Brierley Canal Road

[Jerry1975]

Looks excellent.

 

Jerry.

[Booking Hall]

In between helping to wire up the club's new layout, and gardening, I managed to make some progress on the flats today. Still got the roof to fit, a parapet and chimneys to make, curtains to add and a few other details.

[Booking Hall]

Curtains now added and flats trial placed in their intended location to see how they look.

[Booking Hall]

Putting the final details on the block of flats before weathering and fixing to the bridge deck, but what a battle I've had getting this soil pipe in place! Took me four attempts to get all the pipe collar clips in the holes in the walls, and along the way I managed to damage the black paper collar bearers I'd fixed to the wall, AND bend the pipe twice, meaning all the collars had to come off again so I could straighten it. I began to wish I hadn't bothered, and having done this side I have to do it all again at the other end! Still, I have to admit that the appearance will be worth it.

[Corbs]

It definitely is worth it! The 3D elements make it stand out and come to life so well.

[Booking Hall]

The soil pipe at the other end went on much more smoothly, with the benefit of experience gained on the first one. This time, instead of winding the collars around the actual 'pipe' (which is 1.4mm dia. black painted aluminium jewellers wire), I wound them around a 1.5mm drill. I drilled the holes in the wall BEFORE fixing the tiny black rectangles of sticky label over the holes (which meant that the drill didn't twist them up) and then fitted the collars to the wall and threaded the 'pipe' through them, securing everything from behind with cyano. The branches were added afterwards and secured to the main pipe with a drop of cyano which helped to simulate the swept bend of the pipe connection. There should really be some more branch pipes from each bathroom, serving the basin and bath, but as this is only a screen to stop a direct view into the fiddleyard, I felt enough was enough!

 

I was going to add some chimney stacks, but there isn't really room on the roof, so that's it apart from a little light weathering to suggest only about 30 years worth of industrial grime and fitting a back to it. Now for the boarded up canal tunnel entrance.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Booking Hall

[mjcampbell]

No toilets on the first floor then?

 

Seriously, that's great work. I'd have built a plain building, but that has so much more visual interest and character, and is so 1920's.

[Booking Hall]

No toilets on the first floor then?

 

Seriously, that's great work. I'd have built a plain building, but that has so much more visual interest and character, and is so 1920's.

Thank you, I'm glad it has the look of the period I wanted. Toilets, ah, well I imagined that these are were a bit more upmarket when they were built and that there are three flats, each three storeys high, with a kitchen on the ground floor, living accommodation on the first and the bedroom and bathroom on the top floor. That doesn't explain why I haven't put in a soil stack for the middle block though! The answer is, of course, having managed to get two stacks that looked OK, I decided not to push my luck with a third!!

[Booking Hall]

I've pondered long and hard about how to finish the canal at the fiddleyard end, including just doing nothing, after all, it just stops at the station end! Somehow though it seemed to call for 'something' as, whilst I can imagine it just running along the northlight factory wall, the tunnel retaining wall was a different matter. So, I've decided to build a tunnel, after all, if the railway had to build a tunnel, surely the canal builders also had to?

 

I plan to make it with a stone face to suggest an earlier building period (and so the builders had something to do with all the stone they've just dug out of the tunnel!) and make a bit of a hotch potch of the joint between the two, like this photo of Edgebaston canal tunnel adjacent to the railway. I'm also going to make a grille to prevent access. The sketch gives an idea of what I'm aiming for.

[rue_d_etropal]

would it have been stone. Living in a brick/clay area as we both do, we know that much of the stone actually comes from further afield(eg Derbyshire), and canal builders tended to use what was local. Remains of small brickworks are often found near canals. On the Rochdale, most of the locks are stone, as that was local material, but the one at Summit, between Rochdale and Todmorden, close to the railway tunnel, is brick, as is the lock keepers house, because they dug out a lot of clay there.

[Stubby47]

If..... you'd made the block of flats as high as the top of the back scene sky, you wouldn't get a sky corner.

 

But very impressed as always with your work.

[mjcampbell]

Go for brick, but maybe a different colour. 

[Signaller69]

Very nice modelling, the flats are super, I really like the dilapidated Airfix canopies too. Very atmospheric.

 

Martyn.

[Booking Hall]

Thanks for the comments about the canal tunnel everyone. I made it in stone to start with, but had to admit that it didn't look right, so now it's in brick (Scalescenes Aged Brown brick, nicked from the boiler house kit). Red stone might just have worked, but Superquick grey is all I have (and even that is a leftover from my early days of model railways, 40+ years ago! - never throw anything away, you'll always need it a week later . . . ).

would it have been stone. Living in a brick/clay area as we both do, we know that much of the stone actually comes from further afield(eg Derbyshire), and canal builders tended to use what was local. Remains of small brickworks are often found near canals. On the Rochdale, most of the locks are stone, as that was local material, but the one at Summit, between Rochdale and Todmorden, close to the railway tunnel, is brick, as is the lock keepers house, because they dug out a lot of clay there.

Good argument Simon, and in the end, the right one!

[Booking Hall]

Go for brick, but maybe a different colour. 

Good call Michael. There was an M J Campbell in my class at Grammar School (Nelson), wasn't you was it?

[Booking Hall]

Very nice modelling, the flats are super, I really like the dilapidated Airfix canopies too. Very atmospheric.

 

Martyn.

Thank you very much Martyn.

[Booking Hall]

If..... you'd made the block of flats as high as the top of the back scene sky, you wouldn't get a sky corner.

 

But very impressed as always with your work.

That's very kind of you to say Stu, your own layouts are an inspiration. Yes, making them higher would have got around that problem, but I was worried they might overpower the scene. I have an idea about a sky scene, but the very nature of the whole thing being removable will make joints inevitable. Still, we'll have to see what we can do.

[mjcampbell]

Good call Michael. There was an M J Campbell in my class at Grammar School (Nelson), wasn't you was it?

 

Not me!

[rue_d_etropal]

its going to need a van, just to transport all these boxfile bits!

[Booking Hall]

Canal tunnel entrance now finished. The grille is welding rod for the horizontals and code 100 flat bottom rail for the verticals. A bit overscale, and code 75 bullhead rail would look better, but I don't have any bits lying around. This makes up the final batch of items for weathering, so it's time to fire up the airbrush again. All that's left to do after that is fit a back to the flats, and skyscene for same, hang the yard gates, build a bothy for the coal merchant, add 'clutter' and people, oh, and build a controller as I don't have a spare one handy that will provide good slow speed control.

[Booking Hall]

Nearly there! The parts for the feedback controller I'm going to build have arrived (all the ones I didn't already have, that is). It's a simple enough controller to a design kindly provided by JimReid (see post #3 in this thread http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/126034-homemade-gaugemaster-u-controller/&do=findComment&comment=2855006),and I'm going to use a Hornby plug-in supply for the necessary 16-18V AC.

[Booking Hall]

I've spent the last few days adding some of the final details, including some Willowherb and Oxford Ragwort weeds, clutter in the goods yard, a solitary passenger, a short telegraph pole and I've now fixed in place the water tower and pump house. I've also built a short signal from Ratio components and a piece of balsa. The coal merchants bothy exercised me a little, as the usual proprietary buildings were too large, however, the problem was solved by rummaging in a box of model cars at a flea market, which produced a wheel-less 'Matchbox' radio truck for 50p. Removal of the cabin part of this made it just the right size, and mounted on some old sleepers and surrounded by clutter it looks the part. 

[Jerry1975]

Looking awesome, very nice indeed

 

Jerry.

[Booking Hall]

Here's the layout fully assembled with the fiddleyard box. The sunken barge has been fixed in place and the canal given a final coat of varnish, with all sorts of debris and weeds embedded in it. The station chimney stack still needs a pot, but the next job is to build the controller so i can have a play!

[andyfoulger]

stunning result. really enjoyed following this thread and seeing the transformation of three humble box files. Now, I'm sure I heard you mention boxes 4 through to 38...        after Trawden perhaps ?

Andy