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Jason T

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Everything posted by Jason T

  1. Just to show that other things are afoot, here’s three 5 plank wagons (one LNER and two BR). No idea why one of them is grey; maybe they ran out of brown plastic that day?
  2. Look back in a month’s time Graham, and there may well be another update 😄 In all seriousness, as the bulk of what I am doing is regarding the buildings, I tend to update the corresponding thread in the Scenery Structures and Transport sub-forum more regularly , keeping this one for more general updates and musings. As time goes on, this will be the more regular thread I update. I can’t see me returning to the level of posts that I did back in the days of Bacup, probably to everyone’s relief 😅
  3. The order I am approaching the layout from is probably different to how many others would, in that I am creating the buildings first, something I also did with Bacup to an extent (the station being built before anything else). The first reason for this is that I don’t currently have the space to create or store any baseboards but buildings can sit and wait on shelves, etc. The second and more important (to me) is that the buildings are key to the layout; they define where (and to an extent, when) it is, possibly a result of modelling an actual location rather than a fictional one where buildings can be created and plonked into available spaces. I did have misgivings that I may struggle with some of the structures but to be honest, if they aren’t right first time then I have no qualms with popping them with my foot and starting again 😀 As I have mentioned (either here or in the Buildings thread), whilst there aren’t many buildings, most of those that there are, are not simple, with the station being the most complex and still to be started (the mounting board one being abandoned as impractical). The signal box and goods sheds have moved on somewhat but still far from finished but with my usual butterfly mind, I have started others. Signalbox and goods shed, box photo already out of date When contemplating how the layout may look, I have given thought to how it would be viewed, e.g. looking westward over the estuary or eastward over the quarry. Simplicity would go with the former, giving a view of the signalbox and platform side of the station but that would result in the quarry siding just being an inland length of track at the front of the baseboard; not really giving the impression of the quarry at all. The view eastwards, however, provides a natural backdrop of the quarry entrance, offices, huge retaining wall, disused drops (resplendent with decaying disused rope winch machinery shed), the smallest cottage ever, the imposing Spencer lime kiln (disused), Berry’s Warehouse and a steep banking with shrubs and mature trees on it. The decision on which side to view from therefore changes from a seemingly rural seaside idyll to a run down industrial one; those who know me will know which I am therefore going to go with. Sure, views of the main railway (and to some extent the aforementioned quarry infrastructure) will be hidden but it’s a railway in the landscape (as it is). I purposefully planned Bacup so that the viewer would peer over or between the houses rather than make the station the obvious focal point; this location does the same . I am maybe weird but what keeps me in front of a layout is not what’s running on it but the setting itself. You could have the most stunning scratch built locos and stock ever but if they are trundling past a wheelie bin full of Metcalfe buildings then sorry, it’s not for me. Again, off at a tangent go I… Back to butterfly modelling. Berry’s Warehouse, pictured above, still exists. It pre-dates the railway by at least 100 years and was from the time that Sandside was a port (Arnside viaduct put paid to that). It’s now been renovated but in the period I wish to model and the majority of my lifetime, it was a dilapidated and unloved relic that was begging to be modelled. Built of rough limestone, it again calls for a lot of scribing and then filler (to represent the mortar). I struck it lucky in finding an archeological study performed by a group from Oxford and using their drawings and Google Earth, first built a mock up from card and am now scribing Plastikard for the final model. A long way to go… The other building started, slightly further along, is the diminutive cottage next to the Spencer lime kiln and drops. No plans or decent photos for this but I as able to estimate the dimensions from a photo which included a five plank open wagon. Aside from all this construction, I have also been plodding away on the stock that will be needed, almost exclusively wagons (and almost exclusively open wagons). No photos of these but the layout requires Catfish and Dogfish ballast wagons, 16 ton minerals, 5 plank opens of various types, hoppers for through coke traffic (appear to be 21 ton coal hoppers rather than specific coke wagons for some reason) and 12 ton box vans (bagged cement deliveries). The tar wagons, as seen above, may prove a challenge. Locos, I think I have just about everything I need but will need at some point to build the High Level chassis for my Jinty. Classes I know to have been there are Black Fives, 4F’s, various 2-6-4T’s, Austerities, Jinty, Metrovick Co-Bo, Ivatt Moguls and a Stanier Mogul (on an incredibly rare through freight that wasn’t coke traffic). 8F would be stretching it but surprisingly, a Clayton wouldn’t as they were used in the area. One post a month, but takes a month to read 🙂
  4. Thanks; looks like a 'trip' to Road Transport Images and a head scratch at the combination of cabs, bodies and wheels is in order at some point 😀
  5. Not sure if it still exists but there is/was a layout called January 1968 which depicted a very run down station, lifted tracks and general decay. Interesting subject for sure and one that does appeal but for me, this one was slightly overdone - it looked post-apocalyptic 😀
  6. Thanks. I guess it'll be a case of combining a few available etches and bits of brass, hopefully not into a lumpen mess. I'm much happier with plastic than I am with metal 😀
  7. Turning into a bit of a repository here today (and probably more relevant in the currently barren Workbench/Layout thread). Still, the inclusion of the office building is useful; it is still there so maybe next time I head up, my daughter and I may have to do some trespassing to measure it up. I know how to entertain a seven year old 😃 Anyone know what the lorry is? Commer? Also, anyone recognise the tar wagon types? They appear to have a lip at the ends.
  8. Just noticed that the ‘railings’ are actually a portcullis style gate; no easier to depict of course. I just thank my lucky stars that I don’t have to model this, the quarry plant (looking outwards over the railway onto the estuary)
  9. Another stroke of luck has just presented itself, courtesy of the village Facebook page (which worryingly includes a number of photos of me as a kid). I knew that there had been a bridge over the quarry entrance at some point (road access to the area above the old drops, atop the huge retaining wall) but it as a distant memory by the time I can remember and I wasn’t sure what it looked like. I also wasn’t sure how late it lasted. Here’s my answer; a rather handy backscene filler, with the plant behind being added in silhouette (??) Rather glad it’s not only there but also an infinitely easier to model girder bridge than a stone built one. Those railings are going to be challenging, as are the tar tanks…
  10. A stroke of luck yesterday, as I looked at present and past photos of Berry’s, I pondered how the middle floor left hand window had been added when it didn’t appear to be there on the earlier photos or the drawings created by the Oxford group. Closer inspection of the older photos then revealed a lintel and sill, barely visible; the window had been bricked up at some point and the rough pointing all but hiding its existence. Luckily, my scribing to date hadn’t reached there so I was able to add it in, then fill it in! It will most likely all but disappear again on the finished model but at least it’s there. Although the seemingly endless scribing is time consuming and quite difficult to keep the construction of the building believable, I am enjoying the flexibility of being able to add the quoins as I progress, carry them round corners and ultimately (hopefully) end up with buildings that are not only closer to the real structures but also unlike any others that would be modelled.
  11. One thing to add is that with the cottage, I rubbed plastic putty into the stone courses as an experiment and an rather happy with the result. It has reduced the depth whilst keeping the width between the stones
  12. For this week’s update, I have been working on the collection of buildings that sit alongside the quarry sidings, neither of which are railway related at all (in fact, in the period I intend to model, none of the structures or infrastructure adjacent to the quarry sidings was used for the quarry; stone was loaded by portable conveyor or by hand!!). First is the diminutive cottage that pre-dates the railway. I have not been able to find any drawings or decent photographs of this but was able to estimate the dimensions from a five plank wagon near it. Construction of the main building was of rough uneven limestone but the extension is throwing me a bit; the clearest photo I have shows it’s surface to be smooth, almost as if it has been rendered. So, I modelled what I saw. Next comes Berry’s Warehouse. You may recall that I made a card mockup of it; I had a go at using DAS and scribing the stone onto it but it didn’t work so, it’s a case of scribing again. Whilst finishing up this morning, I picked it up and the light behind gave a rather interesting view of the scribing so far.
  13. I was thinking the same. The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long?
  14. I’ve found that to get the best out of superglue, I have had to key the two surfaces slightly to give it something to grab on to. Apologies if this has already been said or if the conversation has moved on, I am playing catch up!
  15. In my usual butterfly way, I have been getting on with the painting of the goods shed. Where I left off last time, the base colour was on but no windows fitted, back wall unattached, etc. A dirty wash (Matt black and leather) was applied and rubbed off and when dry, the windows and what will be the visible internal wall attached. This evening, I have applied the first dry brushing (a mix of LMS Freight Grey, Leather and Light Stone). It’s already bringing out the shades I want to achieve and when dry, further dry brushing will be applied to individual stones, etc. The light wasn’t the best for this shot
  16. Hi, I would go for dark grey as it gives the impression of some light rather than a glaring colour or total darkness. What you could do is to build up a narrow box of grey mounting board behind the low relief structures which would not only give them a bit of relief but also solve the window conundrum. at the bridge end, you could then angle the end of the building to match the angle of the road and bridge; not perfect but at least giving the impression that the world continues. I know it’s a bit (lot) bigger but here’s a (not completed at that time) mill I built as a backscene filler. Although it’s obvious that it’s truncated, the fact that it’s 3D rather than 2D suggests that it continues, imagination kind of fills in the blanks
  17. And after Berry's, I need to construct the small stone building and winchhouse (for the rope-worked and disused drops), as well as the Spencer Lime Kiln (also disused). For these, this is one of the best photos I have seen of them (at least that I can share), all are from a similar angle too. These were gone before my memories kick in, including the drops and almost all stonework associated with them. I do know that the drops were basically the height of a 7 plank wagon, which helps a bit, but I think some artistic licence may need to be employed here. The Spencer Lime Kiln... PVC tube and lots of plastikard cladding?? The drops and buildings as they were A similar view now
  18. I knocked together a cardboard mock-up (mounting board) of Berry's to check that the drawings were correct and get a feel for the dimensions of the building in 'real life'. The building has a foundation of 8mm to allow it to be sunk into the scenery; the real building is built into the hillside, hence the side and rear doors being higher than the single door on the front, but I wanted the front to be sunk in too, as it hides the gap at the base and also allows for the trackbed to have underlay, meaning that will not throw off the base of the front door when the siding is added on the layout (it was a grotty disused siding by the time the layout will be depicted - the track was still there when I was a kid). The front facing middle floor doorway looks odd; at some point in it's life, it was narrowed and the left hand side infilled, meaning that the segmental arch over it continues beyond the doorway. There appeared to be very little between the top of the arch and the above doorway sill; mainly infill. As can be seen, I very roughly drew the arch and the quoins in to show the above. The rear of the building sits deep into the hillside; the middle floor door is at ground level here; rough steps climbed up the SW side of the building, now gone as an extension was built on. A 3/4 view looking from the NW, showing the substantial buttress, which is still extant (probably for good reason). All in all, a fascinating building, especially in it's run down state and being built into the hillside. I will struggle to model quite as run down as it was in reality - it had weeds along the front and ivy beginning to creep up it in the early 60's. Also, it would be permanently added to the scenery through necessity of it being built so much into the landscape. As can be seen, there is a substantial retaining wall which finishes just to the right of the building. This is original; the steps, etc., are not. The wall running up the lane past where Kellett Cottage was situated was almost totally collapsed prior to the restoration of the building, and there was a lot of undergrowth and shrubs (as well as mature trees, some of which are still there). Apologies for the long post, I do get carried away but I want to provide some background and setting information to my posts.
  19. BERRY'S WAREHOUSE Although there's still work to do on the goods shed and signalbox, I'm already thinking about the next building I want to tackle (yep, still putting off that station building...) and it's Berry's Warehouse. Berry's Warehouse was not a railway building at any time in it's life, despite a quarry siding passing directly in front of it. It was, in fact, built when Sandside was still a port (the port of Milnthorpe) and is first referenced in 1778. The building itself is still extant, albeit restored and modernised in the last 15 - 20 years. I struck it very lucky when searching online, finding a study that Oxford Archaeology had performed on the building which includes history, setting, notes on construction, drawings (not sure about the scale!!!) and photographs. https://eprints.oxfordarchaeology.com/2364/1/L10256_Complete_rep_reduced.pdf I mention the scale seeming slightly off in the above paragraph as when I calculated it out, the model building seemed like it would be a little diminutive. Using Google Earth's measuring tool though, I was able to determine the length and width and then, using the drawings, work out the scale size. As such, I have drawn out scale plans for the building. The stonework for this one is going to be interesting as it's constructed from (and I'm quoting here) "uncoursed rubble limestone bonded with lime mortar, with large alternating quoins to the corners. The walls have been heavily pointed obscuring much of the stonework. More recent alterations and repairs were undertaken using refractory brick". So, scribe then backfill with filler? I'll need to experiment; I did do something similar with a building on Bacup and was happy enough with the outcome. Inclusion on the layout is, in my eyes, necessary. As kids, we used to be fascinated with it; in it's dilapidated state, we referred to it as Dracula's House and would creep into it to scare each other (with me looking for railway memorabilia at the same time, not knowing it wasn't related to the railway at all). The thing is, inclusion in it's actual (relative) setting does beg the question of what orientation would the proposed layout be viewed from? A discussion for the layout thread as it's probably more relevant there. The location of the warehouse, outlined in yellow. The station, signalbox and goods shed were where the buildings are in the top right. You can clearly see the land the goods yard occupied, opposite Berry's and on the other side of the Quarry Lane.
  20. Don’t forget the unmistakable stench of sheep poo and a sweaty sock that has managed to conceal itself somewhere you can’t find it. My car has a magical aroma all of its own that no air freshener could combat. And then there’s the stains; with me crashing my bike so often (I struggled to recall the last ride I did when I didn’t crash), the stains are occasionally blood 😃
  21. What I want to know is how long it took you to get all the mud out of the back of the van prior to loading it. I can’t imagine the trails near Barmouth were dry…
  22. Way less buildings needed for Sandside but conversely, they are all way more complex to build
  23. Well that didn’t take long, buildings are off to a good home. Thanks David, praise indeed. It was a shame to dismantle the layout but onwards and upwards; I just hope the next one meets expectations
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