Grimleygrid

Hi Pete, not sure yet! At the moment it is ok as I am only working on board number one so it can stay set up in the garage. But when both boards are ready to be joined together that is another matter! Mrs. Grimley would like me to have one of those large sheds which is all insulated like a small building out in the garden. Problem is I might be out there most of the time, perhaps that is what she wants!!!! I have to be honest Pete, I got so carried away with the idea that I just put of answering the question of where it was to be kept. Thought I would cross that bridge when I came to it! Hi Keith, I think you might be right will certainly need a few and very soon too! Have to say that I have always liked the Peco shed, I used to have quite a few of them when I was much younger. They were the card ones back then! Well you could always have another layout with a different style of shed! Over the weekend I managed to get the lower floor finished. First of all I removed the wooden battens which needed cutting. The plywood which sits on the top of the board was then cut to allow the lower floor. Once the battens had been cut, these were then offered back up to see how they looked. The battens were then filed to try and get them as level as possible and once happy some strips of plywood added. I then cut out the final piece of plywood for the floor which was then pinned down. The rest of the top plywood was then also pinned down. Here is how it now looks: The inspection pits will sit on the plywood as in the photos above. Then using sheets of plasticard I will build up the floor to about 4mm from the top of the inspection pits as per inside the real shed. The sides of the inspection pit will also be trimmed and plasticard added to give the impression of the rail sitting on thick concrete walls.

Not sure about that! Mrs. Grimley still keeps asking where I am going to keep it!! The shed will look much better once covered in plasticard but I am still pleased with it so far. Graham, yes as you say it is a very useful site especially for depot pics. It is good that fotopic is now running properly and allowing searches again! My research into the inspection pit area has continued over the past few days and I think that I have now come up with a plan for the lower floor. Hopefully this weekend I can make the changes.

The last few days have been spent researching the inside of the depot, in particular the inspection pit and raised platform areas of roads 5 to 15 and the iron work which supports the roof. The through roads 1 to 4 have the concrete level with the top of the rail and this is the same for the dead-end roads except where the inspection platforms are present. Through roads http://david6769.fot.../p16671546.html Dead-end roads; here you can see the concrete slopes down by the yellow railings to allow depot personnel to walk under the platforms. http://david6769.fot.../p16920389.html This shot you can see that the floor is lower to the right of 60058: http://david6769.fot.../p16673395.html Again you can see the floor sloping down: (photo 1199-007.jpg) http://keithmiller.f...t/c1450908.html 1199-007.jpg Changes will now have to be made to accommodate the lower floor. Although I was aware of this I wanted to first of all get the channels for the inspection pits marked and cut out before coming up with the final plan. Some roads have inspection platforms which run the full length whereas others only just over a locos length. More on this later in the week. In the second link above you can see the vertical girders which support the roof and this iron work is what I have been looking into over the past few days. I have now come up with the dimensions for the I and H sections which will be used inside the depot. My plan is to build a frame using I and H sections joined together with strips all made out of brass which will not only be nice and stable but will also add support to the wooden structure. Yesterday I purchased some Plastruct I and H sections to get an idea of how this will look. This is the I section which sits between roads 12 and 13 where the higher part of the building starts: Here you can see the I section on the right and H section on the left: Finally a few in place to see how it will look although hopefully not as wonky when the real ones are in place!

Hi Jo, yes it is my shot on 60 gen, taken last October in the Peak District. As you say it seems odd to put 074 on the Theale when a shed could handle that and then double-head the Westerleigh. Still EWS/DB know what they are doing! Has 026 worked at all recently as I hear it has been moved into the yard? Would be nice to see a few more back in traffic but like you I think it is just wishful thinking.....

Thanks Graham glad that you like it so far. Thanks Pinkmouse I am going to need it! I plan to cover the plywood with plasticard as per the inside of Grimley depot: This time though I plan to first of all cover the plasticard in Plasti-Kote Suede Touch spray paint as per Jim S-W’s excellent concrete method and then weather it. Hi Dave, I have been looking forward to the lifting jacks for a while. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer although not sure why I say that as I am nowhere near ready for them! To be honest I haven’t given any thought to the overhead gantry cranes so as yet do not have any plans but will certainly let you know when I start researching. Thanks Dave will let you know, as I just mentioned my plan is to use plasticard but will see. At the moment I am going to concentrate on the building and in particular the inside so the concrete area will be a while off.

Nice shot of 74 Jo, that looks like a good location. Good to see 60s back on the Murcos. Margam have two down there now. After the past few months I bet they didn't think that would ever happen again!

Thanks SG, it has taken a lot of hard work and frustration to get the roof framework finished so thanks for the kind comments. Worth it in the end although at the time it did get me a little annoyed and made me wonder what on earth I was doing! Yes it will be expensive to get the stock required to model it like a real TMD of that size but luckily enough that is a few years away! Good idea, my plan is eventually to have a mainline running along the side of the depot but will have retired by then! Still at least then I could buy a property with the space to accommodate a layout of that size, an old farm house with a barn conversion may be. Not sure if Mrs. Grimley would be very pleased! Thanks Mudmagnet, that is what I thought. After a few months of hard graft it is good to get an idea of how it will look, albeit without all the inspection pits, walkways, girders etc. Hi Baggie, yes I am although it is on a slightly larger scale than Grimley! Roads 5 to 12 will have 1/1.5 tonne overhead cranes with a heavier one spanning roads 13 to 15. The latter three roads will also accommodate the lifting jacks. I thought Bachmann’s lifting jacks would have been out by now!

No problem Dave glad it has been of interest. Good luck with installing your inspection pits, I look forward to seeing the results. Quite a productive weekend, I managed to cut out the channels for the four through roads and also added the supporting battens underneath. Here you can see all the channels ready for the inspection pits: As mentioned in a previous post at present I just have two inspection pits, one example for each of the dead-end and through roads. The rest will be purchased once the bank loan has been approved! I took a few photos of some locos inside the building on the inspection pits: My plan now is to start work on the cosmetic look of the main building.

I managed to do a bit of work over the past few days starting on the inspection pits, although as yet I only have six of them to work with. My idea was to construct two inspection pits, one long one which will represent those from the four through roads (1 to 4) and a shorter version for the dead-end roads (5 to 15). These would then be used to help check the channels once the wood has been cut. Here are the inspection pits: Now that the basic shed frame has been built it was time to switch to board 1 which is the one where the depot will sit on. I then marked out in pencil where the inspection pits were to go ready for the channels to be cut. Yesterday afternoon/evening I cut out the channels for the dead-end roads: Hopefully at the weekend I can cut out the four through roads but first I am going to add some pieces of wood between the inspection pits for extra support.

YVM: Not sure I can afford enough locos to fill the depot and stabling sidings let alone all fitted with sound chips! Thanks Gareth, I agree! I will be in touch shortly about some Peco inspection pits! Hi Peter, it is very difficult especially now that the models are far superior to those that I had when modelling back in the mid to late 80s. Good idea although I am not sure how realistic it would look! Thanks Dave, it is coming on. To be honest I am not entirely sure that I have realised yet how big this is going to be! Glad you like it Shedmaster not quite in the same league as your buildings though! I know the feeling although I try to run away before Mrs. Grimley starts talking jobs! The other week whilst searching for something on fotopic came across this photo from Brian Daniels’ excellent site: http://briandaniels..../p25091348.html If I can recreate this sort of scene then I will be very happy!

Looking good Sir, excellent work as usual! I made the mistake of looking at the Rails of Sheffield website the other day, saw their limited edition 47461 and 47541. Two of my favourite Scottish 47s……I quickly closed the browser!

Thanks Mick, I had heard that the 60s performed better on the Llanwern ores. As you say the 60s certainly have not been given much TLC! I take it 60096 has gone down to Margam to work the Murco tanks, but what has happened to the 59 that was down there? Does anyone know? So 009, 011 and 074 have or are nearly ready to return.

Went to visit the in-laws at the weekend and got authorisation from HQ to go out Tug hunting, result! Managed to get a photo of 60071 working the 6E41 Westerleigh to Lindsey empty bogie tanks at Badgeworth. Cannot believe that this is my first photo of a 60 in 2010!

Thanks Mark, I need a bigger garage to allow both boards to be put together!! Not sure how it would sound with lots of sound fitted locos idling away, would like to try it though! 20s, 31s, 37s, 45s, 47s, 56s and 58s all running……Nice! After recently seeing members BR Blue and Railfreight locos on RMWeb it made me want to see how Boxenby would look back in time. As the original plan is to model the period between 1988 and 1992 I thought a couple of 20s and 37s would do the trick. So tonight out came the few locos that do I have for this period to see how it will look. A few photos: Problem is now I want to go on a spending spree! I must stay strong as any spare cash is needed for the layout……

I was just going to say that we all know which one has failed and it certainly wouldn't have 59 numbers on the side! Have heard of a couple of occasions where the 59 has struggled, seems a bit strange as they have superior pulling power? I did wonder if that was why 205 was as Crewe.

Good work Beast nice photos. Why have they suddenly required another loco up there? I am surprised that they haven't moved another 59 up there.

Thanks Peter. You are not wrong, I certainly do need more locos but that will have to wait a while yet. I meant to get out my three choppers on Sunday whilst the layout was outside but forgot. Thought you might appreciate it, will try and take some another time. Thanks Chris, there is definitely more space in there than inside Grimley shed! Yes it certainly does allow for a lot of detail, I just hope I can do it justice! Hi Jon, how looks can be deceptive! To be honest I have always been a bit mad…… Yes I had planned to have a couple of those towers as they do really look good, just what is required. Not sure if I need four or five out the front? I am not sure that my modelling is up to exhibition standard, perhaps acceptable for the back garden! Hi Mudmagnet, you are right most modellers are mad and I am sure that there are far worse cases than me! Thanks, it is now at a stage where there is something to see, for a good few weeks despite hours of work I couldn’t see much progress. But now it is starting to take shape and you get an idea of how it will look. Glad that you like it. I have been thinking about the cladding and need to investigate if it is possible to get bigger sheets of plasticard than A4 as I do need quite a few!

Fantastic work Sir!

It certainly did turn out rather well! Love the photo of 43064, great weathering down the side! They did look good in that livery, takes me back…… Agree with Peter the 26s look great, always did love that class. Whether it was due to them being so far away and hard for me to see I am not sure. Would love a couple of those especially in Railfreight but they don’t fit in with either of my layouts! In the latest Traction magazine there is a photo of a BR Blue 26 looking very work stained, faded and weathered. Made me want too buy a Heljan one….. Keep the photos coming I am a big fan of the Scottish 47s……superb layout!

Very nice layout Red Fox, some great scenic work. The tunnel area looks really good, is the brick building your Signal box? Looks excellent, a real modern feeling. Like the track too, have got some SMP Bullhead and Fastrack concrete sleeper myself and very pleased with it. The Faller footbridge looks really good, keep up the good work.

Yellowvanman, it is starting to come together now and feel that there is now something to show for it. It will look much better once the inspection pits are in place. Thanks Pete, yes the concrete floor will be raised up to the same height as the top of the rail just like the inside of Grimley shed. The shed building will then sit on top of the floor. Thanks Scott. It was nice to get it set up outside of the garage, the next step will be to put the other board next to it. In the end I only got eight locos out as I was worried that there might be a rain shower! Thanks Danny, I have often thought that!

Great work on the maintenance shed, the photo of the 25 just popping its front out looks really good.

The peeling paint on the front of 526 looks really good and the fuelling points are spot on. The photo of the HST power car reminds me of Railwatch!

This afternoon the weather finally brightened up allowing me to set up Boxenby outside for a few photos. You can see that there are some gaps at the front of the shed roof, I ran out of wood! Hopefully I can pick up some more on Tuesday and get the last few pieces added. Here it is with some track put down, it does look a little strange inside as there should be inspection pits and not sleepers but you get the idea! Now with a few locos on shed: Locos inside: Looking from the rear of roads 1 to 4 to the front of the shed: Looking from roads 1 to 15: And from road 15 to 1: Now I just need to get it covered!

Hi Mark, I too have spent some time researching the different track options and although I would love to model in P4, as mentioned before my skills and knowledge don’t really allow that! Also time for modelling is already limited so not sure that I could find the extra hours needed to make the track myself, but may be one day in the future. Your new project sounds interesting! James, you are right the track is very nice and once ballasted and weathered will look more than acceptable to me. It was your comparison photos which helped make up my mind so thanks! Thanks for the info Dave, I am not an expert on track so it is nice to know that this is acceptable. At the end of the day we have to make compromises at times and I feel that this allows me to have some track that not only looks good in appearance but also allows me to not have to re-wheel all my stock.