Jason T

Not a building but such a modellable scene. This is in Saltney, carrying the North Wales coast line over a narrow road to River Lane (which used to have its own branch to serve various industries). The railway was widened to quadruple (now double again), the bridge widened at the same time, resulting in half brick, half stone construction. As well as the road, Balderton Brook is crossed, a charmless stream that’s barely more than a water filled ditch, full of litter and shopping trolleys. Sharing the passageway is a sewage pipe resplendent with security measures (who would want to climb on it anyway?). It appeals to me far more than the twee; it could be a diorama on it’s own.

Scribing the stonework on the goods shed abutments, I reasoned that it may be easier to do it in bulk, hence the ‘jig’. Second photo shows the ones that are slightly further on (sides need scribing) roughly placed in location.

Not seen this topic before but it’s one that appeals hugely; I see buildings all too often that I want to model, the thing is that my plans for the next layout are very much prototype based (as close as I can get it) so they don’t fit in. One thing I am considering though is which way the (future) layout would be viewed from; sense dictates looking west but looking east you get this tumbledown collection of old drops, ramshackle buildings and the overbearing Spencer Lime Kiln. just do much character and industrial decay in what otherwise is quite a rural idyllic site. All of this is long gone, as the Streetview photo shows

Sandside signalbox, 4mm. Still a work in progress

In addition to the endless scribing (so much more to do), I have also started to paint the signalbox. Still need to start the roof but there is paint on the other areas, much of it needing going over to tidy it up. The light limestone has been a challenge, trying to get the right tone. From the scant few colour photos I have seen, the box was built using sandstone quoins and the light grey limestone, rather than the brown limestone from the adjoining quarry. Apparently, the station was built using stone from the railway cuttings just down the line and although the signalbox was built later (first one was opposite it), it seems like they kept to the same look/style (although don't seem to have bothered with the goods shed, built at around the same time - that was definitely built using the dull light brown limestone from the quarry). Anyway, that's a lot of words; here's the pictures. Please remember that it needs more work :)

This week I have mostly been... scribing plastikard, lots of it. The house looks like a giant tramp with dandruff has been staying and scratting at his scalp. If you look back at the photo from last week, you may notice that something is different. Basically, I had added too many courses of stones so back to the drawing (scribing) board and I started again. Mark, scribe and then shape the stones; still looking a bit scruffy but there's much more to do yet. The area with no scribing is where the road entrance will go; on the rear (top bit), there was no point in scribing to the base as there was an access track to the loading platform (same height as the station platform. It may also look slightly odd as I left excess around all sides to make it easier to work with.

The more recent is a different but similar shed; it’s the one at Grange-over-Sands. The step up is a glitch with the Streetview image

That's a photo from the 19th century but a lovely one; it shows the original signalbox and goods shed, both replaced around the turn of the century - the original signalbox base remained and was modified into a lineside shed. The next building I am tackling is the goods shed (not the one in the above but the larger replacement). As far as I know, there are no drawings available of it and the photos don't show the full building (the aspect facing the main road, for instance). However, it was built to a standard design and the shed at Grange Over Sands is very similar and allowed me to get measurements (and decent close ups of stonework, etc). As can hopefully be seen in the below, I have drawn out the basic outlines for the sides, started to fashion the upright stone sections that stand proud and am beginning to scribe the stonework (painful - there's a lot).

Believe it or not, there’s an earlier photo where there are wagons on the drops, internal use I guess as underneath those drops (in the huge retaining wall) are older lime kilns. I don’t know but maybe the quarry had it’s own industrial loco at some point; no way were full wagons pushed up that by hand (rope/chain maybe?). On another shot of the same location, there’s a sign saying No LMS Locos beyond this point; hard to see but the connection from the network enters where the puddle is on the far right of the photo, which is where the sign was. It would be stretching things way too far to use my industrial locos off The Mill. The drops, ramp and buildings are long gone. Below is the same location now.

Not far at all, about 300 yards. If you go down the quarry lane rather than the front, the station was where the older flats are, the signalbox was at the back of The Kingfisher restaurant and the lime kiln was next to Berry’s Warehouse, now restored as offices. The warehouse was for the port and never used by the railway, despite a siding running right past it (rails were still there until about 25 years ago)

As close as possible but some compression will be needed, plus I may change the timelines slightly so that the station remains open after 1942 and the line isn’t truncated. ’63 onwards, there was no run round loop and as such, trains (all goods) would reverse up the line to Arnside, where they would then head to Carnforth. People would wonder what the hell was going on if you modelled exiting trains propelling towards the fiddle yard

And what comes next, you may ask. Plan was to work on the station building but again, the drawings in the book seem a little off so I am reaching out to try and get more accurate ones. So, maybe the goods shed will be next. It’s probably becoming evident that I do intend to build a layout of Sandside at some point, and have already pondered which would be the better viewing side. Logic dictates that it would be looking west towards the estuary (as Karl Crowther did with Kentside) but looking the other way towards the quarry is beginning to appeal, mainly because of the below photo; I just love the disused drops, ramshackle buildings and the disused Spencer lime kiln (the imposing tower). This would mean that viewers would only see the back wall of the signalbox but such is life…

Anyway, when we left off, I had made decent progress with the rebuild of the signalbox but there was (and still is) some way to go. The reason it was sprayed in primer is twofold; firstly because you are on a hiding to nowhere if you try to paint raw plastic but secondly and more importantly, it shows up areas that need attention. With this in mind, it showed up the joins between the sides; they stood out more than I was willing to accept. Still not perfect (it never will be) but with filing, filling and sanding, they are a lot less noticeable now. No point going to all that effort to scribe the stonework if there’s noticeable joins on corners, etc. Next, I sourced some finials from The Wizard (51L); not the correct ones but close enough. This was followed by trying to tie the different roof components together (slates, finials, ridge tiles, lead flashing around the chimney, etc), I think it’s ready for it’s layer of primer now. I feel like I’m forgetting something as I have spent some hours on it this week but what I can say is that I have made a start on the steps and platform; needs tons more work and some tweaking, obviously. It’s also become clear from photos that there were also steps next to the door, passing through the large wall to the strip of land next to the goods shed. The main steps also dropped onto the platform ramp so for the foreseeable future, they will (when finished) appear to end in mid air. Anyway, this thread is useless without photos so here they are…

Yeah, nice kits but a lot of work compared to the (albeit more costly) Parkside one, which builds up into a better model. Happy with how this turned out given the starting point and really enjoying working on it, although sanding off the embossed on part numbers and removing the multitude of dimples was a pain. It’s probably not noticeable but there was a fair bit of work done on the solebars, etc., too, including thinning down the supports for the body (missing from the Parkside kit). I did look on 51L’s website for finials and will get some although there’s not a perfect match; closest seem to be GWR ones; how dare they not cater for a minor company like the Furness Railway :D End of the day, I was only going to build the station building so the signal box is scope creep; it was to practice scribing stone and at first glance, I thought it would be an easy structure (it’s anything but when you look closer). Who knows, maybe some day I’ll end up modelling Sandside (I might have bought a Metrovick and ordered some EM Gauge Ultrascale wheels in preparation; I already have four Black Fives, three already converted to EM, which *should* be enough)

In other news, I recently picked up a couple of Dapol (ex Airfix) 16 ton mineral wagon kits; a bit crude but with a bit of work, scrub up ok. I say bit, but in reality, I have spent quite a lot of time fettling it, with more to do. The first obvious thing to do was get rid of the ridiculous hinges that allow the door to open (followed much later by spending way too much time adding non-working hinges back on). I kept the brake rigging from the kit (one side only as per the prototype) and drilled out them, the vee hangers and some spare Parkside levers so I could add the operating rod. The rigging was thinned as much as I dared and staples added for the safety loops. As (at the time) I wasn’t overly enamoured with the kit, I decided to remove the top doors to add a bit of variety to my (overly large) collection of 16 tonners. Other things done were to add Lanarkshire buffers and out of sight but wholly necessary, fit brass bearings and EM Gibson wheels. Worth all the effort? I enjoyed doing it so definitely!

Two steps forward, ten steps back. When the roof was added, it became evident that the dimensions of the windows were off (taken from the now obviously dubious drawings in the book referenced above). I tried to remove the window units from the original base but it didn’t go well at all, meaning that all I had left was the roof (built removable). So, I set to work scribing again and creating a new base (a blessing in disguise as I think the stone scribing looks better than attempt one; more uniform). The windows were obviously reconstructed but this time I planned in the sliding opening ones, one modelled so). I have also slated the roof and in lieu of having any finials, bodged some up as placeholders. Gutters were made by using 40 thou Plastikard, a skrawker, files and swearing. They’re hardly noticeable but they are there, honest. I know that on a monitor it probably looks scruffy (the cruelty of photos) but in reality, it’s better looking with a few areas to tidy up but nothing serious. Bit more to do with the roof (obviously), add interior and then commit to painting it. As wrong as it may seem, the chimney pot really was a mess, probably worse than depicted!!

Mine is seven and a half now, full of beans and wants to spend every waking hour with Daddy. She has zero interest in railways but does love making stuff so is over the moon when she’s allowed to make stuff for her dolls out of mounting board, etc., for her dolls. I obviously don’t let her anywhere near a Swann Morton (I cut myself enough with them…) but her cutting card with scissors and glueing the bits together entertains her enough whilst I can get on with frustrating myself with modelling. the downside is that when she’s finished, I then have to play dolls :D It doesn’t get easier as they get older by the way, it just changes!!!

A bit more progress on the signalbox. the windows are now in although I need to add the sashes (or whatever the horizontal equivalents are called); door needs a bit of work too by the looks of it. The next challenge is the roof. As can be seen in the above photo of the actual box, the timbers are rather prominent so I spent quite some time scratching my head on how to achieve the look. As can be seen, the (removable) roof has a main hipped structure upon which the ‘timbers’ have been attached. Next, I need to determine the optimal length of them, add the gutters (I have ideas on how to do that) and then add an additional skin upon which the slates will go. I’m going to change the name of the thread too as it’s probably becoming quite obvious that the scope has crept from making a model of the station building to…. who knows what!

As can be seen, the walls are stepped, with different sizes of blocks used on different sides. I haven’t stuck religiously to the horizontal number of stones but vertically, I think it’s about right. The only bit not scribed is the brick part of the chimney stack (which changes half way up). First coat of primer has been added to spot any areas that need tidying up (there’s a few), plus I wanted the main structure to be primed prior to adding the windows. The window frames are yet to be glued in and framing added using 020 x 040 and 020 x 060 Microstrip. Outline was cut from 20 thou and inner frames are Microstrip. Below are some cruel close ups.

Whilst I may have been quiet on here, I have been busy in the real world and my experiment scribing plain Plastikard has led to more hours than I would care to admit, a few pieces thrown in the bin when better photos have been found (the drawing in the book is more of a representation with some glaring errors), a sore finger from scribing and some real head scratching. What looks like a simple signalbox is anything but… First, a reminder of the real building

Could be more hassle than it’s worth; it really is a shoddy product (a shoduct?)

It would be hilarious if it wasn’t so tragic 😀

Oh dear, I made a mistake. I spotted, on eBay, a product that looked hopeful; embossed paper that may have been suitable for the station building if painted. The photo representing it was a 2” by 2” square. Interest piqued, I paid £16 and eagerly awaited delivery. It arrived this evening, all the way from Greece. It does look like the image on eBay; exactly like it, in that it’s a series of identical 2” squares filled ten A4 sheets. Ah, but is it embossed, you may well be wondering. Yes it is. On wallpaper. You can laugh; I did.

Last time I exhibited The Mill, Hornby hadn't produced either the Ruston 48 or 88DS. I know that next time it goes out, I will be asked many times if the Judith Edge kits I lost blood sweat and tears over are the Hornby models and each time, I will die a little inside...

Thanks, interesting website (the globes threw me a bit). I am kind of resigned to scribing, or at least giving it a go. I took a trip down to visit the Barrowmore MRG today (their club rooms are close to here and I am keen to get involved: their best known layout is the epic P4 ‘Mostyn’) and took a look at a couple of the buildings that they have scribed; a lot of effort but if done right then it will capture the stonework right. Time will tell if I can manage it but I have been practicing again, this time with Plastikard and the outline of the signalbox.