LBSC123

I’m not so sure it’s Salmon Pink and Chocolate Brown, they started painting LSWR vehicles into holly green from 1920, I think, and it seems to say ‘Southern Railway’ in between windows below the roof. I wonder if it’s just a reflection on account of the body side curvature which is making the colours seem different? 

9 hours ago, Schooner said:

Sensible and completable he said; making use of RTP for an achievable end-point in the available time he said; shed based on commercially available trusses he said...

 

Well, he obviously talks bal-......ogne!

 

First stab at the shed. As with the bridge, just a sketch to get my ideas down and start working them out - feedback of any kind appreciated. Not really ready for public consumption, but posted with ulterior motives in another thread and so shared here too:

 

 

Based on the framing for one of the early transit sheds in the West India Docks () largely because I couldn't find decent drawings for railway-related sheds* with the kind of attributes I'm after. As with all things, pointers welcome  

 

Timber framed, tin roofed. Skylight down the centreline, and perhaps a window in the end - would these have been glass panels? - if it doesn't make the thing look too posh. As previously threatened, one side shortened for a bit of variety. Should the side panel be extended down another 4-5mm? The other side (open to the front of the layout) will be protected by canvas dodgers (rolled up to let the sunshine (and sightlines) in - a nod to Ingleford's perpetual beautiful Spring morning until I get round to a lighting rig). Crane is a suggestion only, and would be right at the edge of the layout (possibly forming the stop to prevent loose stock rolling off the edge in case of surprise).

 

The real question I have is whether this is the right route to go down at all? Would there be an end-loading dock butting on to a shed - even one so open? Is there room for some tarpaulin'd crates etc against the wall without blocking access for porters trying to unload a van in the 'loading dock road'? What is the point in the timber trestle platofrm, and how would it have been used? etc etc etc... Hopefully this process will sort some of those questions, but if you have an opinion please share it!

 

Gale-induced inactivity, hence the time to get pencil and paper involved. Enjoyable and useful process, hopefully more to come...

 

Cheers,

 

Schooner

 

*Currently away from home and books, so totally internet-reliant. Sub-optimal.

Hi Schooner, I like the look of the shed, I think it’ll be a lovely feature.

With regard to some of the questions, I think it’ll work nicely but I often find with these things it’s just a case of seeing how it looks on the layout and making it look prototypical etc.

Keep up the good work, the sea air must be doing something...! 

On 09/02/2021 at 08:19, NHY 581 said:

 

 

Morning Will. 

 

Thank you for your kind words. 

 

Both proposed layouts will utilise my now standard LACK tabletops from IKEA's model railway baseboard department. This will come from the larger of the two tables in this set for the scenic section. 120cm x 40cm x 5cm. 

 

 

The fiddle yard will use a top from a LACK tv stand.   90cm x 26cm x 5cm. 

 

 

Combined cost, £34.00. 

 

The scenic sections will be boxed in using 9mm MDF braced soft wood to add rigidity. 

 

There will be a separate 'roof' from 9mm MDF to form a fascia and contain the light. All as per usual. 

 

 

Outwool will be based on Outwell basin, the original terminus of the W&U. Very basic. 

 

This is the plan from Wild Swan. In reality it might end up in mirror image with the long siding at the baseboard edge. 

 

The trackbed will not continue to the right and will stop roughly level with the goods office on the right.  

 

The entrance/exit to the fiddly yard, as discussed earlier, will be masked by this..

 

 

Main goods office (location TBC)

 

And small hut (location TBC)

 

In addition, there will be a grounded coach body somewhere and possibly a timber loading platform. 

 

As you can tell, a bit vague. Things tend to evolve when I have the baseboard, points and buildings. I tend to move things about until I'm happy. 

That's why I don't mind pottering with the buildings etc at present. Hence the initial build is normally quite quick. 

 

With regard to Lambton, the ex GER passenger terminus, I've always thought I could fit a workable branch line terminus onto my usual 4ft x 16inch baseboard. Chris Nevard did it using handbuilt points. I will use my usual PECO code 75. Here's a link ot two for Chris's Flicker feed thingy. 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/29319891847/in/album-72157700267949154/

 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/42448002880/in/album-72157700267949154/

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/44207034222/in/album-72157700267949154/

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/44207025962/in/album-72157700267949154/

 

 

Now this was my original idea for an ex-LB&SCR terminus in September 2019. Resurrecting this idea and moving things East should prove satisfactory. I envisage a similar track plan to this but I like the idea of a bay. The second photo below shows a a small goods shed. I will be leaving this area open to allow for a clear view of the platform etc. 

 

 

As per previous posts, the station building will be this. 

 

The signal box will be this

 

The engine shed will be one of these.

 

(Photo by Rails of Sheffield) 

 

In addition, there will be a grounded coach body and probably a grounded  van to act as a goods shed somewhere and maybe a further small timber building or two. 

 

Timescale? Outwool hopefully starting in a month or so. Lambton more October, November ish but like Outwool, I will work on buildings etc in the meantime. 

 

 

And there, in a nutshell is my year.  My apologies for the long reply but it just grew.  

 

Rob. 

Thanks for the extended update Rob, inspirational as always. 

Keep up the good work.

Will

28 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

 

Interesting - I hadn't realised it was available deeper than 5mm, but a quick search revealed two things:

1) Five A2 (?) 5mm foamboards from The Range for £10 is a pretty good deal!

2) 10mm foamboard is a lot more expensive!!

 

Admittedly, I've not done any investigation other than visit the first result from a Google search for 10mm foamboard, but the website www.foam-board.co.uk has lots of different types, depths, sizes and colours not to mention a raft of accessories to chose from.

 

One item that caught my attention - foamboard glue that doesn't cause the surface to distort (read about that elsewhere!) which at £4.99 for 100ml sounds like something to take note of.

 

Steve S

You could get 5xA1 sheets of 10mm stuff for £36 on ebay, not cheap but not awful....

Hi Jack, 

I wrote about using Foamboard in another thread, as follows: 

Foamboard is an interesting material to work with, you definitely need to clad it in some sort of Ply if you're planning on moving the layout through around, as it's not very knock resistant. Make sure you use PVA and a hot glue gun for the joints, I've gone back in a few places where I just used hot glue during construction to add a bit more strength to the joints.

Also be mindful of if you're going to have an integral backscene or not, on Shalfleet Quay I've only got a backscene on two sides, which means they layout doesn't really act like a 'box' when lifting or moving it, so I had to go back and put a few more supports in some areas underneath to reduce deflection of the boards, as picking it it up and moving it placed a lot of stress through one of the supports underneath. The stuff is very easy to work with, so there's no need to scrimp on under-baseboard supports and bracing. I'd probably use 10mm stuff if I was to do it again, purely because it's so light, and you might as well use a material that's thicker and stronger to start with, but 5mm was totally fine for Shalfleet Quay. 

I would also consider putting down some sort of base for the track bed, possibly ply or something that wouldn't warp as this would add more strength and give something less shock absorbing for SEEP point motors to mount to, if you're using them. This would also mean that it would be easier to take up and put down track should your plans change halfway through. Having said this, I don't think it's essential to do this at all. 

Chris Nevard's photos on constructing Catcott Burtle are also very useful for baseboard construction, he used 5mm stuff and that's what I based my plans on. 

Hope that's of some use. 

Will

Hi Jack, 

My foamboard wasn't branded, I just bought it off eBay. I have written about this before in another thread, I had to add some strengthening to the underside after construction, if I was to do it again I would opt for 10mm foamboard rather than 5mm. 

Hope that helps.

Will

Looking good Rob. What are the planned dimensions of the station? Can we get a sneak peak of a track plan.

Lovely work as always. 

Will

On 06/02/2021 at 10:46, Mick Bonwick said:

I admire anybody who even thinks about one, let alone models one. Splendid modelling, Will.

Thanks @Mick Bonwick for the kind words!

On 06/02/2021 at 11:32, wainwright1 said:

Hi  LBSC123.

 

There is/was a sailing barge museum down at Kemsley on Milton Creek, fairly close to the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Steam Railway. Visited it quite a few years ago. They did have a couple of barges under restoration and a small museum building with some very interesting displays on the barges and other local industries including especially brick making, with strong links to the area in London where I live.

 

Definitely worth a visit if it is still going.

 

All then best

Ray

Thanks for the tip off @wainwright1, the S&K has been on the to do list for a while, so maybe I'll try and co-ordinate the two!

35 minutes ago, D-A-T said:

Worth listening to Dick Durham on Thames Barges. He was the mate on the last working Thames Barge. Thankfully your time period means the barge should be in better condition. You do know the barges were typically sailed by two men and a dog?

 

 

Thanks, this looks very interesting. I wasn’t aware it was 2 men and a dog... I’ll have to model them for sure!

A photo taken in daylight to show the rigging more clearly. I’ve still got to add the foresail which will be furled, alongside the sails for the main and mizzen masts. 
 

It’s fair to day if I ever build a ship again it will be one without a mast and rigging! 
 

14 hours ago, Schooner said:

Cor, no messing about! Looks bob on 

Thanks @Schooner!

44 minutes ago, Schooner said:

If I may LB, although overall it looks great and is nicely convincing, there are a couple of small things on deck that stand out as not quite right. They're also relvant to getting the thing rigged  Additions in green, deletions in red:

 

1. Foresail sheet horse - a great lump of wood, octagonal or round, around which the clew (bottom back corner) of the foresail (the sail at the front!) lashing goes, which acts as a sheet (rope t control the angle of the sail relative to the fore-and-aft line of the boat.

2. Main sheet horse - a dirty great lump of wood etc etc etc although the sheet block hooks in to an iron ring around the horse.

3. Crab winches - these are used to raise and drop the leeboards

4. Not seen many of those there...

 

To save any more words, some pics old and new. They're high-ish res so worth opening in new tab and zooming in:

It's the main sheet horse acting as a footstool. You can also see the crab winch between the navy bloke's hands and Capt Nonchalant's shin.

 

The same is visible on this barge and her neighbour (between the puppy and the man sitting - also showing the iron ring on to which the mainsheet block hooks)

 

Foresail sheet horse visible lower right and left, behind the winch

 

For general arrangement, a photo of a rather tired barge. Main horse is obvious, the forward one half-hidden behind the watermark

 

Perhaps most usefully, three views of Blue Mermaid (built 2019 and well documented so a handy source ) which show it all fairly well:

 

Sure you've got it all in hand, but thought I'd mention these distinctive barge features. You're on to a winner going to look at the real thing though  

 

All the best, loving the updates!

 

Thanks for the pointers @Schooner, I’ve taken them on board! 
 

This is the result of tonight’s progress, not perfect and still in need of a bit of tidying up, I also need to work out how to make the sails, which will be furled, I’ve got a few ideas on that to follow...

I’ve had to make a fair few compromises for my own sanity! I don’t know how ship modellers do it!

I’ll post some more photos tomorrow when sunlight is on my side.

24 minutes ago, D-A-T said:

Will you be adding a Mizzen mast to your model?

 

This site may help: https://www.bargetrust.org/barges/pudge/

Pudge looks similar to your model. 

Yes, that’s a plan, thanks for the link it looks useful! 

I didn't realise there was a plain chocolate version @wainwright1, these ones are far too sweet for me so I've delegated the responsibility of emptying the wrappers to my housemate. Perhaps I'll have to look for the plain chocolate version next time... 

A few shots of a Thames Barge (or similar) found on the Thames today. Although it might not be quite right, it has helped iron out some questions I had on how various bits were attached to each other. 
 

I’ll soon be taking the plunge on the model. I’ll warn everyone now that, for my sanity’s sake this will just be a representation of the rigging, and might not be quite right from a sailing point of view... 

5 hours ago, phil_sutters said:

I found that upholstery thread is strong and yet flexible. I used Gutermann's mid brown  CA 02776 on my Highbridge wharf SDJR coasters.

Thanks @phil_sutters, I’ve got some 0.25mm Rigging thread which I hope will do a similar job!

Had the chance to do a bit more work on the layout, and spent my time focussing on the Thames ahead of the rigging. I covered the two hold areas with some tarpaulins fashioned out of Tunnocks wrappers. 

I think they look good but this means I’m running out of excuses for not doing the rigging. So today’s project is to find a Thames barge to use as a point of reference.

More soon. 

2 hours ago, TeakDB said:

 

By and large yes-Im using Halford red primer for the orange/red oxide paint. I havent seen this photo before so thanks, I didnt know (or forgot) one of these ex secr(ish) wagons had survived- since I couldn't find any kits to bash into them these are actually fairly high up my wishlist of wagons to print.

It's interesting how they have painted the solebars and ironwork including the brake guard but not the buffers- if you look at the bluebell railway you'll see different interpretations of SR engineering schemes on their wagons aswell. Added to my internal debate is whether all the dumb buffered wagons were repainted before sending to the Island (so only a few years of weathering) or were they shipped 'as is'. Southern wagons vol 2 seems to suggest this with its lbscr livery comment and it is also potentially hinted out in Rails on the Wight when MacLeod talks about turning out new ballast wagons as their replacements- potentially suggesting that it was up to Ryde works to paint the transferred engineering stock.

 

Hi @TeakDB, glad the picture is of some use it was taken during my visit in the summer. I agree about some of the details and I am not entirely sure if I would copy it, but it's a useful starting point nevertheless. I'm not too familiar with the engineering colour schemes, is this what is known as the SR 'Vermillion' or a different colour all together?

The Dumb buffered wagons look rather lovely, as does the 5&9 models Van. Certainly something to aim for myself...

 

Looking good @TeakDB!

Is this the sort of colour scheme you’re going for on the Ballast Wagons? 

3 hours ago, Ribird said:

Where did you find the SR S100 in that livery? It's a good find!

 

I just took a British Railways in sunshine version and re-liviered it into the SR version, just need to add the circle plate to the smokebox. And will be taking a NCB one and backdating into a pre-mod SR one. Annnnd taking the WD USA one and changing the number to 4236 (I think that's number, I do have a book on these). 4236 had the WD livery up until BR days, along with having white rims, something Bachmann forgot to do  

Hi @Ribird, the S100 was purchased from a friend, he doesn't model pre-BR but had previously purchased this. The recent Model Rail sale around Warley encouraged him to move this one onto me, and purchase a lovely BR Green one. 

I must say you've done a lovely job with your one, the weathering looks cracking! I'll be interested to see how your future conversions go. With regard to the circle on the smoke box, was that fitted to all of the locos? I wasn't sure if it was to do with which US company built them? 

24 minutes ago, Nick C said:

Who did the weathering on the Terrier? It does indeed look very good!

Hi Nick, that was @Mick Bonwick, it’s a splendid job... now need to weather some wagons to match!

Wishing you a speedy recovery Rob

Following with interest!