Scrapyards

[narrowman]

On the narrow gauge section, I replied to a couple of comments (not on this forum!) about the lack of rust on some of the vehicles on my McHale's Yard Gn15 layout (www.narrowgaugemodelling.com). So I thought the pics I took might be of use to modern image modellers...

 

Here's some pics I took on 10th August of a scrapyard in North Wales, which backs on to the North Wales mainline.

Note the lack of rust, except where the vans have been torched. These days vehicles tend to end up in scrapyards due to accidents, mechanical/electrical problems and the cost of repairing them! If the vehicles are suffering from rust it tends to be hidden (inner wings, sills, suspension mounting points, etc).

Hope these are of use to fellow modellers.

The scrapyard opposite this one had a Mk1 Escort shell (in red primer) on top of an old container!

Regards,

Tony (Narrowman)

 

The North Wales coast line is behind the trees on the left of the third pic - an interesting way to hide the fiddle yard?

[narrowman]

I forgot I took a picture of the scrapyard opposite and here it is...

Interesting content, including a 1980s Capri, an old telephone box, some trailers, a dump truck, odd metal frames, a van and minibus that didn't look like there was anything wrong with either of them!

Narrowman (Tony)

[halfwit]

Interesting detail shots there. Might make a few people take notice, scrapyards are difficult to do realistically.

[John B]

It's a great point, well made.

 

Cars there days don't rust, and haven't, (not like they used to at any rate!) since the early 90s*. The advent of the "10 year, 100,000 mile anti-corrosion warranty" saw to that. Gone are the days of cars held together with Isopon and aluminium mesh...

 

* Even my early 90s Alfa Romeo - which in the 80s would have been a notorious rust bucket, had not a spot of rust on it when I traded it in for a new one in 2000. Plenty of stone chips exposing bare, galvanized metal, but zero rust..

[narrowman]

A quick update - I was in the area again today, so I took some more pictures. The 'primed' Escort Mk1 was on top of the office, not a container and the telephone box, dumper truck, Capri and vans had gone. It's surprising how quickly things change in scrapyards!

I aslo took another shot of the vans, which show the sort of damage one can expect to find.

[Richard E]

That Escort body shell is worth some serious money if it is any sort of decent condition!

 

Especially so as it is a 2 door. It started life as an 1100 or 1300 though.

[Horsetan]

I have the satisfaction of knowing that my car (now 27+ years old) continues to outlive the lot of 'em!

[narrowman]

Hi, Richard,

Yes, it's a two door, without a sunroof, just like my old stage rally car.

As you can see from the front view, it's in pretty good condition, but it does have the usual rear offside quarter damage, where you hang out the rear and collect a tree! At least you can now get decent modesl of a Mk1 in 00 and 0, but not in 1/24, which is one of the scales I model in. There is a Mk2 available with Group B arches though... a couple are due to appear on the extension section of McHale's Yard...

Regards,

Tony

[Jenny Emily]

I've personally always steered clear of vehicles in scrapyards because they never seem to look right. For a long time I couldn't put my finger on it, until I realised that fullsize scrapyards that deal with cars never actually quite look right either. I think that there's something about non bent or rusty vehicles piled in neat stacks that looks out of place in any scale, including 12 inches to the foot.

 

Interesting things do seem to turn up in the scrapyards around here from time to time. A Rover P4 turned up around ten years ago, and was placed prominantly ontop of a container adjacent to the main road. It was there for several months, and I can only guess it was advertising its presence to prospective buyers and would have fetched the scrappy far more than its weight as a crushed cube of scrap. There is also a salvage yard that handles nothing but old cars which seems to have them linger for around six months. A lot of people go there to buy parts (I got spares for my Volvo 850 in there) and I suspect only leave when they are a completely stripped shell.

 

One thing I have noticed in a lot of yards is that the first thing that cars lose is their wheels. I believe this is down to them being removed for part-worn tyres to be sold on and to avoid some contamination of the end cube of crushed metal when it goes for recycling. Engines also seem to get removed early on in a lot of places, and I've seen mounds of engines attached to gearboxes all oil-soaked and looking pretty down at heel. One cameo that might prove interesting for a model scrapyard is the way that residual fuel is removed from the fuel tank - usually by dangling the car vertically attached to a mechanical grab by chains and one very brave man holding a drum with a funnel in the opening under the upended car if the salvage yard here is to be believed. If the fuel is not removed, it can make for an interesting time when the car is crushed and the tank ignites. I was told that oil is drained by punching a hole in sumps and casings, but as the salvage yards sell complete working engines from otherwise scrap vehicles I believe it probably only happens to engines and gearboxes beyond any hope.

['CHARD]

I bought a very late Rapier (one of only a dozen or so that made it onto a '76 'R'-plate) for a few hundred quid which was my daily commute in the early nineties to Tamworth station - something of a practical classic in the free rail users car park.

 

Sadly the tin worm eventually did for her but nonetheless a well known Birmingham scrappie bought my fastback icon, which then sat atop a 20' Atlantic box at the gate of their yard for a few years. Not sure if it was eventually restored but I reckon five Rostyle wheels ended up in a batch of Chinese mazak

[The Evil Bus Driver]

Hi, Richard,

Yes, it's a two door, without a sunroof, just like my old stage rally car.

As you can see from the front view, it's in pretty good condition, but it does have the usual rear offside quarter damage, where you hang out the rear and collect a tree! At least you can now get decent modesl of a Mk1 in 00 and 0, but not in 1/24, which is one of the scales I model in. There is a Mk2 available with Group B arches though... a couple are due to appear on the extension section of McHale's Yard...

Regards,

Tony

 

 

Looks a lot like it's been put aside for a project to me. Judging by those inner wings some serious work has already been put in. Another thing that adds zeroes onto the price is if it was an automatic in a previous life as this means there is a larger transmission tunnel and therefore more choice of gearboxes.

[Jon_Eng]

As a thought, would it be possible to take a series of photos of a scrapyard from a passing train (as a paying passenger, of course) and use them to make a backscene?

[Baby Deltic]

 

Scrapyard?

[Brush47337]

Surely room in this thread for a railway themed scrapyard.

This is my embryonic attempt - plenty more muck and scrap planned

but - like the real thing this will evolve in time - and may yet include a car or two

 

Stuart

 

[narrowman]

Looks a lot like it's been put aside for a project to me. Judging by those inner wings some serious work has already been put in. Another thing that adds zeroes onto the price is if it was an automatic in a previous life as this means there is a larger transmission tunnel and therefore more choice of gearboxes.

If it's still there next time I'm in the area, I'll pop in and ask how much he wants for it.

He did have a damaged 60s Mini there a few years back - that was on top of one of the containers!

Tony

[narrowman]

As a thought, would it be possible to take a series of photos of a scrapyard from a passing train (as a paying passenger, of course) and use them to make a backscene?

 

 

There's a scrapyard alongside the station at Welshpool that should be visible from the platform, but the wall may obscure too much. I noticed it from a coach (and took the attached pic - at the wrong time!) and I've been meaning to call back and have a closer look, but haven't been in the area since.

Tony

[montyburns56]

An atmospheric shot from Ince In Makerfield 1974