Bath Queen Square

[queensquare]

A free Saturday and mild weather meant I was able to spend a few hours down the workshop.

First job was to deal with the slight hump at the board joint between Mays brickworks and the co-op siding which had always irritated me so a coat of water and a ten minute wait allowed me to easily lift the three points and about 4’ of  track so I could get in with the block plane. The pcb points lifted with no issues and the plastic based easitrac only suffered minor damage which is easily replaced.

 

 

Continuing down Bath bank I next tackled the last obstacle before Bath Junction - S&D bridge No 1. Having just re- read the delightful Donald Beale memoir mentioned a few pages back, the Red Bridge gets mentioned on a couple of occasions. In addition, the print from the Bath Chronicle I have has ‘Red Bridge shortly before demolition’ written on the back so before sorting the levels (actually rising at 1:70) and fixing the bridge down I bit the bullet and sprayed  it in red undercoat, representing red lead. I think I like it - it’s easily repainted if a colour picture from the 1920s turns up!

 

 

I also fixed the columns Andy Grand kindly printed for me. Andy had helpfully printed them hollow so it was an easy job to insert pegs and glue them in holes under the deck. Some weathering will bring out all the lovely rivet detail.

The ply road bed under the bridge  is set about a 1/4 inch low to allow for some sort of working roadway - exactly what is undecided but I really want some Bath trams shuffling up and down the lower Bristol road!

 

 

Finally, before heading up to the house to cook a curry, I flashed some sleeper brown over the recently built shed buildings which will give a good base for further painting.

 

 

All in all, an enjoyable and productive day.

 

Jerry

[queensquare]

Managed to grab a few more hours in the workshop this afternoon and got my original plans out for the Junction end to see what tweaking I would have to do following the modifications. The answer, thankfully, is not much. Followers of this diary thread will note my very old school pencil, bendy stick and wall paper version of templot!

Tracklaying soon!

 

Jerry

 

[queensquare]

Back in front of the fire this evening working on a project I’m taking to next weekends Missenden buildings course. Traditional card construction, many thanks to Will Powell for laser cutting the parts. 
 

Jerry

 

[Ian Smith]

Crikey Jerry, I hope you didn’t draw up the artwork in CAD yourself as that will do your street cred no good at all!! 😂

[queensquare]

51 minutes ago, Ian Smith said:

Crikey Jerry, I hope you didn’t draw up the artwork in CAD yourself as that will do your street cred no good at all!! 😂

Don’t  worry Ian my street cred is safe, I did some work with a pencil and ruler, the clever stuff was done by Will 👍

I gave Will some drawings and photos and he presented me with a beautiful filigree of card for the outer walls and framing.
All I’ve got to do is add the missing bits and nail  it all together! 😊

Jerry

[queensquare]

A bit of trimming and a few side and end pairs stuck together this evening allowed me to prop all the bits up. It’s a really big building by 2mm standards, a real barn of a place.

That lovely, intricate, timber framing that goes about halfway down on the inner wall should go all the way and Will provided enough to do it all with a bit to spare but he didn’t take into account my making a complete pigs ear of the first bit I tried to put in!! Thankfully, the inside of the shed will only be visible for the first few inches at best so I used a spare bit of exterior framing to make up the shortfall.

 

Jerry

 

[Steve Smith]

That looks fantastic - great to see it all done.   That's about the same length as my 7mm one that had just seven bays!   

 

As I understand it the shed had been extended several times and photos show at least two variations of the bracing along the top, although I could never tell which bit of the shed was shown in any photo.   A change of framing style half way down could be a happy accident!

[queensquare]

I put the basic shell of the S&D shed together this evening making great use of squares, straight edges and drawing pins to keep everything where it should be whilst the glue set. The notched strips across the top stop the walls bowing out - until at least some of the forest of supports inside are added. Track will be laid in the rebates in the floor.

Looking  through the doors, I think Steve is spot on about the bracing, it will be more than busy enough for the small amount that will be visible when finished.

I'm not sure yet exactly how I shall tackle the roof - it needs to be removable for obvious reasons!

 

Jerry

 

 

[queensquare]

Yesterday at Missenden I managed to get four lengths of track soldered up and glued into the recess in the floor. This reminded me just how slow and tedious track making was, even without chair plates, before Easitrac!

The intention  is to only power the first 9” or so of track in the shed and also only cut the pit at the front. A quick experiment with No81 on No2 road to see how much of the interior would be visible suggests it’s not a lot - even before the roof goes on.

 

Jerry

 

[VRBroadgauge]

That's a half decent size shed Jerry - nearly Australian in scale. :)

 

A question. I take it the rails were in concrete in the original. How are you tackling this and the pits? I've tinkered with a pit or two on a much less grand scale and I found it a bit tricky. I have a ridiculous masonry shed that I plan to do at a later stage and I'd be interested to know what you plan.

[queensquare]

4 hours ago, VRBroadgauge said:

That's a half decent size shed Jerry - nearly Australian in scale. :)

 

A question. I take it the rails were in concrete in the original. How are you tackling this and the pits? I've tinkered with a pit or two on a much less grand scale and I found it a bit tricky. I have a ridiculous masonry shed that I plan to do at a later stage and I'd be interested to know what you plan.

Hi Bruce, it is certainly a barn of a place by 2mm standards.

 

For the concrete floor the plan is to cut paper strips and glue them in - I’ve cut a few this afternoon and led them in place to give an idea.

For the pits I will cut the sleepers away and build a box  with steps etc underneath. I will only do the pits nearest the door, the others are well out of sight.

 

Jerry

 

[DLT]

Fantastic piece of work.

[nick_bastable]

5 hours ago, queensquare said:

Hi Bruce, it is certainly a barn of a place by 2mm standards.

 

For the concrete floor the plan is to cut paper strips and glue them in - I’ve cut a few this afternoon and led them in place to give an idea.

For the pits I will cut the sleepers away and build a box  with steps etc underneath. I will only do the pits nearest the door, the others are well out of sight.

 

Jerry

 

I assume your lay the floor a fraction lower than the rails so you can clean them ?

 

[queensquare]

2 hours ago, nick_bastable said:

I assume your lay the floor a fraction lower than the rails so you can clean them ?

 

That’s  the idea Nick although, as I said , only the first 6-9” will be powered. Tony Gee suggested putting a physical barrier across the shed at6” -9” to prevent runaways which makes perfect sense. I have several locos that either don’t pass muster or are not worth doing much with (union Mills bodies, old white metal kit builds etc) which could be permanently fixed to the track and used as buffer stops in the shed gloom where their shortcomings won’t be apparent.

 

Jerry

[nick_bastable]

23 minutes ago, queensquare said:

 I have several locos that either don’t pass muster

Jerry

I could probably fill that shed twice on that bases

[Trewisin]

Hi Jerry,any more extentions on the Bath shed would requie another extention to your own shedas you will be running out of space .Its realy great keep it up Jerry, Rgards Ray.

[queensquare]

Last night I glued some strip wood around the inside top edge of the walls to ensure they remained straight. I also glued paper around the shed roads and cut the pit openings - basic but sufficient considering how much will be visible.

 

Tonight I cut and bent up the basic roof from 1mm card. I was pleased with the fit and how it sits considering it’s simply folded to shape and, as yet, has no framing. Jazz on the other hand was completely unimpressed and slept through the entire operation!

 

Jerry

 

 

 

[Steve Smith]

Very nice!  On model railways what you see are roofs, lots of them, and yes I'm inclined to obsess about them and their funny little ways.

I did find photos of the roof, and there were flat areas between the pitches that would have allowed access.  If they were leaded gulleys they would have 3" steps at no more than 8' intervals - the limit for code 8 lead stepping up from each drainpipe the outlets of which would coincide with a column internally.   The limit for Code 6 is 6' and so on.   The photo was taken before I put the steps in.  The slates are 3D laser etched, and show a lap, which is pretty cool.  I really liked the chimney vents, but they didn't make the final cut as they'd gone in BR days. 

 

 

[nick_bastable]

looking good your distracting me to build St leonards Marina Shed again in 2mm  after a failed attempt moons ago in 4mm

[queensquare]

7 hours ago, nick_bastable said:

looking good your distracting me to build St leonards Marina Shed again in 2mm  after a failed attempt moons ago in 4mm

Go for it Nick!

 

Jerry

[queensquare]

10 hours ago, Steve Smith said:

Very nice!  On model railways what you see are roofs, lots of them, and yes I'm inclined to obsess about them and their funny little ways.

I did find photos of the roof, and there were flat areas between the pitches that would have allowed access.  If they were leaded gulleys they would have 3" steps at no more than 8' intervals - the limit for code 8 lead stepping up from each drainpipe the outlets of which would coincide with a column internally.   The limit for Code 6 is 6' and so on.   The photo was taken before I put the steps in.  The slates are 3D laser etched, and show a lap, which is pretty cool.  I really liked the chimney vents, but they didn't make the final cut as they'd gone in BR days. 

 

 

Hi Steve,

what you see in 2mm and what you see in 7mm are very different. The interior shots of your shed are fantastic but the exterior doesn’t look much like Bath - it’s just too small!😊

 

Jerry

[queensquare]

…… talking of sheds, it’s not very springlike down there this morning!

 

Jerry

 

[Caley Jim]

Bright, Sunny and snow free here!  😄

 

Jim

[Doncaster Green]

2 hours ago, Caley Jim said:

Bright, Sunny and snow free here!  😄

 

Jim

Wish I could say the same, Jim.  However, being but a stone's throw from chez Clifford I have to report much the same!

 

John

[richbrummitt]

6 hours ago, queensquare said:

…… talking of sheds, it’s not very springlike down there this morning!

 

Jerry

 

You must be glad you did the roof properly!