"Cardiff Bar & Section Mill"

[br2975]

“You can have this board, if you promise to build something on it†is what I was told as the Secretary of our club handed over a 48†x 24†board made of 9mm ply.

 

I have maintained an interest in the Cardiff steel industry since a two week 'work experience' course at what was then the GKN Castle Works in 1973. My Economics teacher was no doubt aware that my forthcoming 'A' level examinations were unlikely to elevate me to the same plane as Bill Gates or Richard Branson didn't realise the enjoyment I got from touring a steel plant for a fortnight, and watching the internal rail system in action, and at close hand.

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A job that gave me ready access to the area meant that I could watch and record the rail operations based upon Tidal Sidings, Cardiff Docks and the two steelworks over the years from 1990.

 

So, the idea behind the layout was to build a small shunting layout that would depict a part of the former Allied Steel & Wire (ASW) Tremorfa works during the period between 1996 (when the company entered into an agreement with Transrail/EWS to hire in Cl.08 shunters) and 2002 when ASW went into liquidation, and the plant lay dormant until purchased by Celsa (UK).

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Instead of trying to force as much of the works as possible into eight square feet of scenic board and make it look too compressed, I thought it would be better to concentrate on one part of the works, a billet bank, and warehouse.

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The backscene would be a low relief ‘bar and section mill’ which receives railborne billets which are unloaded and rolled into bars, angles and sections.

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Many folk believe that ASW only produced reinforcement in bar and wire form, and were unaware that the company (and its’ successor) produced angles etc.

 

This would then allow the operating sequence to be based upon two rakes of billet wagons, with one rake being unloaded inside the billet bank, and another rake being loaded in the fiddle yard (which in reality would be the EAF (electric arc furnace) or melt shop billet bay), and a Cl.08 pilot moving the two rakes as required.

 

The four-wheeled billet wagons will be rebuilds of TTA, HEA and SSA wagons as per the prototype.

 

To ring the changes billets can also be brought in via the national network on BDA/BEA bolsters.

 

To break the monotony, other wagons will also make an appearance eg POA ‘Blackadder’ scrap wagons, and hopefully some scratch built Internal User ‘Redadder’ scrap wagons, as well as several other conversions of Bogie Bolster ‘C’, ex-GWR ‘Crocodile and Turbots.

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The warehouse road will allow the railborne despatch of products using BRA, BDA, BEA wagons and also VTG hoods and a Heljan ‘Cargowaggon’ flat.

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The layout utilises Peco Code 75 pointwork - (solely because I had some, and would otherwise never have used them up)with soldered and checkrailed PCB trackwork where the rails are inset in either concrete, scrap or just general 'crud' !

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The first photo shows progress as it was several months ago, and is looking from above the fiddle yard board.

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The two left hand roads will enter the 'billet bank', the SSA stands on 'the spare road' whilst the extreme right hand road, or 'south running road' permits a 'kick-back' into the warehouse road, the siding entering the low-relief warehouse actually enters the fiddle board to allow loading of wagons.

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All will hopefully become apparent as time goes on, and as other photos illustrate the slow progress (necessarily slow due to (i) work, and (ii) caring for two three month old grandsons).

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The other three pictures show some of the inspiration, the Tremorfa works as it is now with 08854 'Bradshaw' shunting the 16" mill billet bank in February, 2008 and 08782 'Castleton Works' following it's driver as he checks the trackwork into the old scrap bay in September, 2008.

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I'll post updates soon.

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Brian R.

[br2975]

The actual 'bar and section mill' is constructed using a carcass of 5mm foamboard, which will be clad in embossed styrene sheet, and also the walls that come in Pikestuff warehouse and engine house kits.

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The mill itself is 48" long, some 8" deep and almost one foot in height.

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Whilst the foamboard is extremely light, the mill is too large to handle with ease.

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The warehouse building, the carcass of which is Letraset mounting board can be seen in the lower photo, taken looking toward the fiddle board.

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The lines and writing on the mill building indicate various construction points of the actual building eg brickwork dwarf walls with corrugated sheet or boxclad siding.

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I will post other photos later in order to explain the trackwork hidden inside, and it's construction in a little more detail.

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Brian R

[modfather]

I can see this turning out into a great little industrial layout. Keep posting Brian!

[Will Vale]

Really like the look of this too. The prototype pictures are very inspirational, with the sharp curves and overhead pipework. I like the enclosed feeling your model creates as well - slightly claustrophobic

 

Will

[JackBlack]

Sme very nice pics there man. Looks good. Any more protype pics for us?

[br2975]

In my initial post I referred to the 'inspiration' behind this layout, springing from sixth form 'work experience' at what was then the GKN (Guest, Keen & Nettlefold)Castle Works during 1973/74.

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Government policies over the years had split what was once a single, private steel manufacturer into a nationalised steel producer (BSC East Moors) and a private steel finisher (GKN).

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With the closure of East Moors looming in the 70s and a consequent need to ship in billets, GKN and BSC combined forces and constructed a new electric arc furnace at Tremorfa a short distance away from East Moors / Castle Works complex and adjacent to existing bar and section mills, and the GKN nail/screw factory. Together with the Cardiff Rod Mill which was constructed in the late 70s alongside East Moors Road on the east side of the former Bute East Dock this all later became Allied Steel & Wire.

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The BSC East Moors works railway network employed a sizeable fleet of North British 0-6-0DH shunters, and a few built by Andrew Barclay to the same design after NBL went 'to the wall'. Most were scrapped when East Moors closed in 1978.

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The GKN side of the operation employed some 4wDH Sentinel shunters and some Hudswell Clarke 0-6-ODM locos obtained second hand from the Port of Bristol Authority (PBA). These arrived with names derived from Arthurian legend.

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GKN/ASW decided to standardise the fleet and fortuitously the Port of London Authority (PLA) had a number of redundant Yorkshire Engine Co. 0-6-0DE shunters for sale, which were snapped up, moved to Cardiff, repainted in a light blue livery and fitted with the Arthurian nameplates..

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Prior to 1990, steel traffic between Tremorfa and the Castle Works, and also export traffic to Cardiff Docks was mainly handled by BR using their own Internal User wagons; but the closure of the direct line from the Rod Mill to the Roath Dock/Queen Alexandra Dock led to an arrangement where the inter-works traffic, and export traffic, and eventually other non-ASW traffic to the docks would be hauled and shunted by ASW locos and crews.

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In 1994 ASW felt their ageing YE shunters needed replacing, and entered into a contract with Wilmott Brothers (Ilkeston) who would bring in their own fleet of locos to replace the ASW Yorkshire fleet, and operate the ASW system on the steel comapny's behalf........... many of the ASW Yorkshire's went for scrap, replaced by a motley collection of ex-NCB and ICI 'hand me downs' that were allegedly in worse condition than the locos they replaced.

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Unhappy with this situation ASW entered into an arrangement with 'Transrail (later EWS) to hire in Cl.08 shunters to operate the network, and the docks traffic and thus the TOPS pool LNWK was born and by 1996 all traffic was handled by hired-in Cl.08 shunters, a situation that exists to this day.

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The more modern history I'll save for another post (if anyone is interested ?).

 

The picture was taken on 12th. April, 1973 and shows GKN YE 0-6-0DE No.371 shunting BR twin bolsters loaded with billets into the GKN Castle Works. The beige coloured buildings in the background are actually part of the BSC East Moors ore handling & sinter plant, with the 'Dingle sidings' behind. The loco is on the level crossing (no gates) over Lewis Road. For those familiar with the area now, the land behind the loco was until recently occupied by the NEG (Nippon Electrical Glass) factory and behind the photographer is the scrapyard of EMR (European metal recycling)and the north side of the Roath Dock.

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More soon (for those still awake).

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Brian R

[Grimleygrid]

A very nice project Brian, those buildings will look really good once covered, painted and weathered. It is nice to see some very large industrial buildings, they do make the 08 look rather small!

 

 

 

Bachmann’s HEA, SSA, BDA and BRA are just the job for your layout, have you been the influence behind their choice of wagons?!!!

 

 

[br2975]

A very nice project Brian, those buildings will look really good once covered, painted and weathered. It is nice to see some very large industrial buildings, they do make the 08 look rather small!

 

I'll post some shots later of the foamboard carcass, taken from different angles to show the maens of access and operation. Followed by the cladding etc.

 

Bachmann’s HEA, SSA, BDA and BRA are just the job for your layout, have you been the influence behind their choice of wagons?!!!

 

Unfortunately no, the HEA underframe will be used for the Internal 'SB' wagons, as will SSA underframes, suitably 'banana' shaped.

In reality the BDA/BEA and even more so the 'cargowaggon'are too long.

 

I intend to throw in the odd OCA loaded with coil as well, and wait for someone to say 'that should be a SEA or SPA' then reply "excuse me, while I whip this out !"

 

But that's a way into the future.

 

In the meantime, here's 08854 'Bradshaw' stretching his legs outside the steelworks in April, 2002 returning scrap coils from the Queen Alexandra Dock to Tremorfa and crossing the Communication Passage swingbridge.

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Brian

[big T]

What a great prototype to base a layout on Brian.

 

I will look forward to your progress.

 

Interesting to see the Jocko (remote fitted) being driven normally (just like all the others!) I have yet to see a remote fitted one being driven err remotely!

[br2975]

Interesting to see the Jocko (remote fitted) being driven normally (just like all the others!) I have yet to see a remote fitted one being driven err remotely!

 

"Big T"

 

Check these links out, they show remote control 08466 in action in the Tidal Sidings / Splott Jct. area, and 08951 shunting the 'new scrap bay' alongside the new melt shop at Tremorfa; note how strange 08951 looks as it passes with no driver in the cab.

 

Sorry about the quality, some were snatched shots, as I was driving past and had to stop and park up pretty quickly. All are taken from public vantage points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian R

[Arpleymodeller]

An interesting concept for a layout,looks very promising,following with interest

[mudmagnet]

This is a very interesting project. There seems to be so much to model and a small part of the operation should prove to be a great model.

 

Its a shame that the 'wavy' track cannot be produced in model form - would bring the usual comments - 'your track work does not look very good'.

 

I have been an infrequent visitor to the Cardiff area and passed some of these works and from what I see here (and other threads) the history of the railways within the steelworks work make a very intersesting and informative book. In the meantime, we can enjoy your model and will follow closely. There is something appealing about industrial railways and there are plenty of details that can be added.

[theunborn]

Hi interesting little project your building i do like small shunting layouts do you have any more pics/progress on the layout.

 

cheers

[br2975]

I hope to add some pictures showing the groundwork, trackwork, wiring etc soon, followed by the foamboard 'Bar & Section Mill' building.

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In the meantime, here's a link to more prototype information that I posted on a previous 'incarnation' of RMweb.

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http://www.rmweb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=24398

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Brian R

[Danemouth]

After all the talk at club meetings I am glad to see some action

 

Dave

[br2975]

After all the talk at club meetings I am glad to see some action

 

And not an island platform in sight

 

Brian R

[hmrspaul]

Dear Brian

 

Good call, always was a very interesting place. I know you have masses of information, but let me know if you think I may have some items that may be of interest - I haven't posted some of my ASW stuff - such as the ex ICI and SMBP tank wagons - and all of the Chlorine bogie tanks they got hold of.

 

Cardiff - Allied Steel and Wire - internal user wagons - 34 photographs

http://gallery6801.fotopic.net/show_collection.php?id=22393

 

Regards

 

Paul Bartlett

[big T]

Thanks for posting the vids there Brian, most intruiging!

 

They do look odd with no one in the cab I must admit.

 

Lovely to drive too!

[marc smith]

 

 

.....I intend to throw in the odd OCA loaded with coil as well, and wait for someone to say 'that should be a SEA or SPA' then reply "excuse me, while I whip this out !"....

 

Brian

 

Brian,

Please be careful what you whip out!

 

I'm assured that there were coil loaded OCAs aplenty at ASW.

 

Glad to see you've started a thread at last.

It may well focus your modelling into getting it finished.

Plus, we all get to see some great prototype pics!

 

Looking good, keep posting....

 

Marc

 

P.S. Nice links to Paul B & Big T's photos too

[mophead]

ill be watching this topic very closly ,cant wait to see the finished layout

keep up the good work

 

mophead

[BlackRat]

Bri, looking forward to more and more of this.

 

Having visited the area recently (Red Dragon Recovery!) I was amazed and in a way appalled to see how much has changed and how much has been swept away.

 

Probably for the good remembering the old 70's and 80's days.

 

Everything looked clean, well run and to be honest a little sterile!

 

Not sure they were the good old days, but they certainly had 'character'!

[Fat Controller]

I look forward to seeing this layout one day, Brian.

When passing the site on my way from Penarth to the M4 a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that it seemed to be a lot harder to see in than it used to be even a few months ago- how long has that fine plastic mesh been on the inside of the steel palisade fence?

[br2975]

" ............ When passing the site on my way from Penarth to the M4 a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that it seemed to be a lot harder to see in than it used to be even a few months ago- how long has that fine plastic mesh been on the inside of the steel palisade fence?............."

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Brian,

There has been an ongoing dispute between the residents of the Greenbay Close area of Tremorfa and Celsa(UK) since operations restarted at Tremorfa. This apparently came to a head when the new EAF began melting and the noise from the scrap bay intensified. Celsa(UK) have taken the sheeting off the wall of the scrap bay alongside the new EAF, and Rover Way and installed mesh sheeting inside the pallisade fencing, allegedly to combat the noise nuisance.

I don't think the residents of Tremorfa were impressed when it was announced that Celsa(UK) had acquired the land bounded by Greenbay Close, Rover Way and Seawall Road ie immediately behind Tesco, Pengam Green - apparently for potential future edevelopment of the works.

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"...............Having visited the area recently (Red Dragon Recovery!) ..........."

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Neil,

I suspect that was in a professional capacity ?

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I remember when the owner of that company operated out of the garage opposite what is now Fairwater Police Station, and had only a SWB Land Rover and dolly to do his recoveries.

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They helped me out about 12yrs ago, when one winters night and answering a report of a car gone into the Taff near Llandaff North RFC, and not having a 'dragon lamp' on board I drove my patrol car across the rugby pitch and ..... yep, you guessed it, sank up to the cills - they came and towed me out, and luckily didn't bill SWP !

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"..............."excuse me, while I whip this out !"...."

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Marc,

You mean you never met the new Sheriff of Rock Ridge ?

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".............." but let me know if you think I may have some items that may be of interest ........."

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hmrspaul

I may well take you up on that, would you be interested in my notes, and fleetist with variations listed of axleboxes, buffers, bogies etc ?

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I'll hopefully post an update soon chaps

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Brian R

[br2975]

Having been sidetracked, here is a brief re-cap, with more information thrown in.

 

The photos show the state of play a couple of months ago, and we'll hopefully move forward and catch up with progress.

 

It's my intention to emphasise the failures as well as the occasional success.

 

The 48" x 24" scenic board originally formed part of the “Bay MRG†4mm layout “Cwm Cwrw†which itself is transforming into a new exhibition layout.

 

Having removed all the scenery, the board surface was sanded down and covered in 3mm cork, a roll of which I bought cheaply from the Don Bricolage DIY chain in Spain. To protect the cork at the board edges a 1†strip of 3mm ply is laid.

 

The trackwork, as previously described, comprises several left over Peco Code 75 curved points, a double slip and medium radius turnout, all activated by underboard mounted SEEP motors. The wiring beneath the elctrofrog turnouts has been snipped and the polarity switched by the SEEP motor switches.

 

This layout will be a “DCC Free Zone†(no discussions will be entered into !).

 

The PCB trackwork was soldered up from recovered Code 75 FB rail, and also has a check rail of the same section rail. It would eventually be smothered in filler in order to portray trackwork set in cast concrete bays that have suffered the ravages of heavy industry.

 

Where the Peco pointwork was to be subjected to a smothering of filler, a ‘check rail’ of .080†x .100†styrene strip was laid butting up to the inside of the rail fixings and the gap between the styrene strips filled.

 

For the sake of any Finescale modellers photos of the resultant (overscale) gaps will most likely remain unpublished !

 

Also visible in the photo are the Kadee magnets mounted in the board surface beneath the trackwork. This seemed like a good idea at the time ….. there is little doubt they work, but, propel a free running item of rolling stock over one of these magnets and leave it too close to the magnet, the metal axle(s) will be attracted back toward the magnet and the wagon will shuffle back and forth until it comes to a stand over the magnet.

 

The solution has been to mount a bent wire beneath the wagons bearing lightly on the axle and killing some of the free running ability.

 

Other Kadee magnets are mounted between the rails in two sidings.

 

The fiddle yard board will be to the left of the picture and the line occupied by the Cl.08 and the track immediately adjacent to it will meet in a ‘Y’ point and headshunt arrangement with a kick-back leading to one or two sidings hidden inside the ‘Bar & Section Mill’ which will run along the back of this scenic board, parallel to the line on which the Cl.08 stands.

 

The PCB siding toward the front will also lead onto the fiddle yard through a low-relief warehouse allowing empties in and loaded wagons out again.

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The two sidings at the far end will terminate inside the ‘billet bank’ (as previously described) and one will form a siding in the open.

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Brian R

[Guest Dave.C]

Some good looking pictures at the top of the thread Brian and interesting background information, thanks for sharing.

 

 

Looking forward to you recreating the scene