GRANBY JUNCTION - Shunting Siphons for the Up Parcels with a Manor!

[phil.c]

Good one John, I didn't think you had any room left, especially for a building that size

 

Phil

[halsey]

You continue to impress and humble my efforts - but as in my recently departed working life I do still need something to aspire to - I "get" the hours of cutting "bad back" comment I'm just working on building 9 sections of Townscene retaining wall a very good kit but in this form quite repetitive although the production line philosophy does aid progress but then I remind myself this is a hobby and there is NO deadline.

Love that snow - it reminds me of my childhood in North Germany - not good for commuters though!

J

Edited February 28, 2017 by halsey

[john dew]

Good one John, I didn't think you had any room left, especially for a building that size

Phil

Thanks Phil

 

There are a few spaces left....I just try and crop them out! The layout is getting near 10 years old now so there is a growing list of stuff which I could and should have done better

 

Best wishes from Vancouver.....it's snowing again

[john dew]

You continue to impress and humble my efforts - but as with my recently departed working life I need do still something to aspire to - I "get" the hours of cutting "bad back" comment I'm just working on building 9 sections of Townscene retaining wall a very good kit but in this form quite repetitive although the production line philosophy does aid progress but then I remind myself this is a hobby and there is NO deadline.

Love that snow reminds me of my childhood in North Germany - not good for commuters though!

J

Sorry for the delay in replying. Thanks for the kind comments. I sympathise with your Townstreet project but I am sure that is one job that needs to be done as a single task rather than piecemeal. Nothing worse than a wall where sections have clearly different shades and weathering.......how do I know this! I look forward to seeing the finished result.

 

It's snowing again here......we live about 800' up on the North Shore Mountains but rarely get more than one snowfall per year.

 

Where abouts in Germany where you brought up.......I spent two years in Osnabruck in the late fifties

 

Regards

[halsey]

Sorry for the delay in replying. Thanks for the kind comments. I sympathise with your Townstreet project but I am sure that is one job that needs to be done as a single task rather than piecemeal. Nothing worse than a wall where sections have clearly different shades and weathering.......how do I know this! I look forward to seeing the finished result.

 

It's snowing again here......we live about 800' up on the North Shore Mountains but rarely get more than one snowfall per year.

 

Where abouts in Germany where you brought up.......I spent two years in Osnabruck in the late fifties

 

Regards

 

Finished result just posted ..............

 

Parents in Rheindalen and I was "schooled" in Wilhelmshaven mid to late 60's

[M.I.B]

Loving the warehouse construction.  And very envious.

 

Collett 0-6-0 is good but needs more grot on the running gear for a freight engine in our time period.

[john dew]

Thanks Tinker

 

The Collett is still a work in progress and you are absolutely correct.....I seem to have overdone the the tender and underdone the loco!

 

My weathering powders have arrived and once I have finished the warehouse....it seems to have taken for ever......I can start experimenting with them

 

Best wishes

 

John

[81C]

Thanks Tinker

 

The Collett is still a work in progress and you are absolutely correct.....I seem to have overdone the the tender and underdone the loco!

 

My weathering powders have arrived and once I have finished the warehouse....it seems to have taken for ever......I can start experimenting with them

 

Best wishes

 

John

It looks good to me.

[M.I.B]

Like to see how you get on with powders.  I really couldn't despite a few attempts.  so I went back to "humbrol and airbrush"

 

Good luck.

[john dew]

Regular followers will no doubt be relieved to learn that the cunning plan worked.

I was able to fit a thin 2mm fillet covered in appropriate paper as a sub ledge on the front. I then fitted the upper ledges, which serve as a foundation for the parapets, on a level surface all the way around. Thus solving the problem created by the five front columns being too short.
 

 

 

Its the finishing detail on Scalescene models that take the time but make the model.

10 double thickness parapets and 10 supporting pillars. Each pillar is made up 7 small rectangles of 2mm card.

You dont have to do the math......the next two shots show the pillar production line

 

 

I have made a number of the old warehouse kits. Its interesting to note the many subtle improvements that John has introduced. For example, with the old kit the cap layers were just a tad small so one always had to touch up the corners.......with this kit one set of flaps seems just a little bigger with a fuller curve.......result no touch up needed.
 

 

 

Pillars and parapets in place...........hopefully you will agree.....time well spent
 

 

 

The gap between the upper ledge and the pillar above each drain pipe is part of the design ........there is a very small drain header header detail that I have yet to fit.

The parapet cover layers in the kit are mostly plain but there are a couple that replicate an engraved company name. However the ones above were home made using an Office Libre spreadsheet. A cell is set to the exact dimensions of the kit cover layer. Appropriate font selected and background colour customised to match the kit. To my annoyance the camera has exaggerated the colour difference......its much closer in real life honest.

A bit of history........I have been concerned for a while now that Granby looks more like an East Lancs Mill town than anywhere I could recall in North Wales! So I Googled " Textile production in North Wales" and found that Courtaulds employed over 3000 people in three large mills in Flint the largest of which was Castle Works. Bit embarrassing really.....in another life, many years ago, I used to buy knitwear for Littlewoods......much of it from Courtaulds

Moving on......I added some scratch built extras......a Lifthouse/Plant Room (there is one in the kit but I preferred to  build my own)
 

 

 

A boiler house and signage.........lining up the decorative bands was fun....not!

 

 

 

A loading bay and canopy are supplied in the kit but they are only fit single modules....I preferred to build one that spanned both modules 
 

 

 

 

There is a lot of weathering to do and I need to add some people and product.

Castle Works produced viscose (artificial silk) marketed as Rayon and subsequently Tricel........I am guessing the input would be mostly chemicals but the output would be thread on cones......probably transported in cardboard cartons???.........any advice/ comments on what would be appropriate  for 1947-8 much appreciated

I need a chimney next to the boiler house. There isnt one in this kit.............I had just printed out and glued up the chimney sheets from the old warehouse kit and I got an email from Scalescenes announcing a new improved industrial chimney!

More next week

 

Best wishes from Vancouver........and yes it is still snowing.......unbelievable for March

[john flann]

Magnificent effort there John, and so neatly adapted/finished.

 

As I distantly recall the spindles traveled in tall cardboard boxes. How they were carried/fitted within I've no idea other than that there must have been some form of racking/compartmenting. They weren't heavy, bulky yes.. All I can really remember was seeing, I think, these large boxes/containers scattered around the backside of mills.

[john flann]

John, over my lunch I was thinking about this and it's over 50 years ago,but I also recall seeing drum like red containers about 2'0 diameter and 3'0 tall with a black top that lifted off. I think it more likely it was in these the spindles traveled.

 

Winter is still very much present here. We had a heck of a blizzard Sunday. Currently cold and brisk. Warmer weather, however, forecast for later this week.

[Andrew P]

Wow John, that's magnificent, some really superb modelling.

[john flann]

John, this subject really piqued my curiosity and I found this site:-

 

http://www.blogpreston.co.uk/2015/01/a-nostalgic-journey-around-the-former-horrocks-yard-works-in-preston/

 

Towards the end, and the last pictures are two showing what I think, must be spindles. And thus it would seem the drums I recall were used in their carriage.

 

Takes me back a few years to see this pictures of cotton mill Preston.

Edited March 7, 2017 by john flann

[M.I.B]

You really do produce fabulous buildings.  And the bigger they are ( 2 warehouses and the station canopy) the better you make them. 

 

Incredibly envious.

[john dew]

John, this subject really piqued my curiosity and I found this site:-

 

http://www.blogpreston.co.uk/2015/01/a-nostalgic-journey-around-the-former-horrocks-yard-works-in-preston/

 

Towards the end, and the last pictures are two showing what I think, must be spindles. And thus it would seem the drums I recall were used in their carriage.

 

Takes me back a few years to see this pictures of cotton mill Preston.

 

Hi John

 

Thanks for all the advice (I have written to you separately) . I hadnt thought of the spindles being transported like that.....I wonder if I could adapt Harburns Oil Drums.....perhaps a bit too squat?

 

I found the blog about Preston very interesting........how sad to see such a great industry reduced to rubble.....you mentioned Thomas Armstrong......he was the guy who wrote "King Cotton"..........a very appropriate title until the early fifties.

 

Best wishes

 

John

[john dew]

You really do produce fabulous buildings.  And the bigger they are ( 2 warehouses and the station canopy) the better you make them. 

 

Incredibly envious.

 

Thanks Tinker

 

To each his own I guess......I couldnt attempt most of the loco stuff you do. The beauty of large non working card structures is  that it is relatively easy to conceal all the horror stories.....not the case with rolling stock!

 

Twickenham Saturday should be interesting......as in fact will Friday in Cardiff......never ever thought I would be cheering for Wales!

 

Best Wishes

[john flann]

Thanks John, I'll reply to you later, meantime for the spindle containers you could use plastic rod, dowel or  the innards of a ball point pen (they're also useful for chimneys) they were painted a bright brown or red, that sticks in my memory, with black lids.

 

Yes, sad in a way to see that in Peston but it was time for it to be swept away, it had had hard use and was worn out. Awful working conditions too. Not all mills were so decrepit. I can remember some fine examples of proud Victorian architecture set in pleasant rural areas or on the edge of a town.

 

Armstrong's books were set in Preston, little did I know when I had read them earlier I would later be working in that and other Lancashire mill towns. Preston too was the setting for Dickens."Hard Times."

Edited March 9, 2017 by john flann

[john dew]

I am sorry for the lack of updates on this thread.

 

I am in the middle (literally) of getting my eyes sorted. I now have 20/20 distance vision in my left eye ......this would have been great when I was shooting and sailing but for modelling I would prefer 20/20 in the range 12"-36"........after all I do apply the 3' rule rather frequently.  Hopefully my right eye will be sorted mid April then I can get new glasses for reading/computor/modelling. In the interim, using my old glasses I can read and do broad brush modelling but computor work produces some interesting visual effects.....my apologies for the numerous typos.



I really should have done a wrap on this project in my last post because the building itself  is complete
 

The finishing touch was supposed to be the chimney.

I downloaded the new chimney kit and actually built one...... its a distinct improvement on the the old model but

 

................................... its huge:

 

Normally I crop out the background rack of Chateau Plonk .....not possible in this case

When I took it downstairs I realised that I had forgotten about the overhang in the Railway room

 

 

So for once I applied " less is more" on Granby........no chimney


At the end of a project I do like before and after shots

This was the start point in January

 

 

 

The objective being to provide a scenic block to the storage yard that worked through 90o covering the entrance to the room and the main view points within



Aesthetically, I think it may have looked more pleasing with one less floor.Having said that, the relationship between the milll and the surrounding terraced houses is exactly as I remember it.....if anything the mill was even more dominant.

The milll is only the first component of the scenic block. You may recall I relaid the Turntable roads to eliminate a 3 way point back in November

 

 

Here is a view from the entrance to the room showing the mill cantilevered out and the start of the new backscene which wil cover the TT roads

 

 

 

More next week from a very wet Vancouver (normal weather service now resumed!)

 

[M.I.B]

Such a stunning building. With so much there and so much going on on your layout, and the incredible detail you put into stuff, you don't notice a lack of chimney.

 

Hope the mince pies are sorted soon.

Edited March 29, 2017 by M.I.B

[john dew]

As always thanks for the likes etc gentlemen

 

Tinker...thank you for the kind comments and good wishes. I have to admit that I am quite pleased with the way the view block has developed.......the chimney incident was a bit embarrassing though ......wasn't helped by Mrs D observing she thought it would be too big!

 

I have worn glasses since I was 7 so now, at my age, having 20/20 distance vision in the left eye is pretty amazing (I cheated to get into the infantry....idealistic youth that I was)........ hopefully the right gets done April 13

 

Best wishes

 

John

[M.I.B]

I tried bluffing the eye test to be a pilot in the Army Air Corps - glad I failed by just a little bit - which made it look like I was unaware that I needed bins.

 

So a distinguished fail, especially having passed the aptitude test.

 

Glad I failed looking back at what I did instead.......

 

Good luck for 13th.

[St Enodoc]

I tried bluffing the eye test to be a pilot in the Army Air Corps - glad I failed by just a little bit - which made it look like I was unaware that I needed bins.

 

So a distinguished fail, especially having passed the aptitude test.

 

Glad I failed looking back at what I did instead.......

 

Good luck for 13th.

I had a similar experience with the RAF Aircrew Selection Centre (at Biggin Hill in those days). Passed all the aptitude tests then failed the medical. I've always wondered why they didn't do the medical first to save a lot of time, trouble and eventual disappointment.

[M.I.B]

Mine was at BH too - half the group did Med first then aptitude, my half did aptitude firsty.  A capacity thing I think.

[john dew]

I suspect the eye test for air crew would be somewhat more rigorous than that needed to become a PBI.....I only needed to remember the first three rows......actually I could even read the the first row!

Moving on......for the second stage of the scenic block I had to devise a new backscene

 

When I removed the 3 way point the exit track was moved closer to the wall and displaced the low relief back scene .....an elderly Bilteezi tenement  block.

I did think about extending the Townscene card cutouts that constitute most of the backscene but I am very attached to the Bilteezi kit.

 

I bought it on a UK holiday from Norman Wisenden's shop in Saddleworth nearly thirty years ago. Its featured (perhaps a rather flattering description) on Granby I, II and III .

To accommodate this piece of nostalgia I had to build a platform over both the the entry and exit turntable tracks
 

 

 

The track layout forces the wedge shape and I was more than a little concerned that the finished structure might end up looking contrived and unrealistic.

 
There is still stuff to be done but here are some work in progress shots
 

 

 

The new warehouse means that this section of backscene can only be viewed, sideways on, from the entrance way.....about 4 feet away. Not much point in adding a lot of detail .....more about creating a general impression

 

..

Scruffy back street wth a milk man delivering.........I have to paint some Langley child figures who will be playing on the waste land and that should do it........oh and straighten the wall......the kink is clear and obvious at 4 feet!

 

The retaining walls are Langley plastic moulds which look great from the front.....but not so good from the back. i discovered Scalescene have extended their building papers range. "Squared rubble" paper , mounted on 2mm card, is great for filling in the void at the back of the parapet wall and assoerted other match ups.

I hadnt anticipated that the tunnel wall in combination with the Soap Factory would "frame" the turntable /coal stage scene so effectively. I find ones eye is drawn to all the activity around the TT and the tenement street fades into the background.

 

I am told a Manor seldom offends



The same has also been said of a Grange.........so this last shot has to be considered very inoffensive

Bradlley Manor, now turned, backs off the turntable as Hardwick Grange hauls the Down Milk towards Granby and Birkenhead
 

 

Next week I hope I can show you the third and final component in the scenic block

 

 

Regards from a sunny (yes sunny!) Vancouver