Midland in Bristol

[Tricky]

Along the back is a high wall which originally I made quite low but realised this left too much sky showing above it, so I decided to make the wall higher by reusing this wall but making a new lower section with arches, engineering blues and stonework to break it up. This first shot shows the construction of it complete and temporarily in position to try it for size. Construction is a lamination of mount board and ply, with additional details added in a combination of more mount board and wood sections. Bricks are scribed into the mountboard surface.

 

 

The section that’s already painted is the existing bit that I’ve simply stuck on top of the new bit.

These next photos show the start of the painting process. The overall brick colour has been liberally applied and left to dry. To be honest I’m not too sure what Humbrol colours I used but a combination of red-browns and a little dark and light grey.

I have now added the basic engineering blue and stone colours. This photo shows the colours used for them.

 

 

I painted the stone first and then used the bluey-greys to paint the bricks, allowing a bit of the stone colour to mix in as I go. The idea is to make sure I’m not painting a uniform colour but allow subtle variation. Overall I’m aiming for a brighter shade than the finished article will be.

 

 

More to follow in the next day or so when I will be adding the mortar colours.

[Tricky]

A brief update: the main mortar colour has been added which is a very very dilute wash of a light stone colour, sloshed on and allowed to run and settle. I left the wall upright for a few minutes and then wiped most of it off gently, leaving colour in the mortar courses. I’ll let this dry before moving on to more detailed painting and finishing.

 

[Tricky]

The back wall is now finished and in position. I finished it mostly with watercolour pencils, which I have recently discovered. They are like ordinary colouring pencils but are blendable with a little water (or spit!). I find them very versatile and can be used for subtle shading as well as patches of dense colour, and can be used with accuracy. So I'm this case I used them for delicate washes of pointing, picking out individual bricks, adding depth to the stonework and colour to the blue bricks. The added bonus is if you don't like what you've done, the ones I have aren't permanent although I believe there are permanent ones on the market. Because of this and also because the final effect was a little washed out and flat, I washed the wall over with very dilute spirit-based satin varnish. This also imparts a slight sheen as sometimes seen on engineering brickwork.

The back wall is now finished and in position. I finished it mostly with watercolour pencils, which I have recently discovered. They are like ordinary colouring pencils but are blendable with a little water (or spit!). I find them very versatile and can be used for subtle shading as well as patches of dense colour, and can be used with accuracy. So I'm this case I used them for delicate washes of pointing, picking out individual bricks, adding depth to the stonework and colour to the blue bricks. The added bonus is if you don't like what you've done, the ones I have aren't permanent although I believe there are permanent ones on the market. Because of this and also because the final effect was a little washed out and flat, I washed the wall over with very dilute spirit-based satin varnish. This also imparts a slight sheen as sometimes seen on engineering brickwork.

[Tricky]

Two for the price of one...!

[martinT]

Two for the price of one...!

Well, your modelling is so good reading about it twice is no great imposition!

 

Martin

[Tricky]

I've more or less completed a few more buildings- almost there with the main structures. This first one is an office/store of some sort. The black line is a gas pipe which will serve a corner lamp when I get round to making it.

 

This little shed appears in some of the photos of St Plilips yard.

 

And has some very odd-looking growth on its roof...

 

And lastly this structure is partially low-relief and sits to the right of the warehouse and covers the track. The right hand end is hidden by the stone office/store.

 

Although I'm not sure the Midland would have allowed it to get quite so dilapidated...!

 

Next up, re-building the y turnout for the third time, finishing the loco when the ABC gearbox arrives and making a start on ground works at last!

[wenlock]

I've more or less completed a few more buildings- almost there with the main structures. This first one is an office/store of some sort. The black line is a gas pipe which will serve a corner lamp when I get round to making it.

image.jpeg

 

This little shed appears in some of the photos of St Plilips yard.

image.jpeg

 

And has some very odd-looking growth on its roof...

image.jpeg

 

And lastly this structure is partially low-relief and sits to the right of the warehouse and covers the track. The right hand end is hidden by the stone office/store.

image.jpeg

 

Although I'm not sure the Midland would have allowed it to get quite so dilapidated...!

 

Next up, re-building the y turnout for the third time, finishing the loco when the ABC gearbox arrives and making a start on ground works at last!

Wonderfully atmospheric buildings!  I hope that y turnout gives up fighting back and starts to behave itself! 

[bgman]

Superbly modelled and stands up to enlarging the photographs as well, cracking stuff !

 

As Wenlock says, good luck with the 'Y', I think we've all been there at some time.

 

Grahame

[Fastdax]

Cracking buildings!

 

I especially like the low-relief building with its eclectic mix of coverings - just what I need to cover what is currently a slab of foamboard on my layout.

[Tricky]

_{Thought I'd give a quick verbal update:}

 

_{The ABC gearbox arrived the other day. It is a miniature engineering marvel, very, very smooth and worth every penny. Forget your fold-up gearboxes - these are the real deal. This now means that work can re-start on the loco frames, and so last night managed to solder up the hornblocks using the rods as guides. Lo-and-behold she rolls along quite smoothly first time! Some very minor fettling maybe, or just allow a running-in period for it to be really silky-smooth. Just last details now; brakes, sandboxes, axle guards and drawbar. After that, connect up the radio control gubbins and test. All I have now is a nagging doubt that a tender 0-6-0 would have been a very unlikely visitor dock-side! Still - all I have to do is strip down the 0-6-0 tank for the thousandth time and get it going smoothly once and for all - maybe!}

 

_{The 'Y' turnout has been successfully re-built - I think. The loco tender rolls through it nicely but testing the loco through it last night was a bit jumpy through the crossing, so more adjustment needed. Which is a shame, as I have ballasted it and had started to weather it as well. But we shall see once the loco frames are properly together.}

 

_{Ground works are well under way, with lots of polyfilla and lots of sanding...plus I've been making an ever-growing list of details and bits and bobs to add to the final layout. I may even finish the whole thing with time to spare to actually enjoy it!! Then again, there's rolling stock to build yet...}

Edited July 11, 2018 by Tricky

[Coal Tank]

Hi I've only just found this thread absolutely stunning modeling

John

[Tricky]

So after much burning of fingers and head scratching the loco is more or less finished! She runs smoothly under her own ‘steam’ and suspended on blocks; just need to wire up the radio control stuff and get her running properly. Also need to add coal and crew, and a bit of weathering to give her a working but cared-for appearance.

 

 

 

Edited July 18, 2018 by Tricky

[Compound2632]

I want to press all the buttons at once there! Very nice indeed.

 

Is that a dumb-buffered timber truck we see behind her?

[Tricky]

I want to press all the buttons at once there! Very nice indeed.

 

Is that a dumb-buffered timber truck we see behind her?

Yes it is, one of the few items of rolling stock I have at the moment that isn’t in the process of being re-wheeled and sprung. Probably shouldn’t be in use still by 1907...

Edited July 19, 2018 by Tricky

[Compound2632]

You're absolutely fine with a dumb-buffered timber truck in 1907 - in fact a sprung-buffered one would be out of place. As far as I can work out from Midland Wagons and the copies of drawings 559 and 2970 on the Midland Railway Study Centre website, the D389 long timber trucks built to Lots 77 of 1182 and 505 of 1901 were all dumb-buffered, with sprung-buffered new construction starting with Lot 698 of 1908. Dumb buffers were finally banned for main-line use from the end of 1914; in the run-up to this the Midland seems to have rebuilt a good few older D389 trucks with sprung buffers, presumably of a self-contained type. I'm confident all the D388 short timber trucks were built dumb-buffered, the last being Lot 362 of 1895. The copy of D388 reproduced in Midland Wagons shows a conversion to sprung buffers but I wonder how many actually were. What would be interesting to know is the date of the diagram book used - quite late Midland I would guess, maybe 1920s.

 

At 31 December 1894, the Midland possessed 2,005 8 ton timber trucks, of which 200 were long ones to drawing 559. The balance of 1,805 is smaller than the total number of short trucks to drawing 366 ordered up to and including Lot 330 of 1893, so either that Lot hadn't been fully completed or there had been a few losses along the way. In any case it's unlikely that any pre-1878 trucks were still in service. Even with the further 540 long trucks built to Lot 505, in 1907 short trucks would probably still outnumber long trucks by more than two-to-one.

 

Edit: I've got timber trucks on the brain at the moment. Comparing the LNWR, according to LNWR Wagons Vol. 1, that company didn't start fitting its dumb-buffered timber wagons* with sprung buffers until 1913. At that time they had 1,653 single wagons to their D12, all of the short variety, and 718 pairs to their D13. The Midland never built any permanently-coupled twin timber trucks though I believe that arrangement was popular on the Great Western and other minor lines, as well as the North Western.

 

*Note the different terminology. When is a wagon a truck or vice-versa?

Edited July 18, 2018 by Compound2632

[bgman]

Hi Richard,

 

Several posts ago a photograph of the dockside ( uncertain of its origins? ) showed some cranes operating.

 

Would you, or any of the followers of this excellent thread know of the manufacturer of the crane ( see below )  which I have edited to show the one in question.

 

 

It is of interest to me for various reasons and if and  GA drawings were available ? Long shot probably but I will ask.

 

Grahame

[Coal Tank]

That is a nice engine

[Tricky]

Hi Richard,

 

Several posts ago a photograph of the dockside ( uncertain of its origins? ) showed some cranes operating.

 

Would you, or any of the followers of this excellent thread know of the manufacturer of the crane ( see below )  which I have edited to show the one in question.

 

post-32434-0-75934500-1504276600.jpg

 

It is of interest to me for various reasons and if and  GA drawings were available ? Long shot probably but I will ask.

 

Grahame

Hi Grahame, unfortunately I know nothing about the crane save for this photo. I have, in fact, done a rough drawing based on guess-work, judging sizes relative to the men in the photo, with the aim of making one. There are a few other photos in Midland Record of other cranes and they all seem to vary slightly so mine will probably be an amalgamation. A GA would be a real find. I wonder if the very knowlegeable guys at the Midland Study Centre can help?

[bgman]

Thank you for your reply with this Richard, very much appreciated.

 

I'll keep searching, otherwise as you point out it may be prudent to scale from the men in the photograph.

 

Oh! And when you've made one you know what will probably happen ! Personally it wouldn't bother me, so look forward to seeing you interpretation and if its as good as the rest of your models I'm certain it will be a worthy addition.

 

Cheers for now,

 

Grahame

[Compound2632]

Hi Grahame, unfortunately I know nothing about the crane save for this photo. I have, in fact, done a rough drawing based on guess-work, judging sizes relative to the men in the photo, with the aim of making one. There are a few other photos in Midland Record of other cranes and they all seem to vary slightly so mine will probably be an amalgamation. A GA would be a real find. I wonder if the very knowlegeable guys at the Midland Study Centre can help?

 

One possible route to some information on these cranes would be the Midland Railway Way & Works Committee minute books held in the National Archives at Kew. I've not consulted this committee's minutes but if the books are like the Traffic, Carriage & Wagon, and Locomotive Committee minute books they will be indexed, including by location. Obviously it would help to know at what date these cranes were procured but there ought to be a minute of acceptance of tender.

[Tricky]

Quite a bit of work done on the yard; Ned has a new home, as does Mr Knight. Rusty seems to have tagged along somehow as well...

 

 

[wenlock]

Excellent textures in the yard Richard, very convincing! Rusty is a splendid looking pooch, definetly a touch of beagle about him:-)

[Signalman Rich]

Hello Richard,

Lovely to see the progress on your layout. It is inspirational modelling of the highest calibre.  Thanks for taking the time to detail your work on boxes, crates, barrels, packages etc in MRJ too. Extremely useful.

Best wishes

Rich

[Tricky]

Hello Richard,

Lovely to see the progress on your layout. It is inspirational modelling of the highest calibre. Thanks for taking the time to detail your work on boxes, crates, barrels, packages etc in MRJ too. Extremely useful.

Best wishes

Rich

You’re more than welcome! Glad you find them helpful.

Richard

Edited July 27, 2018 by Tricky

[Tricky]

Excellent textures in the yard Richard, very convincing! Rusty is a splendid looking pooch, definetly a touch of beagle about him:-)

Thanks Dave, always a bit of trial and error with ground textures. I started with sanded Polyfilla and then sprinkled sieved soil into pva and then sanded that as well. It wasn’t quite right still, so fortuitously at the same time I had been repointing our garden wall and used the fine sand/cement dust that’s left over once the pointing has been tidied up. Excellent colour and a superb mix of grain size and texture. This was also sprinkled over pva. Lastly my favourite mix of horse poo and straw helps to bring the scene to life.