barrowroad

Hi Steve,

That would explain why Manchester Records Office could not provide the drawings. Despite listing one for the hydraulic wheel drop at Rose Grove all they could find was the plan for the foundations.

Regards,

Robin

Hi,

 

Just a short note, whilst I sit waiting for yet another flight half way around the globe, to say thanks for all those that visited the stand over the weekend to talk about this fantastic project. I hope that you all got something from the demonstrations and were inspired to go off and further your own modelling endeavours. This is the first time I've done a demo and I have to say it is probably the most rewarding experience I've had at a show. Thanks also to Robin for putting up with our constant leg pulling about all those 10 coach trains that need to run up and down the layout. Thanks to a bit of impulse buying I am now trying to figure out what to do with 7 pairs of LMS coach sides. So come on Rob how's about that big fiddle yard?

 

Cheerio.....Morgan

I thought we'd agreed; you and Paul build the coaching stock and I'll be happy to have a large fiddle yard;)

Have a good trip

Robin

You can tell the show hasn't opened, that demo table got rather less tidy once the modelling started! I did like the idea this year with groups of demonstrators from different projects/eras going over their techniques.

 

They have big smiles on their faces as well:D

Hi Dave,

The coal drops are looking good. What chairs have you used on it?

See you at Scaleforum

Robin

Hi Robin, can I begin by saying what a fantastic model Barrow Road looks to be. Totally inspiring. I've finally plucked up the courage to write in having watched the progress over the past few months both through the blog and Model Railway Journal. Engine sheds have always "been in the blood". Sunday mornings in the early 60's used to see my Father, Brother and me at Nine Elms, Dad seemed to know someone at the Shed and we used to have free reign. Holidays used to consist of us standing at the end of Bournemouth Station opposite the Shed, and my Grandparents lived near Westhouses between Alfreton and Chesterfield and again we spent hours around the shed, a past-time that continued right through to the early 80's.I also fondly remember catching the bus to both Annesley and Kirkby on a number of occasions. Although I've always known that one day I would construct a model of an ex- Midland shed I seem to have been distracted by other projects and indeed have built structures for the Derby Museum layout, and won a couple of cups along the way for my buildings. A couple of years ago I sold off all the 7mm stuff and got hooked by Gauge 1, and have subsequently bought Jubilees, Black 5's and 8f's. I haven't the room to do much of a layout so the Engine shed project sprung to life.

I currently live near Buxton and regularly nip over to Barrow Hill for inspiration. I've started the smaller buildings, eg Water Tank, Sand House with the intention of building a Shed scene based on Westhouses but , based on your wonderful model I cannot deny the temptation to start again and build a Roundhouse. My thoughts are based around producing a full end (6 feet long in Gauge 1) and two thirds of the side, thus allowing to fit in the Turntable, and using Mirrors a la John Dormon. The back of the Diorama would possibly contain a Fitting Shop as at Barrow Road and Belle Vue to name a couple. Do you reckon that York Modelmakers would produce a similar kit of parts at 10mm to the foot? At the very least I would hope that they would produce the windows.

I hope you haven't minded the ramblings above. Thank you for keeping us up to date with progress on Barrow Road. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in the flesh. When will it be on show? Again well done.

Best wishes, John Tuckett

Hi John,

Thanks for your kind comments. My lack of any recent blog entry is due to preparing a demonstration for next weekends Scaleforum at Leatherhead where the board containing the roundhouse and workshop will be on display along with some of my research material. Two of my friends will also be demonstrating Templot - the trackplan - and some CAD drawings of components for the 60ft Cowans Sheldon turntable along with the shed roof girders.

Chris Dening of York Modelmakers is also attending the show so you could 'kill birds' should you be able to make the show. If not I am sure Chris would be interesting in quoting for 10mm scale roundhouse. The only contraint for this scale would be the size of the bed of the laser which they use, namely 900mm x 600mm. This means that your building will need careful design . Please fell free to contact me for any further information .

Best wishes,

Robin

Hi John,

Looks very nice indeed. Is the photo outside the museum?

Well, it's correct in so far as it should be 1 red, 1 white but the Heljan model has them the wrong way round:

 

http://www.flickr.co...57614915738447/

 

If you can actually find a photo which shows the lights working and visible, then I'll be impressed. As such I've decommissioned mine - they're far too bright in any event.

 

Adam

Adam & Bob,

Thanks for the info - not sure what I'll do about the lights long term but for now I'll just leave them. At least I don't have to look for a broken wire after taking it loco apart.

Thanks for that, Robin, I've found the Hobbycraft website, looks promising. In the meantime, I've obtained some Derwent coloured pencils from my local art shop and have done some experimentation, but this is on embossed plasticard brick, primed with Halfords grey primer. Not too sure about the results so far, so I was wondering whether you specifically went for the Faber Castell product, rather than any other type of pencil (ie. did you buy the Faber product, because that was what the shop happened to have, or did you know that this was the right product?).

 

I'm finding the Derwent pencils a bit waxy, and I note from the Hobbycraft website, that the Faber Castell ones are not meant to be thus....

Hi Tim,

My first use was colouring the pit of the Brinkley turntable made by Morgan. These crayons were Berol which are no longer available. The Faber product was the best substitute for Berol.

The use of crayons on mdf or card, both have relatively soft surfaces, works well however on plastics especially the hard Rowmark on the roundhouse is not very effective. I now use acrylic paint.

Hi Robin,

 

I'm having a bit of bother finding the Faber Castell crayons locally in Devon - is there a retail outlet in the Bristol area that I could visit for some, when I'm next up that way, please?

 

Edit Sat 31/7/10 - I'm going to try out some alternative pencils from my local art shop in Totnes this afternoon...

 

Also, I was pondering on the method of application - presumably it's to do with having the crayon/pencil sharp enough to colour one individual brick in one quick stroke, and to build the colour/overall effect up cumulatively, as you do each brick with whatever colour you are using in the range?

Hi Tim,

Sorry for the delay in responding but I've just got back from a holiday in Canada.

The best place to buy Faber Castell crayons is from Hobbycraft who have a shop at the Mall, Cribbs Causeway, near Junc 17 on the M5. I believe you can also purchase online.

As to the method of application I tend to randomly colour blocks of bricks - see photos - using the colours in the order shown. You do need a sharp crayon for getting into the edges adjacent to the engineering brickwork but otherwise a reasonably pointed one will do. For the final colour and the weathering I use the crayon on it's side to lightly add colour.

Hope this helps,

Robin

As a matter of interest, did you come to any final conclusions about the main shed roof trusses and the best way to model them?

 

Also, what happens to the open side of the shed (where the pits run off the edge of the base-board? Will this be left open or filled by the layout back-scene?

 

Dave, Not much progress on this but I did a drawing yesterday with the dimensions which I have sent to Morgan. I think the solution will be using etched components.

 

The shaped sheet of clear acrylic which was in position at the AGM will enable viewing of the inside. Maybe the shortened pit roads will need a sectioned loco or two:rolleyes:

Fascinating Robin - it looks like you simply use these crayons straight on a base of sprayed-on grey primer?

I certainly do - Halfords grey primer is the base coat on the exterior walls whilst their white is used on the interior. The crayons work well on the mdf but are less effective on the 'Rowmark' plastic where I have used Badger opaque airbrush acrylics. - Does anyone know whether these are still available?

Very nice John - keep up the good work.

Robin

Thanks Robin, I see how you've designed it now.

 

The legs certainly look nice and sturdy and I would imagine give a really solid platform for the layout on top. One thing that crosses my mind from experience of our layout, East Dean, is that occasionally we need to do some remedial work under the boards at exhibitions, and at the very least need easy to access to the underneath to ensure all the board connections are tight etc.

 

Have you found the X braces get in the way of accessing the underside of the boards at all? I'm asking as I'm toying with building a new O gauge layout which will require double width boards in places such as yours and if I can get the foundations right it will make construction and setting up at shows so much easier.

 

I'm very much enjoying following your build - thanks for taking the time to share it with us all.

 

Pete.

At present there is not much under the boards apart from the pairs of bolts to lock the boards together. I can reach under the boards - I have the advantage of long arms - with a Dewalt driver with ball head attachment to tighten or remove these bolts without crawling underneath.

However should I need to get under a board it is safe to temporarily remove one of the X braces to gain access. Alternatively it is possible without too much trouble to climb inside from the ends:rolleyes:

One thing I forgot to mention before is the alignment dowels. These are the machined steel alignment dowels from C&L which are fitted in the sides and ends during construction of the boards using a home made jig.

Robin

Thanks Robin, I see how you've designed it now.

 

The legs certainly look nice and sturdy and I would imagine give a really solid platform for the layout on top. One thing that crosses my mind from experience of our layout, East Dean, is that occasionally we need to do some remedial work under the boards at exhibitions, and at the very least need easy to access to the underneath to ensure all the board connections are tight etc.

 

Have you found the X braces get in the way of accessing the underside of the boards at all? I'm asking as I'm toying with building a new O gauge layout which will require double width boards in places such as yours and if I can get the foundations right it will make construction and setting up at shows so much easier.

 

I'm very much enjoying following your build - thanks for taking the time to share it with us all.

 

Pete.

At present there is not much under the boards apart from the pairs of bolts to lock the boards together. I can reach under the boards - I have the advantage of long arms - with a Dewalt driver with ball head attachment to tighten or remove these bolts without crawling underneath.

However should I need to get under a board it is safe to temporarily remove one of the X braces to gain access. Alternatively it is possible without too much trouble to climb inside from the ends:rolleyes:

One thing I forgot to mention before is the alignment dowels. These are the machined steel alignment dowels from C&L which are fitted in the sides and ends during construction of the boards using a home made jig.

Robin

 

Robin,

 

I totally agree that as well as supurb modelling on top of the boards the actual boards themselves look excellant. Could you tell me, is the layout designed to put up all the legs first and then place the boards on top? I noticed that each board appears to have a complete set of legs or shared legs - this must making working on just one or two boards much easier.

 

Could we possibly have some more photos of the leg construction and how the boards fix to them?

 

Pete.

Pete,

The layout has 5 supports, the 3 longer ones of which are interchangable. They are designed to be assembled and levelled before the boards themselves are placed on top. Adjacent boards rest on the same set of legs.

The support legs are fabricated using 'Hemlock' legs purchased from the stair rail/banister section of 'Wickes'. Ref Contemporary Spindle 41x900mm - W128401W., remarkably cheap @ around £2.60 apiece. Very straight timber!

These legs have adjusters fitted into 'T' nuts in their base.

Each support is made from 2 legs joined by 2 pairs of shaped 6.5mm thick beech ply.

Legs are joined together by steel X braces which I had made by a local steel fabricating firm in Bristol and are locked to the legs using fixed wood nuts and allen headed bolts.

Hopefully the photos in the S4 AGM Blog will make this explanation clearer but if you want me to identify any else with a photograph let me know.

Robin

Thank you all for your input in resolving the STOP sign question. It never ceases to amaze me the knowledge and information available on RMweb.

Thanks to Jamie for pointing out the different resolutuons available on Flickr - a useful fact of which I was not aware - next time.

Jamie you are indeed correct that this photograph is from Bill Barkings Flickr site and it was very remiss of me to not give him the credit for the photo. I did note he is more than happy for people to use his images for private research and did look at his profile for an email contact to thank him. Unfortunately it is not available on his profile. I intended asking him for a higher resolution picture but have no need to now.

For those who have not discovered Bill's superb photos I recommend using the link provided by Jamie.

11D thank you for providing the clearer enlargement.

Thanks also to Tim, Boogy and Morgan for correctly identifying other missing words.

Thank you for your kind comments.

Nick,

 

 

 

Rob, I take it the modelling will be taking a break later tonight!

 

Paul

Paul,

After that performance I wish I'd stuck to the modelling tonight:scratch_one-s_head_mini:

Robin

Robin,

 

I know there are motorised wagons to replicate "fly shunting", but are you going to have self propelled wheel-sets going for turning???

 

Now that is an interesting challenge.........

 

Hopefully house re-painting won't be required for a while, so we've got you back modelling? I seem to spend all my spare time hospital visiting, so layout progress has virually stopped.

 

Another 15 years hopefully by which time I'll get someone else to do it.

Best wishes with the visits,

 

Robin

Interesting, the doors look like French windows, and don't look large enough to admit a loco.

The entrance height is 13ft 9in - a tight squeeze but sufficient for most locos which are 12ft 6in to 13ft 2in chimney height.

I found the boards impressive as they screw 2 wide as well as end to end, the edging laminate also seemed impressive and still lighter than the Manchester boards.

 

I seem to have left my camera on the other side of the Bristol Channel.. Anyone take some decent shots of the freight train passing though on the main?

 

Nice when its a roundy round .

Hi Craig,

I know my friend Chris Yates, who built the boards in his superb woodworking shop - ably assisted by yours truly - would be happy to accept design and build commissions for anyone interested in good quality baseboards.

If anyone is interested please let me know and I can put you in contact with Chris.

As for the freight train with Dave's 9F I have some photos taken by Paul using my camera which I will post on here shortly.

The 'common fiddle yard' idea is a definite future possiblity!

How come I keep missing all these wonderful blogs? That is really looking rather special. Can't make the AGM this year, but I hope I'll see it soon. You never know, I might build Holbeck yet!

I am taking a couple of the boards, including the shed one, to Scaleforum this year as part of a demonstration of BR 1950/60s modelling - maybe you can see it there.

Now Holbeck - that sounds interesting.

Robi

Don't normally bother with AGM's - but I'll definitely be there this year - I just can't wait to see this in the flesh! Do you need any visiting locos?

 

Dave.

Hi Dave,

You are most welcome to bring some of your excellent locos especially for photographic purposes. Still not much track laid as I still need to do the outside pits but extra locos displayed on the layout would be appreciated. See you next Saturday.

I'm off to Railex this weekend to help operate Clinkerford with John Darch - are you going?

Robin

Hi John,

Looking good... see you at the weekend.

Robin