Lancaster Green Ayre - The Barn Owls have returned.

[Ohmisterporter]

The rails were indeed interlaced. There is a picture in Ron Herbert's book The Working Railway volume 1 page 18. There is also a picture of the bridge under reconstruction, same page. Date given is 1963.

 

 

Edit to add date.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Ohmisterporter

[jamie92208]

I've got an article in one of the magazines about the reconstruction.  They did interlace the track and at weekends everything went via Green Ayre and Morecambe with reversals at both places.  IIRC they put a pilot on the back of the tran for the run from Green Ayre to Morecambe then the train engine just set off at the front again at Morecambe. There are some lovely pictures around of duchesses at Green Ayre.  They must have made a great sound climbing up to Castle with a  long train.    I also seem to remember that the new bridge spans were delivered to St Georges Quay via the Glasson branch which must have been one of the last workings onto the quay.  

 

The reconstruction date I was after was the footbridge that Leeds from the Morecambe Road up onto Carlisle Bridge.  I presume that it was done after the Midland lines closed.

 

However please keep the links and pictures coming they're all useful.  Now I must really get myself motivated and try and assemble the first of the gas lamps that go under the platform awnings.  I want to get them installed so that the awnings can be bolted down.

 

Jamie

Edited August 24, 2014 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

Well I did get motivated and the result is here.

just a prototype that needs some tidying up but the plan seems to have worked.   There are gas lamps under each awning bay suspended from a gas main that runs along attached to the awning supports with each, fairly substantial lamp on a branch down from a union on the main.    I need to do 20 of these in 4 batches.

 

the gas light LED's are from Helmsman.  The brass bowl of the lampshade is a punching using a die and stamp set made for me by Ray Clasper.  The cunning plan was to use insulated copper wire along the centre of a small brass tube to provide the link down to the lamp and the bras tube along the top as the main feed.  The tricky bit was the junction where the tube from one side needs to be soldered to the down pipe and the wire from the lamp needs to come out of the downpipe and be soldered to the next piece of tube to the next awning bay.   I have used a piece of 6mm Styrene tube with the various joints in the centre and slots cut down from one side.  This picture probably makes some sense.

 

 

The tricky bit was making sure that I didn't scratch the insulation on the wire whilst threading it through and attaching it.  however all seemed to work.  I now need to make another 19 of these and connect them up in strings of three after tidying them up a bit.

 

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

No pictures today but progress is still being made.

 

Last night at the club a full team assembled and two of the fiddle ayrd boards got painted.  They certianly look a lot better.  I spent the evening sorting out the two shorts on bpard 3 and got them partially sorted and energised the last set of points.   

 

Yesterday afternoon I marked out two of the bridge side girders with various heiroglyphics to show where all the rivvetted reinforcements had to be fitted.  Thsi was copied from the plans but with spacings slightly altered as the lengths of the girders are different to the real bridge due to changes in geometry.   The main girder are built froma  seriies of 6's high half in plates usually 9' long  but with some 6'.  Each plate was joined with one type of T girder witha  reinforcing fillet and there were other T girders between them at 3' intervals, inside and out.

 

Today i set to work with the RSU.  First job was to put rivvtted L girders strips along the top and bottom of the web plate to join the upper and lower girders to make the H shape.   Then the T girders were soldered on in their marked positions.  Finally a set of L girders were soldered along the tops to make the sides for an ashphalt walkway that will have the handrails fitted to their outer sides.  

 

I then tried to fit the first of the curved overhead supports and met a snag.  I'd made a mistake in the drawings and need to modify them where they attach to the girders.   I've worked out how to do it but after over 3 hours of soldering I called it a day.

 

If I get some more done tom orrow I'll try and post some pictures.

 

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Well after a good day out in Lincolnshire and a bit of relaxation I got soldering again this evening.   I have now nearly finished the first of 8 bridge girders.   As a result I have now managed to try out each part of the process of adding detail to the basic structure.  It's all made of 12thou brass.  The girders were put together and tinned by Tony Bond who also fettled, folded and tinned most of the detail pieces and all I have to do is to solder them in place, usually with the RSU.  Unfortunately Tony has had a serious Op and isn't able to carry on at the moment but is still a great source of advice and help.  He folded most of the small etches when he was in hospital, to the great amusement of the nurses and visitors. I keep getting phone calls from his daughter asking me to visit and take extra bits in with me.

 

Anyway this shows what I managed to do last night.

You can see the rivetted strips along the top and bottom and the two sizes of T piece that strengthen the webs.

 

Tonight I finally managed to crack the problem of how to fix the OLE supports on and this was the result.

I used one of the large T pieces, cut down the OLE support web and then soldered two pieces of rivetted angle at an angle to the OLE then trapped the T piece between those before finally putting a fillet of solder along the join on the web.   Once painted it should look OK.  I'll probably do something different for the other 7 but at least this method has worked.  Once I had made the sub assembly the whole thing was soldered onto the main girder.

At the top of the main girder you will see the sides of the L Girders that make the edge of the walkway.  This was asphalt and I'm thinking of using tile cement to make that with some fine sand on the surface.

 

The handrails were then fitted.  Again Tony had advised as follows,

1.  Thread all the supports onto the NS wire

2.  Solder the two end stanchions

3.  Work along doing the rest.

 

I found it was easier to do the short ones then to work  my way along doing the extended ones that brace off the large T Pieces.

This was the result.

 

Now the only job is to fit brackets on the inside together with half height T pieces to cover the visible portions.  The ballast walls on the bridge will cover the rest.   The first two small T pieces were added yesterday as an experiment. 

I now need to fold up some more half T's.

 

I'll take this down to the club tomorrow night and try it in situ.

 

 

Jamie

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

I took the nearly complete girder over to Tony last night and his face lit up when he saw it, after all the work he had put into helping with the design and devising construction methods, let alone the hours of folding components when he was in hospital. 

 

After an evening painting another fiddle yard board I put the bridge board up and tried the girder in situ.  I needed Paul's woodworking skills to cut a notch in the sea wall to hold the landward end but it then went in.

This shows the problem that then arose.  The piers are 7mm too long to fit properly under the girders.   After discussions with friends I decided the best way forward would be to cut two circular holes in the base and sink the piers into it.  The other two can be built to the correct length.

 

I then couldn't resist putting a couple of wagons on the track and seeing how it looked.

 

Jamie

Edited July 23, 2022 by jamie92208

[ozzyo]

Jamie, why not make all of the bridge pier's to the same size then just cut a hole (using one of hole cutter drills) so that the pier's can be sunk in the river bed (it would mean using a bit of ply under the hole).  

[jamie92208]

Jamie, why not make all of the bridge pier's to the same size then just cut a hole (using one of hole cutter drills) so that the pier's can be sunk in the river bed (it would mean using a bit of ply under the hole).  

Than ks Ozzy

 

If I can find a hole saw the right diameter I might try that.   I need a 42/43mm one.  I'll have to have a look in the garage, which might take some time.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Progress is still continuing.  I got the second span soldered up yesterday (1 East) so span 1 is complete.   On Monday I had taken the hole cutter with me and managed to cut the two circular holes in the right place. The support piers fitted spot on and last night we trial fitted spans 1 West and 1 East.   I had done some work on 2 W and 2E and we put all four on.  The bridge is really starting to look good.  I also marked where I'm going to put the centre holes for piers 2 and 3.   All in all a lot of good progress.  On a good note as well I had called to see Tony and showed him the four worked on spans which cheered him up.  he finally seems to be making progress and volunteered to fold and tin the remaining sub assemblies when I get the rivets punched.    We then sorted various boards out.  I took E4, E5 and D3  (The east end of the fiddle yard, down and these got erected and I brought E1, E2 and D2 home.  This leaves the team with various things to do whilst I'm on holiday for the next two weeks.   I'm hoping to take a load of plasticard and make the 10 cab ends of the EMU's whilst SWMBO is sunbathing.

 

Jamie

Edited July 23, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

Not too much to report since the last update.   I wasn't able to take any modelling materials on holiday so no EMU cabs got made.   It's a long story involving an overweight suitcase and me trying to keep the peace with SWMBO.

 

Anyway, painting of the fiddle yard has continued and last night I had a good couple of hours at the clubrooms doing some fiddle yard wiring.   On the control panel I had intended using the interlocking switches from Long Preston.  These work wonderfully in selecting the sidings at the press of one button.   Anyway I had to do one or two modifications to them and in the process managed to lose the vital, but tiny operating spring from one set of 5.  The switches are no longer available and don't seem to be manufactured anymore..  I did install the 4th set without it's spring but couldn't get it to work reliably.  Anyway after conversations on Monday I bit the bullet and decided to wire the entrance to the Up yard with conventional DPDT switches (4 of them).   I estimated at least 4 hours work but last night everything went well and in less than two hours I'd disconnected the inerlockers and wired and fitted the DPDT's.   I then put the power on and all four points worked perfectly.  I'd forgotten to take my test meter so couldn't sort out the LED's but it was a satisfying result.  

 

A set of extra etches for Greyhound Bridge arrived the day after we got home so I've no got everything I need for the bridge and that should progress.  The looming deadline of Warley is really concentrating the mind.

 

Jamie

[supersonic]

just about finished painting the fiddle yard last night whilst Jamie was away playing trams in Leeds.  Looks good as now the whole fiddle yard is a single colour; just have the rails to clean up and thar she runs as it were.  Jamies mod to the yard switches seems to have worked very nicely had a good play with them last night and discovered yet another point which needs attention wit the soldering iron.  For Jon Fitness, Jon if you are reading this a friend of mine modelling in 4 mil needs a little advice re semaphore signals.

 

Dave

[trisonic]

Than ks Ozzy

 

If I can find a hole saw the right diameter I might try that.   I need a 42/43mm one.  I'll have to have a look in the garage, which might take some time.

 

Jamie

Alternatively fit stubs in an X section to the top. The advantage is that the cross sections need only be to inside diameter width.

 

Hmmm... probably easier to do than to explain in writing!

 

Best, Pete.

Edited October 4, 2014 by trisonic

[jamie92208]

Alternatively fit stubs in an X section to the top. The advantage is that the cross sections need only be to inside diameter width.

 

Hmmm... probably easier to do than to explain in writing!

 

Best, Pete.

Thanks for that Pete.  I think I've got it cracked now that the first two holes have been drilled.   I need to get the etches for the caps that go on top of the piers soldered upt to try my solution but it seesmt o be feasible.   If not I'll have to ask you for a drawing.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Despite having a houseful of noisy 20 and 30 somethings this afternoon (2 kids plus other halves) and various church activities i managed to get some modelling done.  As Tony is still not up to speed I'm helping him out on folding etches for Greyhound Bridge.  I started tonight on what I call the half T's.  these are the t shaped bars rivetted to the inside of the main girders to strengthen them.  The outside are full length bit on the inner side they come to just below the ballast wall.   So tinight I cut 23 etches in half and then folded up the product to make 46 half T's.   It helped pass the time whilst watching TV with a wife whose a bag of nerves due to a hospital visit tomorrow.   It's all progress.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Back fro the hospital safely, SWMBO is fine, thank goodness and 15 of what I call the half wide T's folded up while I was waiting so some more progress.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Things have continued to progress.  last night we started to energise the east end of the fiddle yard and got the wiring over one of the baseboard joints sorted out.  I continued tonight in peace and quiet as I wanted to be able to hear relays clicking.   It all went well and after two hours I had run a test loco in and out of 9 of the 10 sidings.   One or two minor problems were sorted and I discovered that I'd got the logic wring on a couple of relays but they were soon sorted.   I also connected the Fiddle yard panel to the main panel and managed to test the signalling system.  This worked well and it was nice to see LED's changing on the other panel when the correct buttons were pressed.  Now all I've got to do is to sort the last siding out and then try out the cassette branch that the trip workings will use.  All in all a bit of good progress.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

I had another quiet evening down at the club and got various jobs done.  First job was to repair the legs on one of the fiddle yard boards where I'd glued one joint without reinforcing it with screws.   It came apart and I had to fit new hinges then glue AND screw it back together.

 

I then set the three east end boards up and checked where the yard office is going to sit at the Ladies walk end.

The white box is where the office is going to go, across the baseboard joint.   Behind it is Ladies Walk Bridge which will be a lot more advanced by the time we get to Warley.

I then did some wiring work to check that the signalling system would work on the down main and got the wiring run for the cancelling mechanism working properly.

 

The final job was to check various things connected with Greyhound Bridge.  I've been soldering parts onto the main girders for the last few days and have now finished spans 1Left and 1 right.  Span 2 L & R are well advanced and I've done some work on No 3 Left.  I took 7 of the 8 girders with me tonight and tried them in situ.

 

Looking along the track it's starting to look something like.  I'm also working on the other two sets of bridge piers but have got to find which safe place I've put two of the piers in.

All in all it's starting to come together.  Tony is working hard bending and tinning bridge parts.

 

Jamie

 

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by jamie92208

[jamie92208]

Just sat down after a day of soldering (and breathing phosphoric acid fumes).  At last all 8 bridge girders are now at the halfway stage with rivet strips, L girders and Large braces, aka Wide T's fitted. 

 

The L girders run round the top of the horizontal web and formed the edge for the ashphalt walkway. 8 usually do for each girder they are 110mm long and folded.

 

The Rivet strips were L girders that held the horizontal and vertical plates together with 2 rows of rivets on the vertical and one on the horizontal. These were half etched and just needed folding.  These were shorter and I need 14 or 15 per girder.

 

The Wide T's were the braces that held the vertical plates, that form the main web of the girder, together.  These were in 6' and 9' lengths on the original and these large braces were at the plate joins.  There are 7 or 8 on each girder.  The end ones are always 6' in from the ends and one is for the overhead support mast to be attached to.  The spacing of the rest was worked out from that.

 

Tony is busy folding some 46 more narrow T's which were the smaller T girders fitted at braces between the large braces usually at 3' intervals.  Both types of T's have their ends bent round at 45 and 90 degrees to clear the rivet strips and to provide a drainage path.  There are between 12 and 14 per girder.

 

Now all I have to do is to fit the handrail stanchions, the overhead stanchions (4 of the 6 are already assembled) and the half T's on the back.  Most of these are folded.

 

Girders 1 L and1R are complete so I'm now quite happy with the rate of progress.    The finished gurders seem to be quite heavy.  I'll have to weight them out of curiosity when they're finished.  then it will be time to put them through the dishwasher before painting them.

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

Just in from a busy evening.  First of all up the Leeds Grammar School to set up the Leeds Transport Historical Society stand at the Leeds Model railway Show.  Then over the Tony's house to deliver some more etches for bending and tinning, then down to the club.

 

Dave and I spent an hour installing two track switches that will enable the trains to reset the signalling system automatically as they leave the Down yard and the Cassette Branch. These were then tested and worked. 

 

I then plugged the main panel in and tried to drive something along the down main into the fiddle yard.  No joy with that but when i tried the Up Main it all sprang to life.  After correcting a point that was lying the wrong way I was then able to drive the train (OK it was only the powered tender from the spinner) from the Up Main into the Up fiddle yard and then hand it over to the fiddle yard controller.   This was the first time I've been able to do a hand over and is a significant milestone.  The Down Main appears to be wired correctly and should be working but I'm only getting 7 volts at the rail instead of about 14 so further work is needed.   I know that 14v is leaving the section switch so will have to track it and find the volt thief.

 

I was also able to test an indicator on the Fiddle yard panel that shows how the points that feed the cassette Branch are lying.  That also worked correctly first time and even changed over when I pulled Lever 11.

 

Anyway after all that excitement it'll be back to soldering tomorrow.

 

Jamie

[ozzyo]

Come on Jamie, photos of the girders are required, not just the descriptions.

 

Sound like its coming along well.

 

OzzyO.

[jamie92208]

Come on Jamie, photos of the girders are required, not just the descriptions.

 

Sound like its coming along well.

 

OzzyO.

I'll try to get some this week but two things have conspired against me.

 

1.  I forgot to bring my solder reel home from the club over the weekend so there was no progress. 

 

2.  I've suddenley got the chance to put the Castle Branch up at church so I'm going to finish the wiring on the Castle Branch Fiddle yard and travereser and hopefully the turnatable for the shed.  

 

I will try better in future.  Promise.

 

 

Jamie

[jamie92208]

I put the Castle Branch boards up yesterday and by close of play had got the travereser wired but not yet tested.   I had 3 of our Sunday school pupils as assistants in the afternoon which was great.  The 10 year old was totally bowled over by soldering and waa fascinated watching metal melt and solidify again to join two things.  I told them that I'd try and get at least a loco running by Thursday.   I suspect that as half term progresses there may be daily visits.  

 

In the evening keith Robinson came over and helped, while I worked on the travereser board and control panel he repaired some damaged track on the lead to the turntable.

 

The plan for today is to get somehting running on the traverser board and to do some more electrical testing.

 

Jamie

[Jon Fitness]

  I had 3 of our Sunday school pupils as assistants in the afternoon which was great.  The 10 year old was totally bowled over by soldering and was fascinated watching metal melt and solidify again to join two things. 

 

 

Hi Jamie. For a couple of seconds after reading that I was amazed by the reaction of the 10 year old to soldering. Then of course I realised that not many people either young or old would need any understanding of the principle of soldering any more! It was something I learned the basics of at school but I'm sure that no longer happens. I'm only 51 but suddenly I feel soooo old!

Maybe let him have a go next time?

Cheers

JF

[jamie92208]

Thanks for the comments Jon.  The three young people have never seen a steam loco and I had to explain the coal and many other features.  The soldering was just part of a great time.  The 10 yr old young lady will hopefully be back tomorrow and if her mother agrees I'll let her have a try.

 

Anyway there has been much progress today.  Keith Robinson  (of Kirby Stephen fame) has spent the day with me .  I concentrated on the traverser and by mid afternoon i finally had a loco (OK it was the powered tender off the spinner) running up and down the full length of the traverser and on and off at both ends.   All very encouraging.  I spent the rest of the day getting LED;s to work on the panel and then started to sort out some gremlins in the relay matrix on the baord.  As it's two years since I built it i've had to get my old grey matter stirring to remember what does what.

I'll continue with that tomorrow.

 

Keith fixed some damaged track and rebuilt the turntable approach, and did some repairs to a board that had blown over whilst being wheeled up to the chapel.   By this evening we were able to start on getting the loco shed sorted and at the right height.

 

While Keith was finishing off the loco shed I put power leads into the track in the coaling stage and connected them via a plug to the board.  All little things that need doing.

 

Anyway here are todays results.

This is a general view along the layout with the loco shed control panel now finally fitted with brackets and hung on the boards.

14 on the turntable with the shed in the background and 632 sitting half in and half out of the shed.

The coaling shed was put in place along with a few wagonloads of coal.

It's nice to see it with some stock on.  There are three objectives tomorrow.

a)   To finish sorting the relay matrix on the traverser board

b) To connect up the other electrics and try and run some trains in the shed area.

c)  To sort out how to construct the shed roof.

 

All in all it's been a good way to spend my birthday.

 

Jamie

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by jamie92208

[lezz01]

Hi there Jamie.

I have to say that Kirtley looks the biz mate

Very nice.

Regards Lez.Z.