LNER Watercrane

[David Bigcheeseplant]

I put this together this morning for our Aylesbury project, it's a Mike Models Great Northern water crane although I cut down out the double S bend on the horizontal pipe to make it as close to the exaample as I could, also I added the bracket holding the guide wire out of bits of brass.

 

The leather pipe is just paper replacing the stuff that looks like shoe lace that comes with the kit, also I made the chain from twisted and flatten wire.

 

The real thing

[gwrrob]

I put this together this morning for our Aylesbury project, it's a Mike Models Great Northern water crane although I cut down out the double S bend on the horizontal pipe to make it as close to the exaample as I could, also I added the bracket holdong the guide wire out of bits of brass.

 

The leather pipe is just paper replacing the stuff that looks like shoe lace that comes with the kit, also I made the chain from twisted and flatten wire.

 

The real thing

 

Very nice David.Theres been quite a lot of Mikes Models stuff on ebay recently.Alas not the platform mounted GW crane I'm after though. How easy was it to modeify the pipe on yours ? I see plenty of cranked versions but not straight types of the type I'm after.

[David Bigcheeseplant]

All four watercranes at Aylesbury were different types, the Great Northern one at the end of the down platform, a standard GWR one in the loco shed, a weird cranked modified GWR at the end of the up platform and a Met one beside it.

 

I modified the arm by cutting filing them flush and gluing them back together. I need to add other details signs amd paint the white rings around the columns.

 

 

[mr b]

Heres me thinking water is water!, so say a GW loco takes water from a GN crane or vice versa, inc the Met, would the loco crew end up in front of the fat controller, no d'out each company would have its spys out ?

[David Bigcheeseplant]

Heres me thinking water is water!, so say a GW loco takes water from a GN crane or vice versa, inc the Met, would the loco crew end up in front of the fat controller, no d'out each company would have its spys out ?

 

I think any loco crew would take water from the nearest crane, although the Met water crane was disliked as it used a wooden cradle that held the leather pipe.

 

Before the second world war a parachute tank and crane stood where the Great Norhern crane was, the water cranes had white stripes around them three on the up platform cranes and one on the down platform crane, I have no idea what the purpose was!

 

David

[Steph Dale]

Before the second world war a parachute tank and crane stood where the Great Norhern crane was, the water cranes had white stripes around them three on the up platform cranes and one on the down platform crane, I have no idea what the purpose was!

 

David

 

So they could be seen in the blackout.....?!

 

Steph

[David Bigcheeseplant]

Another photo of the model, It seemed to be painted in a light green that weathered down although the colour has not come out too well in the photo,The top pipe also had quite a bit of bird crap on it too. The water crane in the shed was brown, although I need to find out what the colour of the other too cranes were, as the station was painted in LMR gulf red and cream.

 

David

[David Bigcheeseplant]

I painted the white ring round the column today.

 

[Steph Dale]

David,

 

It's my understanding that most platform mounted columns (whether of the canopy- or water- variety) had three white rings round them added as blackout markings.

 

In the case of your photo I suggest that the other two may have weathered to invisibility, but it should have three (and/or a tricky paint job!).

 

Steph

[David Bigcheeseplant]

 

The water crane on the down platform seemed always only to have one ring.

 

David

[Steph Dale]

David,

 

Is the mark I've circled on the picture (apologies for re-posting) damage to the print, or does it show the remaining shadow of a second ring? I've had a 5-minute play with the picture in Photoshop and it's possible they're all there, but faint.

 

On the other hand - with a picture like that few will argue

 

In the odd photo I've seen that shows these markings (mostly Southern/BR(S) and or KESR) there always seems to be three...

 

Steph

 

[David Bigcheeseplant]

 

It may well have had three rings although only one ever seems to have been visable and that seemed to fade out by the end although the three rings on the up platform seem to be clearly visable till after the end of steam.

 

I will have to chat to John Reed who has taken very detailed notes of all the changes and details at Aylesbury, including painting info.

 

his notes copied from his diary say the station was in pre 1937 brown and cream with possibly lighter brown panels. in 1937 the scheme went to holly and grass green and cream, the LNER wartime grey livery was not applied at Aylesbury unlike other stations on the line. there was a repaint again in 1946 in cream and olivish green including the water cranes except that in the loco yard that was matt brown.

 

Interesting was the use of bright orange undercoat to the olive green! c1950 the staion was repainted in to Gulf red and cream with repaints in the same colour in 1955 and 1961 although none of the water cranes were ever repainted after 1946 and retained the olive green to the end of steam.

 

David

[David Bigcheeseplant]

Looking at photographs of the water crane it seems that the chain was attached close to the hose then at a later date was moved up and clamped to the pipe where it curves round, Also signs seemed to been fixed to the column in later years too. With all these changes I feel that our model of Aylesbury will ever be corrert for maybe a couple of days in 1957!