New Martin Street PLA/GER goods depot

[Nathaniel]

Really enjoying watching your layout progress, looking forward to more updates.

[Neil]

My curiosity has been well and truly piqued. I found this link via Google to the wartime film 'Fires Were Started' which looks to have been shot around the Upper East Smithfield, Fenchurch Street, London Docks area.

[hayfield]

32 minutes ago, Neil said:

My curiosity has been well and truly piqued. I found this link via Google to the wartime film 'Fires Were Started' which looks to have been shot around the Upper East Smithfield, Fenchurch Street, London Docks area.

 

Neil

 

Thank you for the link, certainly shows the atmosphere I am trying to capture, at the moment I am just putting the rough pieces in place, detail will follow but this is great information which is very useful

Edited January 15, 2022 by hayfield

[hayfield]

 

This is a shot of what I am thinking about. I have a slightly different style 2 story building ordered but shows the opportunities available. Like the 3 story warehouse it will need to be more 3D (as will the shop so I think I will need to order2 more kits at least simply to bulk out all 3 buildings so the whole scene morphs into more of a 3D scene

Edited April 6, 2022 by hayfield

[Izzy]

The full inside reproduction of the cover shot gives quite a bit more detail but not perhaps as much as one would like. I did find a link to this while trying to pin down the exact location today.

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17&lat=51.50960&lon=-0.06939&layers=168&right=BingHyb

 

Looks like the end tracks went into a very large dockside warehouse. All gone today of course along with the actual docks. Can't fathom out why the barry slip was used even of wagons were rope worked via the capstans seen. I think you have picked a gem of a location and it's developing very nicely.

 

Bob

[TechnicArrow]

I'm loving this topic! The idea to elevate the majority of the trackwork is excellent and it's already looking promising, as is your arrangement of building shells. It's shaping up to be a great layout!

 

You've definitely added some more ideas to my list - a list that really didn't need expanding...

[Multigauge]

5 hours ago, Izzy said:

The full inside reproduction of the cover shot gives quite a bit more detail but not perhaps as much as one would like. I did find a link to this while trying to pin down the exact location today.

 

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17&lat=51.50960&lon=-0.06939&layers=168&right=BingHyb

 

Looks like the end tracks went into a very large dockside warehouse. All gone today of course along with the actual docks. Can't fathom out why the barry slip was used even of wagons were rope worked via the capstans seen. I think you have picked a gem of a location and it's developing very nicely.

 

Bob

Looking at the map more widely it is truly astonishing how many goods depots there were in the area. I had no idea that the line to Fenchurch St had so many branches off of it. 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Multigauge
Smelling pistake

[hayfield]

10 hours ago, Multigauge said:

Looking at the map more widely it is truly astonishing how many goods depots there were in the area. I had no idea that the line to Fenchurch St had so many branches off of it. 

 

In the book (Great Eastern Town and Country) there is a large fold out map starting at Fenchurch Street and right out to Poplar and Blackwall. Not only did the GER have warehouses so did many other companies LT&SR, MR, GWR, L&NWR, NLR, GNR and Millwall Extension Railway, I presume others had yards outside the map in question  Great Western Railway in North East London?

 

I guess with the docks in London being one of the main international docks, goods would then both radiate all across the country and draw in goods to be sent abroad. Therefore links and storage facilities must have been required

[hayfield]

I found this old damaged and incomplete kit in a box of 2 other incomplete, its a City Streets kit in a very poor condition, two parts were broken and I struggled to get it together as few glues would stick to the resin parts anyway its changed my mind about what to do in this area another 3D kit will be bought rather than a 2 level goods yard

 

 

I also wanted to make a start on the bridge section, this has come to a bit of a false start simply as I need some matching additional brick sheets.

 

Still if nothing else the scene is developing/evolving as I try out different ideas 

Edited April 6, 2022 by hayfield

[hayfield]

 

Today my Great Eastern S56 arrived, its a 3D printed loco body designed to fit the Dapol/Hornby Terrier loco and is rather splendid

 

 

The plan is simple I want to try and fit a Branchlines Terrier chassis. A first try as expected quite a poor fit. OK its the wrong wheelbase for starters and the chassis is a bit short. The first job is to alter the height and level off under the chassis where the EM gauge frames go. Both locos have 4' drivers but Romford 16mm wheels are too large (usual issue with overlarge flanges. I have some 15mm wheels so I will give them a try.

 

 

The loco is sitting too high above the mainframes, or rather the mainframes are too short

 

I do have both a Wills and a Southeastern Finecast J69's. Southeastern Finecast sell etched J69 chassis, the answer is to buy a chassis and divert the Terrier chassis to a Terrier loco

 

 

Yesterday as well as today was a bit of a write off as far as modelling is concerned, what I did do was to muddle about with the viaduct including a new bridge over the revised road plan. I picked up some Wills English bond brick sheets so I can extend the wall under the railway and build up the wall on the other side. Still there has been a bit more progress in how I think it will  evolve from the earlier ideas

 

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by hayfield

[Kevin Johnson]

John I agree that's a lovely 3D printed body full of detail.

[hayfield]

14 minutes ago, Kevin Johnson said:

John I agree that's a lovely 3D printed body full of detail.

 

It certainly gets you a model quickly and the livery is superb, defiantly needs a decent chassis, so its a SEF etched one that it will finish with, In the meantime I will alter the wheels as I want to try some cheap can motors I bought from China a year ago. I should get on with re-gauging and back dating my Wills and SEF J69's

[hayfield]

Today has been a bit of a mixture

 

 I have started to adapt the single story building, its been shortened and two windows have been altered to loading bays. The two story building next to it will be made 1/2" deeper and there will be an alley way between the two buildings

 

 

I have started to build up the walls around the road having built 2 new girder bridges (the first was much larger as it was over a junction) I think it will be a case of making up all the parts first then build everything in place, I think a life in and out track bed is out of the question

 

 

I will need to finish the rear wall up to the warehouse. the S56 is the GER's version of a very small tank loco. Ideal for a tiny branch line

 

 

Just a push along toy at the moment. Just been informed that  my latest order from Fair Price Models is in the post

Edited April 6, 2022 by hayfield

[TechnicArrow]

I'm very much enjoying watching your composition come together! Especially that single-storey section of building, the depth and visual interest it adds is excellent. And I still absolutely love the idea to have the track raised above street level.

 

Also I'm glad you brought my attention to the Fair Price Models range, I've just received my kit and I'm very impressed with it (post in my thread coming soon!)

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, TechnicArrow said:

I'm very much enjoying watching your composition come together! Especially that single-storey section of building, the depth and visual interest it adds is excellent. And I still absolutely love the idea to have the track raised above street level.

 

Also I'm glad you brought my attention to the Fair Price Models range, I've just received my kit and I'm very impressed with it (post in my thread coming soon!)

 

 

I have just read your post and I like the idea of making bigger roofs saves making all the floors etc. As I said in your post the plasticard sheeting covers any joins, and a Stanley Knife cuts through the material

[hayfield]

I have made a start on the other 3 story, this model is about to have a rear extension added to it so I have not stuck any embossed plasticard to it and the corner has been made over long and will be trimmed back once the plasticard has been added to the side

 

 

The windows and door have been cut out

Edited April 6, 2022 by hayfield

[hayfield]

 

I had a delivery a few days ago from High Level for a Road Runner and a Road Runner +, also last year I bought 4 coreless motors cheaply from China, these had 1mm shafts so I ordered 1 & 1.5 mm worm gears for both. Sadly the motors fixing screws did not line up (a shade too close to each other.

 

Rather than building a new one I made the error of deciding to use a second hand RR+ with a Mashima 1424.lIit was completely butchered by someone in the past, as I needed the drive stretcher turning around I took it apart and straightened it out . I think it was an earlier type as the drive stretcher fits to the outside of the main unit, latest versions it fits inside. Antway these units are so well designed despite it being hacked about it still works like a Swiss watch

 

 

Whilst I still had the gearboxes out I had this one hanging about, it was suggested it was the forerunner to the High Level range, certainly the gears and their arrangement are much the same. My new coreless motors fit the fit the gearbox, trouble being the worm has a 1.5mm hole, so as the worm looked much the same as the ones I have with 1 mm holes I took a chance. In reverse it runs sweet as a nut ad quietly, forward its slipping and runs like a bag of nails

 

Its either the wrong worm gear or its the stage 1 gear. When I have time I will swapp motors over and use the 1.5mm worm, but it may be the stage 1 gear which is worn. The motor seems fine if a little quick

 

 

 

Back to the Terrier chassis, wheels changed to 15mm to stop the tyres rubbing against the floor, the Road Runner + allows the motor to sit right in the middle of the tanks

 

 

The body is designed for the Dapol/Terrier RTR chassis, I am using a Branchlines Terrier etched chassis. two different beasts. I am going to phone Squires and enquire about a SEF J69 chassis. At worst I will carry on with this chassis as it should be a nice slow runner with the 1424 + 60/1 gearing and small wheels. The SEF chassis is the correct length, has the correct wheelbase and the chassis itself is higher (The Terrier has a low footplate). But until I make a decision I will not do anything else to it

 

I have no complaints about the body, its designed to accept the Dapol chassis and when I bought it I accepted I had to modify it to run on an etched EM gauge chassis, if anything it should look better with the correct chassis

 

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by hayfield

[hayfield]

I have just ordered a new chassis from squires, sadly an 8 week wait. Still its not holding anything up layout wise

 

SEF 00 gauge J69 chassis on the left, Branchlines on the right. There is quite a difference with the wheelbase 

 

 

Certainly a DS10 with a motor mount is of no use and even the SEF chassis will need modifying. This is where the High Level plus gearboxes come into their own, What I called the drive stretcher is actually the final drive carriage may not be enough to move the motor far enough away from the cab. I may need to either drive the loco from the front wheels or use a drive stretcher

Edited April 6, 2022 by hayfield

[hayfield]

 

Still waiting for the second 2 story kit to arrive, but I decided so make a start on the first one. I still think I need to make it at least 1/2" deeper but these are very well thought and go together very easily

 

 

Slaters embossed plasticard this time, stuck on to the kit with Loctite 60 second all purpose glue. I left it some time before I cut the apertures out. lintels and windowsils were cut from the fret and stuck in place with the same glue (which I also used to assemble the kit.

 

 

I think it will come forward a bit, but happy with the overall appearance

 

 

Still a wealth of detail on the frets and its supposed to be a scratch aid kit !!  Excellent value in my opinion

Edited April 6, 2022 by hayfield

[hayfield]

An update on the chassis, I ordered a J68/9 chassis from Squires (Friday I think)  Well I came home this evening and low and behold the chassis was waiting for me, to the 8 weeks quoted

 

 

As it happens I ordered a chassis fret rather than a chassis kit, this fret had everything bar the coupling rods. Now I think I will order  the appropriate set from Alan Gibson or use a set of universal rods

 

Anyway a great service and my problem for not asking if rods came with the fret

Edited April 6, 2022 by hayfield

[hayfield]

2 hours ago, hayfield said:

An update on the chassis, I ordered a J68/9 chassis from Squires (Friday I think)  Well I came home this evening and low and behold the chassis was waiting for me, to the 8 weeks quoted

 

 

As it happens I ordered a chassis fret rather than a chassis kit, this fret had everything bar the coupling rods. Now I think I will order  the appropriate set from Alan Gibson or use a set of universal rods

 

Anyway a great service and my problem for not asking if rods came with the fret

 

 

Slightly embarrassing in that I found a SEF J67/69 kit in my cupboard, it has both the chassis and coupling rods. Anyway I will use the coupling rods to both set the jig and to make a second set from an Alan Gibson universal set of rods<.I would have bought an additional chassis fret anyway so nothing lost.

[hayfield]

I have spent the past couple of days with members of the L&B (east section) removing old pitch pine church pews in Ipswich which will go into the rebuilding of coach number 9. Today has been a rest day, I am getting too old for manual work

 

Anyway the GER S56 took another turn, taking a step back I have an old Wills J69 built to 00 gauge with a cast whitemetal chassis, Romford wheels and a MW/Airfix 005 five pole motor, I also have a Southeastern Finecast J69 but with straight sides and no condensing apparatus again built to 00 gauge with an etched chassis and a DS10 motor and romford wheels

I also had an unbuilt Southeastern kit without instructions, but unlike the built SEF kit has raised tank sides and if required widened tank overlays

 

As I said in an earlier post my etch had no coupling rods after a bit of thought I decided to see if they had a set of etched coupling rods in stock. Well full marks to Squires, their staff could not have been more helpful, they have the coupling rods in stock and posted me their new revised instructions. These are two items one which is the instruction booklet the second a technical instruction booklet. I am still trying to get my head around the different classes, with the GE the letters and numbers changed, but the main thing is seemingly you can have locos looking very slightly different.

 

The other thing the instructions state is that if using Romford wheels they need to be 15mm not 16mm, which is fine with me, a quick measurement the footplate space for a chassis is 2mm shorter than the etch. The S56 cannot be made from the SEF kit so it may differ a bit but I am not into rivet counting so near enough is good enough and far better than I could scratch build. Second is if I am building one chassis I might as well build two as the jig is set up and the iron is plugged in. The chassis for the 3D printed needs adapting as its raised under the cab so it can quickly and easily fit the SEF footplate. The Terrier chassis can go back with my K's Terriers and can be used both on New Martin Street and Bodmin (modellers licence with a SR Docklands sarff of the river)

 

Whilst nothing has been done physically I feel I have had a worthwhile afternoon, perhaps in build the body of the SEF kit I will come to understand the class better 

[hayfield]

The letter box was quite busy today, two chassis kits I won on eBay at the weekend, Squires next day delivery for the coupling rods and a package from Fair-Price models for the 2 story warehouse, pavements and some tiles

 

 

The building ended up a bit smaller than I expected, which may be beneficial visually, I checked the width but not its height, but once it all goes 3D hopefully its volume will make up for the height

 

 

I already decided to make it 3D fitting between the two 2 story buildings, up against the one on the right and an alley between the one on the left. The right hand wall will be fanned out to match the pavements. I will extend from its 30mm depth to 120 s the roof will rise higher before pitching back down, the right hand side will have some interesting angles.

 

I bought some pavements, which I think will end up a bit narrower

 

Owing to domestics very little done today on the railway

Edited April 6, 2022 by hayfield

[Kevin Johnson]

John with the buildings being modelled its all starting to look rather good. 

[hayfield]

11 minutes ago, Kevin Johnson said:

John with the buildings being modelled its all starting to look rather good. 

 

Kevin

 

Thank you, its a bit of a mess at the moment and the main draw back is, what I am going to use for the sides and back which will make up most of the baseboard frame, I still think the soffit board is the favorite for both its weight and strength, but I have to buy 5 meters stuff.  I could use the balance of the 5m for my porch ceiling, but I need to loose an inch somewhere and I just need to think it through a bit more

 

I am enjoying the loco side and I see there is a 3D body for a Port of London Authority tank loco, but it takes an Electron 0-6-0T chassis, I would have to feret around for an etched alternative

 

Then of course the rolling stock, what should I get !! I asme its all vans and these would be coming from the various companies marshalling yards, certainly vans from most regions, locos as well?  Might be some interesting suggestions flowing