RMweb Gold Nickey Line Posted January 29, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 29, 2012 Some of you may already have seen a question I posed in my layout thread here, about rainwater downpipes on Luton Bute Street goods warehouse, which rather oddly appear to turn inside the building @ 10 ft from the ground. This can be seen on a couple of photos from the disused stations site, here and here. Can anyone explain the arrangement? I don't recall seeing this anywhere else. Whilst I'm only building a representation of the building rather than a scale model at this time, and it's possible I may not incorporate this feature, it would be interesting to know all the same... Cheers! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stuartp Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Looking at the second pic especially, there's not a lot of room between the building and the adjacent siding so I suspect they'd impinge on the loading gauge. The intriguing question is whether they are a replacement for something which didn't impinge, or the result of an "Oh s**t" moment the first time the siding was used. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Nickey Line Posted January 29, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 29, 2012 Interesting thought, but I don't think that's the answer, as there's another pic showing a sewerage outlet that does go all the way to the ground! Didn't include that link originally as it doesn't show the rainwater pipes clearly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stuartp Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Ah. Not to mention the signal ladder. Haven't a clue then, sorry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Sheep Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I wonder if they come inside to join the soil pipes from the toilets probably not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
billbedford Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I think that the bottom ends of all these pipes have been broken off by something running in the siding. If you look closely at the photos they all seem to have water stains down the wall beneath the pipes. Interestingly the down pipe next to the signal ladder is intact, so it may have been protected by the ladder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stuartp Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Possibly, but have another look at the signal bracket pic - the third pipe along is broken off, but the mark below it looks more like a recess in the brickwork than a stain. Look especially where it crosses the darker brick at the bottom - there's a little 'eye of faith' required but you might almost convince yourself that it's a downpipe recessed into the wall. There's another pic of that bracket on the Disused Stations site looking the other way - it's at the very end of the building and the siding, so it's possible that the last few yards of the siding were slewed slightly away from the building to accommodate the signal. Or it was perfectly OK as built and the lines have been slewed nearer the building later for some reason. Could be miles off of course ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cary hill Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 It's certainly not unknown for the last 10 or 12 feet of gutter down pipes to be inset in the brickwork. I worked in offices in a converted cinema which had just such an arrangement down one side of the building as this side had a service/delivery road on it. It certainly stopped the pipework being damaged by delivery drivers without an adequate reversing skill set, although the same could not be said re the brickwork. Without wishing to encourage "Black Sheep", we also had a section of "re-routed" internal downpipe and some complex plumbing for additional toilet accomodation required. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 ... Can anyone explain the arrangement ... Not explain it, other than that I have worked for a short time in an industrial building, long since demolished, which had this arrangement. That building was originally rail served too, though by the time I was there the siding was gone and paved over as a service roadway. The slimy green patches on the inside of the walls where joints had started a good reason for not using this method... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Nickey Line Posted January 30, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 30, 2012 Ok, thanks guys; it looks like inset is the most likely, rather than running to the inside of the building (although it seems this can't be ruled out completely!) I wonder if there's a straight on photo somewhere which would be definitive. I have a copy of the book 'Branch Line to Dunstable: from Leighton Buzzard to Hatfield' but although it has some useful pictures it doesn't show this particular feature. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted January 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 30, 2012 We're looking at two different sort of downpipe for a start. The ones that either become inset/go into the wall are gutter downpipes as far as I can make out while the one that goes into the ground near the signal bracket is a toilet soil pipe which would need to connect with a foul sewer. And it might be that the gutter downpipes are 'diverted' to avoid a foul sewer running along adjacent to the wall? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Nickey Line Posted January 30, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 30, 2012 Yes indeed we are! As pointed out in an earlier post... ...as there's another pic showing a sewerage outlet that does go all the way to the ground! but the suggestion that the sewerage pipe might run along the bottom of the wall is an interesting one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I thinks it the shadow of the inset brickwork rather than water stains. Westbury and Avonmouth station buildings have the downpipes set into the brickwork. This has been done presumably to stop them being hit by luggage trollies or the like. In the case of Leighton Buzzard goods shed, I imagine it was done due to the limited clearance between the shed and running lines. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
new puritan Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Try these... http://www.flickr.co...tream/lightbox/ http://www.flickr.co...tream/lightbox/ http://www.flickr.co...tream/lightbox/ Mark Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Nickey Line Posted January 30, 2012 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 30, 2012 Excellent photo site, thanks Mark! Some useful pics for future reference (added to faves), but still inconclusive on the downpipe front. These would again hint at the pipes being set into the wall, though, rather than going through to the inside, so I think I'll settle for that explanation, in the abscence of definitive proof! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonB Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Down pipes recessed into walls is a fairly common ploy, I think. Had them at a factory where I worked (built in the 1950s), it avoided the fork-trucks bashing them! Also saw one today in the wall of our local Co-op convienience store, situated in the entrance to the car park, the two-story building carries a 1890s date plaque. Brickwork looks original, not modified to cater for the automobile. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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