Shedmaster

Hi, It wasn't only the roller shutter doors that were painted...even the 'I' stanchions got a coating too : Inside the doors is the yellow and blue horizontal paint job mentioned in my last post : One of the hidden details of Stew Lane is this image of the depot plaque painted onto the mesh door : The plastic fluid collection barrels are sitting where 'Clan Line' lives when she's home. Stewarts Lane is one of those places where there's always somebody floating about with a paintbrush : ...and a supply of industrial sized paint pots : Thanks, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, Sorry, forgot to answer the original question. I'm unable to say definitavely who painted them or why...but... I reckon the fitting staff who worked there at the time probably had a lot to do with it. If you were able to see inside, you would see little embellishments here and there that I suspect were added to make the place a little brighter by the staff who spent much of their lives there. What about the open day in 1988? Were they done for that? Although that was marketed as an 'Intercity' thing wasn't it? In my own recent visits I saw that the inside of the doors still retain a yellow and black blue horizontal bar scheme, never having been updated. I very much hope the current scheme isnt changed anytime soon. I will get some pics up later to back up what I'm saying here - but the kids have nicked my laptop for their homework... Thanks, Shed.

Hmmm, that picture looks familiar ? How about this one of that third door... (This is NOT MY PICTURE though, I was sent this and would add the correct credit if I knew who it should be to) Many Thanks, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, Our Stewarts Lane ones are modelled with the roof dots, although, not sure of the period these were carried : Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi All, I don't know if I've posted these elsewhere before but they were taken at Ramsgate, when I originally learnt to drive MPV's. The 'L' plates were a special endorsement by your's truly and managed to last for some time before removal from both ends. Notice the weather....brilliant sunshine and no modules loaded ! Thanks, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Mmm! An entirely fair point, so, thinking singular vehicles and what hasn't yet been done...maybe the NSE Inspection Saloon in it's current green format, something to go with the Bachmann DRS 37's etc ? Thanks, Shed.

Hi, Nothing to lose so I'm gonna suggest it could be a Class 442 Wessex Electric unit.....based on the idea that 'Kernow Model Rail' seem to do very well on things like the Thumper, 4-TC etc ? Is there a prize if any one of us are right and guess correctly ? Thanks, Shed.

Hi, Sorry, I was having a dumb moment, imagining tampers and on-track plant lined up there. I just wish I'd paid more attention back in those days...with rows and rows of decent traction and other specialities ! Thanks, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi rob D2, Thank You for your post and continued interest in the Stewarts Lane project. I'm sorry to say I didn't understand what you were saying with regards to the infrastructure machines of the period ? and, do you mean the actual loco shed as in the original steam shed ? There was a book that a friend of mine had many years ago, detailing the engine sheds of the Southern Region. It had a detailed description of Hither Green in it with proper side elevation drawings and I cannot find it anywhere, don't even know what it was called, but wondered if it had details for Stew Lane in it too ? I'll be at Warley this year so hoping to find this if at all possible... Thanks, All the best, Shed.

Hi David, Thank You for your superb picture...My one and only trip out on the NSE Saloon/Gin Palace was from Acton Mainline to Amersham LUL with 33109 in charge ! This was in 1996(?) and I know that pictures exist and some video....I was a 'Trainman D' in those days. It was most interesting to see the LUL staff board at some station or other with their version of a track circuit clip, which was a huge wooden bar type thing ? I can confirm that we have a MARCS Models kit in our works here but as with any railway works, 'your model is important to us, please be patient, you are #9 in the que'. The last time I played with anything 'Eurostar' related on the real railway was when 73118 and the other one used to come to HG for their 'A' exams and I had to move them about... I very much hope your old boss enjoys the project, maybe he could teach me a thing or two about the place ? I'm definitely all ears.... Thanks, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi David, Thanks for your interest in my project, in answer to your question... Our EWS Inspection Saloon 999504 is an A1 Models brass kit, grafted onto a Hornby 50ft LMS 'parcels'(?) vehicle, with the under frame unmodified apart from the addition of brass retractable ladders on the sides. The vehicle was completely painted into EWS ex-works livery. The interior was never fitted, the saloon being used to dabble with an on-board camera which worked fairly well, but fell out of favour when I realised I'd have to cart a TV set to and from exhibitions along with the layout and all the stock - that was in the days I ran stuff at shows, including the NEC at Warley in 2004 ! How time flies.......now we have Go-Pro's to do the camera work ! I hope this answers your question. In closing, I would LOVE one of the Bachmann EWS saloon's to grace the layout - but I never worked with it or even saw it at Stew Lane, the NSE 'Hastings' Inspection Saloon however, would be a most excellent addition here...anyone listening in Barwell ? Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, Many Thanks for posting these pictures from your visit. Although never a fan of EMU's, I found this one to be really interesting and whether you like them or not, it seemed to be full of hi-tec features for both the passenger and the Driver's benefit ? The touch screen Diving environment looked impressive but is it just more hassle in reality ? I wonder what they're like to drive compared to a 319 ? I bet you don't just 'shut off, key off and clear off' in half a second after driving one of these ? Thank You again, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, You're absolutely right, there isn't one in the VSOE set now This one, 'LEVIATHAN', used to live at Stew. Lane many years ago and was mostly unused and certainly unloved by the fitting staff ! My model of Stew Lane is based back when this SLEP was resident, before the 'GM' invasion, in a depot inhabited by 33's, 73's and 47's. I do have a record for one outing, when I took the set into Vic with 73 129 in scabby NSE livery, to do a weekend away with 47 739 in even scabbier RES livery on 26/04/2002! The Mk3 was second from rear, the genny car being right at the back or nearest the stops at Vic before departure. The Mk3 was included in the set when a weekend away was involved and was used to accommodate the staff for the trip. The VSOE fitters used to hate the thing due to it's complexities......circuit boards if I remember rightly ? Thanks, Shed.

Keith, You're always welcome to drop into 'Stewarts Lane' with models that are this good ! Seriously tempting, I shouldn't be reading threads like this.... Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, I've just shunted this indoors for the OxfordRail Mk3 thread... Hope you like... Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi All, I can't say I know enough about Mk3's to say how good or bad the new one is, however, here is a Hornby Mk3 SLEP that was extensively modified by a member of this parish for my Stewarts Lane VSOE project. I think there's plenty that can be done to one of these 'older' models to make it what you want, this one took a huge amount of work before even being painted but maybe for a 'new release' I'd expect the model to be as right as possible ? Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi All, Just a brief update for Stew Lane, that is progress with the 'central section' of the building. I've gone for the idea of finishing the main wall and roof sections before cladding them as per the previous sections. This is great news as when this is done I can look at getting the all important windows made up and fitted before signing the building off for painting and giving it some identity. Each section is designed to be removable now as otherwise, I won't get a camera inside, more on this later... The 'A' girders are located in the floor locations and then the 'I' beams are simply slotted through and cut to length, then when each piece is confirmed to be sitting correctly, i.e straight and level, I hold it in situ with 'blue-tak' and a small drop of plastic weld is added. This is deadly stuff if used in excess, a lesson I've taken many years to learn ! At this point, I walked well away and just let the thing dry/bond of it's own accord. When the walls and roof sections are added, this will give a lot of strength to hold everything together and enable 'handling' to remove/replace sections as required, although, I wouldn't be wanting to drop any of these sections! So, finally, This is our latest arrival on shed, the NCiM 47 799 'Prince Henry' from Bachmann. The Loco. is in for fitting of a 21-pin decoder and evaluation for later tweaks and mods, such as a black headcode box! That's all for now, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi Alex, How's you matey, long time no see? I always think of you whenever I do anything with the 60's here, as with your project, they look just right sitting on shed, along with the 33's and 73's. I'm looking at leaving the 60's alone now and axing some 67's instead, to try and cull the 'GM' invasion ! Now where did that royal pair get to.... Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi all, Good Morning ! Looking at the above, I've been thinking about the way forward with the middle of the building... Rather than mess about with detatchable 'parts' and leaving bit's off to squint through, I'm thinking it might be best to just make a fully featured central section ? This would be done in the same way as I have made each end, but then only removing one of the three sections for access during photography, depending on where I wanted to 'pose' the vehicle inside and what I wanted on show behind it. My original idea was based on what I see with architectural models, but don't now think leaving whole segments 'out' is going to work very well here? I'm already planning to leave certain windows out such as those at the rear end of the building for the all important 'looking inside at street level' so, I'm hoping for some good, clear pics eventually as if you were standing inside there yourself, next to your favourite machine ! TTFN, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi all, Good Evening, Just a small update this evening, to show off the Class 60's roller shutter doors now fitted to the rear end of the shed building... These were made up from various plastic parts from Evergreen and Walthers Cornerstone building kits, copied from the photo's of the real thing. I'm not planning to fit the windows in at the end of the building as this gives a brilliant vantage point into the workings of the shed, especially with a camera ! I've now moved onto fitting the doors along the main internal wall, complete with their frames : I can see there is still some tidying up to do with regards making the edges of the wall properly straight in these area's but I can't fit the doors until they're painted anyway. Finally, I'll just take this opportunity to explain the unsightly screw heads at various places in the floor around the shed, these were kept to a minimum but were absolutely necessary for keeping the main floor in position and also adjusting the level where required. I will be hiding these with various detritus appropriate for the location ! That's all for now, Kindest Regards, Shed.

Hi, Just got in from checking my Class 60's over, having suddenly clicked that something isn't right, suspected all sorts of issues including Mazak rot ! The good news is....nope, the ends of the metal chassis were drooped and needed gentle bending upwards with pliers to correct. What didn't help was a 'mod' that I made to wedge the light contacts upwards with a plastic tube, to force contact with the cab lighting contacts. All four are sorted now, but a few day's ago they were aiming for a one way ticket outta here ! One thing I will say is I've had plenty of fun shunting them round here tonight and they look exactly as they should in their new home, well chuffed. Goodnight for now, Kindest Regards, Shed.