although as I work for a food retailer, it's keeping me rather more busy than usual!!!

 

I've removed the parts of the Wills rodding that had fitted so no other photos unfortunately.  I'd suggest looking at the Modelu rodding stools, etched cranks (think the ones I have are from Brassmasters) and square wire from Wizard for the rodding.

 

Good to see your layout progressing.  Stay safe, keep well.

 

Cheers,

Mark

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9 hours ago, Mark Forrest said:

Hi Will,

Good thanks, although as I work for a food retailer, it's keeping me rather more busy than usual!!!

 

I've removed the parts of the Wills rodding that had fitted so no other photos unfortunately.  I'd suggest looking at the Modelu rodding stools, etched cranks (think the ones I have are from Brassmasters) and square wire from Wizard for the rodding.

 

Good to see your layout progressing.  Stay safe, keep well.

 

Cheers,

Mark

 

Thanks for the info Mark much appreciated! 

 

I’m really enjoying the EM switch, definitely distracting from the ongoing situation! Thanks - you too.

 

Kind regards,

 

Will

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  • 10 months later...
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My modelling time over the past year has mainly been focused on work on my new layout and on various rolling stock projects.  Fryers does see occasional action, it's set up in the room next to my office, I sometimes pop in there to shuffle a few wagons around in the short gaps between seemingly endless Teams calls.

 

I've been having a look at some of my EM gauge stock, with a view to rewheeling a few of my favourite items to add a bit of variety to these brief shunting sessions. 

 

However, there's a problem.   These short wheelbase rigid wagons seem to be exceptionally good at showing up some less than perfect aspects of my track.  There's nothing for it; time for another engineer's possession. 

 

20210210_145803.jpg

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The problem here was that the wheels would rise up slightly (not enough to derail, but enough to be noticeable) when passing over the nose of the vee.  Root cause seems to be that the track is slight wide to gauge here and the rear of the wheel was being forced to ride up on the check rail, with the check rail removed stock seems to passing through more smoothly. 

fryers.png.560cc0fe2da4d68f33d4be05d78c4597.png

This  cruel photo highlights few other things that need attention.  As you can see, lazy me I only painted the chairs on the side of the rails that are visible from the front of the layout.  Also, the timbers on the section of the tandem turnout that I replaced a while ago are still in unpainted plastic.  Finally, the uncoupling magnet on the mainline (bottom right of picture)  that never gets used needs its hole in the ballast filling in.  So I have a few jobs to be getting on with then...

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7 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

Is that a mint gauge, I see to the right of the roller gauges? A very useful bit of kit, that you can use to check that your rolling stock will go through the turnouts, or anywhere you think may be a bit tight to gauge.

 

 

 

 

Yes it is.  It’s a recent purchase and a very useful tool for this type of fault finding and fine tuning.

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