Bacup - Mills in the hills

[Jason T]

In a way, I'm quite glad that the WCML didn't go up Longsleddale as it is such a beautiful and peaceful valley that the vast majority of tourists miss out; not seen too many walkers out that way either. We used to do a loop from Staveley, up Kentmere, over into Longsleddale, over Gatesgarth Pass and then back over Nan Bield (including shouldering / pushing the bikes up past Small Water) but they have resurfaced (e.g. ruined) the bridleway over from Kentmere and Gatesgarth descent to Haweswater so it's not really worth it any more - no fun unless you rattle your fillings out !! Not sure why they have done it really as Gatesgarth was fine as it was; maybe they are looking at opening it full time as a Byway again? (I know it has a TRO on it at the moment for motor vehicles).

 

Funnily enough, I love rural environments for railways but I only have space for an end to end and as such, an urban setting allows me to justify the level of traffic I would like to run into and out of the station. My first choice for instance, Sandside; sat on the upper reaches of the Kent Estuary / Morecambe Bay with Haverbrack Bank and Sandside Quarry behind it, some quirky limestone buildings, a run-down cottage, etc. Stunning setting but from 1963 onwards, when the line was truncated to Sandside, the only trains were the Target goods and stone/ballast trains, sometimes combined. These arrived loco first and once shunted, etc., reversed two miles down the line to Arnside to rejoin the Barrow / Carnforth line. So, I'd have ended up with a beautiful setting with one daily freight that reversed down the line when departing - I'd be bored and nobody else would believe the outbound move

[Jason T]

You may recall that a long time ago, I bought some 3.6mm ply to cover the non-railway related baseboards with but after finding it a bit flimsy, went out to B&Q and purchased some thicker ply. Well, waste not want not; I have started to make the formers for the scenery from the old 3.6 stuff, namely the hill the houses are sited on and the area to the side of the mill. I was going to use mounting board for these but with the ply being surplus, weighing sod all and being sturdy, I set to it with my craft knife. Once completed, the top surface will be mounting board, upon which the road surface, pavements, yards, etc., will be added.

 

They are being constructed so that the houses will slot in.

 

The area at the top of the street, with an access road leading up to the mill (the transition from gradient to level will be sorted out later on with my massive file). There is quite a large area at the top of the street, initial thoughts are to have a rough grass banking up to mill level, with a road parallel to the ends of the houses.

 

 

Aerial view of (most of) what has been done so far

 

 

The houses, in my mind, already look better with a 'road' out front, rather than a huge fall to baseboard level.

 

[devondynosoar118]

Looks great! Funny how the surrounding structures makes such a difference.

[Jason T]

After a lot of measuring, cutting and glueing, I have all the formers in place for the front of the boards (well, the station side anyway); still need to put the mounting board on top but that can wait for another day as I think I've earned myself a sit down in the garden now - I have been flitting in and out all day anyway, as I've been cleaning my bike after yesterday's coating of mud.

 

The backs of the houses that face the front of the layout. The gardens themselves are designed to be level with the houses, whereas the back alley climbs on an appropriate slope and disappears off-scene after the second (upper) house. I will need to do some jiggery-pokery to make sure that the rear gates open out on the level.

 

 

The backs of the houses on the railway side. The alley only goes behind the lower row because there isn't room for it on the upper ones; they will just have to cart their bins through the house!! As can be seen, the alley widens towards the bottom; this is because the track level baseboard curves out at this point.

The extension behind one of the houses is still to be finished off and glued on.

 

 

Access to the alleyway is tight on the front side, due to the street turning slightly as it climbs the hill. It took a lot of thinking and messing around to get the level of the alley vs the climb of the road right and even now, it'll be a sloped entrance (DAS Clay to teh rescue?)

 

 

Looking up the hill. After cutting out loads of spacers at different heights for the other sections, it struck me that I could just use one large piece of ply and glue it flush with the outside formers at road height, with another (shorter) one below to keep it all square. This will look much neater when the mounting board, etc., goes down.

 

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And finally, looking down the hill from the mill yard, although the flash has made it a bit awkward to make out what is going on here.

 

 

I still need to check that the thickness of the mounting board plus pavements isn't higher than the house steps (there are one or two that look a bit too close for comfort), although that brings me onto some questions - would a back street in a mill town in the early 60's have had pavements? Would the street have been cobbled or tarmaced? Tarmac or paving slab pavements?

 

Thanks ,

 

Jason

[Worsdell forever]

It's really starting to take shape now Jason, even with just the formers it's starting to feel like a street-scene rather than a collection of houses.

[Jason T]

Cheers Paul. It was annoying me slightly that the houses looked daft being so tall and I have been dying to get on with this task for ages. I had to wait for the final row of houses to be glued together before I could start though.

[Jason T]

In the end, I didn't rest for long yesterday evening and instead, have given myself a sore back, a couple of blunt Stanley Knife blades and a lot of hoovering / tidying to do, as I have now got the majority of the mounting board stuck down or laid in place. I say 'laid in place' as the new formers aren't actually attached to the baseboard yet for a couple of reasons:

 

1. The retaining wall. Not sure whether to glue the back former (e.g the upright) for these behind the scenery formers and then dress them / build the slopes to the level of the scenery, or to just build them on top of the scenery formers; both have their advantages and disadvantages.

 

2. As it is moveable (and the houses are made to slot in and be removable - see pics), it will be easier to add the detail, etc., away from the main baseboard, especially at the back.

 

Anyway, here we go, some lovely photographs.

 

First, the ground without buildings, which shows the difference between the stepped gardens / yards at the back of the houses and the road / back alleys. The yards look a bit odd at the moment but when walls, etc., are added, they should look right.

 

 

The same view with buildings in place

 

 

Down the hill

 

 

A view from behind the mill - I like the way it makes the mill look as if it dwarves the houses

 

 

Coming next: the formers and scenery on the front of board 2............... (maybe)

[Jason T]

Just noticed that in the view looking down the hill, one of the rows was not seated in it's slot properly, so I took another shot

 

 

I also took one without flash to see what it would look like (I have terrible lighting up here in my attic) and it reminds me of a miserable, drizzly day. Shame about the brick wall in the background though

 

 

Oh, and here is Ivatt 46426 departing platform 1 with a rake of Suburbans

 

[Jason T]

I 'photoshopped' the bricks out, just to see (MS Paint - as basic as trying to create a forgery of the Mona Lisa with a box of crayons)

 

[Mythocentric]

What an excellent thread this is. I think you must be setting a benchmark for urban realism in the north-west with your superb modelling. Surely one of the most ignored areas which is a pity because it had one of the most concentrated rail networks in the country with countless modelling opportunities. Stuart Taylors series of books spring readily to mind for reference. I have followed with great interest your construction of the terraced housing in particular and would like to make a suggestion. Would it be possible, time permitting, to go into more detail about your painting and weathering techniques? This is something I have never quite been able to pin down to my satisfaction and I, and I'm sure others, would love to know which colours and techniques you use.

As for the mountain bikes? Carry on sir! I did have a Scott Scale 30 which I'd spent £1300 on upgrading just a week before it was stolen and, sadly, never recovered despite being fitted with a tracker! Missed even more now that I've moved to the coast and have miles of seafront to ride being to old for the 'bumpy' bits alas!

[Ben Alder]

I like the "unflashed" effect on the buildings, really conveys that grimy feel of sooty brick and stone work. The whole thing is coming together very nicely, and I don't envy your task of all that house building, and in such a short time too. Following this with much interest, and admiring your work immensely. Keep it up!

[Jason T]

Hi,

 

my method of painting and weathering of the buildings actually comes from Andy C (of New Hey fame), although where he uses his finger dipped in paint and wipes it over the surface, I use a cloth and dab / wipe it on. Hopefully the following photos will show what I do, although the end result isn't the best as I ran out of enamel Weathered Black so tried acrylic instead, which doesn't work the same (dries too quickly). So, best tip would be use enamel paints.

 

First, I paint the whole wall with a thinned mix of cream, with a tiny amount of brown and grey to get the colour of the mortar, and also act as a key for the later stages and give a decent background colour for the areas that are missed. I do all the lintels, sills, etc., in the same way. The base colour of the embossed stone is ok, but it is a bit shiny and the layer of paint helps to get rid of the plastic look.

 

Next, using Sleeper Grime (personal choice; any matt brown would be fine) and using a paint stirrer, I transfer a small amount onto a waste piece of card and spread it thinly.

 

 

I then get an old rag, wrap it tightly around the tip of my finger and dab it in the paint on the card, before wiping any excess off - too much on the rag and it will fill the mortar courses.

 

 

I then dab / wipe it gently onto the surface. You may need to do this a number of times to build up the colour, but it is best to do a little at a time, rather than risk dabbing too much on and filling the courses, ruining the effect.

 

 

Once the layer of brown has dried, I then do the same with Weathered Black. Depending on how dirty you want the building to be is determined by how many times you dab the paint on. I wanted mine to be pretty sooty but also with the brown showing through, so haven't gone overboard.

 

Here's a shot with just the brown layer on, followed by another with a layer of black (the acrylic one, hence it looking a bit crap).

 

 

 

Hope that helps

[Jason T]

I should have added, for those hard-to-reach areas (especially pertinent when you are weathering buildings that have already been made), I dry-brush with the same combination of colours. Once again, thin layers at a time and dragging the brush gently in a diagonal direction to avoid getting any in the mortar courses.

 

I also tried the above cloth/dab method with the brick terraced house I built a while ago. in the past, I've always painted the structure brick colour and then dripped in a very thin mix of emulsion paint and let it make it's way through the courses, but this hasn't always gone well; too much and the emulsion gets onto the top of the bricks, too little (or thin) and you can't make it out. It did work well with a Townstreet water tower I knocked up a few years ago but with plastic, hmmmmm. The photo below shows the brick terrace, painted in mortar colour and then dabbed, firstly with light brick colour to a consistent level and then secondly with dark brick, slightly more sparingly to give some variation. When I get round to it (and this one is not a priority), I'll use the same method with a darker brown colour to give yet more variation, used sparingly again.

 

[Mythocentric]

Many thanks for your, as-usual, clear and informative information re weathering. I suspect I should have asked sooner having recently spent more than the price of a Stanier 4MT on sable brushes. We live and learn! I also like your use of 7mm brick for the factory and I've just raided my local model shop for copious supplies for my own factory complex which will straddle the entrance to the fiddle yard on my new layout. I look forward to your next instalment with anticipation.

[Jason T]

I've been quiet for a full week now, although that doesn't mean there hasn't been progress, just that it was much the same as I have been waffling on for over the last few pages. Basically, I've been making more scenery formers (from mounting board this time, for the road in front of the station), fitting and painting the roof on the new row of houses, and weathering other houses. All quite tedious stuff, I'm sure you'll agree.

 

However.......

 

The layout needs a lot of walls; dividing ones between gardens, between railway property and the rest of the World, retaining walls, around mills, etc. For a while now, I've been pondering the best and easiest way to build these and have realised that there is no easy way if they are going to be done to the same level as the buildings, etc. So, I have done a first test piece (that will actually be used) and whilst not fiddly to do really, it is quite labour-intensive.

 

Basically, it's mounting board cut to a height of 24mm (6'), dressed with embossed stone. The flagstones are Evergreen half-round strips (no.243 - .100") which luckily is the correct width, with a tiny bit of filing and tidying up of the embossed stone. Every 4mm along this strip, I have scribed a line across. The gatepost is .030" plastikard, with three strips being stuck around the end and a further piece on top, which is then filed down to give rounded edges. As I said, labour-intensive, especially when I have (as a guess) about 3 yards of it to do!

 

Here are the results of the test piece, unpainted. You can't really make out the distinction between the flagstones because of the camera flash, but it's there, believe me.

 

[Jason T]

Ok, so the walls aren't yet attached (hence the one next to the station's brick wall being a bit wonky) but I thought I'd post up a couple of shots of the sections built so far in place. The photos really highlight how I'm going to have a swine of a job to match up the brickwork of the station to the walling below and next to it.

 

Looking down the street. Houses / Cafe have only their first layer of weathering done

 

Entrance to the railway land, basically where the carriage siding is

 

Looking back out onto the road; you can see how far I got with the walls

[Jason T]

I was going to carry on with the walls (I even scribed the lines across the topstones, or whatever they are called, in preparation) but then I figured that to know how long the next section I was to make needs to be, I need to know exactly where the building at the end of that row will go. The building will be a low-relief mill, situated at the back of the layout and will be under the eaves and at an angle, which will call for all kinds of trickery.

 

Anyway, to keep up with the tradition of basing buildings on examples in or around Bacup whilst not religiously sticking to them, this next one is based loosely on Farholme Mill which, as you may have guessed, is just down the road from the Farholme Tavern (at least there is some continuity.......). Unfortunately, the height I have available will not let me model it as the three storey mill it is in real life so I have used Google Streetview to have a look around and have picked and adapted features from the building, as you will see. Basically, I took the multiple pitched roofs with centrally placed windows from one side, along with the cellar windows (which will be filled in as per the 'prototype') from the main street. Not much progress yet, although I have only been working on it for a few hours so not bad I suppose. What you will also notice is that the embossed plastic is partly painted; I did this a while ago when I had some left over, but obviously not enough to do a full sheet.....

 

Farholme Mill

 

 

Mounting board cut out for the railway side of the building

 

Where it will be located - an awkward area / shape to fill

 

Stone added

 

Lintels and sills added

 

Detail (if you can call it that......) on the arched stonework around the cellar windows

Edited May 23, 2012 by Sandside

[clecklewyke]

I even scribed the lines across the topstones, or whatever they are called,

 

Coping stones?

 

Ian

[Jason T]

I couldn't help myself; I got the camera out and took a few photos of the 'state of play as of today.

 

This view includes all the houses; all are now weathered.

 

The new mill leaned together; external walls have their first coat of paint on, and I have made a start on the internal walls that will hold it all together. I also did a bit more wall (in front of the houses, also with a first lick of paint)

 

If you were a spider and crawling up the back wall, this is the view you would get.

 

If you were to catch a train from Bacup, as you exited the building, this is the view you would get down Platform 1

 

Walk along the platform and you would see this

 

 

I did actually run some trains as well, but didn't take any photos of them. It's all about the buildings with Bacup

Edited May 24, 2012 by Sandside

[A Murphy]

Coming on a treat!

[Oldddudders]

We are told Rome was not built in a day. Bacup, on the other hand, looks from your progress as if it might nearly have been! Super stuff, not least adapting a legit prototype to fit your site. Love it!

[Jason T]

As some of you may have seen on my other thread, I was contemplating what to do about the retaining walls, e.g. whether to make a mould to work from or not. In the end, I have gone a bit bonkers and made them from mounting board, Slaters 4mm Dressed Stone, Plastikard and Evergreen .080 x .080 rod (which has been scribed & filed every 5mm to represent individual stones, and then had the edges rounded off). I still have a fair bit to do, not only to the section that has been started (it needs the coping stones adding, then painting and then fixing to the boards) but also to start the next section, which will include the bridge that the railway passes over.

 

I did get the awkward bit done though, a curved section that is also on a slope, by making formers from balsa that is attached to the back to ensure that it keeps it's curved shape. The wall is made so that the retaining section is angled inwards until it reaches railway-ground level, at which point the separating wall is vertical. The separators of each section are vertical from top to bottom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have added, not with a huge amount of care it must be admitted, stone to the back of the wall (that is out of view) as well, just in case I ever want to take any photos looking outwards

 

Edited May 29, 2012 by Sandside

[Jon Fitness]

Now I love that view! Looking out over the roofs (rooves?); very evocative.

I'm really enjoying this build, keep up the good work fella!

Jon F.

[Jason T]

As well as building retaining walls, I've also been getting on with painting the other walls (e.g. the ones that surround the carriage siding yard) and also the new mill building, the latter which caused a couple of headaches.

 

Basically, I am using SE Finecast 4mm dressed stone and the mortar courses seem to be a bit wide. As usual, I painted them in a base stone colour and then dabbed on the brown in the usual way but the courses really stood out, especially as there was such a contrast between the two colours (and that is before the soot is applied). So, I mixed up a darker mortar colour (Precision Cement Rendering and Railmatch Sleeper Grime) into a wash and, well, applied a wash basically. Once this had dried, I re-dabbed on the brown and I think it has helped somewhat. There is much less contrast between the stone and the mortar than there is on other buildings, but I think it suits the building and makes it look particularly grubby. Also, looking at photos of buildings in Bacup (Google to the rescue), some mortar seems darker and browner than others.

 

 

[rcf]

Have followed this for some time prior to becoming a member. Many years ago I worked in this area and it brings back memories. Love what you are doing and thanks for the 'master class' in painting your stone walls. I shall be trying this technique on my own new layout.

 

Rob