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It's summer 1973 and a Rolls Royce/Sentinel diesel growls its way over the bridge from the British Railways exchange siding and into the River Don Works. Behind it is an assortment of unfitted wagons carrying steel billets and plate for the forge and pressing plant of this subsidiary company of the British Steel Corporation...

 

Once again we're somewhere in the Lower Don Valley area of Sheffield. Brick and corrugated iron, muck, smoke, polluted waterways, scruffy wagons, small industrial locomotives, cranes, pipe bridges - you get the idea...

 

Track plan finalised:

post-494-0-03204300-1389473415_thumb.jpg

 

Stuff bought:

post-494-0-67213600-1389473547.jpg

All the points as shown in the plan, plus a point motor for each and a set of proper switches (I usually bodge this stuff with bits of wire and drawing pins but I want to do it right for once), Bachmann 30-ton Bogie Bolster, Parkside double bolster kit, Code 75 flexi track and the reason I'm building this at all - the Hornby Sentinel.

 

I've had a root about in a box of junk and have salvaged some bits and pieces from when I last did OO some 20 years ago. I'm not sure if any or all will be used yet but they are:

 

A Scammell Scarab (kit-built), A pair of 14-ton tank wagons, two Scammell Highwayman tractor units and one trailer (Langley, I think), an Atkinson ballast tractor unit and a workmans' bothy made from a dead Sentinel steam loco.

 

I've also bought some plywood and other wood so baseboard construction begins tomorrow! :scratchhead:

 

Edited by Ruston
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Well that pretty much determines the livery of the Highwaymen then!

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fryske/3452812257/in/set-72157606910419367

 

 

Long-established steel haulers around Sheffield.

 

Family firm with a few offshoots, stock car racing as well.

Always amazed me when I saw them on the motorway!

 

Mike.

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Family firm with a few offshoots, stock car racing as well.

 

 

OT alert! Willie (Wilfred) Harrison, no2 and later his son Paul 22. Always immaculately turned out. As a six year old, I remember the ex-Aubrey Leighton machine with the open sides to the bonnet roaring around the long defunct track at Seedhill Stadium, Nelson.

 

His finest hour was at Belle Vue, Manchester when he won the BriSCA World Championship  in 1982. The fastest race I ever saw round the Belle Vue Bowl!

 

Apologies for the OT, but I couldn't help it!

 

Following the layout as I've got two Sentinels - but both Judith edge kits.

 

Cheers,

Mick

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OT alert! Willie (Wilfred) Harrison, no2 and later his son Paul 22. Always immaculately turned out. As a six year old, I remember the ex-Aubrey Leighton machine with the open sides to the bonnet roaring around the long defunct track at Seedhill Stadium, Nelson.

 

His finest hour was at Belle Vue, Manchester when he won the BriSCA World Championship  in 1982. The fastest race I ever saw round the Belle Vue Bowl!

 

Apologies for the OT, but I couldn't help it!

 

Following the layout as I've got two Sentinels - but both Judith edge kits.

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

Whilst we're OT, thanks Mick, Willie Harrison bought the first 36 foot chassis coach, 136 AWJ an AEC Reliance/Plaxton Panorama, secondhand from Sheffield United Tours, sometime in the early 1970's I think, and converted it for use as a stock car carrier.

A photograph of that would be interesting.

Photo of SUT original. http://www.sct61.org.uk/sg326

 

 

Mike.

 

Edited to add picture and correct registration number.

Edited by Enterprisingwestern
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Whilst we're OT, thanks Mick, Willie Harrison bought the first 36 foot chassis coach, 136 FWJ an AEC Reliance/Plaxton Panorama, secondhand from Sheffield United Tours, sometime in the early 1970's I think, and converted it for use as a stock car carrier.

A photograph of that would be interesting.

 

Mike.

 

One of his later transporters

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ltht/3335011782/

 

The Reliance was the mainstay of converted stock car transporters in the 1970-80's.

 

Edit: also found this http://www.flickr.com/photos/61400165@N02/8024116346

 

 

Cheers,

Mick

 

Apologies to Dave for hijacking his thread, I'll stop here - promise!

Edited by newbryford
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Well that pretty much determines the livery of the Highwaymen then!

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fryske/3452812257/in/set-72157606910419367

 

 

Long-established steel haulers around Sheffield.

Ooo, I remember them rumbling up the M1.  First time I saw one I thought time had stopped still!

 

Nice concept Dave, looking forward to seeing progress.  If it's as nice as your 7mm work it'll be grand.

 

I'll get Jamie to book it for 2015??

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My Dad worked there I remember it well, another memory was November 1963 the bus was taking its usual pause outside the works a number 69 if memory serves me correct.

A couple of guys got on the bus about 11pm and said they had just heard that President Kennedy had been assasinated the bus was silent all the way into Rotherham.

 

David

A Yorkshireman in the USA

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I know that you are not modelling the actual River Don Works Dave but I thought a bit of background about the real one might help set the scene.

 

It had been a major armour plate rolling plant and during WW2, under the ownership of the English Steel Corporation (ESC), it had been worked hard. ESC invested heavily post war to bring the plant up to date. Nationalised in 1967, ESC being one of the big fourteen British iron & steel companies, it came very close to closure in the early 1970s when the BSC and, the still private, Firth Brown were sorting out who did, and owned what, in the Sheffield area. There was a dearth of orders for heavy castings, especially from the heavy electrical engineering industry.

 

In 1978 it was part of BSCs Forges, Foundries & Engineering, part of the Sheffield Division. The equipment at the plant was two, 12 tons/hour cold blast cupolas and two 8 ton induction furnaces, all for melting pig iron, total annual capacity 30,000 tons. Steel making facilities were one 90t and one 30t electric arc furnaces, total annual capacity 102,000 tons. There was some sort of vacuum degassing equipment, not sure what type, to improve the steel quality. One 10,000 ton, one 2,500 ton and two 1,300 ton forging presses. There were both iron and steel foundries, the casting pit being capable of castings up to 350 tons, heat treatment plants and various machine shops.

 

Plenty of scope, then, for a range of inwards traffic, pig iron, coke, limestone and scrap. I suspect, in reality that the coke (around 200-250 tons week) and limestone, possibly even the pig iron, arrived by road in the 1970's, but it's your model...

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Oh yes, Harrison's Scammels. The models were painted red and were based on those lorries on the layout they were originally on. I had a mooch about their yard, taking photos of the lorries, the ancient Ransomes & Rapier cranes and the pair of Barclay 0-4-0STs they had there. I'm going to use one of the Scammels for sure.

 

Although the name River Don Works was a proper location, this isn't actually based in it. I just thought it would be a good representative name for the general location.

 

Anyway, progress on the Sentinel and the baseboards...

 

I bought the loco from my local model shop on Saturday morning. I know the likes of Hattons etc. are a few quid cheaper but I wanted it now and I like to support my local model shop and I could also see, handle, and have the loco test run before purchase.

 

Not long after getting it home I had it apart for a repaint. It's going yellow with stripes.

post-494-0-68597200-1389638241.jpg

 

Between coats of paint on the Sentinel I got to cutting wood. My old woodwork teacher will be turning in his grave :nono:   but, hey, it's a model railway baseboard and not a china cabinet so who cares?

post-494-0-00099500-1389638436.jpg

 

Then, with the top layer fixed to the lower layer and framework, it was time to see if the track fits. I can just get the loco and a bogie bolster C into the headshunt and still be able to get it into the first top siding. :locomotive:

post-494-0-27296300-1389638596.jpg

Edited by Ruston
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Nice concept Dave, looking forward to seeing progress.  If it's as nice as your 7mm work it'll be grand.

 

I'll get Jamie to book it for 2015??

You never know, Paul. At least this one is easily transportable and operated from the rear, so it would fit with being exhibitable. Depends on whether or not I make a pig's ear of it, I suppose...

Edited by Ruston
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Plenty of scope, then, for a range of inwards traffic, pig iron, coke, limestone and scrap. I suspect, in reality that the coke (around 200-250 tons week) and limestone, possibly even the pig iron, arrived by road in the 1970's, but it's your model...

Thanks, Arthiur. I had bargained on being able to get pig iron wagons from Peco but although they do them in N and O, their website doesn't list them in OO - how odd. In fact I'm quite surprised at what else isn't available in OO!

 

I suppose the foundry side also requires sand for the moulds?

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Thanks, Arthiur. I had bargained on being able to get pig iron wagons from Peco but although they do them in N and O, their website doesn't list them in OO - how odd. In fact I'm quite surprised at what else isn't available in OO!

 

I suppose the foundry side also requires sand for the moulds?

Sand was used for moulds, but would be cleaned up and reused if possible; I worked at one of River Don's sister plants in South Wales, and we would get one, perhaps two lorry-loads delivered per week. IIRC, it came in 8-wheel rigid tanks (like cement tanks), lettered for British Industrial Sand, but operated by Arclid Transport, who were from the Congleton area.

Pig iron was commonly conveyed in Plate wagons; the only one in OO is the unfitted LNER/LMS one, but it would pass muster. If you were inclined to scratch-build a 20t Pig Iron, it shouldn't present too much of a challenge; the 'Hot Pig Iron' wagon would be somewhat more 'interesting'.

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Here it is in use at the River Don Works itself;

 

post-6861-0-08968400-1389645504.jpg

 

I did read some instructions, issued by BR to staff in the Sheffield area, concerning the movement, over BR metals, of large, hot, forging ingots. I cannot, for the life of me, remember where.

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Was that wagon approved for main-line use, Mark?  I remember there being a BBA with an insulated cover for 'hot ingots'- was that for use by River Don?

 

This was passed for limited main line running but only between the two parts of the works separated by the BR line.

 

BBA 910000 was converted to a Hot Coffin BUA for use between SMACC Tinsley and Lackenby for rolling but it failed to keep the product suitable for rolling so it was only used for three trips!

 

Mark Saunders

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Keep up the good work Ruston can't wait to see the finished layout always found industrial layouts amazing, shouldn't be really looking at this thread it's tempting me more and more to go out and buy a sentinel instead of finishing my current project haha

 

Mophead

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Yesterday evening I built the Double bolster wagon, painted and weathered it. The lettering was made up using Photoshop and printed onto plain white paper. With the black rectangles taking up most of the panels it doesn't really show that they stand out from the surface.

I'm afraid the photos aren't very good due to poor lighting. If the sun comes out at the weekend I'll get them outside and take some more.

 

post-494-0-92943000-1389803487.jpg

 

And weathered a few more wagons that I have acquired in the last few days.

I've taken a different approach to these than I usually do in O gauge. The main reason being that, apart from the Double bolster, they are RTR,painted and lettered and so I'm not starting with a blank canvas as with O gauge and kits. One difference is the paints used - I normally use enamels but this time have gone for acrylics

 

post-494-0-89176300-1389803660.jpg


Starting with an O gauge 16-ton mineral I would paint it all over in a rusty paint, apply Maskol, paint the top coat and peel the maskol off. With the 16-tonner on the right (pic above) I put some scratches in it with the end of a panel pin and then painted over the scratches with Tamiya brown as is, straight out of the pot. This was then wiped off the existing paintowork but stays in the scratches. Other, more general areas of rust and lighter, less pronounced scratches, were lightly painted on and/or dry-brushed. Then, before the paint is absolutely dry, I brushed Mig pigments over the painted rust. The pigments stick well to new paint but can be easily brushed from the relatively shiny surface of the factory finish.

 

The 16-tonner on the left was given an overall coat of paint but some paint was taken off the door end stripe with a cotton bud before the pigments were applied. The frames of all the wagons are given a light, almost dry-brushed coat of Railmatch 'frame dirt' before applying pigments. I find it neccessary to put some paint on otheriwise the pigments don't stick to the black shiny plastic that these RTR wagonframes are made of.

 

The Bogie bolster was given a coat of Humbrol 110 to the decking and black pigment brushed around the edges with a small paintbrush and worked in towards the middle with a broad brush.

 

So, I've got 16-ton mineral wagons for scrap for the furnace, bolster wagons for billets for the forge and have a couple of sand tipplers on order but what wagons to use for limestone?

 

And... I presume the sand traffic would be sheeted? If so, would the sheet be folded up and placed in the wagon for the return trip?

Edited by Ruston
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