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vac_basher
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from memory the TM avoiding line that also gave access to the Marsh Shed ran along the back of Bath Road Shed at right angles to it and there was a turntable there as well . I dont know if or when that line was removed in which case from your description of the" bridge position" it could have been the Bath Road Bridge over the St Phillips Marsh line we are talking about

That's the one I was reffering to. :) Not being a Bristolian I'm not all that familiar with the surrounding area, hence the confussion. Glad we cleared that up.

How we hated that clock when it was first put up as it represented the fact that horrible new diesel depot had replaced the steam shed we grew up with.

I wasn't even awear there used to be a steam shed there untill you mentioned it. I don't think I've ever even seen any photos of that.

What year would you say the diesel depot was built? 1960ish?

 

Do you mean this (circled in red) where the avoiding line went underneath Bath Road?

Well done Peter, that is the one! :sungum:

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.

 

I wasn't even awear there used to be a steam shed there untill you mentioned it. I don't think I've ever even seen any photos of that.

What year would you say the diesel depot was built? 1960ish?

 

 

I think the steam shed was replaced in about 1962 give or take a couple of years . It had occupied virtually exactly the same site and area the new diesel shed was built on and had a very similar track layout . AFAIK that Steam shed was built in the mid 1930's when Temple Meads was massively modernised and expanded, before that there had been a Round House with 4 turntables on the site which originally was part of the Bristol and Exeter Railway Company's Locomotive Works ( the B & E version of Swindon) which built broad gauge engines . Surprised you have not seen any pictures of the shed as there are hundreds that have been published , most books on railways in Bristol or about the GWR seem to have a fair few as one of the station platforms being longer than the others provided an ideal vantage point for spotters or photographers to watch the comings and goings in the shed yard by being right next to it.

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Been getting the shed doors ready today, but oh dear me, what a terrible paint job I've done on them. I'll have to try to straighten the lines as best as I can.....

(The gap at the top was neccessary, otherwise I'd have to have bought another sheet of lined plasticard, and it doesn't come cheep. So I thought for the sake of a few millimeters I'd economise. However, when I add the track it might line up a bit better as I intend to do a concreat walkway around the tracks which will probably be 5mm or so high, and the doors will thence sit ontop of that).

In these close ups, even the Intercity stripes aren't all that great. :O

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That's it for today.... Quite pleased with how this is advancing.

 

You should be pleased, I think it already starts to capture the essence

of that corner of Bath Road.

 

Speaking of the aforementioned bridge, when built there was no road access to Bath Road

from street level to track level. At some time (in the 1980s?) road access was provided from the

small car park opposite the main Bath Road entrance. The route was created by making a steep slope

down the embankment side behind the site of the former West Signalbox, then a very sharp left turn

to take the road under the A4 Bath Road bridge, utilising the track bed of the lifted second track,

thus gaining access to the rear of the depot.

 

cheers

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Yes, I thought that was quite amazing too.

I believe a few years ago, when they knocked it all down, they'd planned to build a shopping center or entertainment complex or something on the site, however the economy turned bad so they mothballed the project. I don't know if the pits are still there at the moment but, as you said, they're certainly visable on Google Maps.

 

Anymore, one more photo from me.... (I was just messing with the sky and decided to leave it in :lol:)

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Although I have never worked at Bath Road I have been familiar with it since spotting days in the mid 1970s,

many happy hours spent on Temple Meads no.12 platform. Followed by 30 years of commuting to or through Bristol,

my train home usually went from no.10 or 12 platform, so I witnessed the sad decline.

 

What plans do you have for detailing the diorama? One thing that always struck me was that any time of the day or night

there were traincrew walking from the admin block to or from Temple Meads singly or in groups of 2 or 3.

I had thought a little cameo of 2 or 3 drivers in conversation by the building would look good, but then I note from your OP

that you want to be able to display various locos from varying eras, so I'm not sure how much the style of uniform or

hi-viz clothing changed over time.

 

Anyway, good luck with this project,

 

cheers

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Although I have never worked at Bath Road I have been familiar with it since spotting days in the mid 1970s,

many happy hours spent on Temple Meads no.12 platform. Followed by 30 years of commuting to or through Bristol,

my train home usually went from no.10 or 12 platform, so I witnessed the sad decline.

 

 

The subject of engine sheds is both complicated and fascinating at Bristol and would benefit from some in depth research.

 

Originally an Engine Shed was located at the Bath Road end of the Brunel Building. The structure for that must now be located inside the section used as the Brunel Exhibition Centre as it was right at the end of the platforms 12 and 15 . Those numbers being in use when I used the station a lot in the 1960's . The platform numbering changed to be as shown in the quoted post at a later date when the station was reduced in operational size.

 

The Bristol and Exeter Company had engine sheds on two or maybe three different areas of the station at different times and their works on the later Bath Road Site.

 

Bath Road Steam Shed was part of the 1930's rebuilding programme and was replaced in the 1960's by the Diesel Depot.

 

So thats at least seven different engine sheds that have been at Temple Meads and then you still have St Phillips Marsh , Barrow Road and possibly the Avonside Company Locomotive Works at Avonside Wharf to add into the equation.

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The subject of engine sheds is both complicated and fascinating at Bristol and would benefit from some in depth research.

 

So thats at least seven different engine sheds that have been at Temple Meads and then you still have St Phillips Marsh , Barrow Road and possibly the Avonside Company Locomotive Works at Avonside Wharf to add into the equation.

 

Also not forgetting two different sheds at Barton Hill, one MR(?), one GWR broad gauge, both of which are still in use, one for wagons, the other for Iocos, I believe.

 

cheers

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Here's a few photos to show what I've been up to in the past day or two....

 

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Painting the chairs rust colour.

 

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This gives an idea of what it should look like when I lay the track. Although there will be a concreat walkway around them (which was added to the real Bath Road in about 1990/1 I think).

I'd originally planned to go for some more realistic Code-75 track, but as I'm already over budget with this project I've decided to make do with some spare Code-100 I have left over from my main layout.

However I am going to space the sleepers out to make them look more realistic.

 

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I quite like this (Those doors still need some work though :lol: Will I ever get them just right? If I knew it would have been so difficult to hand paint them I would just have sprayed them)

Looking at old photos of the prototype from the early 1960s, I can't find a photo of an actual sign being attached to this frame. I wonder if BR begun to phase out the regional "hot-dog" style signs at about the same time Bath Road was waiting for theirs to be delivered?

 

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And here's the mystery we were talking about here: http://www.rmweb.co....nt-help-needed/ Although I'm not happy with the griders as they're too thick, so I'll have another go at it during the next few days.

Edited by vac_basher
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I've made a start on the concreat surfaces. I've only laid roads 1 and 2 so far, so plenty of track to lay still.

The filler will need sandpapering and then painting and weathering to make it look like concreate, but this (not very good) photo gives a vague idea of how it should look when complete.

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Running total:-

Cost: £78.20

Labour: 55 hours

Edited by vac_basher
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Had another go at doing the mystery hoist/frame thingy this evening. It's far better than it was before, but I don't know if I'm 100% satisfied with it yet. I've painted the railings since the photo was taken.

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As I'm going to model the area within the railings as hypothetical underground oil/sludge tanks (which I think it could well have been) I'm going to add some trap doors, from which pipes will exit leading to this sort of pump that I've built from parts in my junk spares box. My tiny pump is viewed here ontop of a Humbrol tin. :)

As it's quite an odd mix of parts I thought I may as well list them: The brass tube on the left is a buffer shank; the wheel is from a Lima Seacow I think; the black pipes are from a Heljan Class 33; and the grey "pump" is a break cylinder :lol: Although I think it still lacks something, especially on the right of the wheel. :unsure:

Although for sure, as sods law will probably have it, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if first thing tomorrow morning somebody tells me in the other topic (see link in my penultimate post) what our mysterious equipment was actually used for :drag:

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The track laying and construction of the concreat apron is proceading very slowly. I'm going to try and get that finished over the weekend. Then it will need smoothing and painting. :drag:

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Now, on to somehting else.... A few days back I mentioned I had an "interesting side project" on the go. I will now reveal what I had in mind.

I had considered detalining the whole of the interior of the administration building. But realistically that would have taken too much time and cost too much ( :nono: Note to self: remember, this is a budjet diorama). So I decided to go for just one office/room, which will be open at the back so I will be able to take photos "from inside the office" looking out over the depot. :sungum:

I didn't see the absolute need to work with 4mm scale furniture, so I sourced some excellent 1/50th scale (almost O gauge) furniture from EMA Models (Thanks tim@dy!).

Being a bit bigger than 4mm scale I think I should be able to detail the interior of the office quite well (clock on the wall, a picture on the TV, curtains, a painting on the wall, stuff on the desk, something on the drawing board, ect).

I'm going to paint it all up today. In the meantime here's a photo to show how my office should look when complete.

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Edited by vac_basher
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post-4688-0-62982900-1316881584.jpg

This was how our office was looking after the first coat of paint. Remember, this is 1/50th scale, so almost double the size of OO gauge stuff which I'm used to.

 

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I wanted to decorate the office in period (1980s/90s) style, hence the drab colours.

I printed the wall paper; carpets; drawing; painting; magazines; TV image; ect.

The curtains were made of plastic strip, as were the piles of paper.

 

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By an amazing coincidence the clock reads the same time as the one "outside" does :lol:

But oh dear me, this clock's a bit too big. I'd do it again if only I hadn't run out of ink in the printer.

I'd also printed out a beautiful painting of a King, but again this was a tiny bit too big, so will need doing again sometime.

Right now I'm just waiting for the paint to dry on the wires that will go behind the computer and the type-writer.

 

Again, appologies for the poor quality of the photos. I really need to get my tripod out.

Soon I want to place the office in-situ and try to photograph some locomotives through the windows of the administration building.

 

Running total:-

Cost: £108.20

Labour: 67 hours

Edited by vac_basher
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