Helston Revisited

[KeithMacdonald]

@Andy Keane - lovely progress, well done! 😀

 

By chance, I just saw this on the Falmouth Packet website, it reminded me of your excellent efforts.

 

https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/23382750.old-photos-transport-cornwall-early-19th-century/#gallery0

[Andy Keane]

The long absence from posting here is due to the visit to Missenden and the construction of the latest addition to the motive power of Helston. A kit built small Metro number 1496:

I shall now get back to work on the layout and its buildings.

[Graham T]

That looks nicely done Andy.  Where did the kit come from?

[Andy Keane]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

That looks nicely done Andy.  Where did the kit come from?

Thanks Graham. It was an old second-hand whitemetal Wills Finecast Kit from eBay with a new etched SE Finecast chassis and a High Level kits hump shunter gearbox. All put together with much help from @t-b-g who taught on the course at Missenden this year, plus others on RMweb also building this kit. I have spent much longer doing it than I expected but 1496 did ply her trade into Helston so well worth while.

[Graham T]

Thanks, I like the look of that so will keep an eye out for one.

 

[Andy Keane]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

Thanks, I like the look of that so will keep an eye out for one.

 

Mine was in quite good nick but some of the others who built them had a harder time - there is a dedicated thread if you search for small metro build - it has loads of useful info contributed from a wide group of people.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Andy Keane

[Andy Keane]

On 31/03/2023 at 17:42, Graham T said:

Thanks, I like the look of that so will keep an eye out for one.

 

See https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364198971947?hash=item54cbf34a2b:g:KowAAOSwpd9kJEtS&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4EeDby1xwU3dPkesJwzlqpIId3H5mcw0t6WS6C3aL%2Bkn%2BUHxcDCYE83JDnbsUnZzgGOU36JKRlYFVbazlHhno5H%2BxD8gXqsdChx%2BJyz%2FmdpNwoG6Xh4tQWQ5xr%2BRURNuAxRSY4mAAbTRE1QDTvTCeikkTwIZ8%2F3DRyV5gFmuvuAmM5OjrDZMqBfL7YFgzjtIeTOVPdGD70BicaKaRg5KXgyv7nUmrrhk9tTddz42Xoqk2CBpfspyot1cDxeHzIrN0QNXwACzuvz96O6oP8SM5q3CL4mga1wdwxxUUfpOY2iX|tkp%3ABk9SR9TWpebnYQ

[Graham T]

Thanks Andy.  I actually have that one on my watch list.  I like the fact that it comes with wheels, but was wondering if it might be better to get one from Squires, as the newer ones have an etched chassis.  What do you think?

 

[Andy Keane]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

Thanks Andy.  I actually have that one on my watch list.  I like the fact that it comes with wheels, but was wondering if it might be better to get one from Squires, as the newer ones have an etched chassis.  What do you think?

 

People say that whitemetal moulds wear out so maybe the old kit is better. I think the old whitemetal chassis is to be avoided - the modern SE Finecast plus High Level gearbox is I think much better. The chassis seems to be separate in either case. I would take care over wheels. I got several sets before I was happy. I wanted the correct diameter, spoke number, spoke pattern and with squared holes to aid centering and am glad I held out for what I got. There are lots of other possible combinations. I also used the 14xx cast brass detailing kit for smoke box dart, pipes and chimney. Happy to provide more details if that helps.

Edited April 1, 2023 by Andy Keane

[Neal Ball]

12 hours ago, Graham T said:

Thanks Andy.  I actually have that one on my watch list.  I like the fact that it comes with wheels, but was wondering if it might be better to get one from Squires, as the newer ones have an etched chassis.  What do you think?

 

I agree with @Andy Keane Graham. I wouldn’t touch a whitemetal chassis.

 

As for the wheels, I would check they are actually what they say they are. At one point I made a hash of quartering mine, so care needs to be taken if you get the (cheaper) Springside ones from Squires as the centre is plastic. With care they will be ok.

 

But as Andy also says, there are issues with the number of spokes etc. something you might need to compromise with.

 

Its a lovely project to build and for all of us, it’s been a steep learning curve.

 

Would I do it again? Certainly 😎

Edited April 2, 2023 by Neal Ball

[Graham T]

11 hours ago, Andy Keane said:

People say that whitemetal moulds wear out so maybe the old kit is better. I think the old whitemetal chassis is to be avoided - the modern SE Finecast plus High Level gearbox is I think much better. The chassis seems to be separate in either case. I would take care over wheels. I got several sets before I was happy. I wanted the correct diameter, spoke number, spoke pattern and with squared holes to aid centering and am glad I held out for what I got. There are lots of other possible combinations. I also used the 14xx cast brass detailing kit for smoke box dart, pipes and chimney. Happy to provide more details if that helps.

 

Thanks for that Andy.  I think I should probably hold off on it for the time being anyway, as I already have a lot of stuff on the to-do list.  And could do without spending the money, to be honest...

 

[Andy Keane]

I am getting back to the layout having spent a happy couple of months building a Metro tank (yes I do realise this is pretty slow progress).

I need to pull together a collection of ramshackle buildings that were in the goods yard to the side of the main goods shed itself.

This includes a corrugated motor shed, a small corrugated hut, some wooden coal storage facilities, a petrol tank for the omnibuses that ran to the Lizard and a weighbridge and office.

My problem is there are almost no photos of this area in the 1930s so I am having to guess a lot. I thought I knew where the weighbridge and office were but then I started looking closely at a couple of aerial views I have. This first view is from 1946 so 14 years later than I would wish and rather low res, but at least the station is in operation.

The next view is 1973 and the station has largely been dismantled but the area where the weighbridge was can be made out.

The old goods shed is outlined in yellow and the old goods platform edge in brown.

What confuses me is the weighbridge plate looks to be the item outlined in red while I thought the weighbridge office was the building outlined in green.

Outlined in blue is a small classic GWR corrugated shed. Could this really have been the weighbridge office? All the ones I have seen before have brick built offices with a rather wide window facing the weighbridge.

Most confusing. I wish I had some ground level pictures but I have never found any.

[t-b-g]

It is highly likely that the structure alongside the weighbridge is the hut containing the scales and the office.

 

It could be like this one:

 

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrdt1571.htm

 

It would be very odd to have the weighbridge office away from the weighbridge itself as there was a mechanical link to the scales, located in the office.

[Andy Keane]

2 hours ago, t-b-g said:

It is highly likely that the structure alongside the weighbridge is the hut containing the scales and the office.

 

It could be like this one:

 

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrdt1571.htm

 

It would be very odd to have the weighbridge office away from the weighbridge itself as there was a mechanical link to the scales, located in the office.

Tony, many thanks - that is a really useful link. I had no idea that the GWR used it’s corrugated sheds for weighbridges. As you say the office with the scales has to be mechanically linked to the plate. So now I need to work out what the other building did! Maybe some kind of office for the coal merchants.

Andy

[Andy Keane]

Does anyone know how big GWR running in boards would be in the 1920's and 30's? All I have is a hand tinted postcard image from rather earlier (or much later BR stuff). The card shows a sign at about head height. The GW Way says the letters should be white, the background black and the posts mid-stone. Not sure what font is in use either.

 

[BWsTrains]

11 hours ago, Andy Keane said:

Does anyone know how big GWR running in boards would be in the 1920's and 30's? All I have is a hand tinted postcard image from rather earlier (or much later BR stuff). The card shows a sign at about head height. The GW Way says the letters should be white, the background black and the posts mid-stone. Not sure what font is in use either.

 

 

Andy,

 

I've supportive evidence from photos of the various GWR William Clarke stations in the 20s -30s which I've been gathering for my work. Since I'm not sure I can post them here I'll try a PM to you but your broad description sounds right regarding height and style.

 

Regarding Font, I lean more towards the Bodget & Co style of work, so was looking for something broadly accurate rather than spot on. I found Gill Sans MT Bold in Word was a good starting point. I dropped the required text into my Graphics program, then did a lateral compression so my text's total height /width ratio matched a known sample from a photo. This was trial and error and the % required might depend on your actual letters. Finally create negative image / cut to size

 

Again depending on your lettering some minor tweaks might be required to the character designs when referring back to known lettering.

 

Colin

Edited April 10, 2023 by BWsTrains
to add photo

[Andy Keane]

This is a Springside whitemetal casting with a plain paper printed strip on it. The letters are scale 12" high and the board height conforms with the diagram in the GWR architecture book.

I may investigate custom waterslide letters instead to get a raised profile much like waterslide rivets which I find work well.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Andy Keane

[t-b-g]

I always thought this looked promising but I have never built a GWR model and haven't used them.

 

You get a frame and a selection of etched letters in the correct font.

 

https://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatalog/Smiths_Components_for__OO__.html

 

They sell the etched letters as a separate item too, if you want to add them to your existed cast sign.

[Andy Keane]

2 hours ago, t-b-g said:

I always thought this looked promising but I have never built a GWR model and haven't used them.

 

You get a frame and a selection of etched letters in the correct font.

 

https://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatalog/Smiths_Components_for__OO__.html

 

They sell the etched letters as a separate item too, if you want to add them to your existed cast sign.

Tony, thanks for the link, I will investigate. An attraction of water slide is to have all six letters correctly spaced out but I would expect the brass etched letters to be crisper in outline. What would be best is a custom etched board with the letters integral to the etch but the cost would be too high unless I could find a dozen like minded souls to work up enough boards for a full etch.

 

Another thought is to glue the printed paper on and then stick brass letters over that so I get the spacing correct.

 

Or maybe print a mirror image, glue the letters lightly to that and then turn it over and glue that to the sign casting.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Andy Keane

[St Enodoc]

10 hours ago, t-b-g said:

I always thought this looked promising but I have never built a GWR model and haven't used them.

 

You get a frame and a selection of etched letters in the correct font.

 

https://www.scalelink.co.uk/acatalog/Smiths_Components_for__OO__.html

 

They sell the etched letters as a separate item too, if you want to add them to your existed cast sign.

I've used the letters and they're very good, although time-consuming to apply (and paint).

 

When I get home from work I'll try to remember to post some pictures.

[Andy Keane]

4 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I've used the letters and they're very good, although time-consuming to apply (and paint).

 

When I get home from work I'll try to remember to post some pictures.

I have ordered a set up and will have a go.

[Andy Keane]

4 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I've used the letters and they're very good, although time-consuming to apply (and paint).

 

When I get home from work I'll try to remember to post some pictures.

I have ordered a set up and will have a go.

[Andy Keane]

Here is @Graham T's painting all framed up and hanging in my study (aka the railway pondering place). I am of course, chuffed.

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I've used the letters and they're very good, although time-consuming to apply (and paint).

 

When I get home from work I'll try to remember to post some pictures.

As promised:

 

You're lucky - this post still had its photos in it!

[Andy Keane]

3 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

As promised:

 

You're lucky - this post still had its photos in it!

Thanks for the link - I think your photos show the benefit of actually having three dimensional letters rather than a flat printed strip of paper.

I will post back my efforts when I have them - yours though are a hard act to follow - mine will probably be less good.