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barrowroad

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  1. barrowroad
    I completed the trackwork for the junction at Lawrence Hill a couple of months ago and now that I have the legs for the curved board I decided itwas time to lay the track.
    The junction is constructed off the layout using a templot track plan and has been constructed from ply sleepers using a combination of exactoscale functional chairs and rivets. I like using the latter on pointwork as it enables adjustment to the track before adding the cosmetic chairs.
     
    Some re-alignment of the track on the adjacent board was required give a good flow to the curved track on the main line.
     
    Here are a few photos
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    I couldn't resist adding the last photo. The Britannia is Flying Dutchman which is on a temporary transfer to Barrow Road and belongs to John [ Killybegs ].
    For further information on John's build of this model see his Worseter posting http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/82059-worseter-update-time-for-a-9f/page-17
  2. barrowroad
    Over the past couple of months I have had to make some modifications to the Dunster House shed building in order to make room to fit the fiddle yard boards down the back wall. This has entailed making cut outs in the two short walls that protrude into the building. After much thought and deliberation I made a decision to add a 6" x 3" wood beam across the two inner roof 'trusses' in order to add strength to the roof. These two beams were supported using 'permanent' acrow props which have now been boxed. Once this was completed a large proportion of the weight of the roof was taken on the acrow props and I was able to safely remove the wood from the two inner stub walls to give the necessary space for the fiddle yard boards.
     
    Today I have taken delivery of five 4ft x 2ft 6in fiddle yard boards - Courtesy of the Chris Yates woodwork facility - to add to the two additional boards, one for Days Road Bridge {see previous blog entry] and the new curved board for Lawrence Hill Junction.
     
    Whilst Chris was making these boards I made the Single Slip and Cross Over for the Days Road Board and the turnouts and diamond for Lawrence Hill Junction.
    Hope you like the photos.
     

    Beam and Acrow Props
     

    Props hidden, beams in place and stub inner wall cut back for fiddle yard boards
     

    Five new fiddle yard boards
     

    Days Road Board plus track + P4 Thomas and friends
     

    Lawrence Hill Junction Board plus track
  3. barrowroad
    I have recently received delivery of the first of a new set of baseboards which will extend the layout into a continuous circuit with a long fiddle yard down the opposite side of the shed. This first board is at the rear of the shed and workshop and will allow trackwork extensions to the roads off the 20ft loco turntables outside the workshop; the sidings alongside the shed and workshop and an extension to the main line under Days Road Bridge towards Bristol Temple Meads. All the new boards are being built by Chris Yates who made all the original seven.
     
    I have made a start on the single slip which forms the southern exit to the shed and joins the down main under Days Road Bridge. My trackwork is being made on a templot plan - thanks Morgan - using my usual ply and rivet method with exactoscale functional chairs in appropriate positions. Once fully assembled and tested cosmetic chairs will be added over the rivets. Slide chairs are Bill Bedford etchings which fit over and are soldered to their rivet.
     

     
    My other layout - Sheep Pasture - is in the background but will need to be moved in order to accommodate the extended Barrow Road.
     
    Views of the shed from Days Road Bridge which show the rear of the shed and the sidings are to be found in my previous posting
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    The next board due for delivery will be a curved scenic board at the opposite end of the layout which will accommodate Lawrence Hill Junction and the associated road overbridge.
     
    I wish all my readers a Happy Christmas and New Year.
  4. barrowroad
    I attended an interesting talk in Bristol last night given by the Barton Hill History Group on the 50th anniversary of the closure of Barrow Road Shed. It was surprisingly well attended - around 200 - with a lot of former railway employees in attendance.
    As my own commemoration to that day here are my own colour photos taken at the shed around that time. Those showing 1420, 6435 and 7029 are from the 17th October 1965 as I believe are the others.
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    A couple of the above photos have recently appeared in the November edition of Steam Days in an article by Steve Bartlett entitled Bristol's Barrow Road Shed and it's duties - 1959 to 1965.
    Well worth a read.
     
     
    Edit - added for John aka Killybegs and Mike G a photo of 70021 Morning Star taken at an earlier date probably 1964.
     

  5. barrowroad
    Those who know Barrow Road Shed will be aware of the stand out feature namely the 13 arch viaduct that bisected the shed site. This allowed excellent views of the coaling and ash plants on the north side and the yard and roundhouse on the south. There was a gate in the viaduct that led down into the yard via a flight of concrete steps.
     

    Photo from top of coaling tower 1966.
     
    On Saturday I went to the Wigan Show and collected a model of part of the Barrow Road viaduct - the main line bridge and six arches - from Chris Dening of 3DCD. The spec for this model required assembly of the shell with overlays for the arch keystones and the skew brickwork on the underside of the arches. Chris, as requested, has also produced a set of overlays for use when I model the stonework of the viaduct. This will enable me to model this in sections on a flat surface prior to fixing onto the model.
     
    Any way enough rambling here are some photos:-
     

    With acknowledgement to Ivo Peters photo - Patriot for Jubilee
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Note the brickwork on the underside of the arch - superb - thanks Chris.
     
     
    Some additional photos for Peter - Coaling Tower and Gerry - The two Bristol buses in Tilling Green
    The 236 - Old Market, Barton Hill, Brislington until 13/9/58 then extended to Ashley Down and Filton.
    The 36 - Old Market, Baton Hill, Brislington and Knowle.
     
    Ash Plant temporarily moved for photos of viaduct.
     

     

     

     

     
     
    A few more photos added for friday:-
     

     

     

     

     

    A view from the top of the steps.....................
     

     

  6. barrowroad
    Having completed fitting all the droppers on the current scenic boards - roundhouse excluded - I have made a start on adding the BUS bars to the layout. I have decided to split the scenic section of the layout into a number of power districts or Zones as follows;
    Zone 1 - Up Main
    Zone 2 - Down Main
    Zone 3 - Turnouts Group 1
    Zone 4 - Turnouts Group 2
    Zone 5 - Loco Shed Sidings
    Zone 6 - Loco Shed coal/ash area
    Zone 7 - Loco Shed rear sidings
    Zone 8 - Loco Shed Turntable & Roundhouse sidings.
     
    I decided to tackle Zone 5 first it being the easiest area to get at. Here are a few photos of work so far. I have added a BUS bar for the five loco shed sidings attaching wires from each dropper to the appropriate cable.
     

    Part of Zone 5 includes the 5 shed sidings alongside the roundhouse and workshop
     
    The following three show the underside of this board.
     

     

     

  8. barrowroad
    It is a while ago since I did any wiring on the layout when the UP and DOWN main lines were partially completed and wired with their own BUS bars and droppers.
    I decided it was time to get on with some more wiring and started making more droppers out of 1/0.6 wire, these being soldered onto double ended tags which can the be fixed to the underside of the boards.
    Over 200 of these were made up in preparation for the task. The single core wire is easier to push through the 1.3mm holes drilled through the baseboard and do not fall back out onto the floor.
     

    The photo shows the remaining droppers after installation.
     
    All my hand built trackwork has been prepared for wiring using Palatine Models rail droppers which are fixed to the bottom of track rivits during assembly. I also choose to solder them to the rivit to add extra strength before assembling track. These rail droppers can been seen in some of the following photos.
     

     

     

     

     

     

    This photo shows part of the UP and DOWN main line track BUS
     

    Droppers prior to trimming to size and soldering to the rail droppers.
    The eagle eyed will notice Days Road Bridge in the background waiting until the new sceniv board is made befor e it can be positioned on the layout.
     

    The underside of the Coaling tower board showing the array of droppers with their double ended tags before fixing.
     
    Next task is to strip out some cable to prepare some more BUS bars.
  9. barrowroad
    Having settled into the new large shed I have given some thought to extending the layout into a continuous run with a long fiddle yard down one side of the building with the layout along the other. With this in mind I need scenic breaks at each end of the layout. At the north end the break will be the road bridge at Lawrence Hill north of the Junction signal box, whilst at the south - Temple Meads - end it will be Days Road Bridge. For those of a certain age this will evoke memories of climbing the wall to gain access into the back of the shed and the roundhouse.
     

    Photo courtesy of Donald Flook
     
    I already have Templot track plans for both ends and the Days Road end will be tackled first.

     
    As you can see Days Road Bridge is an interesting subject in itself and I was fortunate to be able to take some photographs prior to it's demolition in around 1981.
     

    Days Road Bridge - north elevation
     

    Days Road Bridge - South Elevation
     
    The shed building for Barrow Road was produced for me as a laser cut kit by Chris Dening who now runs his own business 3DCD http://www.cd3dmodelmaking.co.uk
    I decided to contact Chris about making a model of Days Road Bridge with it's curved brickwork walls and he accepted the challenge. Chris is not producing a kit of parts this time and will produce the model as an assembled and primed unit.
    Chris has given me permission to post some work in progress photos of the bridge so here they are........
    The photos show the build sequence of the shell of the bridge including the curved section of the bridge walls. The wing walls are yet to be added.
    Chris's next task is to make up the templates for the brickwork especially the curved walling.
     

     

     

     

     

    South Elevation
     

    North Elevation
     
    I'm pleased with the results so far and am looking forward to receiving the finished product.
  10. barrowroad
    It has been a while since my last post this being due to a move of house last year and the consequent storage of the layout and stock. Earlier this year I took delivery of a kit of parts to build a new home for the layout.

     
    Over the past few months with the help of friends the shed is now finished and yesterday I moved Barrow Road into it's new home appropriately christened 'The Engine Shed'. The intention is to make the layout a continuous run for the main line complete with a fiddle year down one side of the building.
     
    Here are a few photos taken yesterday showing the layout on it's transport trolleys and then erected inside the shed.
     

     

     

     

     

  11. barrowroad
    Since my last entry I have made the majority of the track situated at the rear of the roundhouse. This trackwork is quite interesting as it not only links the two 20ft turntables but gives access to the workshop at 90deg to the turntables. Two spurs off turntable 4 run alongside the boiler house and were used for storage of withdrawn engines [Pugs 51218 & 51217 together with Johnson 3F 43444 are known to have been on these tracks]. Turntable 2 gives access to the water softening plant [ wagons were positioned to take the sludge ] whilst the extension to the wheel drop road leads to a 12ft turntable which was used to enable movement of loco driving wheels to the workshop wheel lathe via turntable 4.
    The track to the water softening plant proved an interesting challenge as it crosses the wheel drop road on the level. The method I used was to solder rail directly to thin pcb board whilst scribing the board to ensure each rail is insulated!
    I used a similar method to construct the interlaced track to the two boiler house sidings. Only one of these will be wired up as the other was only used to house one wagon for the boiler house itself.
     

    44805 on the wheel drop road - note the track to the water softening plantcrossing under the front bogie.
     

    Wheel drop road to lower left; turntable 2 nearest the shed. I have included the remains of the track from the removed turntables 1 and 3.
     

    The track to the water softening plant crossing the wheel drop road
     

    The two tracks to the boiler house sidings.
     
    Peter Harvey is producing a P4 version of his 12ft wagon turntable etch for me which will be positioned at the junction of the two tracks in the bottom right of photo 2.
  12. barrowroad
    The Workshop at the rear of the roundhouse was accessed through the shed - across the turntable - and via four 20ft turntables one for each of the workshop repair bays.
    By the 1950/60s - the period I am modelling - only two remained in situ the other two having been removed. Repair bay 2 remained in use for minor repairs whilst bay 4 contained a wheel lathe. Wheels were dropped on the hydraulic wheel drop and rolled to a small turntable at the end of the wheel drop road [ Number 14 ] and then into bay 4 via the forth 20ft turntable.
     

    The 20ft turntable on the road for bay 2 which is off to the right. The covered wheel drop is in the background.
     
    The small size of the turntables prevented all but the standard 8ft x 8ft 6in wheelbase Midland locos [or smaller ] from entering the workshop so their use in later years diminished.
     
    So to the model. I wanted a pair of working 20ft loco turntables and contacted Peter Harvey of PHDesigns who produced two 3D printed kits of parts for me.
     

    The turntable base and platform in Frosted Ultra Detail from Shapeways


     
    The parts were given a coat of etched primer from Halfords and are shown adjacent to their positions at the rear of the shed.

     
    The 3D prints are designed to take Alan Gibson sprung plunger pick ups which touch the underside of the running rail and connect to phospher bronze etches on the underside.



     

    Here are the two turntables in position
     
    and finally a Jinty 47544 on turntable 2 with the 5mm foam underlay in position.


     
    Now for the rest of the trackwork!
  13. barrowroad
    Roundhouses used a variety of smokehoods for smoke ventilation and Barrow Road was no different. In Midland/LMS days these were made from timber and at number survived late into the BR period.
    However these were replaced by asbestos/concrete units which lasted until the end of the steam period.
     

    Timber Smokehoods inside Barrow Road
     

    Smokehoods - Roads 11 to 16. Note that roads 12 and 14 retain the timber version.
     
    My friend Morgan kindly produced a CAD drawing for the later version and arranged for Shapeways to make some masters from which he made around 30 resin smoke hoods for me. On top of this he provided two sheets of 16thou brass etches for the lower edges into which I am fixing Markits WD handrail knobs for the support wires.
     
    I have made three of the timber versions from a combination of plasticard and 1mm brass 'L' angle for roads 12, 14 and 16.
     
    Here are some photos of the completed units prior to fixing into the shed roof. The brass tube used for the 'chimney' is 5/16th OD
     

     

     
    You will see that the chimney on road 12 and 14 is cranked - this was replicated by fabricating three pieces of brass tube.
  14. barrowroad
    The Midland roundhouse roof has slatted ventilation louvres along the full length, on both sides, of each of the three roof pitches and although a number were missing during the 50/60's they still pose challenge to accurately model them.
     
    As a trial I decided to try and model the rectangular roof ventilator situated over the machine shop in the Workshop building. I decided to use 2mm x 1.5mm 'T' section brass in which I cut 8 x 45deg slots using a piercing saw. 16 of these were made, three for each end and five for each side. The louvres were made from lengths of 0.3mm x 3mm nickel silver strip and soldered into the slots. Once the ends and sides were fabricated the whole assembly was soldered together to give the correct rectangular shape.
     

     
    A test fit....

     
    The hipped roof was then made up from my stock of lengths of 2mm x 1mm rectangular brass. The photo is an enlargement of the roof ventilator at Barrow Road.
     


     
    Finally here are a few photos of ventilator in position above the machine shop.
     

     

     

     

     

     
    The observant of you may have noticed some intruders in the sidings - Thomas, Annie & Clarabel [converted to P4] made an appearance for my grand-daughter over Christmas
     

     
    The result is pleasing and I shall use the same method to make the ventilators on the roundhouse roof - at least they consist of 3 louvres per side and not eight!
  15. barrowroad
    Following on from my last entry here are a few pictures of the roof trusses for the Workshop.
     

    These are assembled in a jig to give the correct spacing for the trusses.
     

    The Machine Shop is to the left of the building whilst the four road workshop is to the right
     

     

     
    During the 1950's only two of the loco turntables, which gave access to the workshop, remained in use - roads 2 and 4. I have made these doors operational whilst the other two are closed. Road 4 will need to be filled in as I am reliably informed it held the wheel lathe and did not have a pit.
     
    Happy Christmas and New Year to you all.
  16. barrowroad
    Having got past the summer break and all the house and garden work I have spent the past few weeks working on the third and final roof pitch for the Roundhouse. This required a modification to the assembly jig as this roof pitch is sectioned to permit viewing of the inside of the shed.
    This morning this pitch was test fitted and a few photos taken.....................
     

     

     

     

     

     
    Next task - to make a jig for the Workshop roof trusses.
     
    Edit Monday 9th.
     
    The jig and the first roof truss completed today.....................
     

  17. barrowroad
    This afternoon, at long last, I made a start on the model of Lawrence Hill Junction Signal Box. The basis of the model is another stunning kit of parts commissioned from York Modelmaking which arrived last week.
     
    The kit consists of a shell formed from interlocked peices of 2mm mdf onto which will be fixed the walls of the box made from laminations of Rowmark plastic. Each of the four walls consists of four layers of the plastic onto which is fixed a further layer on rustic cladding. So far this today I have assembled the mdf shell and most of the front elevation of the box. It will be noted that some of the windows are modelled in the open position as requested.
     
    The following sequence of photos shows the kit of parts and the build so far. I am particularly pleased with the fineness of the window frames and the glazing the latter will be fixed following painting.
     











     
    More updates to follow..........
  18. barrowroad
    I have now completed most of the trackwork on the existing boards with only the South Exit turnout to finish the second phase of templot. The latest build consists of 8 turnouts, a Double Slip, 3 Way turnout and a catch point. Phase 3 will be the 2 new boards - to be constructed - one at each end of the layout which will form the scenic breaks. One will be Lawrence Hill Junction itself, with the road overbridge and the other Days Road Bridge at the rear of the shed.
     
    Lawrence Hill Junction signal box is now positioned on the layout - it is still removable - and I have constructed a model of the timber framed earth bank which protects the rear of the signal box - the surface has yet to be detailed.
     
    Here are a few photos:-
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  19. barrowroad
    For those who missed Scalefour North earlier this year the Scalefour Society have just added a selection of photos of my layout on the Society website.
     
    http://www.scalefour.org/shows/S4North2013/BristolBarrowRoad/
     
    Since the show I have been concentrated on the additional trackwork at the rear of Lawrence Hill Junction signal box and have surveyed Lawrence Hill road bridge that will form the scenic break at that end of the layout. I have drawn up a plan for this additional scenic board which will include the double track junction and Lawrence Hill bridge a copy of which is currently with my good friend Chris Yates to enable him to construct the board. Watch this space..............................
  20. barrowroad
    I have just received a disc the some photos of the layout taken during S4N a couple of weeks ago when it was populated by locos and stock belonging to myself, Morgan Gilbert, Dave Holt, John Darch and Paul Hutfield - thanks chaps, I've never seen so many locos on shed.
    John's freight on the main line looked particularly impressive as did the Gloucester passenger with Morgan's coaches.
    The following photos are credited to the Scalefour Society courtesy of David Brandreth.
     

     

     

     

     
    This last photo displays the certificate from Eileen's Emporium for the best scratchbuilt model at the show - the roundhouse roof!
    From the front to back - Morgan, Dave, Chris [ baseboard builder ] and John.
  21. barrowroad
    I have done some research on the type of buffer stops used on the shed and have identified three different types in five positions:-
     
    The first type is found on the headshunt alongside the coaling tower and has been difficult to identify as photos of this area have usually have a 16 ton mineral wagon blocking the view. I have managed to find a couple of useful shots one of which is courtesy of Patrick O'Brien on his flickr site:-
    http://www.flickr.co...157625157165429
    The buffer stop is to the right of the 16ton mineral.
     
    This buffer is made of lengths of rail and one of the same type is also to be found on one of the long wagon roads used for loaded and empty wagons for the coaling tower.
     

     
    The nearest buffer stop in this photo is of the same type as that found on the headshunt.
     
    The second type is also seen in this photo and I can best describe this as rail fabricated, using plates that are riveted and/or bolted together using horizontal pieces of rail to form the actual beam.
    This buffer stop is similar, if not identical, to that found on Pete Harveys [PHD] website
    http://www.phd-desig...ffer/Buffer.htm
     
    The third and final buffer stop is to be found at the end of the track which leads to the south exit of the shed alongside the four sidings.

     
    I have placed an order from Pete for a couple of his etches and in the meantime have borrowed an excellent rail bending tool, which I understand was available from the Scalefour Society stores. A quick check however shows no sign of it on the site - does anyone know it is still available as it is a most useful item.
     
    I then spent some time looking for suitable drawings for my type 1 buffer stop but gave up and made my own.
     
    During my research I did come across an article by Mick Moore in MRJ 121 which proved ideal for information on how fabricate a" Midland Bufffer Stop in 4mm". Mick's article has the benefit that the Midland bufferstop is of the type found at the shed south exit mentioned above.
     
    Now to the task of fabrication.
     
    The first photo shows the selection of tools I used to fabricate the buffers. It shows the jig I made for soldering up lengths of bent rail which are to be used to fabricate the main vertical supports.

     
     
    A close up of the simple jig:-

     
     
    The bending tool is also seen in the first photo and a close up is in the next photo.

     
    Finally this is what I am aiming for.

     
     
    This is completed model of a Midland Buffer Stop which used to be sold by "Puffers". This has been borrowed from a friend to use as a guide. Unfortunately I was not able to persuade him to part with it. Does anyone have one or two they no longer require?
     
    To be continued..............................................
  22. barrowroad
    A few weeks ago I received the second phase of Templot from my good friend Morgan consisting of the south exit including a single slip, Lawrence Hill Junction and some modified trackwork that goes behind the junction signal box to the shed.
    In the prototype the double track lines, from the Junction, that run behind the junction signal box operated as two single lines, one to St.Philips Station and the other to the Carriage Sidings, St Philips Goods Yard and the Cattle Dock, however for the model the trackwork has been modified to give me an additional exit track out of the roundhouse whilst roads to the carriage sidings [ they will not be modelled ] are represented going off layout.
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    Having laid the new Templot I made the short sections of trackwork into the front of the roundhouse followed by the completion of the two coal sidings with their buffer stops.
     
    Following this I had a surge of enthusiasum and started on the turnout by the office and then the tandem three way to the carriage sidings the latter shown on the assembly board..............
     

  23. barrowroad
    I have made good progress since my last posting and the second roof pitch is now finished and test fitted.
     
    In order to fit the roof pitch on the sidings side of the roundhouse the side wall required some modification to position and fit the 22 roof trusses. This meant hand cutting a new set of 22 slots for the new roof, filling the original 13 laser cut slots and the scribing the brickwork. The new slots were carefully cut using a fretsaw, scalpel and drill - an interesting exercise.
     
    I have just assembled the first of the 'sectioned' roof trusses for the third pitch and have made up a set of parts to complete the final 22 trusses - watch this space.
     

     
    The sharp eyed will notice a nce unit and pentroller on the top of the layout. This together with the array of locos was for a visit of friends from the Glevum and NAGNAG area groups of the Scalefour Society last Monday. The DOWN main line was DC and the UP DCC for the evening.
     

     

     

     
    A close look at the top edge of the side wall of the roundhouse will reveal a number of 'whiter' areas which are the filled laser cut slots.
     
     
    On the top of the lattice girders the adjacent roof trusses touch each other with the middle pitch forward of the side pitches.
     

  24. barrowroad
    With the layout now fully erected again following the Christmas and New Year break - the room doubles up as accommodation for guests - I have now had the opportunity to test fit the first of the roof pitches on the roundhouse girders.
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     
    In the meantime I have managed to build another 14 trusses so hopefully the second pitch is not too far away from completion.
  25. barrowroad
    I have been looking through my collection of photos taken in and around Bristol Barrow Road shed during the 1950s and 1960s and have noticed two photos of what I believe is the shed breakdown train in the sidings alongside the shed. Is anyone able to assist in the identification of any of the three vehicles, one of which appears to be a modified clerestory of Midland Railway origin whilst I have no idea on the other two.
     

    Ivo Peters 1957 - the three vehicles are in the road behind the Mogul
     

    George Heiron 1957 - roof view of the same vehicles
     
     
     
    It has been suggested that the middle vehicle is a 6 wheel Full Brake which may be of SDJR origin and is similar to the Connoisseur Models O gauge of the same.
     
    My second question is therefore does anyone have a kit of the 4mm version that they are prepared to sell?
     
     
     
    I have two other photos of what I believe to be the same Midland clerestory taken at the other side of the shed in the former carriage sidings these are taken in the 1960s whereas the other two are 1957.
     

    Cedric Catt c1963
     

    Railphotoprints c1963
     
     
     
    Any help with identifying any or all of these three vehicles would be appreciated.
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