Copenhagen Fields

[Siberian Snooper]

The gas board are digging down the road from me, I will see if I can get a couple of photos of the exposed cast iron,  the downside is that they aren't in London clay.

 

 

[Nick Mitchell]

You really need to partially encase the area around the lift shafts in Perspex or glass, and put some real soil/clay in there.

You could go as far as adding some earthworms to add movement/interest for when the underground services are suspended.

If they look a bit overscale, you can always say they're N gauge...

[2mm Andy]

1 hour ago, CF MRC said:

It’s all a bit of a quandary, really. The iron may be in an anaerobic atmosphere within the clay so would probably not rust much. Equally it would be below the water table for some of the depth (Gasworks is a very wet tunnel). There could be water channels around the shafts. 
What colour are cast iron pipes when they’re dug up?

 

Tim

Gasworks Tunnel being very wet may have something to do with the Regents Canal being a few inches above the tunnel roof at the South (station) end. I seem to recall that the canal is in a cast iron aqueduct there - the dip in the tracks to get the clearance under the canal is quite noticeable from the end of the platforms.

 

Andy

[CF MRC]

4 hours ago, Nick Mitchell said:

You really need to partially encase the area around the lift shafts in Perspex or glass, and put some real soil/clay in there.

You could go as far as adding some earthworms to add movement/interest for when the underground services are suspended.

If they look a bit overscale, you can always say they're N gauge...

Now listen here, Mr Mitchell, you’ve caused enough extra work with this building already…

 

Tim

[Nick Mitchell]

21 minutes ago, CF MRC said:

Now listen here, Mr Mitchell, you’ve caused enough extra work with this building already…

 

Tim

You're just trying to worm out of it now, Tim...

[Siberian Snooper]

Not quite as promised, the pipes in the ground have turned into yellow plastic, but some of the old cast bits were in the back of a truck.

 

 

 

[-missy-]

I think it needs something like this...

[CF MRC]

We did think of that in the early days of the layout, Julia, but I don’t expect this area would be good for fossils (however, the layout does have its own archaeology where it has evolved over the years…)

 

From the recent archaeological surveys of the new development lands, most of the ground in the KX area was made up with London’s waste, although the underlying type is London Clay, of course. I have been advised by a civil engineer that the iron would be:

“In clay, ugly lumpen surface with rust nodules. Mostly dark brown with bright orange to yellow rust blobs once the clay is washed off”.

I think that would be doable. 
 

Tim

[Sithlord75]

I remember reading something which said that what mostly London was built on was London, there having been a settlement since before the Roman Invasion.

[drmditch]

1 hour ago, Sithlord75 said:

I remember reading something which said that what mostly London was built on was London, there having been a settlement since before the Roman Invasion.

Like Ankh-Morpork!

[Sithlord75]

42 minutes ago, drmditch said:

Like Ankh-Morpork!

We need an Ook button.

[RJS1977]

13 hours ago, CF MRC said:

We did think of that in the early days of the layout, Julia, but I don’t expect this area would be good for fossils (however, the layout does have its own archaeology where it has evolved over the years…)

 

Plenty of fossils behind the layout, though ;-)

[CF MRC]

I have probably made the strangest object ever, in my time making models. It could be a cross between WALL-E, Donald Duck and Road Runner. 

Answers as to what it is, on a postcard to the editor…

 

Tim

[Sithlord75]

Powers the lift?

[NIK]

Banner Repeater?.

 

Regards

 

Nick

[NIK]

Device for swinging a bell (two electromagnets)?.

 

When power is applied* 555 or MCU** type circuit switches relay between one solenoid and another.

*A pair of leads go to sound generator unit or ** from sequencer/sound generator unit.

 

Regards

 

Nick

[Nick Mitchell]

Does it trigger the flushing urinals in the Gents under York Road when people walk past?

[Sithlord75]

32 minutes ago, Nick Mitchell said:

Does it trigger the flushing urinals in the Gents under York Road when people walk past?

They have a drain hole designed in, but cannot confirm if the plumbing was done with pipe or not.

[CF MRC]

Here is the lift mechanism on trial.

The timer circuit obviously will delay transit. The lift car chassis is made from steel and it is retained on the actuator by the two magnets visible on end - the ‘eyes’.
 

The car design is quite a complicated shape, but having it easily removable from the actuator will make life a little easier for making it. The question remains as to how much detail goes into the shaft lining as well as the guide rails for the car (which will also have a light in it). 
 

Tim
 

 

[CF MRC]

The lift car is taking shape. It’s built in two halves, one in steel, so as to magnetically locate on the pusher

I’m really not sure how the car would look on the outside - trawling the internet only gives so much info. The rebated corner held a guide channel / wheel? for the car with another, less conspicuous, in the far corner. There will be an omission on my model - the counterbalance weight; although I may represent the guide rails and ropes. 
 

I am also getting a laser cut ladder-like ‘doily‘ made in thin card, which should represent the shaft lining segments - at least this will help with the weathering. It‘s all a bit crazy this game isn’t it?

 

Tim

[73c]

Some period photo's of lift motor's and equipment going in around London Underground stations -

 

https://digital.hagley.org/AVD_1970176

 

There would be a main support beam going across the top of the 'car' to which the wire ropes are attached, sometimes 4 sometimes 6 depending on the weight the car needs to carry ( older Otis lifts had leaded ends and were a pain when doing a re-rope )

Guide shoes here - https://www.elevatorequipment.co.uk/car-equipment/guide-shoes older type T409 or T410 no nylon insert, just greased.

2 shoes on top 2 on the bottom

Guides are 'T' shaped, the thinner top of the T faces the wall and the other section is thicker for the shoes to ride.

Underneath the car, another beam with the shoes and safety gear, which dug into the guides if the main ropes broke.

[73c]

A bit modern but gives you the general idea of what the top looks like - 

[CF MRC]

Many thanks 73c, I was considering doing something like that. It would therefore seem that the beams would run diagonally across the car roof and under the floor, as the shoes are on opposite corners. 

 

As it happens, I had found the Hagley resource last night. There are some very interesting photos of Caledonian Road under construction.  It was much harder to get that sort of information when that model was made 35 years ago. 
 

Onwards and upwards! …. and downwards.

 

Tim

 

[bécasse]

Some Underground lift scans from J.P.Thomas' "Handling London's Underground Traffic", published by the Underground Group in 1928 (and therefore long out of copyright) and still one of the best railway books ever published! I believe the photos were all taken specially for the book and are thus contemporary.

I have also scanned this photo of the facade of Tufnell Park station which shows that that "UNDERGROUND" upright cuboid was sometimes attached to the facade rather than being mounted on the corner of the roof.

[73c]

Fig 61 shows an over speed governor, which operates the safety gear on the bottom of the lift car should the wires break or the motor over speed in the down direction or the brake fails. The 'dogs' bottom left, dig into the small wire rope and thus pull in the safety gear underneath.