Bacup - Mills in the hills

[Jason T]

Hi all, it's been a while but I am still here and have been slowly plugging away, although progress has been nowhere near as fast as it once was. Blame having a new bike built up, the slightly better weather, etc.

 

Anyway, the first task I progressed with was scribing paving slabs into Plastikard. I am sure that many of you must think that I am a bit odd for doing this but there is (sort of) method to my madness. I know that there are proprietary items available from the likes of Wills, Metcalfe and Scalescenes but I wanted to have them tailored to fit their locations (e.g. dropped kerbstones where required, proper curvature around corners, etc) and with regard to the Metcalfe ones, the gap inbetween each slab always looks like a crevice to me; never mind 'step on a line and you marry a spider', more a case of 'step on a line and you plunge to your death'. Anyway, once I had sussed out the best way to scribe, chamfer, etc., the slabs and kerbstones, it doesn't really take as long as one might expect. Bizarrely, the best method I have found is to use the edge of a small and thin steel rule.

 

So far, I have done about 30% of what will be the eventual amount needed and what is done isn't painted, so photographing them doesn't really show much but you can just about make out the paving slabs on the corner of this one. The missing rectangle is where the cellar hatch will be placed, for when the draymen deliver all the lovely beer. It has also highlighted that I will need to raise the ground beneath the pub as stupidly, I hadn't factored in the height of the pavement.

 

The next area I have been working on is the continuation of the retaining wall along the front of the railway. This is almost complete at the front (with just the capping stones to put on) but the rear still needs to be done; this will be much easier because the 'face' of it will be out of sight and out of mind. I am also now at the point where I can start to construct the bridge that bisects the layout.

 

Once again, I encountered a few previously unplanned issues here, which resulted in having to trim, file and reshape the front of the trackbed. Another quandry is how to affix the retaining wall to the trackbed but still enable it to be removed if required. I haven't tested it out yet but I have bought a roll of velcro and the plan is to affix the wall to the board with this. Time will tell I guess....

 

 

And finally (for now), I have made a start on the first bit of landscaping that will not be stone, tarmac, ballast, etc. This is for the area between the road and the edge of the goods yard, and will be just wasteland covered with weeds, brambles, etc. This land falls gently away from the railway retaining wall and the goods yard and is edged with yet another retaining wall, dug out and built when the houses were constructed. The retaining wall here will be represented with the Wills stuff, the bit in the photo just leaned up against the partly finished land for now. The wall itself is angled in towards the top. With much of it being white at the moment, it's not that clear.

 

 

Hope you've enjoyed this scrappy update

[Physicsman]

Good to see you back Jason! With regard to the paving, I think it's a great idea. I've used a lot of Metcalfe and Wills paving in the past, but my lack of skill meant it never quite fitted "properly". I like the idea of scribing the plastikard as it's a medium I'm becoming familiar with. I'll certainly give it a go for the pavement at the rear of my layout (when we get there!).

 

Jeff

[Mythocentric]

Welcome back! Glad to see you (and the bikes survived intact!). I recently started a new thread to provide accurate colour references for forum members to use so, hopefully, I can help out with the pavements and other stuff in some way.

 

http://www.rmweb.co....__fromsearch__1

 

They are on the agenda next (stone, concrete and tarmac). In fact I had hoped to get out today and make a start but, as usual, when I opened the door it was whizzing down. Meanwhile,

[Jason T]

Fantastic, that will come in very handy although are (or maybe more relevantly, were) paving slabs different colours in different parts of the country? For instance, in the 50's and 60's, would they be stone or concrete and if the former, would they be the browner hue of the local stone? Am I thinking about this too much? Probably....

[Warspite]

Don't know how I missed this one until now, but really like what you are doing.

 

I think the name 'Bacup' caught my eye as I've just finished reading a really interesting article on Rochdale's railways (including the line to Bacup) in the July issue of Steam Days. Would love to model one of those huge rail-served warehouses ........

 

Stephen

[Jason T]

I've had a rethink already, although it is more reverting to an idea I had a while ago but abandoned for some reason. Seeing Larry's Greenfield has spurred me on a bit.

 

Basically, on the right hand side of the road bridge, between that and the goods yard, I wasn't overly happy with the 'box' of land that I started on yesterday as it just looked a bit stunted and didn't really make sense. After all, if the railway was built on an embankment with retaining walls, and they had cut into a hillside to do so, unless the houses were built simultaneously with the railway, then why would they have cut away at the hillside and built another retaining wall? Or, if the house was a later addition and the builders had cut into the hillside to make room for it, then why would the railway's retaining wall extend downwards, below ground level?

But, what if the railway company had built an access road / path up to the goods yard, and purposefully left space for a building?

 

And so........

it's a bit steep, needs cladding, needs a lot of tidying up and the road is a bit too steep really, but I'm thinking that this may work better. The Wills walling won't be used here now (it would look out of place) but what do you all think? An improvement? The hillside I knocked together yesterday will be cut back to fit.

 

Before (sort of)

 

After

 

 

 

My hand is there to hold the 'wall' in place, in it's curved position.

[Jason T]

Two updates in one day !

 

I got a bit carried away with various embossed plastic sheets, mounting card and glue. Not finished yet (by a long shot) but here is the new-look bit between the bridge and the goods yard, complete with steep road

 

 

 

 

[Removed a/c]

Looks great before and after! but I do like the addition of the road.

[Mythocentric]

Looks good with the new road to the goods yard. Typical of the cramped appearance of many stations built on a limited amount of land. As for the pavements I'm still trying to get out and see, but it insists on raining a couple of hours either side of noon when I usually work for colour accuracy. Having studied a few thousand photo's it appears that paved areas usually had a grey appearance, perhaps indicating a harder-wearing surface but I'll have to confirm that. Hopefully the thread will attract contributions from around the country to provide a better idea of regional variations but it's early days yet. It's not a hard task, just one that tends to attract strange remarks (I'm not sneaky enough!), also feet can be quite the little attention-seekers when you aim the camera it that direction, but I've learned to ignore them, the little devils!

[Mythocentric]

Made it! I've posted some photo's of stone and concrete paving on my thread (link in post #303 above). I also gleaned the following info from this website:

http://www.igg.org.uk/gansg/index.htm#apps

 

'Tarmac roads appeared in towns from around 1905. Stone paving was in use (with granite being favoured) until concrete slabs were introduced in the 1940's and becoming the norm after WW2. Tarmac pavements were not a common sight prior to the 1950's'

 

From my own recollection the street I lived on in Blackburn still had stone pavements and granite setts until the road was relaid in the early 60's with the pavements following some time after (around 65-66) when they were relaid with tarmac.

 

If you haven't already discovered this website incidentally, It's well worth bookmarking, because it contains a wealth of information for modellers covering both sides of the railway fence. The guy who compiled it, a railway modeller himself, deserves sainthood!

[Mythocentric]

Third time pays for all! I uploaded one of my stone pavement photo's here http://scalemodeldb.com and sampling various areas to find matching paint colours which gave me Humbrol 140 Matt Gull Grey, 145 Matt Medium Grey and 94 Matt Brown Yellow. I've just tried a rough test on a piece of Wills paving as follows: Paint overall with Gull Grey, pick out random slabs (about 20%) with Medium Grey then very lightly dry brush a few of each shade with Brown Yellow (just the odd one). You would probably want to substitute Railmatch Sleeper Grime for the Humbrol Brown Yellow!. The idea is to provide a subtle tie-in colour to the buildings! Finally overcoat with Mattcote to which has been adding a drop of Matt Black which helps blend it all together. I must admit for a first attempt with the above website I'm impressed enough to use it on my own layout Thornton (More northern grime!) Hope this will be of service.

 

Regards.

 

Bill D.

[Jason T]

Thanks for that, really useful. I'm nearing the stage of completing the pavements and will give them an undercoat of grey primer first and then use the colours you've suggested and see how it comes out. I have been progressing a fair bit with a few areas that will most likely go unnoticed but will eventually tie everything together; photos to follow when I have something worthwhile to show.

[Jason T]

As mentioned earlier, here is a bunch of photos of recent progress. I've put descriptions of what is going on above the photos as with some, it may not be clear.

 

Pavements first. As mentioned previously, the pavements are all scribed into .050 plastikard, to represent paving slabs, and all are yet to be painted. Kerbstones and slabs are scribed in, which was about as much fun as it sounds. So far, I have scribed 4 metres worth, with plenty more to do. However, I have enough done to be able to paint up and attach around the buildings that have been made so far, helping to seat them properly and tie them in.

Thing is, because they are currently white and the flash on my cheapo camera is a bit harsh, all you can see is strips of white (unless you look carefully). None are glued down yet and won't be until painted, etc.

 

 

Retaining walls next. I have a lot of these to do as well, not much progress other than a first lick of base colour on the railway one, and the ones next to the access road to the mill have been started. With these, I may put a scruffy grass / mud banking in front of this wall as the are between the ends of the terraced houses and the wall is a bit large (an oversight).

 

 

Finally, topography. The area by the goods yard has moved on ever so slightly, with a bit of tidying up, capping stones added to walls, etc. The other area which I started (but had no real intention to) was beside the houses that sit alongside the station building. Although this is completely out of sight, I had some scraps of card knocking about, some bits of embossed plastikard, etc., so decided to put in an alleyway to access the mill from the station road. The path is cobbled (sort of) using some old bits of granite sett plastikard left over from my previous layout. Although it's out of sight, I think it ties this area in nicely, although will look better (in my opinion) when I've finally added boundary walls in around the mill's yard.

 

 

 

(not properly seated yet - it needs painting, etc., first)

[Physicsman]

Hi Jason. Yep, the alleyway looks good and ties a few features together. I like the corner shop, too. I'm old enough to remember my parent's first house - in a series of parallel terraced streets. There were corner shops on every corner - the sweet shop being my favourite!

 

You've probably mentioned this previously, and it's a while since I read through the thread, but - is the whole set up based on a real place, or are you using a bit of artistic licence but building the structures true to prototype? It does look fantastic.

 

Best wishes,

 

Jeff

[Jason T]

Hi Jeff,

 

the layout is a bit of a mix of prototype and freelance really.

 

The track plan is based on Bacup, with the junction not being present (assumed to be off-stage), a lot less sidings in the goods yard and a couple of other changes, but the general principles are there. I looked at the OS maps for the early 60's and then using Anyrail, put in what I could fit using Peco track. I then took that template and adapted it in Templot.

 

The topography is quite different; Bacup station was on a level site which dropped off towards the platform ends where it crossed the River Irwell, whereas my interpretation is a real hotch-potch which will hopefully look much better once I have added the scenery behind the railway (the corner that has so far ecaped the camera).

 

The buildings are all based on examples in or around Bacup, although none other than the station are in their actual locations (most of them are based on examples I 'found' in Newchurch, just down the road from the station). The goods yard is from the furthest afield, being based on that which stood at Whitworth (the original had one wooden wall, whereas mine is all stone built).

 

Strictly speaking, I should be using a different name for the layout as it bears little resemblance to the real location but it's kind of stuck now and I can't imagine referring to it as anything else.

[Physicsman]

 

The buildings are all based on examples in or around Bacup, although none other than the station are in their actual locations (most of them are based on examples I 'found' in Newchurch, just down the road from the station). The goods yard is from the furthest afield, being based on that which stood at Whitworth (the original had one wooden wall, whereas mine is all stone built).

 

Strictly speaking, I should be using a different name for the layout as it bears little resemblance to the real location but it's kind of stuck now and I can't imagine referring to it as anything else.

 

I think the fact that you did your research and are building houses etc based on local examples gives you every right to call it Bacup. Sometimes, slavish adherence to the prototype can be a bit tedious. For example, imagine if your station was surrounded by an area of dereliction, where terraced properties used to be. It wouldn't make for an attractive model if the station was isolated - you've put the houses back where they might once have been. Freelance or not, it's very effective.

 

Kirkby Luneside will have one row of houses to the rear of the station - a much simpler proposition than what you have!!

 

Cheers,

 

Jeff

[Jason T]

More done today. After being quite chuffed with the alleyway, I decided to put in the back alley and garden walls for the houses as well. Still need to add capping stones to the walls, gateposts, gates and then paint (and weather) them, but here's how it currently looks:

 

 

[Physicsman]

I see you've even added the lead flashings between the main wall and extension. Very good! What did you use for that - 10 thou plastikard?

 

Jeff

[Jason T]

150gsm card / paper, folded and cut very carefully and then glued into place even more carefully; I've added to most of the chimney stacks too (station building still needs it doing). Now you've pointed it out, I've noticed that it still needs to be painted in the correct shade (and that white bit painting over)

 

It's all a bit obsessive really

[Physicsman]

150gsm card / paper, folded and cut very carefully and then glued into place even more carefully; I've added to most of the chimney stacks too (station building still needs it doing). Now you've pointed it out, I've noticed that it still needs to be painted in the correct shade (and that white bit painting over)

 

It's all a bit obsessive really

 

No, not obsessive - it's pride in the job! You may get a few more visitors in the near future as I've given Bacup a shameless plug in my thread! Jason, our layouts may be different in their contexts, but I love the miniature townscape you've created here.

 

Thanks for the info. re. the flashings etc.

 

Jeff

[Southernboy]

Coming along nicely Sandside.

 

It's not easy getting all these angles and gradients bedded-in and 'looking right' as separate sections, but you're doing a superb job of it. Very atmospheric and convincing

Edited September 20, 2012 by Southernboy

[Mythocentric]

I've got to second (third?) Physicsman and Southernboy. This really is building into something very special. As a northener myself I can say that not only is the appearance right but also that indefinable 'feeling' for a place in time is beginning to show. I can almost see me and my mates playing footie in the street. Superb!

[Jason T]

Not sure if it's of any interest, but the below shows the method of building the retaining walls (these are for the back of the layout, completely out of sight, so will not be fully detailed). Main former is mounting board, the sloped wall is created using other strips of mounting board layered on top of each other, uprights are plastikard with embossed stone on, wall itself is the same embossed stone and all extras (additional course of stones, capping stones, etc) are Microstrip that is scribed and filed appropriately.

 

Once again, it takes time and there are commercial products available, although this method allows me to tailor them to fit.

 

[Andy C]

Some good progress being made there Jason, really need to get my mojo into gear, its embarrasing!

[Worsdell forever]

Very much of interest, yes, there are commercial/ready made retaining walls available and usually that is what they look like. Yours look like yours (if you see what I mean).