Grimleygrid

You are not wrong Peter, on a scale of one to ten I must be 10! I might need to borrow some of your stock to fill the depot up! Thanks Jack. It was the tail end of last year and I started to think about Grimley depot and in particular the second shed, which was due to have some Bachmann lifting jacks in as the other one had extractors. After looking at some photos of Thornaby depot this got me wanting to add some sort of light weight overhead crane but this would then not allow me to have the lifting jacks. My plan was to have a loco up off its bogies, so this got me thinking how good it would be to have a larger depot thus allowing me more room to accommodate my ideas. My attention then turned to Toton, a depot which has always fascinated me ever since I first learnt of its existence back in the mid-eighties. To cut a long story short, I then came up with some rough drawings to see how big a model of that depot would be in 00 and was not put off! So here we are six months later……

That 150 looks right at home at Llanbourne although the bashers may not agree! Replacing locos and coaches with new generation DMUs, I feel all those bashers might be slightly upset by your actions!

Hi Dave, glad that you like my silly project! I have left you a couple of glue pots on the shelf! You are right the lifting jacks are superb but not designed for mad modellers like us that want to actually use them! I think a Hornby 60 will need to be stripped down so that it weighs next to nothing in order to allow one of the jacks to be used. It may also have to be permanently attached to the jacks, still that is a long way off for me! Over the weekend I managed to spend a few hours on the inspection pits, they are now all glued together and yesterday evening put in place. So far I have to say that I am pleased with how they look. I am hoping to start work on those that have concrete sides later in the week. Here are a few photos of the inspection pits in position: Decided to get a few locos out to see how the pits look with some traction sitting on top: Dave, I noticed that IKB has arrived safely, now sitting on Road 12!

Hopefully BigT. Me neither, it is a silly idea! Last night I finished off the filing and made a start on putting them together. In the end I managed to get four of the shorter ones glued together (those for the dead-end roads), so all in all a good evenings work. Now that just leaves five of the those left to do and three of the longer ones which hopefully I can get done over the weekend.

Good idea Pete! I will be putting them together in the garage as Mrs. Grimely won’t allow me to use the garden table! Thanks Neil. M_M, yes there certainly are a few! To be perfectly honest I did think about it very early on and pondered how and what was required for it but now I do not plan to install lights in the pits. If it was a smaller depot I might be tempted and although it would look very good, to have lights in all the 11 pits is just a bit too much for me. Am I just being a bit boring?!! Sorry Paul, I had hoped no-one would notice! You are not wrong Jack, filing the ends after removing the plastic mould parts (sorry can’t remember what you call them again!) has been interesting. You then realise how many there are! I have been quite busy this week so have not had much time for inspection pits although I estimate that 2/3rds of them have been filed. This evening I plan to file the rest of them and make a start on putting them together. Hopefully this weekend I can get them all glued together and in place. Hopefully it should look quite good.

Congratulations on Pic of the week, a lovely shot and fully deserved. Those blue spoons do look good, excellent weathering. Makes me want to buy one!

Thanks for the information Mudmagnet. The more I think about it, the more it makes me lean towards the tile grout especially as I have quite a large area to cover. Also some parts are a little tricky so using the grout would certainly make it easier. Thanks M_M, glad that you like it. I have to confess that Grimley Senior has helped me a lot and must take credit for the woodwork! Yes it looks like I may need 5 of the tower lights out the front of the shed, still at least it will be a while before I need them! On Saturday I picked up these from Trains4U, many thanks Gareth! Yesterday I got them out of the packaging ready to put them together. Guess what I am going to be doing for the next few evenings?!!!!

Well that really is first class modelling, truly stunning. An excellent addition to a superb layout it really does give it individuality. Brilliant! Eventually I will have to add the wheel lathe to Boxenby so may have to come to you for some help!

Many thanks for the kind comments and encouragement, much appreciated. Satan’s Goldfish, Trains4U is an excellent shop and I can thoroughly recommend them. It wasn’t a problem as Gareth knows that I am mad! Thanks Gareth I look forward to their arrival! Should look good with all the inspection pits in place, better get some glue! BigT, slowly! But progress is being made. Once the inspection pits have arrived that will make a difference. You are right Paul it does look a bit bare! As yet I am undecided on what to use to cover the board. My initial plan was to cover it in plasticard but Grimley senior has now suggested some grout which he has recently used. This would certainly be easier and cheaper so will now experiment with it to see. I do quite like the grout idea as in certain areas the floor slopes to allow water etc. to drain away into the drains which would be easier to model this way. So along with the long running drains there are metal sheets, manhole covers, hatches and joins in the concrete. Thanks Northants PC glad that you think so. Hopefully one day it will have Large Logo, BR Blue, Triple grey, Original and Red-stripe Railfreight 56s and a few newly delivered 60s. Glad that you like the lifting jacks Mudmagnet, they certainly are a nice model and a great addition. I agree with you I think they will prove extremely popular. I look forward to seeing a 60 at Rannoch on your BP tankers, are they TEAs or TTAs? Wouldn’t mind a rake of the BP TEAs but I think they only really run in Scotland now. A nice Petroleum 60 will do the job perfectly! Now that will look superb crossing your excellent viaduct. If you get any gen on when a 60 will be working let me know as I don’t have a shot of a 60 on tanks at Rannoch!! Yes Bachmann have done a good job on them, I think a 60 up on jacks is definitely on the cards! Thanks Mark and Mudmagnet for the help and suggestions for painting the bricks, very helpful. I have bought some paints and when I am ready I will experiment using your suggested techniques and working from my photos. Hope I can get it looking alright! Well yesterday it was back to woodwork and attention turning to the buildings at the rear of the inside. There are three buildings; the tool stores, manager’s offices and another one which I do not know what that is for. Here they are just put down on the board: The tall wall at the rear extends 20 to 25mm too far to the right so it is not correct. Unfortunately when the building was made several months ago I was not aware of exactly where the lower section started and now it is not possible to make the change as this is now part of the main construction. Still there we go! Recently I have been lucky enough to pay a visit to the real thing which has helped me enormously. Now I have a much better understanding of the depot which will certainly help in the future.

Alex Hi Mark, I am very pleased with the Evergreen plastic ribbed sheets, to me it looks just right. When I put the small section up against the side I was very happy with the look. I have spent a lot of time researching the depot thinking about how I am going to tackle the different parts/areas. Even when I am on the train or walking to work I often think of potential solutions. How sad is that! I have been looking at your thread about brickwork which has been very helpful. Last week I purchased some paints to experiment with, getting the shades right and also having the cement in between the bricks is going to be a challenge. Certainly this is new to me weathering buildings and as you say will bring it to life. I like the sound of sitting in the garden modelling, not sure Mrs. Grimley will let me do that. She is bound to find me a job to do! I hope they stand up and be counted, and deliver a decent performance! Yesterday in the post were some of the Bachmann lifting jacks which I have been eagerly awaiting for quite some time. Well worth the wait as they do look very good and great value for money in my opinion. Last night I put a few out in the shed to see how they looked and took some photos. I put my test pieces for the outside inside as a back drop and although the bricks should be painted white and the metal work should be different it looks better than just the wood showing. Here are some photos:

Hi Mark, Platform end looks really good, although it takes you a long time to paint it, it will be worth it in the end. As Grimley Senior says “you get out what you put in†and your work is backs up that statement. Thanks for sharing your methods as I need to experiment on brickwork for Boxenby, very helpful. The cable trunking looks really good in position. Enjoy the footy later, hopefully they won’t disappoint!

Agree with previous posts, I too really enjoyed seeing this layout in the flesh at DEMU. What a superb layout. Chris, I also enjoyed this thread showing how you made and weathered some of the buildings, which I must say really do look great. Excellent modelling.

Love the photo of the Sprinter coming out of the tunnel, superb! I agree with Mark, the weathering is top drawer both on the 150 and the tunnel! When I saw the first photo of 043 I thought it was the real one, good work Sir.

Hi Melly, thanks. Glad that you think so! Not much progress to show although I have been working on tidying up the shed in preparation for the plastic sheets. Filing and filling…..hopefully I will be ready to cover the inside of the shed in the next couple of weeks. When it has not been possible to do any work on Boxenby I have been researching the depot by studying photos of the real depot. I should hopefully be ordering the inspection pits in the next week or so……. Yesterday I came across my notebook from our visit to Toton back in February 1988. After looking at the Rail Express Modeller article on Western Road this got me thinking how good it would be to have Boxenby modelled on that date back in 1988. What I good idea I thought until I looked through all the numbers of the locos present that day! Quite a few……there were 23 locos just outside the shed and that is not including others stabled further to the north! May be one day if I win the lottery! Melly, you would have been pleased, Thornaby’s 37 501 and 502 were on shed! Will post a list of all the locos that were on shed that day later this evening.

This evening I put the test pieces up against the side of the shed to see how it looked and have to say that I am very pleased with the result. Just how I had hoped it would look turn out which is very good. A couple of photos, the quality is not great as they were taken with my phone. Couldn’t find the compact camera!

Hi Mark, Yes slowly. Bit like England at the moment! Have to confess that I have been watching a few games……still managed a bit of modelling last night! Yesterday I had a little look at the ribbed metal work to go on the sides of the shed and decided to use the metal siding sheet from Evergreen which arrived on Saturday. First of all I cut a section of the styrene sheet and glued this on to a piece of thicker plasticard. Then after cutting a couple of strips of brick (embossed plasticard) these were stuck together and the glued on top of the ribbed plastic. Finally I added some Microstip on top of the brick. As this was just a test to see how it would look I did not spend too much time cutting it carefully, but when it comes round to the final pieces more care will be taken. Here is the first example: I was not happy with how it looked so decided to try just one strip of brick to allow more of a concrete lip. This worked a treat and achieved the look that I was after. Can’t wait to see the whole building covered….I must learn to be patient!

Hi Peter, You are not wrong, probably need a snow plough to clear the dust off the rails! I cannot believe how quickly this year has gone. You will have to go and have a play! Thanks, whilst I am motivated I plan to keep going. I am desperate to make more progress and my problem is I would like it finished yesterday! What I really want is to see the building covered in plasticard, then it really will look like a building. Thanks Lewis, not sure that I agree! Yes I was quite pleased when I found 31110, didn’t realise they were hard to get hold of. Almost bought a red-stripe railfreight one the other day as well as a 56 in the same livery. Really had to fight the urge! In the post on Saturday were a couple of Evergreen lined styrene sheets which I am planning to experiment with for the ribbed metal sheeting on the main shed. Tonight I plan to glue some brick and ribbed sheets on to some plasticard to see how it will look. This will also allow me to try out some paints and weather them before work begins on the real depot. After visiting DEMU yesterday I feel even more motivated!

Thanks for sharing that with us Andy, very helpful. The increased spacing certainly does make a difference. I think I will purchase one of Pete’s jigs to help me when I am ready to lay track.

Dave, fantastic work. You really have created something rather special. Are you sure that it is N gauge? Do you have a 60 to run on Waton?!! Look forward to more updates.

Hi Peter, Yes I thought that too! Needs fading and weathering though. Me too, I plan to have 31102 in Original Railfreight, I did really like 31s in that livery. Oh and Grids, Choppers, 37s, 47s and 58s! Do you know I have not run any trains on Grimley since November last year, must have been when I finished the HAAs and 60081. Blimey cannot believe it has been that long! I really must let some of my 60s stretch their legs and have a run on the ores and tankers. My latest obsession has really taken over with all my modelling time being spent working on Boxenby. Hopefully I can make further progress over the next few weeks. Would like to get the outside covered, then it will really begin to look like a depot shed!

Thanks James, 091 is one of my favourites so had to model it. The track is Exactoscale fast track, really nice track and looks superb. I am looking forward to seeing the track once down outside the front of the shed. Over the weekend whilst moving things in one of the cupboards I came across this machine: I had forgotten we had this loco, will do nicely for the early 90s period. Been putting up some decking in the back garden over the past week so haven’t had much time for modelling. A few minutes have been spent preparing the shed for covering with plastic sheets although this will probably be a few weeks away. My birthday is not too far away so hopefully I might get a few inspection pits……….

Excellent work on the Sandite unit. Look forward to seeing progress on the layout, track work certainly looks good.

Thanks Porkie, I agree! Although it is nice to model the present day, the late 80s/early 90s is how I planned it. Oh and after my visit in 1988, that is how I remember it! Well not much progress has been made over the past few weeks owing to the fact that the warping on one of the sides appears to have returned. This made me very annoyed. Still after calming down, we decided to add a 3mm steel angle which seems to have done the trick. Hopefully now I can get back on track……. Yesterday I found some lined plastic sheets which were offered up and couldn’t resist just sitting a 60 outside the shed! Here is 091 on the lathe road:

This morning I found myself with some spare time so decided to glue the pieces of wood to the side walls. I have been thinking about carrying out this job for quite a while but managed to put it off, still it is done now. Some extra pieces will be added to the corners to help the plastic sheets stick down properly in these areas which will be added later in the week. Here are the pieces of wood before filing and fitting: One of the sides before the wooden pieces were glued in place: The sides now: Some of them are not quite vertical (I was leaning over and tried to get them straight!) but as these pieces are only there to purely to help get the brick and lined plastic sheets to stick down properly it is not the end of the world. After seeing the photo of 60030 on Airthrey Park with the depot in the background I am now quite tempted to start tidying up the main shed and preparing it for covering with plastic sheets. Looking at other people's layouts on here today has got me motivated!

Superb modelling Mark, your station really is a work of art. Top job Sir. I can just imagine one of your 37s pulling away after a stop, clagging like mad!