CDGfife

Don was a founding East of Scotland 4mm Group member.  Our members Jim Summers and Alasdair Taylor have provided the following:

The death of Don Rowland brings to an end his personal contributions to our hobby, but his influence will live on.

For most of his 91 years Don studied and recorded the railway by his photographs, by his wonderful way with words and by his fine models. Our knowledge of wagons, of (in his words) "Keeping the Balance" in types of stock on model railways, of inventive aids to track-building, and of prototype practice go in large measure to his extensive writings. More than that, he brought good nature and fun to the business of building model railways.

Don's "specialist subject" was the LMS, and another great man, the late David Jenkinson, said...

Don's specialist subject was the LMS, and another great man, the late David Jenkinson, said “No-one knew more about the LMS than Don Rowland”. Don was a past-President of the Historical Model Railway Society, among other high offices, and also a past-President of the Scalefour Society.

His enormous experience, knowledge, and prodigious memory were invariably freely shared to all who asked, irrespective of scale. We in the East of Scotland 4mm Group, of which he was a founder member, knew that well. His model of the Forth Hotel complex of buildings on Burntisland 1883 is a testimony to his continuing interest in our group, for it was built after Don had moved south.

He had grown up in Crewe, and after around 40 years in Scotland moved in retirement to Shropshire, where he became a similarly loved figure in the Crewe Area Group. Ill-health restrained him in his final years, but he had never ceased to believe in battery power and radio control for proper realism. So it was that he was well forward with converting an early LNWR locomotive at the time of his death, leaving the hobby generally and his huge number of friends and admirers with simply so much. We offer our sincere condolences to Olive and Elaine, his wife and daughter, who both understood.

Another very sad loss to our hobby.

Chris Gough

Chairman

East of Scotland 4mm Group

Notwithstanding the issues at the Bridgnorth end already discussed, the civils at the Ironbridge end would be a nightmare.  The whole gorge is more or less sliding into the river and thundering (alright even crawling) trains would not help that by any means.

Bannut Tree Farm CL in Worcestershire is a one field walk from Arley Station on the Severn Valley Railway.  Couple of pubs within walking distance and an easy walk down the lane and over the river into Upper Arley for the tearoom.

I like this.  I'm also a fan of the no-tunnel exit from scenic sections.  Depending on viewing angle you may be able to get away with the outcrop and a few carefully placed buildings.

One other thing I would suggest thinking about now is what happens if you get a loco stall or derailment on that back line from the storage under the tunnel.  You may have already thought about access but if not it's worth factoring it in now.

Good luck

Chris

Luffing jibs until fairly recently were much more common on the continent (Liebher were the go-to brand) so you might find a 70s luffing jib bash-able from one of the euro kits?  I agree both the models shown so far are quite chunky.  Time for the 3d printing folks to come up with some modular sections that can be fitted to any height/jib lengths?  Alternatively some very burnt fingers from soldering up and etch or three!!!

The towers I remember from the eighties looked very similar to the Woking one with in-line cab.  We did have a couple that had the cab forward of the tower but I think side cabs were a bit later again.

Quite often lift shafts (or stair wells) were used for crane holes, although most lift shafts would have been slip formed of concrete in-situ and that action would have required the crane to position the concrete skip over the formwork, which is tricky if too close to the crane tower.  At least 2 of my sites just had a floor slab hole left for filling later and this was more defined by the structural design of the building (i.e. where they could easily leave a hole for later filling.

Cheers

CDG

In my experience, up through the middle of the building as your Woking photo, would be exactly the norm, with a hole left in (designed into) the floor structure to accommodate and then plugged once the crane is done with.  On my first site I went over on a Sunday to watch them take the tower crane down - there was some really frightening hanging on beams that day!!

The Woking crane is pretty much how I remember ours being.  Can't see who the contractor is but it's not a Taylor Woodrow crane as it has no branding.  The TW cranes were all a horrible lime green colour with the TW logo (4 men pulling a rope) in red on a white panel between the kentledge ballast and the cab on the rear jib.  I think the only reason your building would not have one like this is if they could not get swinging rights for the jib above the next door buildings, in which case a luffing jib type would have been fitted but these were rarer than the standards.

Look at all those trip hazards around the portable saw in the third photo!!!  Had a chap badly cut his wrist on one of those on the first floor slab at Tamworth and the only way they could get him and the other lad (who was holding his tourniquet) off the slab together was to put them both in the concrete skip and crane them off to the waiting ambulance.

I think the only reason the mobile is being used in the last photo is because they are bridging the road so could close it anyway.

Cheers

CDG

Graham you are totally right.  I well recall the general laxity regarding (for example) hard hats on mid eighties sites.  We had many a campaign to educate!  Also even then most moving was done by labour and the tower crane.

The Bimson artic pic is a similar size and format to the one my toppling story was about.  They had a surprisingly short throw for anything heavy back in the eighties/early nineties.  I agree they were, in my recollection, a late eighties/early nineties proliferation.  Before then we used to charge demurage with the precast stuff if our lorry had been on site waiting for a tower crane slot for over an hour!

To be honest my suspicion is that your site would probably have had a tower crane, (possibly a luffing jib one given the tight site radius and close buildings) as the precast flooring slabs would need to be lifted in and parking a mobile crane on a London street for the day to do this was certainly a no no (or at least very expensive) mid eighties and probably long before then!

The switch from manual to mechanised construction did gather pace with the design changes brought about by precast flooring availability.  With manual labour it was easier to construct an in-situ slab as everything could be carried to the pour site, and bricks and the like were transported up ladder/stairs in hods, but these sites still more often than not had a crane of some sort until very late in the construction process.

Cheers

Chris 

Certainly the sites I was on mid to late 80s of this type all had a tower crane and brick/block pallets were unloaded from the lorry by the crane and hoisted to each floor where they were either dropped (by the tower crane and banksman) direct onto scaffolding positions or once the floor was in dropped centrally and then moved around by manual pallet truck.  I did have a mate on a central London site who raved about their "pallet lift" which was a temporary structure up the middle of the building where you could lift pallets without waiting on the crane, and I also know that these were used in London where access for tower crane erecting/swing was restricted, but I'm not sure when that practice would have started.

From memory, I did not see regular hiab deliveries on any of my sites in the midlands until the late 80s and I don't think truck-hiabs would lift a pallet of blocks very far from the vehicle.  I've certainly never seen one load to first floor.  When I ended up making precast concrete, our transport firm turned up one day with "the biggest hiab in England" according to the driver.  Couple of weeks later he'd overturned it lifting off a carboy from the middle of his trailer onto the floor, when the ground had moved under one of his supports slightly.  That should give an idea of how little radius of load these things have/had.

Hope that helps

Bricks/blocks/mixers etc all looking great and adding to the picture nicely.

Cheers

Chris

Scott, yes (although not really finished) we were at Glasgow in 2018.  Bells and all!  This one was taken at S4um later that year:

Pelmet has been sign written since then!

Kevin - thanks for the photo and your info, very interesting.  Furthest south we've been so far was Scaleforum at Aylesbury in Sept 2018, but I would certainly be open to a trip to the South-West when this rubbish is all over.  Got relatives in Brixham & lived in Plymouth for a while also, so whilst it is a trek we've done it a few times albeit without a layout!!

Thanks also Scott and George for your comments.

Here's the exhibition plan (I only have the actual track plan part in CAD and this is much quicker to post)!

And for those of a techie bent, here's the CBUS implementation plan, which does at least show a zoomed track plan on the three scenic boards!

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Chris

1 hour ago, Rivercider said:

Very nice.

I'm too young to remember the line properly, but I remember making a trip with my dad on the last day of service from Exmouth to Sidmouth Junction.

As a child I knew we had several generations of railwayman in my family working in Exeter and East Devon. Since my dad passed away and I did a little research I find that my widowed great great grandmother was given the crossing keepers job at Gosford Gates, the census shows her there in 1881, 1891, and 1901. So the LSWR lines in East Devon are a bit special to me,

 

cheers 

That is lovely - thanks for sharing it.  Gosford was the next set of gates up the line (towards Sidmouth Junction) from Cadhay Gates.  Like Cadhay, the crossing keeper's cottage is still there.  I was down there last summer for some further research (ssshh - there may be a phase 2 at some point) and took this of the Cadhay Keeper's cottage.

The gates are still in the hedge up on the hump to the left and the rivers are to the right.  Excuse my hound getting in on the act on the right.

I had to leave out the cottage on my layout as I just did not have the space, but over the years at exhibitions I've still had a few chats with folks who remember the line and recognise the situation.  It's always a pleasure and it's such a lovely part of the world.

Cheers

CDG

Thanks Scott for your kind comments.

Actually birdsong (and other nature noises) has been in the pipeline for a while, probably with a DF player and speakers on each baseboard controlled by the CBUS.  However I did draw the line at the suggestion of modelling the sound of the rivers flowing!  Not sure I and the other operators could get through an hour shift with that running!!

Cheers

Chris

3 minutes ago, KNP said:

Or plain hiding?

Or plane hiding?

Isn't the English language fun?

CDG

If the Railcar is being loaded in the goods shed (and referring earlier debate), does that make it a freight train, goods bus or Railvan?

Chris

Small set of early photos today.

First up continuing the theme of the last post, the toe end of the trap point and rodding protecting the running line at the exit from the sidings.  It's a tricky one for exhibition shunter drivers.  They are stationed out front and often find themselves talking to punters whilst shunting.  The trap point prevents an over run of the shunt limit from causing a disaster (Good) but it does result in the loco derailing (prototypical) and hence falling down the embankment into the river (obvious & embarrassing - especially when it's your own layout!!).  My own response when I have done so (it's happened twice!) is to explain that this demonstrates the need and functionality of the trap point!!

Next is a shot through the wood at the extreme right hand end of the layout, which is the view blocker.  This loco is a Hornby and at the time of this photo was a re-wheel job.  It is now on it's second scratch built chassis (it was the one I made all my learning mistakes on!!) on Gibson wheels with Mashima motor and High level gearbox and now lives as No 320.

Couple of old shots of the farm yard environs.  First one looks at the water tank and the second is a not easily accessed view down the back(layout) or front(building) of the pig sty and stable.  These were both taken before I completed the greenery around the farm and also before the gate was added.

Buildings are all thin ply shell with Polyfilla added and then scribed.

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Chris

Cadhay has working point rodding, made from the Ambis etches.  Powered by servos, the rodding controls all the turnouts.  The (only) facing point on the passenger lines also has a working facing point lock.  In this pic the flat bar that extends towards the camera from the FPL has a web for about half it's length (making it T shaped), the web interfaces with 2 slots on the stretcher bar thus locking the point in either position.  On the lever frame you MUST release the FPL before moving the point, but since the lever frame locking has not been built yet, I've always had to stress to the box operator(s) that they will break the (plasticard) stretcher if they pull the point lever before releasing the FPL.  In 3 years of exhibiting plus practice sessions only 1 person has broken a stretcher - yep it was me!!!  The language that day does not bear repeating.  Signal wiring and pulleys have been added since this photo was taken, but unfortunately I could not make them actually work.

The treadle bar you can see on the right actually swings up and over as the lever is pulled/rodding moves as per the prototype, so if there is rolling stock sitting on it, then it will derail (rather than stop the treadle moving) - not quite what the prototype version does, but that's the non-scaling of physics for you!

I often think the track in this pic looks like OO but I promise the gauge is 18.83mm - I think it's just that the sleepers are 9' since my premise is they are the original LSWR pre-grouping ones!

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Chris

As per previous update, here's a couple of pics of the rodding and cranks.

First up the rodding.  No8 guitar string and grooved rail.  The galvanised effect is AlcladII dull aluminium - airbrush ready and easy spray.  Not a great photo but to the naked eye I think it looks pretty realistic.

Next the selection of adjusting cranks and compensators I (think I) will need, in the buff

and painted...

Just got to assemble the lot now on the layout and then I can start to stick track down.

Meantime the front girder bridge deck has been built and I now have the brass section from Eileen's to assemble the bridge and piers.

Thanks for looking

Cheers

CDG

This popped up on my YouTube feed this morning.  Cadhay was filmed at Cupar show last year, but I was not aware what for.

It was late in our timetable day when he arrived so the filming is of a Q class popping into the sidings to make up the 2010 departure from the sidings which sends the working horses (in horsebox) home to bed.  Also a quick shot of the B4 on Sidings shunting duty.  It just happened that neither of these locos are mine.  They're both on loan from my mate Chris McCarthy.  We know the Q has slipped slightly through the space time continuum back to 1930 (and is probably a bit heavy for the Sidmouth branch), but Rule1 and all that!  We ran a BR early crest N2 on Cadhay at Glasgow in 2018 and I'm not sure anyone actually noticed - certainly no-one commented!!

This video must have been the only time that weekend I was rostered on Signalling duty.

Some lovely layouts on there also, including my mate Ray Nolton with United Mills.

Cheers

CDG

Sadly my ceramic tipped tweezers have not guaranteed nothing will ping off to the carpet monster (2 rodding cranks this morning I'm looking at you!) but I agree they are the firmest gripping tweezers I've used and I wouldn't be without mine now, plus as you say great for soldering.

This is looking really good Jim.

CDG

Thanks for the comments folks.

George - the water is mainly Realistic Details' Magic Water 2 part resin.  Each area's final pour was stippled but there is about a 1hour window about 11 hours after mixing when the stippling (to create the ripples) is most effective and you can really get them to stand up.  Only on one pour did I have to set the alarm for 0300 so I could then do the stippling! (pic taken before the fascia was added!)

The flow over the weir was achieved using Woodland Scenics Water effects.  Some photos of that will appear over time as I dig them out!

I've used Perspex for flat water previously and it works well.  Small wind ripples can be added by painting on a thin layer of mod podge gloss and blowing ripples in it whilst wet with an (unloaded) airbrush.  Look up Luke Towan (Boulder Creek) on You Tube for a great tutorial on this.

The cobbles were scribed into just dry polyfiller lite, then a coating in grey acrylic plus several washes and dry brushes for weathering.

I do like to see a railway in a landscape.  Whether that is country or urban is less important to me than it being well modelled and looking convincing in it's landscape.  For me it's important that the landscape before the railway came is readable - hence the old track from the farmyard cut off by the railway referred to in the earlier post.

Thanks for looking

Cheers

CDG

Quick (not a great deal of) progress report this morning.

The baseboard has been painted in white primer, which has allowed the first of the boards to be glued in (the front one which will form the river/sea).  Also the rear bridge has been temporarily fitted to ensure everything fits together.

The front bridge deck (not shown in the pics I'm afraid) has also been assembled and is awaiting the arrival of a package from Eileens with girders and cross members to form the bridge itself.  Also a packet of Archers rivets has arrived (he says with trepidation)!

Meanwhile more work on the rodding runs has been done and most of it is about to be painted.

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Chris

I started my working life with Taylor Woodrow in the 80s on sites like this one!

Floor alternatives back then would be:

• Cast in situ reinforced concrete - this would require timber (or steel) shuttering/formwork and a forest of scaffold/acro-prop/truss formwork support underneath to take the live load of the pour and whilst the concrete went off.  If further floors above were also cast in situ then that forest of formwork would stay to transfer the floor above loading to the ground and additional formwork supports would be between these floors.  There would be loads of rebar in a cast in situ floor of this size.  This type, as I remember, was the least common on steel frame buildings
• Pre cast/prestressed beams - sometimes known as Bison beams, were light weight flooring panels (usually, but not always, with tubular hollow cores) which span from steel to steel.  They would be delivered ready to fit and craned into place, so much less formwork and formwork supports.  Often a screed of concrete would be cast over the top using the panels as the formwork.  Design dependant, this may have called for additional support during the live load of the pour.  Filigree flooring is another type of this kind of precast flooring system and would make a pretty unique model.
• Beam and block - these were usually upside down T shaped pre-cast concrete beams which span from steel to steel and were spaced one block apart.  The gaps were in-filled with blocks and again often a screed cast over the top.

You're right about access ladders - on my first week on my first site I was asked to check the reinforcement in a 4m tall column which was ready to pour.  The formwork was up around all four sides and a ladder was tied to the reinforcement sticking out of the top.  As all that was holding the rebar up were the steel ties to the ground beam it wobbled alarmingly.  I got about 1m up and came down again.  Got called to the Project Manager's office expecting a telling off but in fact when I explained why I'd refused to go any higher, the foreman got a clobbering and told in no uncertain terms to put some access scaffolding up!  That said, on every site I remember from the 80s, there would have been at least a waist height scaffold handrail (and usually a toe board as well) on first floor or above edges in your type of building.

Once the brickies were on site the whole area was taken over with pallets of bricks and blocks and big tubs of mortar, but also the scaffold would have been built up as the walls were, with brick/block pallets and mortar at each level to prevent them from stopping.  So for your building, that currently bricked in panel would have needed scaffold to get to the stage currently modelled and if the panel above was also to be brick or block then in most cases the scaffold would have been left in place to be built up again as the respective lifts of brick/blockwork were built up.

I don't often see half built buildings that match my early site memories, but this one will look great with some tweaks and more detail!

Hope that helps

Cheers

Chris