Drew's Sidings (formerly "Inglenook Wagon Repair Pad")

[HillsideDepot]

More 3-D playing planning.

 

With the track glued down and droppers wires attached (not pulled fully ‘home’ here) things are starting to take shape.

 

 

The outer two sidings are Peco Bullhead, with the centre being Peco Bi-Block. This has had the sleepers re-spaced to match that of the Bullhead, and the number of cross ties will be reduced to match the GWR style. Again it is only representative of the style, rather like the gauge! I decided to use a length of it just to be different, but when studying photos on Paul James Flickr site I came across this shot

B726256, B726489 OUV [CBR8-008] by Jamerail, on Flickr

 

which was initially of interest for the detail of the side of the road bridge, and secondly for the ballast bin being used as a tail lamp store, actually shows some concrete block track on the road two behind the bin. Had I noticed that earlier I’d probably have laid the Bi-Block track on the front siding, but hey-ho it’s glued down now.

 

Formers for the landscape have also been attached and (another!) two of Lanarkshire Models GWR stop blocks have been made up and added. Having replaced the plastic Peco “things” on Mortimore’s Yard with these lovely castings I’m afraid I have turned in to a stop block snob, treating the Streamline version with disdain.  

 

 

The bridge needs a bit more work yet, but as with the green sheds I feel the model has benefited from being based on a real structure. What it certainly didn’t benefit from was a free-fall decent to the floor! It’s rather vulnerable sitting on the edge of the baseboard and while the handrails have gone back on they don’t look as good as they did, and the corner of the parapet extension has gone missing. 

 

 

The intention is to place a mirror under the bridge to help the illusion of this being a through road (or at least a longer siding). I’ve never used a mirror like this before, so it’s bit of a learning curve. I can see that it could all go wrong if it reflects the wrong things, so expect to experiment a bit with angles as well as having it flat against the back board. 

[37114]

Really good idea Adrian, look forward to seeing the future developments.

[HillsideDepot]

Apologies for the lack of updates over the last month and a bit, things have been progressing (although not as fast as I'd like) but several other non-model railway projects have taken priority.

 

Anyway, picking up where we left off...

 

 

 

Ballasting begins, Woodland Scenics of various shades, laid in the traditional manner with watered down PVA. The road bridge embankment has also gone in, although not without problems. I don't know if "Modroc" has a shelf life (maybe it had got damp at some point) but the first lot refused to set. A rummage through my scenic material crates (a useful exercise as it revealed lots of things I'd forgotten about!) produced an new unopened pack which worked as expected. 

 

 

Ignore the red "sky" (that's my kitchen wall), but one of the aims of the layout is to provide a suitable Photo Plank, so ground level shots are important. Obviously far from complete, that goes for the layout and the stock, this is the sort of shot I want to achieve.

 

 

The shot (as seen in post #1) that started it all... well, a very rough approximation. 

 

 

And up to date. With the usual random wagons which keep moving between storage on the bookshelf and posing in the layout (can it be called that yet?) and a few scenic items of rolling stock which will eventually act as siding fillers to reduce lengths to those required for the 3-5-5 Inglenook puzzle. 

The Easter weekend may see some more progress, but that depends on the weather. If it's fine I'm more likely to have a map and compass or my kayak paddles in my hands rather than a modelling knife...

Edited April 12, 2017 by HillsideDepot

[NHY 581]

This is looking very nice, Adrian. Like it a lot, especially the buildings.

 

Top drawer.

 

Rob.

[HillsideDepot]

Thank you for your comments, Rob, replies like this and "like" ratings are really encouraging.

Well, the long weekend didn't see much progress on the layout, nor any kayaking or hiking. But the Dennis Dart bus of which I am co-owner is now a lot cleaner than it has been for a long time, and is ready to go away on Friday to have some chassis work done, and an new MoT. Just like a model railway though, a preserved bus is never "finished", and this one isn't yet at the equivalent of the track laying stage! 
 

[Jon Gwinnett]

Really liking this latest example of the Westonmouth oeuvre.

 

If you want auto coupling might I suggest Kadees with the dangly bits removed (#18s are a plug in replacement on most modern stock) so they will couple automatically. Removing the dangly bits precludes magnetic uncoupling but a simple bamboo skewer inserted vertically from above, and twisted in the fingers uncouples them easily and without the "magnet shuffle".

[HillsideDepot]

Not too much to report, but I found time to get the DAS modelling clay out and suddenly the layout looks like it has moved to Devon! 

 

The edges of the actual repair pad have been shaped. Fortunately the real thing looked rather like a model in this respect!

 

The land around the car repair garages has been banked up, and the footbridge support has been planted.

 

Finally, due to very poor woodwork (I should be ashamed, my father was a pattern maker) day light was visible below the bottom wall of the garages where ground didn't come up high enough. That has also had a edge of DAS added to solve the problem. 

 

I'm now waiting for Postman Pat to bring some EZ Line thread to wire up the GWR fencing, then I can try out my static grass applicator. I've also been looking at small details to add to the garage area, and contemplating the various wagon parts I need to model for BR's compound.

 

Finally, news that the layout has a name - 'Drew's Sidings'. As discussed earlier in the thread small groups of sidings within a bigger yard often had their own name, so with the car repair business run by Mr Drew having a large sign to that effect (yet to be modelled!) on the boundary fence I surmise that BR's neighbouring repair facility for wagons would take on a same name, albeit probably only among the local staff rather than on official plans.

 

But that leads to a question. As the wagons on this layout are going for repair, should they be modelled with green cards in the label clips? OK, that would only be correct for arriving wagons, hopefully departing ones would be fully serviceable, but something which would be easy to add to perhaps 50% of the fleet.   

[HillsideDepot]

Slow progress here at the moment, but the concrete around the pad itself has been filled and smoothed several times and has now been painted in concrete colour. The fence posts around the compound have been glued in and await the chain link mesh, while the spares box is being raided to provide some wagon spares.

 

Little jobs are being done here and there as the whim takes me, but I must get on and do the wires on the boundary fence and then the ground cover on the embankment can be properly done.

 

For what it's worth, here a few photos.

 

 

 

 

 

I've also managed to get a peek into the green garages, and there is a familiar little car inside! Familiar to readers of The Sheep Chronicles at least, for it appears that when Norman Lockhart retired his trusty Austin Ruby, "Murray", it was bought by a local classic car enthusiast and who sometimes takes it to local vintage car rallies and steam fairs during the summer.

 

 

 

Other than that not much has happened at Drew's Sidings, although quite a few ideas have been sketched out for the Cameo Layout Competition. Nothing has yet found that winning formula, though. Not "winning" in competition terms, but in meeting all those requirements which make a layout work. Variously industrial diesel shunters and wagons, Baby Warships, Teddybears and railbuses, and a selection of Sprinters have all been moved around the roll of wallpaper, but so far all have failed to hit the mark. We'll see, something might "gel" I've still got a bit of time to decide. 

[Jon Gwinnett]

Looking good. One wee suggestion, if you add top hat bearings to the ends of the spare wheel axles, it would disguise the pin points? The rust colour looks spot on.

[Rivercider]

 

 

Finally, news that the layout has a name - 'Drew's Sidings'. As discussed earlier in the thread small groups of sidings within a bigger yard often had their own name, so with the car repair business run by Mr Drew having a large sign to that effect (yet to be modelled!) on the boundary fence I surmise that BR's neighbouring repair facility for wagons would take on a same name, albeit probably only among the local staff rather than on official plans.

 

But that leads to a question. As the wagons on this layout are going for repair, should they be modelled with green cards in the label clips? OK, that would only be correct for arriving wagons, hopefully departing ones would be fully serviceable, but something which would be easy to add to perhaps 50% of the fleet.   

Hi Adrian,

 

I have missed the last couple of posts so did not see your question about green cards.

 

Taking the sidings at Hereford as the inspiration, I assume that they were not looking after a resident fleet of wagons,  but rather repairing wagons that had become defective during their journey

and had been detached from passing trains, as well as a number of cripples arising out of empty wagons that had been inwards loaded to local sidings at Hereford.

 

Loaded crippled wagons arriving at Drew's Sidings would either have a green 'for repair' card over the top of the white loading card, or more serious cripples would have a red/green 'yard to yard' card

which authorised the wagon to move at a restricted 25mph to the specific repair point over the white loading card. Empty cripples arriving would just have either a green or red/green card.

 

A loaded wagon completely repaired and ready to leave would have the green or red/green card removed and would simply display the white loading label.

A loaded wagon repaired enough to go to complete the journey would have a green card under the white loading label, so that once unloaded at destination the next move would be to a repair point.

An empty wagon completely repaired and ready to leave would probably have no label and just be returned to traffic.

An empty wagon that still needed repair that could not be completed at Drew's Sidings would be sent away still under a green card.

 

A wagon that has arrived at the sidings and been stopped 'not to go' will have a red card applied, may be you could add a red card to some of your 'siding filler' wagons,

 

cheers

[NHY 581]

Slow progress here at the moment, but the concrete around the pad itself has been filled and smoothed several times and has now been painted in concrete colour. The fence posts around the compound have been glued in and await the chain link mesh, while the spares box is being raided to provide some wagon spares.

 

Little jobs are being done here and there as the whim takes me, but I must get on and do the wires on the boundary fence and then the ground cover on the embankment can be properly done.

 

For what it's worth, here a few photos.

 

 

DSC_0636b.jpg

 

DSC_0641b.jpg

 

DSC_0644b.jpg 

 

I've also managed to get a peek into the green garages, and there is a familiar little car inside! Familiar to readers of The Sheep Chronicles at least, for it appears that when Norman Lockhart retired his trusty Austin Ruby, "Murray", it was bought by a local classic car enthusiast and who sometimes takes it to local vintage car rallies and steam fairs during the summer.

 

DSC_0640b.jpg 

 

Other than that not much has happened at Drew's Sidings, although quite a few ideas have been sketched out for the Cameo Layout Competition. Nothing has yet found that winning formula, though. Not "winning" in competition terms, but in meeting all those requirements which make a layout work. Variously industrial diesel shunters and wagons, Baby Warships, Teddybears and railbuses, and a selection of Sprinters have all been moved around the roll of wallpaper, but so far all have failed to hit the mark. We'll see, something might "gel" I've still got a bit of time to decide.

 

Thanks for the mention,Adrian. Most kind.

 

Interesting to see references to Sheep Lane and the chaos that surrounds it popping up on a few threads. Even nicer to see Murray being looked after.

 

Drew Sidings is coming together really nicely........who knows may see a few blue diseasels on a little something I have in mind.......

 

Splendid!

 

Rob.

[HillsideDepot]

Looking good. One wee suggestion, if you add top hat bearings to the ends of the spare wheel axles, it would disguise the pin points? The rust colour looks spot on.

 

Thanks Jon, yes I need to do something about the pin-points. Fortunately a selection of wheels feature in one of the Hereford photos, which I will study more when I come to finish the wheels off. At the moment they are simply track colour as they were on the layout when I painted the rails and had a brush with that colour.  

 

Hi Adrian,

 

I have missed the last couple of posts so did not see your question about green cards.

 

Taking the sidings at Hereford as the inspiration, I assume that they were not looking after a resident fleet of wagons,  but rather repairing wagons that had become defective during their journey

and had been detached from passing trains, as well as a number of cripples arising out of empty wagons that had been inwards loaded to local sidings at Hereford.

 

Loaded crippled wagons arriving at Drew's Sidings would either have a green 'for repair' card over the top of the white loading card, or more serious cripples would have a red/green 'yard to yard' card

which authorised the wagon to move at a restricted 25mph to the specific repair point over the white loading card. Empty cripples arriving would just have either a green or red/green card.

 

A loaded wagon completely repaired and ready to leave would have the green or red/green card removed and would simply display the white loading label.

A loaded wagon repaired enough to go to complete the journey would have a green card under the white loading label, so that once unloaded at destination the next move would be to a repair point.

An empty wagon completely repaired and ready to leave would probably have no label and just be returned to traffic.

An empty wagon that still needed repair that could not be completed at Drew's Sidings would be sent away still under a green card.

 

A wagon that has arrived at the sidings and been stopped 'not to go' will have a red card applied, may be you could add a red card to some of your 'siding filler' wagons,

 

cheers

 

Thank you Kevin. Rather more complex that I'd thought, not that I had really thought it through logically! Plenty of things to consider. Detailed posts like this are what make RMWeb special; it's an esoteric topic most would only pay a passing interest in (or more likely completely ignore!) yet the knowledge is freely shared. Brilliant.

 

Thanks for the mention,Adrian. Most kind.

 

Interesting to see references to Sheep Lane and the chaos that surrounds it popping up on a few threads. Even nicer to see Murray being looked after.

 

Drew Sidings is coming together really nicely........who knows may see a few blue diseasels on a little something I have in mind.......

 

Splendid!

 

Rob.

 

No problem Rob. When I saw Murray in my "spare vehicles [PLG]" box - the box that makes the M25 look quiet, thanks to Oxford Diecast - I instantly knew where he could be parked as a silent comment on a layout which has certainly influenced Drew's Sidings, and a reminder of your ever increasing look of astonishment at Cardiff earlier this year as the crowd of RMWeb-ers grew and grew around Sheep Lane!

Blue diseasels, eh? Sounds interesting. Go on, you know you want to!

[Swindon 123]

I have only just found this thread and find it flattering that it all came from some of my photos on Flickr. It is just this sort of thing I posted the photos for. Inspiration. I shall look forward to seeing it finished. It certainly has the look and feel of the WRD sidings at Hereford, even with the slightly altered buildings and additional footbridge.

 

With regards to the types of wagons and repairs done at Hereford, Rivercider is correct that the wagons found would have come inward worked loaded examples, and those put off en-route between Abergavenny and Craven Arms, on the North and West route, so almost anything could appear. Anything south of Abergavenny would have been dealt with at Pontypool Road, and north of Craven Arms at Craven Arms itself, which had a crane and sidings to facilitate light repairs. It was not unknown for the 14.00 spare crew on a Sunday to be told to take the resident 08 pilot up to Craven Arms and back, and pick up all the crippled wagons put off in the various sidings and loops and bring them back to Hereford for further/more permanent repairs.  Hereford had a good C&W team capable of making repairs to most wagons, wheelset changes, axlebox changes, brakes and body repairs where required, and if not able to do a full repair, at least make the wagon fit to run and capable of being moved to Severn Tunnel Jcn on the daily pick up.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

Paul J.

[HillsideDepot]

Thank you for your kind comments, Paul, and more especially thank you for the vast resource of images you've posted on your Flickr site. As well as the shots of the WRD area and the crane I've bookmarked a number of loco shots as inspiration for detailing and weathering. It's good to know I've captured the feel of the place, even with my changes.

 

Thank you also for the details on the work which was carried out at Hereford WRD. I'm starting to raid spare wagon kit sprues to stock the compound with parts and your detail about the work done confirms the inventory which appears in the photos.

 

Hopefully this weekend will see the boundary fence wired (something I've struggled with in the past, so I'm not looking forward to doing it) then I'll plant the bushes/small trees on the bridge embankment. I'll probably make the undergrowth slightly thicker than it was in the '70s to make more of a background for the model, but they'll not too much thicker. 

[HillsideDepot]

Finally there has been some progress; isn't it great what a deadline can do? A deadline, well, yes, but not directly for Drew's Sidings. My London Road Loco Sidings layout is off to the Hucclecote Show in Gloucester on June 17th and I need the space Drew's Siding is currently occupying to do a few pre-show tests and adjustments.

 

So with Drew's about to disappear for a while I got my camera out.

 

The corner of the layout is beginning to look as I want it. A few young spindly trees and some tangled areas of bramble

 

and with a few wagons in place 

 

The repair pad needs weathering still, although the compound now has its chainlink fence. The stores have yet to be placed in the compound, but I want to take my time with that as it needs doing with a close eye to the detail

 

Drew's Garage. Signage to add, and details in the yard, but the fence is looking the part now, including the recently replaced panels. You should have see the state of that car after it smashed through and ended up almost on the line....

 

 

The resident Pilot shuffles a few wagons (maybe I'll swap the 08 when Drew's comes back, I do have more than one, honest)

 

A view from the far side of the bridge

 

I know the wagon needs weathering, but as a tester for a "Paul Bartlett" type photo I think the layout plank has potential

 

 

Finally, a close up of the Pilot. This shot certainly shows the Peco Bullhead track nicely, although I think it would benefit from the addition of cosmetic fish plates - that's another task on the job list, then! 

[HillsideDepot]

Just a quick update to show that things are still happening at Drew's Sidings.

 

After a brief intermission while London Road Locomotive Sidings was prepared for its show at Hucclecote, Drew's has returned to the kitchen table and had a few more small jobs done to it. The baseboard edges have had a coat of black, a stock of spare parts has arrived in the compound and various other details added.

 

I'm fortunate that I often work from home, which is great for doing these little jobs as I can paint or glue something, return to work while things dry then do the next stage an hour later when the little pop-up about taking a break from the screen, stretching and refocusing my eyes, which my employer has thoughtfully installed on my computer appears; my "lunch hour" tends to be taken in six ten-minutes spells!

 

 

As some will know, I volunteer with The Scout Association, and its the "AGM Season" at the moment, so that's taking quite a lot of time at the moment, but after a day shunting locos at Hucclecote I feel my enthusiasm has been topped up again after a difficult few months, so hopefully things will appear hereabouts, indeed I hear that there may be a new correspondent ready to report on the activities over at Mortimore's Yard, just as soon as the school holidays begin. There might even be a long overdue set of photos from London Road Loco Sidings....

[Gordon A]

The green repair cards, were they applied to both sides of the wagons and what size were they?

Also over what period was this system in use?

 

Gordon A

[HillsideDepot]

The compound at the store/workshop has now had various components added to give an impression of the stock of spare parts held at Hereford. Having made numerous Parkside kits over the years I had a few spare sprues in the box (never throw anything away!) which yielded some axle boxes, vac cylinders and springs. A few white metal buffers and things look about right. I added some strip wood by a work bench, assuming planks would be an often damaged item which would stop a wagon, although thinking about it timber would probably be kept inside. It gives the effect. There is space at the front to add a few piles of brake blocks, which I believe are coming from Modelu.

Hopefully it all looks convincing.

If you want to come and decide for yourself, I'm pleased to announce that Drew's Siding will be at Larkrail next Saturday.

[HillsideDepot]

The green repair cards, were they applied to both sides of the wagons and what size were they?

Also over what period was this system in use?

 

Gordon A

 

As far as I know they were the same size as the cards which described the contents and destination of the wagon and would be put on the clip covering the journey details. I'm thinking a dot of green paint on a few model wagons, hopefully think enough to be visible, but runny enough to fill the moulded clip on the underframe - I've not done it yet, nor done the many more white/buff cards on all my other wagons should be carrying!

[NHY 581]

The compound at the store/workshop has now had various components added to give an impression of the stock of spare parts held at Hereford. Having made numerous Parkside kits over the years I had a few spare sprues in the box (never throw anything away!) which yielded some axle boxes, vac cylinders and springs. A few white metal buffers and things look about right. I added some strip wood by a work bench, assuming planks would be an often damaged item which would stop a wagon, although thinking about it timber would probably be kept inside. It gives the effect. There is space at the front to add a few piles of brake blocks, which I believe are coming from Modelu.

DSC_0768b.jpg

Hopefully it all looks convincing.

If you want to come and decide for yourself, I'm pleased to announce that Drew's Siding will be at Larkrail next Saturday.

 

Look forward to seeing you there, Adrian.

 

Be good to see Drew's siding, it's looking very nice.

 

Rob

[HillsideDepot]

Details of Larkrail are now on it's own thread

 

If you've not been to Larkrail before, Simon's tag's on the topic header give the idea... naughty but nice courage best trains sandwiches tea hyperbole scratch building and there's a bookshop of some repute just over the road from the hall.

Edited July 9, 2017 by HillsideDepot

[Gordon A]

Look forward to seeing it there.

 

Gordon A

[HillsideDepot]

Some more jobs ticked off the list before Larkrail.

 

Drew's Motor Works now has a sign and quite a lot of undergrowth. There is also the opportunity to add various garage details, but they can wait for now.

 

And I've made a frame for displaying the wagon cards which will determine the order wagons should be shunted for departure.

 

Further progress has been made on the Cambrian crane kit, but its proving to be rather fiddly for my fat fingers. The latest joints are currently setting hard before I try to work out how the chain runs round the various parts, although an appointment with the paint brush is needed before the chain can be fixed. 

[HillsideDepot]

The proof of the pudding, or so they say...

... it all works, the lengths are work out with the "scenic wagons" in place, and it's surprisingly challenging to complete the puzzle! I've done 3 shunts so far, so perhaps I've yet to learn the tricks, but each time I've come to a halt part way through and had to scratch my head and reconsider my moves.

 

I'll either have it sussed by the end of Larkrail, or have been driven completely mad (no comments at the back!). 

[Gordon A]

A back and end scenes would concentrate where a viewer was looking.

 

Gordon A