Christleton Junction - 1986 - Gateway to North Wales

[EuroMST]

31 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

Once headcodes had been ‘removed’, could there have been a safety aspect to changing from 0000 (or in some cases . . . .) to dominoes?  Gut feel is that they would have been a little more visible at night.

Paul.

Sometimes the dominos  didn't seem very bright either. Maybe some locos only had 40 watt bulbs in, or were just filthy! They probably did a survey some time in the 80s and found less people were getting run over by refurbished Class 50s with high intensity headlights, so they started fitting them to everything. 

[61656]

1 hour ago, 5BarVT said:

Once headcodes had been ‘removed’, could there have been a safety aspect to changing from 0000 (or in some cases . . . .) to dominoes?  Gut feel is that they would have been a little more visible at night.

Paul.

I think that they needed to remove the headcode box illumination when they changed the Driver’s safety device (dead man’s handle) to allow single manning. At that point I guess plating over was more logical. 

[5BarVT]

4 hours ago, 61656 said:

I think that they needed to remove the headcode box illumination when they changed the Driver’s safety device (dead man’s handle) to allow single manning. At that point I guess plating over was more logical. 

Memory is playing tricks!  I thought there was already some level of single manning long before that.  Second man was required for steam heat as it was their job to watch the boiler, but ETH or freight I thought was single manned before that.

But don’t quote me on that, needs someone even older than me to be sure!

Paul.

[61656]

8 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

Memory is playing tricks!  I thought there was already some level of single manning long before that.  Second man was required for steam heat as it was their job to watch the boiler, but ETH or freight I thought was single manned before that.

But don’t quote me on that, needs someone even older than me to be sure!

Paul.

I think you’re right about single manning being much earlier, but I think there were concerns about the original DSDs. The guy that taught me to drive 08s told me during my training. That and how to get a Peak to over 100. And a great story about the “urinal” on a peak which I will retell when I have more time. 

[61656]

40122 pauses in platform 1 on the Stoke to Llandudno, passing a pair of 20s waiting to take their tanks back to Stanlow. Definitely a day to have a pac-a-mac with you. 
 

[bradfordbuffer]

8 hours ago, 61656 said:

40122 pauses in platform 1 on the Stoke to Llandudno, passing a pair of 20s waiting to take their tanks back to Stanlow. Definitely a day to have a pac-a-mac with you. 
 

North Wales.....pac a mac....=362 days a year!

[61656]

10 hours ago, bradfordbuffer said:

North Wales.....pac a mac....=362 days a year!

You’ll need one a lot more frequently than that at Christleton!

[61656]

Who doesn’t like a rat?

 

[mallaig1983]

If you don’t love a Rat you ain’t proper. 
great pic.

[61656]

I’ve been busy sorting out the scenery immediately in front of the backscene, working round from the Crewe end. This was beginning to look the part before I remade the backscene. There’s now an additional 40mm of layout, which helps me address the very narrow platform at the end of platform 4. 
 

I was quite happy with my cafe and red star office in the arches, but they were out of scale with the tower block, so for now I’ll replace them with a straight bit of wall. All the platforms  are going to be renewed too. This may just be the tops, or possibly the sides too once I assess how easy it will be to ease out the tight spots. I really need a mk3 to test clearance before I do that. I suspect a mk3 will push the platforms so far from the rail that other stock will look less convincing. There must have been a million mk3s for under £10 last week at Doncaster and I completely forgot to look!

 

Anyway, here’s the new former for the wall that needs to run from the South end overbridge along the back of platform 4 and around the tower block. It’s a good deal lower than the previous arches as it no longer has the old fireplace to work around. 
 

 

Meanwhile I’m quite enjoying have the little cameo down by the fuel point. If you get the camera angle right you don’t see quite so much of the layout under construction. 
 

[61656]

As I look at the photo of the wall former, I think the wall in shadow would be improved by gradually sloping down as it goes along the tower block? Possibly in two or three flights of steps.

[61656]

Messers Heath Robinson & sons have been straight on to cutting the stairway and adding the walkway behind the wall…

 

 

Meanwhile at the West end the formers have been cut around the underbridge. The chances of a perilous plunge into the abyss are slowly receding. 
 

 

 

[St Enodoc]

2 hours ago, 61656 said:

adding the walkway behind the wall

Will the wall be low enough to allow folk to watch the trains, or has it been raised due to electrification?

[61656]

7 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Will the wall be low enough to allow folk to watch the trains, or has it been raised due to electrification?

That wall is far enough back from the electrified lines not to have been raised (although I still haven’t decided if platforms 3 and 4 will be wired).

 

There’ll be a group of spotters looking over the Depot. 

[Mol_PMB]

Electric locos at Chester? What a ridiculous, unrealistic idea! Next you'll be suggesting a Streak would be prototypical...

 

 

[bradfordbuffer]

4 hours ago, Mol_PMB said:

Electric locos at Chester? What a ridiculous, unrealistic idea! Next you'll be suggesting a Streak would be prototypical...

 

 

Photo shop.....Next you will be telling us deltics have been seen at Kyle of Lochalsh! Where not stupid 

[61656]

On 22/02/2022 at 21:05, Mol_PMB said:

Electric locos at Chester? What a ridiculous, unrealistic idea! Next you'll be suggesting a Streak would be prototypical...

 

 

Didn’t a 90 make it as far as Llandudno once?

[Mol_PMB]

Remarkably it seems there were two and a bit Gresley Pacifics at Chester that day! 

 

Today when I passed through the notable traffic included two new CAF units and a 67+Mk4 rake. Wasn’t it so much better in the 80s? (Single 142 on Holyhead to Hull excepted)

[61656]

Long overdue an update I think (we’re also long overdue some progress too!). I’ve got a wall running most of the way from the south end right round to Chester junction, which makes quite a difference visually. My plan is to cap the wall with the coping stones from the platforms, which are subject to some forthcoming alterations. 
 

A view from Chester junction, with a unit on the fuel road. 

 

Looking down the station pointwork towards the brewery. 

 

Turning back slightly, the cameo factory behind the fuel roads. Eventually I’ll build something along this whole section. 
 

 

DPU with trailing load arriving from the carriage sidings. 

 

General view over the station and shed area. 

 

A closer look at the shed - a small section of wall to finish here. 

 

Finally a view from the electric stabling back to the brewery. Spot 5barVT’s suggestion of a side to North Western tower!

[SGJ]

I am enjoying looking at the layout, I am quite inspired by it

 

[5BarVT]

Looking good.  The side on NW tower gives just enough depth for the eye to accept the subterfuge.

Paul.

[61656]

So the current trend of two steps forward one back continues. All the new walling is now capped with the coping from the platforms. The walls will get weathered as soon as I get to a model shop that sells Humbrol paints. 
 

Next then is the platform problem. The platforms have a couple of issues, the first is that there are a couple of tight spots against coach ends / centres, the other is that the tops are too flimsy. 
 

Here are a few pictures to show the situation.  I used some 5mm x 18mm stripwood to form the curves, you can see that the platforms don’t follow the pencil line underneath (the ballast line is the giveaway). I don’t know if I fitted it poorly or if they moved after fitting, not that it really matters. I think there aren’t sufficient holding blocks to hold the curve. 
 

I’m now considering what a better solution is. I don’t think the stripwood is the answer, it also dictates the thickness of the platform top, which I want to increase. Potentially I will just build up a well braced plastikard framework, which will probably do the trick. 
 

I do quite like the look of the Peco concrete fascias, which I may use for some or all of the platform fronts. I also like the more modern style coping stones with the 3 grooves along them. 
 

I also need to get hold of a cheap mk3 to see if I can realistically include one. I suspect the overhang will move the platforms further from the track than I’m happy with. 
 

Time to go look at some prototype photos…

 

 

 

 

 

[ISW]

27 minutes ago, 61656 said:

Here are a few pictures to show the situation.  I used some 5mm x 18mm stripwood to form the curves, you can see that the platforms don’t follow the pencil line underneath (the ballast line is the giveaway). I don’t know if I fitted it poorly or if they moved after fitting, not that it really matters. I think there aren’t sufficient holding blocks to hold the curve. 
 

I’m now considering what a better solution is. I don’t think the stripwood is the answer, it also dictates the thickness of the platform top, which I want to increase. Potentially I will just build up a well braced plastikard framework, which will probably do the trick. 

 

Aren't you 'better' just using 18mm plywood cut to the appropriate shape (with a thin veneer of plasticard (?) for an overhanging top)? I seem to recall that 18mm is the correct thickness, taking into account underlay and track height. Once cut to shape it's unlikely to change over time and should (?) remain nice and flat.

 

At least, that was going to be my plan ...

 

Ian

[61656]

25 minutes ago, ISW said:

 

Aren't you 'better' just using 18mm plywood cut to the appropriate shape (with a thin veneer of plasticard (?) for an overhanging top)? I seem to recall that 18mm is the correct thickness, taking into account underlay and track height. Once cut to shape it's unlikely to change over time and should (?) remain nice and flat.

 

At least, that was going to be my plan ...

 

Ian

I have considered a solid platform, but with 4 curved platform faces to cut I decided it was in the too hard pile!

[61656]

Here’s a fine photo that I found on Flickr, having searched around for pictures of North Western stations of the time. The nearest platform uses the Peco concrete fascias, whereas the further one appears to be block work. 
 

I quite like this look, and indeed Wolverhampton station has a lot to offer as inspiration for Christleton. It has all the depressing elements that I’m trying to capture. It also has solutions that I can use for canopies, overhead gantries and signal box.