katwigan

Actually Brit15, my wife is currently in Cardiff, unfortunately due to a family bereavement, however I may get her to bring a copy of the book home to save on the postage. Hmmmm come to think of it she did have a fair bit of weight capacity in her case (going that way, I'd better get in first !) Kelly I have been conducting experiments on lots of different foods currently, unfortunately it's costing me a fortune because I keep trying stuff that either tastes strange or I can't swallow easily. On a brighter note I have been able to eat a couple of 'Alps' from a Toblerone, even though Cadbury's still doesn't taste nice. Back into work this morning for a few hours, then a bit of a rest, down to the Hospital Gym for a light workout,Tea, then hopefully a couple of hours on Wallgate this evening. And so on. Kev

That Signalling plan is magnificent Brit15, I shall have to get that printed out . If as you say the area went over to colour light signals in 1941 it would be fair to assume that the 2 boxes in question went around the same time do you think? As such I claim Modellers Licence, and invoke the necessary time lag in order to keep the boxes and the semaphores active until circa 1948! Curse the delays caused due to the war years. All those in favour, Me "Aye". Done. Next, all I have to do now is find more info as to what they looked like. I shall have to look for a copy of Mr Sweeney's book also. Off into the train room now for a couple of hours (hopefully) before the tiredness gets me again. Cheers Kevan

Hello all, Things with me are improving in leaps and bounds eating and therefore energy wise, still struggle a bit with breads and pastries but otherwise doing well. Started at the Gym twice a week trying to move some weights about, compared to what I used to move I feel positively frail. But a Start has been made ! As such I have been actually doing things in the train room instead of just going in and cleaning up / sitting and looking. A little bit of additional wood work has produced the base for the Exchange Sidings, all be it slightly the wrong shape but the photos give the right idea. Hopefully the method I have used to support the boards while enabling me to access the tracks will provide enough stability to stop the boards distorting. I will probably end up fitting some form of aluminium angles or channels to provide longitudinal support but we will see how we go. The longest of the sidings should enable me to assemble 24 wagons ready to depart for pastures other, hopefully the whole train will behave as it snakes over several crossovers to access the main running lines. The next photo (extracted from an old photo taken by A.N.Other whose origin escapes me) shows a loco exiting the Exchange sidings and about to pass by the footings of an elevated ex L&Y Signal Box I believe, while to the right of picture in the gloom is I believe a three story high box of LNWR origin. If anyone can a) correct me as to their origin, b) Identify what size / type they may have been. c) When in history would they have been removed. My preference would be to include both of them on the layout rather than the horrible concrete structure that apparently replaced them. Given the degree of modellers licence I need to invoke anyway in various areas I know of no real reason why they shouldn't appear. Thank you for your support, messages of encouragement, various ticks and wishes over the last number of months, while I felt fairly despondent on several occasions, reading of the activities of others on here kept the interest alive even though the body and mind were'nt willing to participate. Tom your pm's were truly appreciated. Onward!!

Hi all, Spent some time last night reviewing the current situation as in " what the heck was I doing?" Managed to clarify a few things unfortunately one of them was that I have a height relationship problem between Wallgate ( street level ) The exchange sidings and the Main Running Lines. ( The first photo in Post #24 shows the area I am on about ) The problem being that to the right of the loco in that photo there is a semi abandoned small building shown inset into the Retaining wall, It was originally the L&Y No2 Signal Box and in looking at the height of it in photos and the height I would require to make it fit it is going to look way ,way too tall. By about 20+mm at least! This all then may require a visit from "The Nasty Knife" or gasp " The Saw"..........Hmmm , more reviewing required I think. Still, better now than later I guess, meanwhile the tidying up has continued ......... Kevan

Thanks guys, I've had one of the last hurdles to feeling 'normal' removed a couple of days ago. At the start of the treatment they had inserted a feeding tube through my abdomen into the stomach, I wont go in to detail of it's removal suffice to say when I saw the Doc. wrap the tube around his hand I thought "Oh,O.." That was as far as I got because that thought was immediately replaced by a murderous thought directed at the Doc. himself! Anyway a few days later and it is starting to heal over. My son says that the resultant scar will look like a bullet hole which will have more street cred than saying I have two navels! I am still finding my tiredness as a hinderence to any real modelling, but I have done a bit more tidying up and trying to remember what I was doing. It will come K

Thank you all for your messages and 'ticks' of support and wishes Apollo it's 15 degrees cooler here today than yesterday and has been pouring down all night, not much sign of snow though because it's still in the mid 20's. Cheers all, now where did I put that knife? Kev

Hi All, Not much in the way of modelling work to show but had the Bestest news yesterday when given the ALL Clear by the Doctors at the Cancer clinic! 7 weeks of daily Radiotherapy Treatment on my neck and throat has eliminated the Tumour! Mind you it has also eliminated 42 Kg of weight that used to belong to me, several taste buds and my appreciation of the Taste of BEER and CHOCOLATE! IS Nothing sacred? Anyway as I am now starting to feel rather more human than I was, the ability to concentrate and therefore attempt some modelling is returning finally. As soon as I can remember what the heck I was doing and what are all these bits of building for. Anyway, Onwards and Upwards Kevan

It was only after I had posted that I realized this was N gauge, that was even more of a Wow, that looks good. Particularly like the 2nd photo of your 7:30 post yesterday. Good work. Kevan

Well I think that your layout is coming along nicely Lilchris. Do you have a track plan you can post? or a couple of longer distance photo's. I presume you are running steam era, much nicer than all these diesel and electric thingy's Keep up the good work Kevan

Leopard / Andy Particularly if you can get the meat and potato ones from the little bakery in Orrel. Broxton ave. I think. (1964,1980 & 2005 is spreading them a bit thin )

Thanks Springs Branch, looking forward to getting back into the train room asap! I found the effects of the Doc's zapping me with their Radio Therapy Ray Gun thing to be rather more debilitating than I had anticipated! Anyway last shot of course of 35 to be fired tomorrow, then I guess we wait and see! Tom, the section that contains the station, which is really the main board of the layout is 19' 4" long by 3' wide, the platform face comes in at around 7'6" long approx 570 full size feet, which includes the bit under the station building itself. The section of buildings that I had been working on last are all sitting on 2 pieces of 5mm foamboard suitable reinforced and can be lifted out to provide access to one of the return loops underneath. Although I haven't tried to lift it out again yet, since adding more buildings ........ ( Note to self ....) I can also access underneath the layout in some places by sitting on the base section of an an old, small office swivel chair that allows me to duck and roll under the perimeter frame. This has proven particularly useful for accessing both the return loops to be able to check for clearance while the trains were running. Tom, that was a sneaky way of getting me to write something on here at least, even if I have nothing much to show. Cheers all Kev

Thanks for the complement Pete, I have to say it appears that they are at least trying to tidy up a number of the older buildings around town,. The Victoria and Pooles cafe being a case in point even though they are no longer used for their original purpose in some instances. Tom ( Wigan Wallgate OO gauge) tells me that Pooles Cafe building has recently reopened as a more modern day version, He and I have been talking about what he is up to with a more modern day version over in New Zealand. Spent many years playing in an assortment of bands here in Adelaide tho' I never quite got into the folk rock scene, actually there wasn't much of it about locally 'Pub Rock' being the dominant genre at the time (AC/DC being the biggest export) Is 'Hope Springs' a subject on here? Would like to have a look. Having a bit of health issue at the moment so I'm spending far too much time going for scans and appointments and wandering around in multi story car park trying to find a parking spot for my liking. In the meantime I am getting on with some additional buildings when not being distracted by the former or turning up for work occasionaly ( There is a hell of a lot to say for having a good boss !) Unfortunately we didn't take on the trip back home due to other circumstances, so we have pencilled in summer of 2017, How we are going to fit it all into a day and a half ( Ho Ho) I don't know. ( That was uncalled for Kevan !!! ) Sorry. Keeping on keeping on. Kevan

When I worked in the Chrysler / Mitsubishi Foundry here in Adelaide the metal was melted in a coke fired Cupola that also used Limestone as a filtering agent. The Limestone produced the bulk of the slag that would be run off when the Cupola was "tapped" to access the Cast Iron. So I agree with Cokebreeze re the use of fresh , crushed limestone being a good representation, it basically being exactly that. Actually 'Cuttle fish' suitably painted and carved to shape would probably do a very good job of representing large cooled pieces. The old Pumice stone is probably very similar produced in a natural process ( Volcanic ) Kevan

Thanks Steve, must get some more roofs done ( even if it is only to keep the spiders from squatting in there ! ) I managed to find the article and photo about Ludovic Berry and Dolly, Article posted on Wigan World . Taken from the 'Window on Wigan' book with kind permission of the author Geoffrey Shryhane, who also writes Wigan World for the Wigan Observer. For love of Dolly One hundred and fifty feet below an empty field between Abram and Platt Bridge lies a monument to the victim of Wigan's strangest mining disaster. A railway engine known as Dolly with 13 loaded wagons and the driver, Ludovic Berry, disappeared when an enormous chasm suddenly opened under the railway line. An eye witness said: "It looked as if the earth had yawned." It happened on the quiet afternoon of Monday, April 30, 1945, when Ludovic, aged 67, of May Street, Abram, was shunting wagons at Bickershaw Lane sidings, Abram. His engine Dolly was a familiar sight working the line between Maypole Junction and Main Pits. As it chugged past his daughter Martha's house, Ludovic blew the engine whistle and waved. Martha, who was taking her 11-month-old son for a walk, waved back and paused to watch the string of loaded coal wagons. She little knew that it was the last time she would see her father alive. As Dolly pushed her trucks into No 8 siding, brakeman John Ward walked alongside. Then to his horror he saw a gaping hole had opened under the rail. Amazingly, some wagons had already gone over the growing chasm. He frantically signalled Ludovic to stop the train but even as the brakes were being applied, the weight of the loaded wagons buckled the unsupported lines and the trucks plunged into darkness. John Ward ran along the side of the engine screaming at Ludovic to jump clear. Another brakeman, Joe Hindley, who thought there had been a derailment, also called to Ludovic. But Ludovic, still at his controls, tried to save his train. Then inevitably the first wagons to topple began to drag the remainder faster and faster towards the crater. Within seconds it was all over. Dolly and her courageous driver disappeared. As Joe and John approached the edge of the hole, the last rumble subsided and a cloud of steam rose and hung over the open tomb. Volunteers from surrounding pits immediately volunteered to mount rescue operations but pit bosses and police said there was no hope of Ludovic being alive. A few days later, when the dust cleared, the front of Dolly could be made out 100 feet below pointing towards the sky. The twisted wreckage and the body of the driver remained as they were and the shaft was covered over, sealing forever one of the greatest mysteries in local mining history. As the inquest at Abram Council Offices, experts concluded that the hole had formerly been the shaft of the New Zealand Pit, officially known as No 7 Brookside Colliery. It had been opened in 1885 and saw its last tub of coal in 1919. For a time the shaft was used for ventilation, then in 1932, 8,000 tons of debris were poured down to plug it, supposedly forever. Mining agent Oswald Onions said he had examined the shaft only the day before and nothing appeared to be wrong. But he said the number of old workings in the area - combined with the recent heavy rain had to be taken into account. He also said Ludovic loved the old engine and Onions believed he had sacrificed his life trying to save it. There was no doubts in the minds of John Ward and Joe Hindley that their workmate had stayed in his cab, holding on the brakes until it was too late to save himself. That's dedication for you. Kevan

Hi all, Thanks for all the likes etc of late. Chris, your Grandad isn't the only person who has confessed to shennanagins in this vicinity ! The book has been of great use already although in one instance it means tearing up a bit of track! (again ) If the post Brexit monetary exchange rate between here and there continues the current trend I may be able to afford a couple more ex L&Y locos shortly. Damn Queensland did NSW over again!!! Cheers all Kev

My copy of Wigan Sheds Vol 2 turned up today ( Thanks for the alert on that one Apollo / Brit15) it certainly has some great shots and plenty of information in there. It even has some very useful photos in the goods yard areas. Great value. Been laid up with a case of the "Dreaded Lurgi" so haven't achieved much in the last week or so. Hopefully can stay awake long enough tonight to watch the 2nd game of the State of Origin Series from Brisbane (Queensland v New South Wales, Rugby League for the 'purists' out there' ) C'arn the Blues Kevan

You are most certainly getting into the finer details, I am a bit away from that stage. The deck chairs reminded me of one of our trips home and seeing two holidaymakers sitting in deck chairs complete with picnic hamper on top of the Bluff at Penarth near Cardiff ( My wife's hometown ) Thing was they were facing out towards the Severn estuary but between them and the water about 6' from them was an 8' high hedge!

G'day Manna, I agree with you on Great Moor St., Gavin Thrum produces great looking models at an alarming rate from what I have seen. Moor St is a 'Minories' based design, I wonder if CJF knew how many layouts that design would inspire? Kev

Sn hadn't heard anything about the pile up you refered to, there is a story (factual) including photo on web site wigan world regarding Ludovic Berry and the engine Dolly disappearing down one of Wigan's many pit shafts. I will see if i can find them again. One of the problems with doing those buildings is the frequency of things getting added to,knocked down, enlarged etc etc, with very little support documentation. For example i have several photos of Fyffes warehouse in front of the Hippodrome showing several different window configurations. Still it makes for more interest anyway. Went along to the Adelaide model railway exh. today, some good layouts there and picked up a couple of good buys including a new 4f for $130 aus. A couple decent British outline layouts on show makes a change from acres and acres of out back scrubland. Kev

Len, plenty of grotty atmosphere oozing out of those photos it certainly has an unloved feel about the locos. The weathered look is excellent. Will certainly keep an eye on developments. Oh, I wondered about your last comment in your pm, perhaps it is a northern thing. Cheers Kev

Oh and Happy Birthday for last week Kev

Thanks for the info Apollo, have found one for 12.99 plus 5 pound postage ( haven't got a pound symbol on the PC out here ), I can remember going to the sheds with my grandpa Mason who was a driver based there for a number of years. Mum remembers him coming home one morning as grey as a ghost and covered in mud having hidden in a ditch while a stray German bomber tried to blow his goods train up outside Liverpool. Glad you like the work, and thanks to all that clicked on like etc. Cheers Kev

Hello all, I thought it was about time I updated what I have been up to of late which turns out to be continuing with the various buildings, add on's extensions etc that appear to have been cobbled together out of an assortment of left over bits. Real builders must work the same as model builders I think in that no two parts of any of these buildings appear to be made from the same stuff ( particularly extensions and add on's ) Anyway my wife appears to be appreciating the peace and quiet although the dogs have taken to growling at me when I try to sit near her in the lounge room. As I am trying to get a good idea of how they all fit very few have managed to score a roof as yet. So first up is the Methodist Church and the County Court Theatre / Cinema ( It changed from one to the other as one form of entertainment became more popular ) Unfortunately the model of the County runs into the wall of the room hence the truncated appearance. Some of the various 'add on's in evidence in the next couple of shots. Quite pleased that the Hippodrome made it onto the layout, given that it burnt down in the early 1900's and then again about 10 years after the layout is based, must be something to do with the standard of performers or maybe the critics as Charlie Chaplin, George Formby, Arthur Askey and the Beatles could hardly be called duds. The building in front of the Hippo was used by Fyffes for it's bananas I presume, however like most of the other buildings on here appeared in many different configurations, several photos show quite dramatically differing window arrangements, as usual though it's only partly done. I tried my hand at 'distressing' the appearance of the sign on the Hippodrome with a rub of powdered Charcoal followed by a rub with some sand paper of unknown grit. I think the result doesn't look too bad considering. Lastly for this update a long distance view of the area with an original for comparison that I have been using for general layout, sizing etc. Hopefully I will get another update done before 2 months has elapsed. Cheers for now Kev

I have memories of getting a face full of ash and steam more than once standing on the iron Bridge Chris. We left Wigan for Oz in 1964 and I can distinctly remember having to "Change at Crewe" and doing a mad dash across from one side of the station to the other for some reason or other, dragging a load of cases with us. I agree with you guys about the downfall of King St, it seems to be 90% Bars, nightclubs and rubbish, certainly the last two visits I have made it was. Anyway back in the late 40's it wasn't as grubby judging by photos on Wiganworld. Cheers for now Kevan

Hi all, Still busy cobbling together buildings in the King St area ( at the back of the railway ) at the moment, being a bit held up by a lack of suitable photos from the 40's, however despite the loss of quality from my camera ( !$%#$%!#$%) I am quite pleased how the basis of Grimes arcade has turned out particularly the view out of the back of the arcade that a nice person some years ago had posted on Wiganworld. Google street view has proven invaluable at times although in this case the front of the building appears to have been boarded up for some years. Wiganworld is a local web site that has / is proving to be an absolute goldmine of information, although the building shown below has been the subject of much discussion between locals regarding it's access,locality, who did what where and or when etc etc. Unfortunately the one thing that no one has ever done was to take a photo of the ground floor frontage in a suitable era. This prompted me to write to them stating basically that while the top two floors are accurate the ground floor is a complete guess that is actually based on a Bodega Hotel in Newcastle so "Speak now or forever hold your peace" if you know any different. A view as seen looking up King St. While researching the Bodega, it became apparent that next door, down the street was a Methodist church that had at sometime in the late 50's early 60's or so been knocked down to make way for a Tesco's ! Again the only photos showed a part of a corner or this shot from an aerial view. Imagine my surprise when a Google search for Methodist church King St. showed me this. Which while not exactly the same ( check the front windows ) is alive and well and residing in Bolton, just up the road from Wigan. They must have had a job lot done around the same era I suppose. Anyway it's going to be 36-38 deg over the weekend, damn, the garden will have to wait again. Shame that Cheers Kevan