JCL

I started a thread about using the corrugator here, and have completed my first three walls (pictured below). To be honest it didn't take as long as I thought, but then this was the office. I have the goods shed proper to do. But it's after 10pm now, and tomorrow's another day.

Onwards and upwards. I received a "corrugator" through the post from Australia the other day, and as I have a couple of hours to spare I made a start making those corrugated sheets of aluminium. I've put up a thread here that explains what it's about. I think it's in the wrong forum at the moment so I've asked the moderators if it should be in Scenery and Structures. I'm pretty excited about this little tool. Not only will it while away your evenings keeping you out of trouble, but you will end up with a limitless supply of corrugated texture sheet, which is good for me as I'm 350km away from a model shop, and postage is pretty steep The goods shed in Wainfleet was initially made of brick, and lasted until the widening of the line (mainly because it was sited in the path of the second line and would be awkward to get around!) When the new goods shed was built it was built of iron or steel sheeting on a frame. Unfortunately I have no good photos of this shed, and have no photos of the road side, but I do have a description from a family friend who worked in the yard. Although Wainfleet goods yard closed in 1964, it is possible that the shed wasn't used some time before that, and my relative remembers an engine being stored in there from when engines were farmed out to more rural locations during the war. The wagons were loaded either in the bay next to the station platform, or on the siding at the far side of the yard. The local farmers brought their trailers full of produce to the yard earlier in the day, and if you were lucky you'd get the bay. This was the best place to be because unloading the trailers was way easier than the other side of the yard where you had to throw the produce upwards to the wagon. Apparently if you were a larger farmer you could, for the price of some beer, get onto the bay platform and get done quickly. At 3pm the engine turned up and the train went off to Firsby and beyond. Here's a link that shows at least a part of the shed: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinzac55/3929572069/ and here's another one http://www.flickr.com/photos/ingythewingy/6412318011/

Hmm , so won't be ballasting for a while because the ballast I bought is too dark. I'll not get to Calgary now until after the ski season, so I'll carry on concentrating on buildings. Wainfleet has a number of orange brick buildings knocking around the place such as the waiting room, station building and the signal box, but as I've just picked up a little tool to form corrugated iron from aluminum foil I'll make a start covering the goods shed. Watch this space, but don't hold your breath, it's going to take a few days

Just re-read my previous post - that's what happens when you post from an iPhone I suppose... I spent some time on the platforms again today. The one that warps upward is currently weighted down with a reel of wire at each end, but the other one has remained flat. My work process is as follows: Cut the foam platform to shape. You can mark it out and cut it like wood, only difference is you use the bread knife I was writing about instead of a saw. Print then cut the sides and use Pritt stick to glue them to the foam. They don't have to be mm perfect, but you do need a lot of Pritt stick otherwise they won't take properly. Cut the tops use Scotch Photo Mount or similar to glue them to the top surface of the foam. If you use Scotch for its intended purpose, then you only get one chance to glue into position, but bonding paper to expanded polystyrene seems to be more forgiving, and though you can't slide it into place, you can peel and lift to try again a couple of times if you don't get it right. With regards to the curves, I just glued the top surface down, turned the platform upside down and then used a craft knife to cut away the excess. This, and the use of edging strips, makes dealing with slopes and curved slopes really easy. Brush all the edges of the edging strip with a gray soft tipped felt pen to hide the white. Score and fold brick edging on the sheet then cut and use Pritt stick to slide it into place, so covering up any problems with accuracy of sides and edges - I suppose it'd be easier with straight platforms! I snipped the top surface bricks to help it curve. I didn't score a definite line on the platform surface at the top of the slope because I seem to remember that the platform had a rounded transition between slope and horizontal. I'll spray the platforms with matt varnish when I'm done as I seem to have got glue on some of the top surfaces. If you haven't used spray mount before, it's nasty stuff as it's latex glue, and you don't want that in your lungs. I spray outside and still use a mask while I'm doing it. The station building is just a mock-up that's been hanging around for a couple of months, so it's very warped. I just have to apply the Scalescenes platform tarmac style top surface to the carpark and the civil engineering with regards to the platforms is all but done. I am hoping that because I used foam, sinking fence posts into it, and cutting out the area that the water tower will butt up to will be pretty easy. Next up, ballast, and bus wires.

I really like what you dd with the layout of gardens and paths. My brother lived in place with a similarly laid out back yard. Those totems really are setting the place off. I'm impressed, I'd have probably sneezed as soon as my hands were under there!

Cheers I keeps seeing articles that use the board for landscaping (there's some great videos on YouTube, especially one where the feller has at it with all manner of rulers, rasps and knives) and I just thought - well it's about the right thickness. The foam board will sit on top of a cork base so that i can ballast without endangering the ink on the paper. If that wasn't a concern, I'd probably have a layer of mounting board on top and glue the bricks to that. While the foam is pretty stiff, this would guard against dents. It really is very easy to use, and faster to shape, with complex cuts where the signal box will go a breeze. And it's cheap - $7 Canadian for a 2'x8'x1/2" board that will also be put to use as river banks.

Those Atlantic photos are just great. There's so many details in them as well.

I've a couple of things to report since I last updated this thread. The track is now down except for 5 lengths that are arriving tomorrow. This'll complete the double loop. I've soldered in a lot of power lines either side of the track to make sure I've got electrical continuity, and I've carved out the platforms. The platforms have been cut from some 1/2" expanded polystyrene. It's really easy to mark and cut the verticals with a craft knife. I've had to shape it around the signal box and what will be the slope down to the signal box. The sloping ends have been cut with a bread knife, and then finished with a smaller paring knife to flatten the surface. The slope down to the signal box will be made of card so that I can paper the vertical wall behind the slope. I've never been great at wallpapering, so this was definitely easier Using Elmer's woodworking glue I've covered the platform with home printed brick paper. the side walls first (including the overhang) then the platform tops. The top was scored a few mm from the side through the middle of the edging so that the edging overlaps the sides.Unfortunately the glue caused the paper to expand, and when it dried it shrank again and caused the platform to curve upwards. I tried Pritt Stick style glue, but it didn't hold the paper onto the polystyrene very firmly. I guess when the platform goes back down I'll be putting a 2x4 over the top to weight it down. The photos shows the platform with the modern edging. It's a real shame about the GN waiting room looking so derelict. This waiting room style was also seen at the other two intermediate stations still on the Wainfleet and Firsby Line at Thorpe St Peter and Havenhouse. The waiting room was at Seacroft as well, but this has disappeared now. I'm thinking of using spray mount on the other platform as I have some left over. Hopefully this will keep everything nice and flat. The other platform is really plain. No overhang, the sides are dirty reddish brick, and the top the same blue bricks with a white line whitewashed along the edge. From memory, it is also about three bricks lower than the almost finished platform, being a few years older. Although it was increased in height, it is the original platform from when Wainfleet was a single track terminus before the line was extended to Skegness. Looking around cyberspace for ballasting info, I found this video of a ballast vacuum. Well it's probably overkill for me, but it looks cool My wife is back from Calgary tomorrow, so if I get a chance on Tuesday I'll be downstairs with a bottle of "natural tears" as I squint at the sleepers looking for loose stones, a spoon and a pipette.

I agree Chris. You're doing a great job Robert! It's always good to see a well made joint.

Thanks Doug. I wasn't sure about starting a new topic, and I remembered that the thread was really useful. Thanks for getting back to me.

Sorry, banned for home use. I think it also stopped people from reusing old sleepers in the garden. At least it did in deepest darkest Lincolnshire. Well remember those hot sunny days

Hi there, Pinzac55 has a double header of class 31s, 31200 & 31178, at Skegness, albeit 20 years or so later on 20/7/80 http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinzac55/3614440274/ cheers Jason

That's really interesting information about the two green class 20s. When I was a kid it was the class 20s that I remember crawling around that sharp curve just after Wainfleet station (this is probably one of the few times when a sharp curve on a round-the-walls layout is prototypical). I think I remember them because they double-headed and this looked more impressive at the time. Because all the trip trains were people going on holiday or out for the day I thought that it was normal for a passengers to wave at us kids in the fields in those long hot summers of the '70s. I'm looking at you '76! I think it was that year or the year after where we had a plague of ladybirds in the area; you were looking for trouble if you wore yellow as you'd be covered in them. Much preferable to the plague of slugs a few years later. There were so many that you couldn't help popping them underfoot. There were a couple of class 55s, Tulyar was one of them on 13/08/78, and The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers on 25/8/79 for example. There's some great information here: http://www.napier-chronicles.co.uk Here's Tulyar on Youtube at Sleaford: http://www.google.ca...355534169,d.cGE "Not sure if a few HSTs a year can be classed as regular though?" - I think I got a bit excited there. It's always interesting to hear from people using or working on the line as I'm not there any more and my knowledge is from memories, books and the internet. Thanks to everyone that is helping build up the picture of this rural line.

You know, now that creosote has been banned for a long time,I've not much idea what old creosote looks like. Strangely I still remember the smell. Love the mountain bike photo! If you can on your camera, try over exposing by a couple of stops when you are taking photos in the snow. If your camera is on auto, it will try to darken snow to a mid-gray, while snow is a couple of stops lighter than mid- grey.

Blimey, regular HSTs Is the 25mph restriction staying? On the Wainfleet side of things, I think the tight curve after the station is 15mph. I'm talking to my uncle this week who used to deliver sugar beet etc by tractor in the 60s. Apparently he remembers a whole load of things about the station and the workings. I'll do my best to bring back your memories. cheers Jason

Bummer, there's a blizzard on, the road's closed, and the card isn't delaminated yet! I need to check the forecast more closely and plan better.

Sooo, between clearing snow off the drive, long dog walks and dealing with B&B guests, I've been down to the local hardware store and found out that they sell cork in 4' wide sheets. This is fantastic news because It's so much cheaper than buying the small rolls of it in Staples. I bagged 7' of it the other day, which is is more than enough for the plan that I drew out at the beginning of this thread. I've also been spending the last week or so glueing and tacking the cork down (map pins are my life) and using a rasp to smooth away the differences in height between the cork on the large roll, and the smaller rolls. I've still got some smoothing to do as shown on the ramp to the left of the goods shed in this overview. The track is just tacked down for now with drawing pins so that I can send various sized engines and stock over it to check for derailments bumps and clearance on corners. Once I'm happy with this I'll grab some proper tacks and tack it permanently. I did think about working on the Atlas points, but the only piece of stock that really doesn't like them is my old Hornby A4 with wobbly wheels that I'm considering for retirement anyway. This photo shows the temporary goods shed. It's currently just 1.5mm card that is clad in Scalescenes corrugated paper and held together with masking tape to help with clearances. The roof is just a piece of letter sized paper folded. I'm going to keep the shell, and one night when there's a blizzard outside I'll clad it in the pizza box corrugated cardboard that I'm busy delaminating at the moment. I use the type of box that you get at the supermarket as they don't have a load of grease on them). Great as the Scalescene papers are, I really want some proper 3D texture on the goods shed! This photo shows the insulation I'll be using as the platform core. I'll be facing it with 5mm foamboard, and covering the top with 1.5mm card. While I was in Wainfleet last winter I took photos of the side of the Skegness platform which I'll merge with brick sheet. The Skegness (left) platform sides are of red/orange bricks, while the Boston (right) platform sides are blue bricks with an overhang. The top surface for both platforms will be the blue bricks from Scalescenes. In real life, the Skegness platform was actually about 3 bricks lower than the right hand one. This is because the Skegness platform dates back to the single line Wainfleet and Firsby Railway, whiel the Boston platform was added later when the line was doubled. You can still see how much lower it was as the station building is now about 3 bricks lower than the platform in front of it. In the photo below you can also see the first test of the station building and signal box. These were also put together in Photoshop using photos I took on the day and are just printed and cut out for now to give dimensions etc. The small square resting on the platform shows the approximate position of the water tower. Here are more photos I've a photo of a numberless 4MT at Wainfleet shunting wagons in the yard, and a different photo of a Class 105 keeping busy. edited because I shouldn't have written this while I'm tired. Parts of it didn't make sense, I hope it does now.

Nothing against Rochdale as I've never been in the town centre. I just needed to be in Reading. Now there's a place! I remember Rochdale has a 30mph dual carriage way with speed cameras designed to catch you out. I see what you mean about the good shed being a blocker. It looks great!

Got to admit, he search function on here is great. I've a feeling almost any question I have has been answered. This morning I found a box of steel flex track. I was a bit concerned it was "old technology", but apparently not! That'll save me some money!

Hi Jason Have you perhaps thought about double-decker houses? Two houses hugging a hill, one on top of the other. The door to the top one opens onto the hill's main road, the door to the bottom one opens to the back 30 or 40 ft below. I think Hebden stn in oo was featured in the Hornby mag a few months ago. Unfortunately no good photos of the station, but a good article nontheless - i think i recognized Stubbins Warf. In real life that line has a pretty good service. It can get a bit dicey in winter tho, I was stuck in Rochdale a few times trying to get to Manchester in the snow. I think the service on some trains ends at Blackpool and Scarborough.

Well I've got most of the cork down and I've been messing about with the track. I've carved the platforms from a piece of 1/2" foam that I've mounted on some cork, I'll then print the blue bricks from scalescenes and glue that on top. It's a lot faster than using the foam board and putting in bracing, and it's a lot lighter than using plywood as I was going to originally. There are three structures that will need to fit between the tracks and that will affect where the track will be pinned down. These are the goods shed, the waiting room on the Boston platform (see original post) and the footbridge. The waiting room if pretty narrow, and I've managed to make enough space between the mainline and the agri-siding to fit it in properly. The corrugated iron/steel goods shed (which has been demolished) was, from squinting at the photos, able to take about 4 vans. Now, I've had to truncate the length of the yard, so I've cut out the picture mounting card but I'm only going to tack it together. Eventually it will either have corrugated pizza box card on it, or Scalescenes beige corrugated steel. It depends on how I get on with the pizza box! This means that I'll be able to shorten to take 3 vans it if needs be once I've worked out how it fits on the layout. The footbridge is going to be interesting as it has four sets of steps, two to the platforms and two to the street. It was taken down around 1970, but wasn't much used before that as it was quicker/easier to wait for the train to pass and the gates to reopen! This link to a photo by "Ingy the Wingy" shows the goods shed, grain elevator, gates, signalbox and platforms http://www.flickr.co...157622782850737 The footbridge was just behind the crossing gates.

Hi Jason It might not worry you, but if it does, have you tried some mat varnish to help with shininess? Matt dulcote comes in a spray can for example. Cheers, Jason

Hi Jason I'm really enjoying this thread, and I'm learning a lot from it. That's a good looking chimney you have there, and now I know what those doors are for. I used to live in Hebden Bridge on the other side of the moor, so it's great to be able to rekindle memories of the area.

Just about to start work, but I thought I'd write a list of references that I've been using apart from my own photos: Railways to Skegness by A.J.Ludlam - a great resource for this line with a lot of information about the Wainfleet and Firsby Railway (W&FR), and photos of all the stations between Boston and Skegness. Firsby to Wainfleet and Skegness by Stephen Walker - a little older, but another great book, and is referenced by A.J.Ludlam. A lot of history, motive power and old timetables. GNR Engine Sheds vol 2 - this book fills in the gaps left by the other two books. No engine shed at Skegness, so on the old W&FR only Wainfleet is included. The book has a wealth of information though about engine sheds across the east midlands. The Lincolnshire Potato Railways By Stewart E. Squires has a code of useful pictures of loading up wagons, and is interesting personally for the inclusion of Havenhouse. http://www.davesrailpics.bravehost.com/lincs/lincs.htm Dave has amassed a lot of information and pictures at Dave's Railpics http://www.Flickr.com has been very useful and has provided me with a lot of views that I wouldn't have got otherwise http://www.geograph.org.uk/ is another one Google streetview http://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html - much less user friendly than it used to be, and I'm sure there aren't as many maps on it than there used to be, but still useful I've also just joined the GNR Society and other than minor references that's about it. I don't think I've done this much research since I left education many moons ago. While I'm getting on with the doing, I'm always interested in more information. Although my location in Canada means I can't just pop into a library, if I've missed anything or anyone please let me know! Cheers Jason Edited to add mapping