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Train spotting at Finsbury Square


31A
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G'Day Gents

 

Oh, for the want of a J6.

 

manna

 

Your wish is my command......

 

post-31-0-30651800-1395511639.jpg

 

Here's one I made earlier - a lot earlier in fact, from a Nu-Cast kit.  It would be easy enough to repaint it into BR livery I suppose, but it isn't really up to the standard of modern ready-to-run, and besides I might want to run the layout in 1930s mode sometime.  But the J6 and j50 have consistently scored quite high in recent wish list polls, so I remain optimistic, and up to date versions of either or both would be very welcome.

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What a smashing layout.

The plethora of models now available suitable for late '50s GE/GN running is one of the reasons I have started a layout of this time period. Yours certainly shows them off at their best.

The correct arrangement of headcode lamps intrigues me, are they repositioned for each journey, if so how do you go about this?

 

C6T.

 

Thanks, Classix!  Yes, the headlamps are repositioned as appropriate for the class of train.  They're mostly Springside cast headlamps hollowed out from below by drilling two holes next to each other and joining them up to make a slot which will drop over the loco's lamp irons.  The wastage rate is fairly high in this process, and I often have to glue the jewelled 'lens' back in with Loctite.  I've also got a few Hornby plastic ones from the loco accessory pack they used to include with their engines - these are easier to hollow out, but are really over scale - I've tried to avoid getting them into the pictures in this thread!  I've added lamp irons to locos as necessary; normally I use flattened staples although modern rtr locos usually have suitable lamp irons already.  The system doesn't always work though - lamp irons on the backs of tenders can be too close to the tender back to get a lamp over, and those on smokebox doors can be unusable if there's a continuous handrail above (e.g. Hornby B1 and B17).  Sometimes I replace them with ones which can be used, but I'm reluctant to start carving such beautiful models about.

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Your wish is my command......

 

attachicon.gifP1000236.JPG

 

Here's one I made earlier - a lot earlier in fact, from a Nu-Cast kit.  It would be easy enough to repaint it into BR livery I suppose, but it isn't really up to the standard of modern ready-to-run, and besides I might want to run the layout in 1930s mode sometime.  But the J6 and j50 have consistently scored quite high in recent wish list polls, so I remain optimistic, and up to date versions of either or both would be very welcome.

Is the terrace in the background suffering from subsidence or is it just a trick of the camera lens?

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Yes, it does look a bit odd doesn't it?  Trick of the lens (or malfunction of the photographer) - it isn't really about to fall onto the railway!

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Thank you for sharing your layout. I m a big fan of urban layouts, and you really have captured the feel beautifully, detailed, but not cluttered, the weathering on the stock and buildings is fantastic.

I will sit down later when I have a little time and read through the thread in detail, but just having had a quick flick through it is a real inspiration to other urban modellers.

Jamie

EDIT
After a good read through I am even more impressed. The ballasting is excellent for a urban layout, well walked and packed in to the sleepers. The work with Peco Code 75 is really good too.

I like that you have resisted plastering every surface with posters and other details, and the overall colour scheme really brings everything together. I saw that someone had compared it to Bradfield Gloucester Square I agree, although from a different period I would add the EM Shenstone Road and Wibdenshore.

 

I particularly like your over the track station building, it certainly captures the feel of a London station, and was really surprised that the bank offices were not scratch built as they really feel part of north central London.

Again, thank you for sharing.

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  • 5 months later...

I am not sure where I read it, but I remember that 31A bashed it from an American HO kit, a hotel.

DPM HO Kits.
DPM 11900 - M.T. Arms Hotel.

Sharps do them, and I am prety sure I have seen them on Ebay (probably.com):
http://www.kato-unitrack.co.uk/dpm-11900-m-t-arms-hotel-26341-0.html

I must admit I am tempted to do a similar one for my urban layout (eventually).

Hope that helps.

I do really love this layout, hope we see more of it sometime. Thanks for sharing the posts already in this thread.

Jamie

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I am not sure where I read it, but I remember that 31A bashed it from an American HO kit, a hotel.

 

DPM HO Kits.

DPM 11900 - M.T. Arms Hotel.

 

Sharps do them, and I am prety sure I have seen them on Ebay (probably.com):

http://www.kato-unitrack.co.uk/dpm-11900-m-t-arms-hotel-26341-0.html

 

I must admit I am tempted to do a similar one for my urban layout (eventually).

 

Hope that helps.

 

I do really love this layout, hope we see more of it sometime. Thanks for sharing the posts already in this thread.

 

Jamie

 

Very effective layout  May I ask, is this office building made from a kit? 

 

 

Hi both,

 

Thanks for the query and sorry for taking a while to answer - I hadn't realised people had been posting into this thread!  Although I should perhaps have realised when I started receiving 'Like' ratings again for it - thanks for those, too!

 

Jamie is quite right, the office building is made from the DPM 'MT Arms' hotel kit; as I've made it into a low relief building, I was able to increase the frontage by adding the sides to the front.  Some of the other buildings behind the station were also bashed from DPM kits; if you choose them carefully several are quite easy to 'Anglicise' mainly by adding new roofs and chimneys.  However the smaller ones (not particularly the office block) were only intended as stop gaps as I think taller buildings would be more appropriate for this location. I think I may well have bought some of them form M. G. Sharp many years ago, but not sure I'd recommend this supplier these days - there is a thread on them in the Model Shop Guide section.  More recently I've bought American building kits from Model Junction, Slough and they have some DPM kits on their web site (although not the MT Arms hotel at the moment).

 

Which leads on neatly to a quick update from Finsbury Square.  At the time I posted this topic, some people were kind enough to suggest the layout should be in a magazine, which was flattering and kind of them, but I deliberately didn't show much of the right hand corner of the layout - the goods yard area - which had festered in a state of indecision for too long, and become a dumping ground for various random buildings.  So recently, I've been concentrating on getting this area up to scratch and the centrepiece is a railway goods warehouse cobbled together from an Atlas 'Middlesex Manufacturing' kit.  The building is just about finished but the area is still a 'work in progress', but I'll put up some pictures and a fuller story in due course - in the meantime, let's say Rod Stewart is to blame which may be a bit of a clue for some of you!

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Rod, eh? Do you have a dedication to a certain J. Beck Esq., in a building labelled Beck’s B@ll@cks?

 

Or similar, I can’t remember the exact wording but you can see it in the article in MR.....

 

Looking forward to more photos in due course.

 

Best, Pete.

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  • 7 months later...
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Excellent layout.  I can't believe that I had missed it until now.  Looks like what I have been trying to achieve for years! (only better).

 

Andrew

 

Thanks for the kind words, Andrew!  I've been watching your 'Aldersgate' thread and think the buildings on your layout are much more impressive, the more so for being models of real buildings whereas mine are mainly kit bashed, and from American or European kits at that!

 

Recently I've been working on the 'right hand' corner of the layout which was previously undeveloped and not shown in the last lot of pictures I posted.

 

These pictures give an impression of the area; the big red brick warehouse was kit bashed from the Atlas 'Middlesex Manufacturing' kit.

 

post-31-0-62750400-1428910289.jpg

 

post-31-0-29235700-1428910329.jpg

 

post-31-0-54292200-1428910350.jpg

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How the bl@@dy hell did I miss this one! :banghead:

 

Superb Steve, for a start I love the buildings and the grot, and it's got that 'cramped' London feel about it, also looks like you get a lot out of it operationally too.

 

I'll be back to this one. :good:

 

For a superb model it just shows that you have to do the GN (and what followed) ............The one true religion  

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It's about time Ben Jones,Steve Flint, Mike Wild or Richard Foster convinced Steve that this is plenty good enough to be in print.

 

Sorry Steve I know I keep going on about this but I am getting older by the day and won't be around for ever. :nono:

 

Regards, Del.

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Thanks for the kind words, Andrew!  I've been watching your 'Aldersgate' thread and think the buildings on your layout are much more impressive, the more so for being models of real buildings whereas mine are mainly kit bashed, and from American or European kits at that!

 

Recently I've been working on the 'right hand' corner of the layout which was previously undeveloped and not shown in the last lot of pictures I posted.

 

These pictures give an impression of the area; the big red brick warehouse was kit bashed from the Atlas 'Middlesex Manufacturing' kit.

 

attachicon.gifP1000921.jpg

 

attachicon.gifP1000929.jpg

 

attachicon.gifP1000931.jpg

At last the secret location of W&H's warehouse is revealed- I knew they couldn't have kept all the stock in their catalogue in that shop of theirs...

Some lovely urban modelling there, sir.

I see others mention 'Artillery Place'- is that where GBRf now have their offices?

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It's about time Ben Jones,Steve Flint, Mike Wild or Richard Foster convinced Steve that this is plenty good enough to be in print.

 

Sorry Steve I know I keep going on about this but I am getting older by the day and won't be around for ever. :nono:

 

Regards, Del.

 

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the kind comments, and 'likes' etc.  Apologies for not replying sooner; I've been away from my computer for a while.  Thanks for 'going on', Del - I would be flattered if one of the mags was to publish an article on my layout but still think there are some areas that need further work before it's ready for that.  For example, I really must finish Il Dottore's Georgian terraced houses, and the lack of proper signals continues to embarrass me!  But hopefully one day.

 

Cheers,

Steve

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At last the secret location of W&H's warehouse is revealed- I knew they couldn't have kept all the stock in their catalogue in that shop of theirs...

Some lovely urban modelling there, sir.

I see others mention 'Artillery Place'- is that where GBRf now have their offices?

 

Not sure about GBRf, but at one time Anglia Railways had offices in Artillery Lane, but I think that is east of Liverpool Street.

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What a superb layout! The real Finsbury Square is but a stones throw from Liverpool Street, What was Broad Street and of course Moorgate. Of course this area has now changed from the fifties and is totally unrecognisable , but... This layout has really caught that era and area so well. Fantastic! The second photo in post 117 could easily be Pindar Street (I think?) which crossed the lines into Liverpool Street....on the way to the Goods Depot at Broad Street, and then on to Finsbury Square itself...

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Thanks Bill for your kind comments!  I have to confess, although the location of the fictional station is real enough, I haven't copied any real buildings (in fact, most of them are blatant kit bashes), so any resemblance to reality is mainly coincidental.  I did however spend quite a lot of time in that part of London for work and other purposes about 20 or so years ago, so it'd be nice to think something of the character of the place is reflected in the layout even if that's been arrived at somewhat subconsciously!

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Thanks Bill for your kind comments!  I have to confess, although the location of the fictional station is real enough, I haven't copied any real buildings (in fact, most of them are blatant kit bashes), so any resemblance to reality is mainly coincidental.  I did however spend quite a lot of time in that part of London for work and other purposes about 20 or so years ago, so it'd be nice to think something of the character of the place is reflected in the layout even if that's been arrived at somewhat subconsciously!

Hi Steve, I spent a good decade or so working in the area as well.....and as a kid was often dragged up to the area for train spotting duties....I can vaguely remember steam at Liverpool Street, and trying to peep through the wooden slats in Pindar Street(?) to see the turntable there. There was a big cavernous goods yard under Broad Street, which you had to go past to get to Finsbury Square...I can just about remember London Wall and the Barbican being built. This involved some serious work at Moorgate, so you're layout is entirely feasible.....keep up the good work!!

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  • 8 months later...

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