Ripple Lane BR(E) East London 1980s/90s.

[Guest]

Job has come back to life and is building a model rail layout in Norfolk.  Don't tell his wife.

 

Not being a devout type, I had to Google "Job".

"This man was blameless and upright. He feared God and shunned evil"...

That's none out of four, then... I'm doing well.

 

I have some Exactoscale bullhead bases for the disused Platform 4. The plan is to model the buffer stop, 20 feet or so of sleepers with rail, and then the odd sleeper without rail dotted about as far as the end of the platform, maybe just beyond. I mixed up some Humbrol "rust" weathering powder with water and painted the rail and chairs. I then took a dry brush to the rail and chairs and lightened everything a little. Some dark brown weathering powder was then brushed dry along the sleepers which has highlighted the wood grain really well. It looks quite convincing to me, so a coat of matt varnish will follow as I don't want the "rust" to wear off the railhead. I'll ballast using a fine dark brown ballast. If this little section of disused track turns out ok, I may use the same combination of weathering powders for the other sidings. I need to get out of my comfort zone of just spraying everything brown!

 

Edit: Quick question, though... would a condemned 4 wheel van (for example) ever have been left in place at the buffer stop if that line was physically disconnected from the network? I have an old Bachmann 12T van that could get scale couplings and a heavy weathering job. Could be useful for station stores (and make a nice little cameo scene) but I don't know if that would ever have happened. If not, I'm happy to leave the track empty and overdose on weeds and scrub.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Pete 75C

[cromptonnut]

There was a GUV or BG or similar at Barking on a disconnected length of track ... away at mo so cant look up easily but some googling may produce results orjog a memory

[Guest]

Thanks 'nut. I tried Googling "abandoned wagon", "disconnected siding" etc with little results, especially in the UK. I'm sure there must be an example somewhere. I'll do a little more digging.

[cromptonnut]

I have a vague feeling it might have been set up as an emergency generator. I know it existed as I've seen it, was by the bay where the Gospel Oak trains terminated and under a bridge I think.

 

Am back Thurs.

[colin penfold]

Not being a devout type, I had to Google "Job".

"This man was blameless and upright. He feared God and shunned evil"...

That's none out of four, then... I'm doing well.

 

I have some Exactoscale bullhead bases for the disused Platform 4. The plan is to model the buffer stop, 20 feet or so of sleepers with rail, and then the odd sleeper without rail dotted about as far as the end of the platform, maybe just beyond. I mixed up some Humbrol "rust" weathering powder with water and painted the rail and chairs. I then took a dry brush to the rail and chairs and lightened everything a little. Some dark brown weathering powder was then brushed dry along the sleepers which has highlighted the wood grain really well. It looks quite convincing to me, so a coat of matt varnish will follow as I don't want the "rust" to wear off the railhead. I'll ballast using a fine dark brown ballast. If this little section of disused track turns out ok, I may use the same combination of weathering powders for the other sidings. I need to get out of my comfort zone of just spraying everything brown!

 

Edit: Quick question, though... would a condemned 4 wheel van (for example) ever have been left in place at the buffer stop if that line was physically disconnected from the network? I have an old Bachmann 12T van that could get scale couplings and a heavy weathering job. Could be useful for station stores (and make a nice little cameo scene) but I don't know if that would ever have happened. If not, I'm happy to leave the track empty and overdose on weeds and scrub.

What about a pullman car as a boardroom for a local business, a la Shepperton?

[Guest]

What about a pullman car as a boardroom for a local business, a la Shepperton?

 

VIPs in Wandsworth? Not sure about that... Interesting about the Pullman at Shepperton, Colin. Never knew that.

 

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

[cromptonnut]

Got it - generator coach 321047.

 

http://departmentals.com/search.php?searchValue=321047&btn=

[puck]

I'm sure I've seen a picture of Gosport station with an old van abandoned on a piece of track before the station's eventual demise.

[Rivercider]

Not in the South East, and not disconnected from the rest of the network, but at Pantyffynnon there was a shoc-van used to hold bags of loco sand. (The drivers of the 37s must have used tons of it when working trains of unfitted 21t minerals of coal down to Swansea Docks)

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/40011/6127763498/in/photolist-hcQ5oe-ohkNS5-rqGrCE-iRtAPj-bU4XYz-akuUEu-gVV4bm-nhGNJF-akuoAN

 

edit - and I remember former colleagues at Westbury TOPS telling me that in the 1970s an old internal user (?)

parcel van was parked next to the portacabin TOPS office in the yard  to store computer paper and punch cards,

a not very successful solution as the cards and paper were prone to damp. 

It was not on a disconnected siding though, but I think it may be seen in the distance of this shot, beside the 37

https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmightycat/12053757723/in/photolist-sF6s2m-9rhNxt-b3C7Sk-78q9MG-tHJh5a-BXt6TU-q4dCxe-q46zRf-8TnrLa-h7hMyy-ec9s44-dgdaS5-e2o6BB-g1SdiJ-cKXxSJ-3JuW7T-jtpnbZ-cKYebq-pd8Yyh-b5xg9D-jn9Ee2-ecGjcU-a3Tksi-azdKbz-cKY3Fs-4pu1b9-5FHecP-dqXuTH-dc1TZY-8Hi8gW-6AgMbY-bAMCwk-tFhrxs-pSVQwN-cKXQf3-kRDafB-6mpkgL-oDPi5x-cjhXMN-fDipGR-fDzZS7-ac9zCy-tHiHM3-wS8WjX-dyRdaz-dyWEcm-8tkQ2r-4py3BA-nNFBvm-5E7sLT

 

cheers

Edited January 24, 2016 by Rivercider

[Rivercider]

Now I have a better example, how about this van at Ipswich in 1986 on its own little bit of track?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21611052@N02/3603371092/in/photolist-6uqdFN-iSkhTQ-aoxYaQ-gTfrtp-nd77GA-bzGfJ5-brgwo9-9PBwS1-fWBegt-c4PCpd-c4PCiC-bGHbWF-dRnmBX-xBUR3Q-edThvR-9cQTvB-BEfr4f-aakwpC-z4g6Uu-bUbGpV-bWDE1g-ctge7q-aakwwy-Ca9npP-z8nsMH-9HbUiU-9HbUfu-iSjApn-71jNXK-fCTKhG-ywDspe-iSigS6-av1KCU-rfMipb-6UtPjo-qrd6BK-fNHRNu-oseXo3-CjWZYJ-bUbvKA-bEissu-pJFUCx-pJFUCn-9H91vk-wgrqEC-dVx6gW-gL7kmH-9HbTXU-owaiZf-kgMpor

 

cheers

[roundhouse]

and there is still a BR blue parcels vehicle in the old parcels dock at Oxford but I guess that will be going soon as its the location of the new platforms for the Chiltern services.

[Guest]

Now I have a better example, how about this van at Ipswich in 1986 on its own little bit of track?

 

Kevin, that's pretty much exactly what I was thinking of. My Bachmann 12T van will live on as somewhere to keep station stores.

 

Thanks to all for the ideas and examples.

[ess1uk]

 

I have some Exactoscale bullhead bases for the disused Platform 4. The plan is to model the buffer stop, 20 feet or so of sleepers with rail, and then the odd sleeper without rail dotted about as far as the end of the platform, maybe just beyond. I mixed up some Humbrol "rust" weathering powder with water and painted the rail and chairs. I then took a dry brush to the rail and chairs and lightened everything a little. Some dark brown weathering powder was then brushed dry along the sleepers which has highlighted the wood grain really well. It looks quite convincing to me, so a coat of matt varnish will follow as I don't want the "rust" to wear off the railhead. I'll ballast using a fine dark brown ballast. If this little section of disused track turns out ok, I may use the same combination of weathering powders for the other sidings. I need to get out of my comfort zone of just spraying everything brown!

 

Edit: Quick question, though... would a condemned 4 wheel van (for example) ever have been left in place at the buffer stop if that line was physically disconnected from the network? I have an old Bachmann 12T van that could get scale couplings and a heavy weathering job. Could be useful for station stores (and make a nice little cameo scene) but I don't know if that would ever have happened. If not, I'm happy to leave the track empty and overdose on weeds and scrub.

Plenty of places stock has been left on track and the link has been severed.

[Guest]

I can't surface the other platform just yet, as I ran out of the Evergreen tile sheet that I've been using. Ebay to the rescue but I need to wait for the postman. Ebay's "economy delivery" = the end of February probably...

In the meantime, I've freelanced a concrete buffer stop for the "long" siding at the front of the layout. I wanted something a little different from the usual rail-built buffer stop as there will be plenty of these elsewhere on the layout. Concrete stops aren't common, but they do exist and I thought it would add visual interest. At the moment, I have no plans to use anything other than tension locks or *maybe* Kaydees, so I've built in a recess for the coupling.

 

 

Having painted and weathered a short length of bullhead, this is where the stores van will sit. I'm assuming the very short "Platform 4" was used for parcels traffic but the connection was severed when the station throat was relaid/rationalised.

 

 

More soon.

[McGomez]

I like the concrete buffer stop Pete. Authentic looking concrete.

Is that Testors suede giving that rough effect?

[Guest]

Is that Testors suede giving that rough effect?

 

Hi Andy. I always use Plastikote "Suede Touch" spray cans for a concrete effect. "Tan" is a pretty good colour for concrete. I've run out of tan and there's not a can to be had anywhere in the country (I believe it's imported but no supplier knows when another batch is due). I had to buy a couple of cans of the "Chocolate" colour, which looks sod-all like concrete! Same textured effect though.

Having sprayed the buffer stop, it didn't look textured enough, so I sprayed again then blew some fire ash into the wet paint. When dry, I rubbed some of it off with a finger and then gave the whole thing a couple of coats of grey primer. It looks reasonably like the "rough-cast" concrete I was aiming for. The final colouring is just some weathering powders brushed on.

I made up a Lanarkshire models whitemetal buffer stop for Croydon North Street and then promptly stood on it. The buffer beam was all that survived so I've used it on this concrete buffer stop. A coat of matt varnish has sealed everything.

As for the buffer stop itself, I simply can't build a layout without using some Lego somewhere... A Lego brick 4 pips wide is bang-on for a OO gauge buffer stop!

 

[McGomez]

Cheers Pete.

 

I forgot about you and your Lego!

I could just about make out that there were 4 layers of something involved in the construction but assumed you had laminated 4 layers of PVC o equivalent together.

It looks good.

[Andrew F]

I'd never have guessed in a million years that was lego. I noticed the 4 bands but just thought that looks good concrete cast; how'd he do that?.

[Guest]

My daughter's Lego collection is looking sadly depleted. When I was growing up (30 odd years ago or just last week... you choose) Lego was just bricks. Long ones, short ones, square ones, thin ones... then along came Lego Technic and after building an engine with moving pistons(!), I grew out of it. Now you get all sorts of weird shapes, particularly in the "Lego Friends" stuff that my daughter was into. Dead handy for a variety of odd shapes on a layout! Lego may be pressed into service again shortly for the concrete beam supports of the extended Platform 3.

 

I've been wrestling with the barrow crossing as discussed a few pages back. Making the pieces removable to completely disguise the baseboard join hasn't worked so well. First, the interference fit was so tight that I broke a couple of pieces of the crossing trying to remove it. Then, it was so loose that parts of the crossing wouldn't sit flat and risked derailing a passing train. I'll have one more go but if I can't find a happy medium, I'll have to go back to having the crossing permanently fixed and then diagonally sliced at the baseboard join. Visually less appealing but hey ho... I don't want to get too hung up on it.

 

Edit: I have officially given up on the removable crossing. It has beaten me. Mk3 has snapped and been hurled across the room in a temper, the likes of which haven't been seen since I was about 4. Ah well...

Edited January 26, 2016 by Pete 75C

[Andrew F]

It may be a rubbish idea but what about using a flat fridge magnet type of thing for securing the crossing.

[Guest]

It may be a rubbish idea but what about using a flat fridge magnet type of thing for securing the crossing.

 

Hmmm...

Stop making me think too much!

[Guest]

The last piece of the Evergreen tile sheet that I needed arrived yesterday, so the platforms are now fully surfaced and edged. Could benefit from a little further "blending together" with weathering powders, but I do like the contrast between tile and tarmac. With the exception of a new station, when did you ever see a uniform platform surface?

About a hundred of those little Juweela ceramic tiles were used as platform edging stones, but I wouldn't use them again. About 10% were broken or chipped on opening the packet and I probably broke another 20% just by handling them... they really are fragile! In fact I ran out and was about 20 tiles short. Using one unbroken tile as a template, I cut a couple of dozen from 1mm plastic sheet. With the edges tidied up with wet & dry, painted with grey car primer and then weathered, they are almost indistinguishable from the ceramic ones. They also won't break and can be cut and scored easily.

I now need to add a modern extension to the short platform, so I guess that's the next job.

 

[lmsforever]

How about the famous abandoned Shark out on the GE line I think at Shenfield or near there for your abandoned vehicle ?

[Guest]

How about the famous abandoned Shark out on the GE line I think at Shenfield or near there for your abandoned vehicle ?

 

The thought had crossed my mind! I have a Hornby "Shark" and a couple of spoil wagons in mind as eye candy for the long siding and as part of a movable rake of wagons. I'm never going to fit a long block train onto this layout, so a few short trains (passenger and freight) are a must.

 

With the modern platform extension being the next job on the list, I've had a play around with the Lego again. I'm not sure I can better these as supports. I've made up a dozen which is probably too many.

 

[Andrew P]

Not being a devout type, I had to Google "Job".

"This man was blameless and upright. He feared God and shunned evil"...

That's none out of four, then... I'm doing well.

 

I have some Exactoscale bullhead bases for the disused Platform 4. The plan is to model the buffer stop, 20 feet or so of sleepers with rail, and then the odd sleeper without rail dotted about as far as the end of the platform, maybe just beyond. I mixed up some Humbrol "rust" weathering powder with water and painted the rail and chairs. I then took a dry brush to the rail and chairs and lightened everything a little. Some dark brown weathering powder was then brushed dry along the sleepers which has highlighted the wood grain really well. It looks quite convincing to me, so a coat of matt varnish will follow as I don't want the "rust" to wear off the railhead. I'll ballast using a fine dark brown ballast. If this little section of disused track turns out ok, I may use the same combination of weathering powders for the other sidings. I need to get out of my comfort zone of just spraying everything brown!

 

Edit: Quick question, though... would a condemned 4 wheel van (for example) ever have been left in place at the buffer stop if that line was physically disconnected from the network? I have an old Bachmann 12T van that could get scale couplings and a heavy weathering job. Could be useful for station stores (and make a nice little cameo scene) but I don't know if that would ever have happened. If not, I'm happy to leave the track empty and overdose on weeds and scrub.

OR a Model Railway Shop!