Grantham - the Streamliner years

[LNER4479]

Well, yesterday felt like quite a quietly momentous day on Grantham. Into the eighth year of the build and (finally!) a session exclusively devoted to SCENERY!

 

The odd little patch of grass has been tackled previously but this time it was serious...

 

He came, he saw, he scenic'd... Paul Bolton prepares the ground for grassing. The Pirt Grantham book is to hand as an invaluable reference.

 

Now in full flow, the flock is sprinkled straight from the packet on to neat PVA.

 

After a few hours to dry, the old trick with a stocking over the head of the vacuum cleaner to catch the surplus flock for re-use.

 

The results of the first day's work. It's certainly lifted it from the bare plaster but Paul was at pains to stress that this is very much just a first layer and there's plenty of detailing and tonal variation yet to add. The bare patch above the hut is quite prominent in photos and the effect either side of the wing walls is a start at replicating the terracette effect whereby the grass only grows in patches due to the steepness of the slope (again apparent in photos of the steam era).

 

We also spent quite a bit of time musing over other aspects of the scenic features to come, concentrating particularly on that most popular of traditional railway cargoes - cattle!

 

This is a probable track layout for the yet to be laid Up Goods yard. I quite like this arrangement, which 'looks' interesting, is a reasonable pastiche of the real thing (although with less roads) and has distinct areas where the different traffic was handled. Bottom right, I've indicated where the Lee & Grinling malting buildings will go (these - part of which still survives - were separate from the better known warehouse building in the background) and also the cattle dock. Pictures show quite a healthy traffic in livestock so certainly worth giving some space to it in the model.

 

And here is the reason for the cattle traffic - Grantham's erstwhile cattle market. This area will be given over to a depiction of this activity as it seems like a reasonable device to effect the transition from town to country in what is otherwise a mercilessly too short length of scenery between here and Peascliffe tunnel (with the added problem of the ground having to rise from below track level to above track level in little over 5 feet.

 

We were able to work from some reasonable images from the 'Britain from above' website, but any more detailed information about Grantham's cattle market from any locals who might remember it (even better - photographed it!) would be most welcome.

 

Finally, you might have noticed in one of the above pictures that Paul brought along the 'proper' version of the Lee & Grinling warehouse building for a trial fitting. Still some more detailing to be done but it doesn't half provide a real 'presence' to the south end of the station.

 

 

 

'Robert'

Edited October 26, 2014 by LNER4479

[cornish trains jez]

Very nice update Robert. It's all coming together nicely. The Lee and Grinling building looks stunning. Did you use some scale drawings for it or was it all done from photos?

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

[LNER4479]

Thanks Jeremy,

 

All done from photos. We suspect the real building was slightly bigger, but not by much. Paul has standardised on one 'bay' being 10feet (40mm) long and just multiplied up from there. One bay's length has been lost from the overall length but otherwise it's pretty much 'as was'. A very imposing building.

[ROY@34F]

Very nice "Robert", the Lee & Grinling building looks brilliant , certainly is typical of Grantham on the south side . The cattle market was quite a size as I remember , but I appreciate you are cramped for space , and it was to the north of Dysart Road , which you also have not been able to fit in ; but a depiction the scene would be appropriate , as you say . It's creating the atmosphere that is the important aim , and you're certainly achieving that . As for the up side goods yard , I can't remember much detail about it , but again it looks like you're getting it about right . Nice to see it all developing so well .

 

Regards , Roy .

[JCL]

I'm already impressed! I can't wait to see how you are going to get on with this side of things.

[gr.king]

Warehouse - wonderful.

[Dominion]

The open windows are great, but what really gets me is the roof which looks like it has been there for decades already.

[JCL]

Warehouse - wonderful.

 

Yeah, having seen it in the flesh, it really is outstanding.

[LNER4479]

The open windows are great, but what really gets me is the roof which looks like it has been there for decades already.

Both the roof and walls are downloadable print offs (Scalescenes I think Paul said). I took a close look at the roof and yes the detail is amazing. It is of course all dead flat though! Being towards the rear of the layout I think we get away with that - if it were at the front we might need something with some relief.

 

Yeah, having seen it in the flesh, it really is outstanding.

And you've only seen the mock-up! (can be seen on the table in pic #6)

[JCL]

only seen the mock-up! (can be seen on the table in pic #6)

 

Oops, true enough, I remember you saying now. That said, even the mock-up would be good enough to grace an exhibition layout.

[Barry O]

I did promise to build some more track cleaning "sled" brake vans and two have now been finished:

 

 

and it would have been easier doing these from unbuilt kits!

 

baz

[LNER4479]

I have a question if I may, the P1 2-8-2 which is a brilliantly made loco, how did you build it.

 

 

How long has Grantham taken you to get it as far as you have.

Many thanks for kind comments,

 

If only I had built the P1....(!) But this is the work of Mr Graeme King (otherwise known as 'Atlantic 3279') so hopefully he can comment accordingly. Alternatively, he has a long-running thread on the LNER Forum website where his construction secrets are very generously revealed.

 

Never one to miss a gratuitous excuse for dusting down an old picture(!), here she is, performing during her first visit to the layout in September 2013.

 

Actual construction of the layout started over the winter of 2006/2007 so it's coming up for its eighth birthday (well, the bits of it that have been around that long, that is!)

 

[edit - finally managed to get pic added; gave up with intermittent East Coast WiFi!]

Edited November 3, 2014 by LNER4479

[gr.king]

The P1 really is a loco with Heinz 57 varieties of included parts. The cab and boiler come from a Hornby Margate tender-drive A1, the front plate of the tender also coming from the matching Hornby eight-wheeled GN type tender.

The loco running plate and smokebox saddle are scratch-built to suit, the running plate relying for shape on valances made by shaping 3/64" square brass bar then soldering on 8 thou brass sheet in formed pieces to create the platform. The main chassis of the loco is from an O2 kit by "ACE Products" which I chose in preference to the PDK chassis because PDK seemed to want the shirt off my back, plus an arm and a leg, just for the chassis. The cheaper ACE chassis is no party to build however, being an etch "shot down" from Gauge O so all parts that set the width of the frames are wrong and have to be altered. The slidebars are on the very limit of what it is possible to fold up, the motion bracket in my opinion wouldn't fit even in the original O gauge guise, the smaller motion parts were over etched in my example so that in some places they were exceedingly weak and spindly, plus to compound my troubles I was adapting it to take 5'2" wheels instead of the intended 4' 8"! Comet cylinder facings complete the chassis cosmetics. The rear frames for the Cartazzi unit are scratchbuilt from brass sheet with Branchlines axlebox castings fitted. The tender began life as a normal Bachmann LNER 4200 gallon LNER type. The top was covered all round its sides with an extra layer of plastic to increase its size and to create the new copings, the front plate was replaced as mentioned above, and the underframe cut into three sections then rearranged / reassembled to get the right wheelbase - with an extension plus new steps at the front end! A Mashima 1628 flat-can motor (14mm wide) in the loco driving through Markits 40:1 open gears provides the power, and a lot of lead provides the grip.

 

I think most of the build is still there to see on the archived previous incarnation of RMweb. Have a look for "Gresley Heavy Freight Loco" or "Gresley Heavy Freight Mikado". You'll probably find it, circa 2008.

 

11/11/2014: BETTER STILL, HERE'S A LINK, proving that my memory and the title applied to the archived material do not necessarily agree....

http://rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=30240

Edited November 11, 2014 by gr.king

[Barry O]

Brake vans delivered and an enjoyable day "doin a bit of wiring" yesterday! More options for shunting on shed installed.

 

The new scenery makes a big difference ..looking forward to seeing the rest of the greenery.

 

Baz

[LNER4479]

Many thanks for your time and effort yesterday, Barry.

 

No photos I'm afraid folks - nothing very photogenic about Barry crawling about on his hands n knees, wielding a soldering iron   But at least that's two less points that'll be being 'digitally' operated at Warley later this month. Felt a bit strange 'supervising' an activity that I've done myself for so many years but 'every little helps' as the saying goes.

[Barry O]

Happily enough the "supervisor" was very helpful .. so it made life a lot easier!

[JCL]

Hi 'Robert', when I came over I was lucky enough to see your collection of soldering irons, blow torches and flame throwers (cor!), and I was wondering if you would do me a huge favour and perhaps run through them again on here. It might be useful to a lot of people given your prowess with these things.

[LNER4479]

Ooh cripes Jason - I'm hardly the leading expert on the subject... Still, never one to disappoint the adoring throng occasional request, here we go:

 

First of all, and the longest lived, is a Weller 12 Watt iron, mains powered. I use this for what I would call 'general' soldering (especially the thousands of electrical joints - and still counting(!) - on the railway itself) and is ideal for many 'medium' sized joints on etched kits. The tip is getting a bit worn so some replacements are to hand...

 

When I need a bit more heat, then this 25 Watt iron comes into use. If you're working on a larger piece of brass, the heat conducts away quite quickly and all the 12Watt iron will do is to build up a solder mountain; the 25 Watt iron will usually inject enough heat to get the metal to a sufficient temperature such that the solder 'flashes over' to make the joint.

 

At the other end of the scale is this more delicate Antex 12 Watt iron. It does therefore have the same power as the Weller but is much smaller and slender and the lovely fine tip is absolutely ideal for working with the little fiddly detail (especially the signalling bits n pieces); just a momentary dab and the joint is done. It's my newest iron and I've fallen madly in love with it.

 

This is the low melt iron used for whitemetal bits. Apologies for those who already know but whitemetal has quite a low melting point so any of the above mains powered irons will simply melt the very item that you're trying to fix in place. This iron therefore works off a DC output from a transformer (ie 0-12V DC) - the croc clips are simply attached to the terminals on the back or even the rails of your layout and then you use the controller to set a low, medium or high heat, depending on the size of part involved - even with this iron, you can easily melt a small part by having it set too high. It also needs low melt solder to work with it (the coiled up stick in the top right hand corner). To attach a whitemetal part to a brass one, then the brass part first has to be 'tinned' with ordinary solder, which then gives the low melt solder something to grip on to.

 

And now for the 'blunderbuss' of irons - the pencil torch. When even the 25 Watt iron won't look at a brass joint, then this device gets wheeled out to bat. Quite 'exciting' to use (you can easily set fire to the house with it) it's powered with butane gas (as you can see) and, once lit you can adjust the strength / size of the flame by twisting the head on the body. With this, you need to have the joint all set up and remotely held in place and also a length of solder cut and placed in position. Then just train the flame on the joint, watch the metal heat up and the flux start to fizz and wait for the solder to 'flash over' - very satisfying when you get it right. Not a bad idea to have a holder of water and a brush to hand so as you can put out the small fire you've just started in the process.

 

 

OK - enough of that. If you've read down this far without getting bored, then a couple of pix of the layout (hurrah!). Yesterday, I had the pleasure of hosting a visit from 'drmditch' and, as is the custom, he brought something for a run.

 

This is a model of the now-preserved J21 (6)5033 and a beautifully sweet running little thing it was. It was even fitted with working inside Stephenson valve gear (not visible on this picture!) and tows a train of highly individual vehicles.

 

Paused in the down goods yard to allow us to appreciate the full train, it occurred to us that, quite by chance, we had a novel collection of 0-6-0s - ex-NER, ex-GCR and ex-GER - in the heart of ex-GNR territory. At least the 6-wheel teak coach flies the flag for the indigenous population.

 

Stand by for a few more postings in the next few days - been out with the chicken wire and mod-roc again in anticipation of a further visit from the scenic crew in the build up to Warley...

Edited November 9, 2014 by LNER4479

[cornish trains jez]

Is the layout featuring at Warley this year??

[LNER4479]

Is the layout featuring at Warley this year??

Yes, insomuch as we're taking 'mini'-Grantham and will be in the demo area. 

 

By 'mini'-Grantham, I mean the station and the north end, so basically you'll be able to see the view as per the first shot above of the J21 crossing Harlaxton Road bridge with the station in the background. The display will include as far round as the portal of Peascliffe tunnel (where the recent scenic efforts have been concentrated) and also the first depot board, including the turntable and the 'super scissors' depot entrance pointwork.

 

The theme of the demo is the use and adaptation of Peco track to produce prototypical track formations. As well as having the section of the layout to look at, some of the Grantham 'crew' will be there manning the control panel so as to have locos and trains moving across the north end junctions (where quite a few of the modified Peco points are) to 'prove' that trains still run OK over the pointwork post-modification / adaptation / multilation

 

I shall be at the front, moving a few locos on / off and around the bit of depot but otherwise available for 'any questions'; do come and say 'hello' if you're passing.

[JCL]

Thankyou for that mister.

[drmditch]

'At least the six wheel teak coach flies the flag for the indigenous population'

And the elderly ex-GN outside framed van, and perhaps the ex-GC three plank dropside wagon?

 

Thank you again for a splendid and inspirational visit.

[LNER4479]

OK, with an impending visit from the scenic gurus, time for some izzy-wizzy-bizzy from the scenery construction gang...

 

This is the area designated for the cattle market, now with it's permanent base (3mm MDF) fitted in place.

 

Immediately adjacent will be a representation of one of the tiny streams that formed the drainage in this area, flowing through the town from west to east into the river Witham. Beyond that, the land starts to rise to meet up with the existing hill side around Peascliffe tunnel. It took quite a while, playing with angles and slopes to be happy about the general fall and rise of the land hereabouts (although there is a hillside, its all fairly gentle and rolling, Lincolnshire not being known for its abundance of naturally occurring craggy outcrops. Go on, someone - post me a picture just to prove me wrong...!)

 

Chicken-wired (is that actually a verb? To chicken-wire... I chicken-wire, you chicken-wire...). This shows better the connection onto the already formed scenery structure.

 

...mod-roc'd... To the right can be seen how the general profile of the stream has been formed. The scenery guys should enjoy that one...

 

...and with basic plaster surface applied. I didn't get a very good colour match but I don't think that'll matter too much as it should all disappear under a cloud of flock over the weekend. I do, however, quite like the way the railway boundary fence will run almost straight down to the ground level point along this length which should look quite typical of the land around Peascliffe (as per the photos of Pirt and others)

 

And finally a how-it-looks-so-far pic with a touch of photoshopping, featuring a pet loco that doesn't always get a lot of airplay. Hopefully, this view should leap forward further over the weekend (some fences are threatened) and should also be on display at Warley.

 

'Robert'

 

(edited to take account of post #1527!)

Edited November 11, 2014 by LNER4479

[Donington Road]

  Go on, someone - post me a picture just to prove me wrong...!)

 

 

We make our own rock faces

 

http://www.ukfossils.co.uk/lincolnshire.htm

[cornish trains jez]

Yes, insomuch as we're taking 'mini'-Grantham and will be in the demo area. 

 

By 'mini'-Grantham, I mean the station and the north end, so basically you'll be able to see the view as per the first shot above of the J21 crossing Harlaxton Road bridge with the station in the background. The display will include as far round as the portal of Peascliffe tunnel (where the recent scenic efforts have been concentrated) and also the first depot board, including the turntable and the 'super scissors' depot entrance pointwork.

 

The theme of the demo is the use and adaptation of Peco track to produce prototypical track formations. As well as having the section of the layout to look at, some of the Grantham 'crew' will be there manning the control panel so as to have locos and trains moving across the north end junctions (where quite a few of the modified Peco points are) to 'prove' that trains still run OK over the pointwork post-modification / adaptation / multilation

 

I shall be at the front, moving a few locos on / off and around the bit of depot but otherwise available for 'any questions'; do come and say 'hello' if you're passing.

 

Hi Robert,

 

I'll definitely drop by and say hello. See you there.

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy