Rufford Red Lion Square

[Edwardian]

Well....

 

 

I have a finished drawing. 

 

 

I added a little colour to the elevation to give an idea of what the finished building will look like; colours are a little off as I was limited to what colour pencils I have (!) but as a proof of concept it works well enough. 

 

 

Also an end elevation and a pair of sections.  Left to right we have the end elevation showing the chimney stack, section taken through immediately prior to the turret (in effect a side elevation of the turret then) and a section taken immediately prior to the change in roof direction.  

 

Just got to get on and build it now I guess. 

 

Beautiful drawings, James.

 

Well, that's the difficult bit out of the way ...

[James Harrison]

One building designed, now for the others!  (And the station.  And the goods yard.  And find the house that it will eventually all be built in). 

 

Proof of concept model next, I think.  If I can scrape together enough scrap card (I think some of my National Collection of Plastic Off-cuts and Spares might find itself homeless soon). 

[Edwardian]

One building designed, now for the others!  (And the station.  And the goods yard.  And find the house that it will eventually all be built in). 

 

Proof of concept model next, I think.  If I can scrape together enough scrap card (I think some of my National Collection of Plastic Off-cuts and Spares might find itself homeless soon). 

 

Indeed, quite a lot of card and clear plastic fails to find itself in the recycling bags; it pops up on Castle Aching instead!

 

To think, some people actually buy modelling material!

[James Harrison]

I've bought a few more reference works- a couple of those "in old photographs" books.  Specifically, "Newark in Old Photographs" and "Mansfield in Old Photographs".  We've previously discussed how Rufford would have been a market town- indeed not so long ago I bought an academic work on Nottinghamshire Market Towns on the back of that discussion- and reading that work has given me more ideas about the sort of setting, townscape and general architectural context I'd be trying to run a railway into.  But what it hasn't given me are any hints on what those buildings might actually look like.  Hence my purchase (for only a few pounds each, postage free, from a 2nd hand bookseller on Ebay) of these two books, no doubt to be followed by others in due course.

 

I've decided, for the present, that the main townscape the station fronts onto will be the titular 'Red Lion Square'.  Then I'm going to need other streets leading into/ out of the Square.  Reading the market towns book suggests a couple of street names I could go for- earlier streets were generally suffixed 'Gate' whilst later developments in the 18th/ 19th centuries were more 'politically' inclined; you get street names such as Church Gate, Castle Gate, Parliament Street, King George Street and so on and so forth.  My idea is that the principal road into/ out of the square would be the 'turnpike'- the real-world A614- and that this would trace back to Medieval antecedents; worthy of a 'Gate' suffix.  Church Gate, perhaps?- all of my sketch plans and maps thus far have it running down the side of the Abbey lands and then into the Market Place.  Maybe there's an ancillary route onto Abbey grounds off of it- and if not, well it still leads around to the main entrance to the Abbey.  Then I see that around the railway there would be later 18th/ 19th century development- the market towns generally saw a population boom of sorts between the 1660s and the coming of the railways- so a couple of smaller roads coming out of it, named after 18th/ 19th century events.  "Union Street" (1707 Act of Union), "Wilberforce Street" (after the slavery abolitionist), "Reform Street" (1832 Great Reform Act)- all possibilities I think. 

 

If I decide to pursue that idea, it kind of suggests an architectural context for the station; Church Gate being comprised of Nottinghamshire vernacular or 17th/ 18th century buildings, Union Street et al being primarily 19th century housing, Red Lion Square being a small outpost of civic pride and chest thumping outside of the town market place.  It's not all going to be shown on the layout of course!- at least, not at this stage.  But it is useful to have a background in mind for "later developments".  

 

Of course, it could all change!- I'm looking forward to this Thursday (September 14) and the latest issue of Railway Modeller.  Which is going to feature a look back at the Sherwood Section, which of course was the springboard for this project.   

[James Harrison]

Whisper it, but work has finally begun. 

 

Figuring that probably the most difficult part of the building will be the turret, I set out to build this element first.  After all, if I can't get this part right there is precious little point building the rest of the model!  Ostensibly this is just a proving or test model, however if it turns out very well it will probably become the finished article. 

 

I'm using just corrugated and cereal box card for this; actually the box from a Trumpeter dreadnought I built recently. 

 

 

The first part to be fabricated was the joint between the masonry and the roof.  The larger octagon forms the basis of the roof, the smaller forms the top of the masonry.  There's a second example of the this smaller ocatagon at the bottom of the turret forming a base for the walls up and a soffit to form the turret base down from. 

 

 

For the masonry walls themselves I'm using the thinner card.  To create the trefoil windows I first drew them on, then drilled through the card with a small diameter dremel bit held in my fingertips.  I then used that drillhole as a centrepoint for locating a holepunch.  Then the rest of the window wascut using a scalpel. 

 

 

And was then cleaned up.  Each face of the wall I'm cutting individually; although I cut have cut all of them as one piece and then folded it, my experience is that such an approach really works quite as well as hoped. 

 

 

Eventually I had a skeletal turret built up.  I've left the rear three panels off for the present as that allows me access internally and makes it easier to handle (by which I mean, less likely to accidentally crush it when I pick it up).  Once the gaps and edges have been filled I can build the roof- once the roof has been built I'll then work back down the turret adding all of the three-dimensional detail. 

[James Harrison]

.... And no sooner had I started it I found I'd gone wrong.  There's no provision for the columns between the windows.  Start over.... when I have some material to make them. 

 

Meantime, I will be looking at the WWI lorry I bought a few months ago.  I couldn't find any information at the time about the livery of GCR road goods vehicles, save for a postcard whose provenance I'm uncertain of.  It might be a reproduction of a period picture, it might on the other hand be a fanciful 1970s piece.  Anyhow, it shows a road vehicle in a bright green livery.  I've since found a couple of black and white photographs , like for instance this one,

 

 

which suggest that it would have been a fairly light colour. 

 

Well, I was at the Great Central yesterday and spent an enjoyable half hour or so at Rothley, which has been restored to Edwardia splendour....

 

 

Well, what do we think?  I really can't imagine that a railway so clued up on publicity and so keen to promote a company image (or so parsimonious that things were only painted with one colour) would paint everything green except for its road vehicles.  

[James Harrison]

A reminder; this is what I'm aiming for. 

 

 

GCR 5-ton delivery/ pick up lorries of 1907/09.  Well, you can't get a model of those and despite knowing it's a Leyland something or other the information is decidely thin on the ground when it comes to pre-WWI lorries. 

 

So, what I have decided to do is to start with a slightly later type of lorry (the earliest standard war department type of 1914) and I'm going to try to hackbash that kit into something like it. 

 

 

(For some reason my 'phone has decided it would be a right good laugh to take tiny pictures.....)

 

So the starting point is the WD Models 3.5-ton covered lorry.  There are instructions available for it on the internet but as all the parts are numbered and there are a goodly number of in-build photographs provided in the packing, I can at the moment build it without recourse to them. 

 

 

The parts are very small and very fragile, and there is a lot of.... well it's not flash exactly, more sacrificial bracing cast in to give the components a bit more strength.  Which all has to be carefully cut and sanded away before construction can begin.  The chassis frame, the underside of the engine and the front axle springs are one component; the rear springs are separate parts that need to be added on.  These push into holes cast into the chassis; I found that I had to drill out the holes carefully with a 0.5 or 0.6mm drill.  Construction has actually pressed on since this photo; I've added the front and rear axles, the differential, the drive shaft and the exhaust.  I'm using an impact adhesive to build it but the parts are so small there's almost no bearing surfaces for adhesion; I repeat this is a very fragile model.  My hope is that when I start to paint it (this evening) the paint will also act as an adhesive of sorts- obviously not ideal but if it gives it a bit more strength then I'm all for it. 

[ChrisN]

A reminder; this is what I'm aiming for. 

 

 

GCR 5-ton delivery/ pick up lorries of 1907/09.  Well, you can't get a model of those and despite knowing it's a Leyland something or other the information is decidely thin on the ground when it comes to pre-WWI lorries. 

 

So, what I have decided to do is to start with a slightly later type of lorry (the earliest standard war department type of 1914) and I'm going to try to hackbash that kit into something like it. 

 

 

(For some reason my 'phone has decided it would be a right good laugh to take tiny pictures.....)

 

So the starting point is the WD Models 3.5-ton covered lorry.  There are instructions available for it on the internet but as all the parts are numbered and there are a goodly number of in-build photographs provided in the packing, I can at the moment build it without recourse to them. 

 

 

The parts are very small and very fragile, and there is a lot of.... well it's not flash exactly, more sacrificial bracing cast in to give the components a bit more strength.  Which all has to be carefully cut and sanded away before construction can begin.  The chassis frame, the underside of the engine and the front axle springs are one component; the rear springs are separate parts that need to be added on.  These push into holes cast into the chassis; I found that I had to drill out the holes carefully with a 0.5 or 0.6mm drill.  Construction has actually pressed on since this photo; I've added the front and rear axles, the differential, the drive shaft and the exhaust.  I'm using an impact adhesive to build it but the parts are so small there's almost no bearing surfaces for adhesion; I repeat this is a very fragile model.  My hope is that when I start to paint it (this evening) the paint will also act as an adhesive of sorts- obviously not ideal but if it gives it a bit more strength then I'm all for it. 

 

Interesting it is so fragile.  I know W^D models have a 009 base but I am sure a lot of wargamers would use them and they would not be happy with 'fragile'.

 

Interesting build, but then it is an interesting thread.

[DLT]

Looks like a cracking good historical project James, I will be following with interest.

All the best, Dave.

[James Harrison]

Interesting it is so fragile.  I know W^D models have a 009 base but I am sure a lot of wargamers would use them and they would not be happy with 'fragile'.

 

Interesting build, but then it is an interesting thread.

 

It's the smaller details that are the issue; for instance the exhaust pipe, which is two components held on only by two tiny bearing surfaces, one at each end of the complete part.  Until some of the larger parts (such as the wheels or the truck bed) are fitted, it is very easy to pick the model up awkwardly or catch it and then that can result in parts coming adrift or being damaged. 

[James Harrison]

I broke out the paints. 

 

 

 

 

Then the flatbed had to be cut down to one plank in height. 

 

 

 

The surface detail was sanded off. 

 

And before you knew it.....

 

 

Now back to the usual grind of a lot of effort for mot much immediate progress.  Lots of fine detail painting to be done, and lots of little detail parts to add. 

[Edwardian]

Good to see this come together

[James Harrison]

Then I set about with cleaning up the paintwork. 

 

 

Looking promising. 

 

Then I started the smaller details.  The mudguards make a huge change in appearance, but I've also added the radiator cap, starting handle and the flatbed front. 

 

 

Now it needs another round of cleaning the paintwork.  To be followed by another bout of detailing- mostly around the drivers seat this time around.  Then there's the small matter of lettering.  Not sure how to do that, yet.  Letraset is either too large or the wrong font- and I don't particularly fancy handwriting it, either. 

 

~Addendum~

 

Actually, there are some very small 'Great Central' markings on the transfer sheets I use for my locomotives.  They won't be quite right of course, but perhaps better than nothing.  I doubt I could get 'GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY' on the side of the flatbed, but 'GREAT CENTRAL' would fit at least.  It would be gilt lettering, rather than white, but.... hmmm.  I'll keep looking but it's worth bearing in mind if nothing more appropriate turns up. 

Edited October 21, 2017 by James Harrison

[Edwardian]

Then I set about with cleaning up the paintwork. 

 

 

Looking promising. 

 

Then I started the smaller details.  The mudguards make a huge change in appearance, but I've also added the radiator cap, starting handle and the flatbed front. 

 

 

Now it needs another round of cleaning the paintwork.  To be followed by another bout of detailing- mostly around the drivers seat this time around.  Then there's the small matter of lettering.  Not sure how to do that, yet.  Letraset is either too large or the wrong font- and I don't particularly fancy handwriting it, either. 

 

HMRS, or similar, PO wagons alphabets.  They feature period fonts.  Judging from the upper view in post #107, it looks like you would need to go for unblocked letters and that, for the side of the flat bed you would use uncondensed, and that for the side of the radiator, you would use condensed, all of which are available in a variety of sizes.

[James Harrison]

HMRS, or similar, PO wagons alphabets.  They feature period fonts.  Judging from the upper view in post #107, it looks like you would need to go for unblocked letters and that, for the side of the flat bed you would use uncondensed, and that for the side of the radiator, you would use condensed, all of which are available in a variety of sizes.

 

Thanks for that- beyond me why I didn't think of them first!  Looks like their sheet PO4 might well suit my needs. 

[James Harrison]

Finished!

 

I went back to my livery source material and saw that the lettering should actually be gilt or yellow, which meant that the small GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY transfers would be appropriate after all.  Well, I've applied them.... but somehow I think they look a little too small and don't really stand out.  I'll take a view on it, once the model is varnished.

 

 

 

Final comments on the kit?  It builds up into a nice model, the resin castings are generally crisp and well defined, the photographs provided in the packaging proved more than sufficient to allow me to build it without recourse to the on-line instructions.  When it comes to locating parts on the model, it could have been done better in some instances- I'm thinking primarily of the driving controls and the brackets for the front mudguards- but that's only a minor criticism. 

 

Overall then a very nice little model and a pleasant break from my bout of rolling stock construction. 

 

Right, that's the first bit of Rufford built!- onto the rest of it...

[Edwardian]

Finished!

 

I went back to my livery source material and saw that the lettering should actually be gilt or yellow, which meant that the small GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY transfers would be appropriate after all.  Well, I've applied them.... but somehow I think they look a little too small and don't really stand out.  I'll take a view on it, once the model is varnished.

 

 

 

Final comments on the kit?  It builds up into a nice model, the resin castings are generally crisp and well defined, the photographs provided in the packaging proved more than sufficient to allow me to build it without recourse to the on-line instructions.  When it comes to locating parts on the model, it could have been done better in some instances- I'm thinking primarily of the driving controls and the brackets for the front mudguards- but that's only a minor criticism. 

 

Overall then a very nice little model and a pleasant break from my bout of rolling stock construction. 

 

Right, that's the first bit of Rufford built!- onto the rest of it...

 

If it were me, this is the point I would flood the metal parts with black ink and then attack the whole with dry-brushing, first to add highlights and then to distress areas like the planking and add road dust to the lower areas.

[James Harrison]

Weathering is on the cards.  I usually do it with chalk pastels and dry powders after a protective coat of PVA 'varnish', which seems to give it a bit of a key to adhere to. 

 

Bits which might be kept reasonably clean would run most likely to the bonnet, cab, upper surfaces of the mudguards and the boards around the flatbed, anything else would like as not be caked in grime, road dirt, oil and exhaust particulates.  The chassis needs attacking with grey and dark brown hues, the flatbed with some dark grey.  The photographs I have of similar road vehicles look immaculate- but then again those are not only pre-war but even pre-1910, when there would have been the labour available to keep everything spick and span.  Looking at 1920-ish photos even locos were running around in a grimy condition- admittedly only goods locos but still, standards had slipped somewhat- it would look somewhat odd to leave it looking clean as a new pin.   

[James Harrison]

A mix of drybrushing and chalk weathering, and it's finished. 

 

 

 

 

[James Harrison]

Now then, in your typical scattergun approach.....

 

I've finished the delivery lorry. 

I'm slowly working, now and then, on the first building. 

Most of my modelling time is spent building locomotives and rolling stock. 

Much of the remainder of my modelling time is then spent building dreadnoughts and WWI era aircraft. 

And now I've returned to masterplanning the town...

 

 

(Uploaded at large scale for legibility). 

 

This.  This is what I have had going round and round in my imagination for months now without being able to get it down on paper...

 

Roughly in the middle is the titular Red Lion Square.  Coming south and heading east from there we have 'Abbeygate', leading to Rufford market place and Rufford Market station (Midland Railway, Sherwood Section).  Coming north from the Square you see we have two roads peeling off at an angle.  'Parliament Street' heads north whilst 'Station Road' goes off to the north west.  Now I imagine that my first building (the one I spent weeks drawing) is going to sit somewhere in the angle between them.  Coming down the back of the station we have 'Great Central Street' and then back across toward the Square is 'Lindum Road'. 

 

Generally my road-naming convention follows real-world precedent; I have mentioned somewhere up-thread how Nottinghamshire market towns have streets either with a -gate suffix (those with Medieval origins) whilst later 18th/ 19th Century streets tend to be named after topical subjects of their time. 

 

Sketched in, but not really obvious, is a tramway I'm considering adding.  I'm not sure this will make it into the final cut, but I do have a decent number of the Corgi 'Dick, Kerr' trams sitting around gathering dust and could easily repaint one.  Being one for working obscure references to various things into the layout, I've decided already that Rufford Corporation Tramways livery should be citron and old dutch madder.  

 

Now, if you're wondering what the black rectangle is.... that is the extent of the intended layout- for the present.  You might hazard a guess that a putitive 'Rufford Phase 2' is a least blocked out in this drawing. 

Edited October 28, 2017 by James Harrison

[James Harrison]

With pen to paper and a little bit more than a vague idea of the environs of the station, I guess I now should start at least planning the station itself. 

 

A quick recap; the treatment of the platforms will take its cue quite heavily from the north bays at Leicester Central. 

 

 

From the GCR through Leicester website, but quite similar to what I ultimately have in mind for a station throat.  With more track and less decripitude, of course!

 

 

And another photo from the same website.  I know I have shown this one before but it really is a cracking image and bears repitition.  The specific design elements that I find very satisfying are the design of the platform awnings and the water towers. 

 

So that deals with the railway side of the station, what about the buildings and offices?

 

I've always had in mind something perhaps a little along the lines of Birmingham Moor Street.  Not in terms of architectural style or general layout as such, but it's a handy real-world example within relatively easy reach I can go and visit.  Surviving Great Central terminus stations are, after all, a little thin on the ground.  Manchester London Road?- a joint station which was heavily rebuilt in the 1960s, and in any case too large.  Marylebone?- sympathetically updated and arguably the most recognisably steam age of the London termini, but again far too large.  Chesterfield Marketplace would be a good one to ape, had it not been demolished- and in any case that example came into the GC fold via amalgamation rather than being born into it. 

 

So you can see I'm pretty much thrown on my imagination here.  The only real stipulation here is that the overall style should be of that rather attractive Arts & Crafts Revival/ early Edwardian Baroque sort that the GC employed for its stations in the 1890s and 1900s.  We're talking terracota, polchromatic brickwork, decorative stonework, arched entranceways, Dutch gables, steep slate roofs that go off in all directions, elements of the facade that jump up or set down... you can see what I mean looking at photographs of Leicester Central as completed, or London Marylebone today. 

 

 

 

 

 

So how do you go about achieving something like that?

 

To my mind there are two pieces of information that you have to have to begin with.  (Actually, probably more like three or four, but.... well, you'll see what I mean shortly). 

 

1. The location.  How big is it?  What's the topography like?  

 

Best as I can currently calculate, I have an area of around 450mm long by 150mm wide in which to place my station concourse.  And, as I researched earlier this year, it's going to be pretty much flat. 

 

2. What function does the building fulfil?

 

Erm, it's a railway station!  Flippancy aside, there's quite a lot going on.  You've got outbound passenger traffic, inbound passenger traffic, ditto parcels, newspapers, mail (?- maybe not a TPO but mail carried in passenger brakevans).  Not quite as simple as that though- then you've got to accomodate the staff.  There's the obvious staff- station master, booking office clerks and porters- but then you've got other background tasks going on.  Connected to the telephone network?- it needs a receptionist or two.  Railway internal communications- a telegraph office perhaps.  Cleaning staff- both for the station and for the trains.  I don't see Rufford as being quite so important as to warrant dedicated carriage sidings, carriages would be cleaned in-service at the platforms.  At both ends of the train you have parafin lamps, which need to be refilled and trimmed- so you need a lamp room to do that in. 

 

2. (a) So what do you need the building to do?

 

Outbound passengers: somewhere to buy a ticket, check luggage in, then wait in comfort for their train. 

Inbound passengers: somewhere to hand over their ticket, collect luggage from, then OUT of the station. 

Parcels: somewhere to be checked in for onward conveyance/ picked up for final delivery.

 

2. (b) Then a list of rooms or spaces that will be required?

 

1. Booking hall (15'x 10') and attendant booking office(15' x 15').

2. General waiting room (35' x 10') and First Class waiting room (15' x 10').

3. Refreshment room (15' x 10')

4. W/C facilities. 

 

5. Left luggage office (20' x 10').

6. Parcels office (20' x 10').

 

7. Station Master's Office (15' x 10').

8. Telegraph office (10' x 10').

9. Porter's room (25' x 10').

10. Lamp room (10' x 10').

11. Cleaner's room or stores (attic spaces)

 

It is surprisingly difficult to track down typical railway station room sizes, my -ish sizes I've scaled from a book on North Eastern Railway Architecture. 

[Echo]

Wigan Central  http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/w/wigan_central/ may give you a few ideas. A bit early for your station, but slight resemblance to your layout.

[Compound2632]

Apologies if this was stated long ago, but is Rufford RLS supposed to be contemporary with the London Extension? In other words, the details will come out of the same architect's portfolio.

[James Harrison]

My word, that was a gorgeous little thing wasn't it?  Almost more a wedding cake than a building! 

[James Harrison]

Apologies if this was stated long ago, but is Rufford RLS supposed to be contemporary with the London Extension? In other words, the details will come out of the same architect's portfolio.

 

The idea I've roughed out is that the line to Rufford formed a part of the Sheffield & Lincolnshire Union Railway (amalgamated into the Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire in 1847 or 48).  The idea then though is that Rufford RLS was rebuilt in the early 1890s- roughly contemporary with the Derbyshire Lines and the very start of the London Extension.  Definitely it will be identifiable as being of the LE stations type (at least, the larger stations I mean- Leicester Central, Nottingham Victoria or London Marylebone)- but not of the same epic scale.