GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

John, 
“The Company” provided a multitude of accommodation types for its staff as I’m sure you well know. Many were two or more stories. In my opinion, is it perfectly feasible for a shed of your size to have such a building with the enginemen’s facilities on the ground floor, including the timekeepers office, mess, etc and where the upper floors are occupied by drafting, accounting and engineering offices where the clerks would shuffle the endless stream of paperwork that was necessary to keep track of such a huge organisation. 

Alternatively, during the war years, both first and second, engine men were often away from home for days at a time as they were required to traverse from one end of the system to the other for the war effort. Buildings were built and commandeered as hostels to provide said engine men with somewhere to sleep. While your location next to the coaling facilities may not be ideal for sleeping, often beggars could not be choosers and it is close to their engines.

I think it unlikely that the building would have housed staff of any grade as permanent housing as from what I have read such buildings while near the works or station were, with the exception of a crossing keepers cottage maybe, outside the works themselves.

I’ve just spent pleasant hour catching up on the goings on at Granby and apart from a sharp intake of breath when hearing about the demolition of the engine sheds (temporary removal rather than demolition thankfully!) have enjoyed my read immensely. 

Looking forward to more, however occasional, and congratulations on 200,000 views.

Best regards

Hi Marty
Always good to hear from you particularly with such an informative and supportive post.

I have never quite appreciated how many support staff were employed at even a medium sized shed…….thank you for reminding me. I had a vague knowledge of hostels/lodgings for loco crew and ,like you, felt the building was too close to the coaling stage…….however I hadnt thought of the effects of the war…..one wouldnt be to choosey then.

I have been attempting to work out the max number locos that would have been allocated to my shed…….have you or anyone else any idea of the ratio of locos allocated in relation to space available? I am assuming that the number allocated could well be greater than actual spaces because all allocated locos would never all be on shed at the same time.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated

Best wishes

John

Its been super hot in Vancouver……85o in the house. Fortunately the railway room is a semi-basement and stayed quite cool.

I left you with this shot of the coaling ramp and the new raised back scene area.



The coaling stage suffered a certain amount of collateral damage when it was removed earlier in the year. Its now been repaired and tarted up a bit……like its owner its quite elderly.

The ramp has been refurbished and Scalescene walls added to separate it from the street behind









 You may recall the Tortoise for the turnout is surface mounted and concealed by the modified Station building

 



 The actuating arm is concealed by a store room that has been cobbled together from Scalescene paper, Wills corrugate and some scrap drain pipe

 



 Apart from the drunken chimney pot (yet again!) I rather like this next shot…….with no tomatoes peeping coyly over the rooftops……. I feel it captures grimy Granby rather well

 


This is my first attempt at the Scalescene retaining wall complete with plinths,buttresses, reverse batter and  parapets!

 A bit over the top for this location, most of it is obscured by the single storey mess room extension. It was however a good opportunity to practice for a long run (circa 4')  that will lead off from the other side of the coaling ramp.








 It all looks strangely deserted!  Lots of people and stuff to add. I am leaving it for a while until I get some new figures etc from Modelu. Most of the old shed staff were from the Monty range (with some Gem and Dapol ex Airfix in the background). I am a big fan of both but I think they look even more convincing if kept apart.


 
This turntable/shed project seems to have been going on forever but at last I believe I am now making some tangible progress………..I may even find time to run some trains!




Next weeks jobs……Reinstall the sandhouse and water crane. Finish the ash siding…..I think its now safe to add people there……………..oh and fix that b****y chimney pot…again.

Regards from Vancouver where we have had two very welcome days of rain

John

Must have been a big brick factory in that area John….. red/brown bricks used by the train load…

very effective refurbishing.

This corner of the layout is coming together nicely.
I like the way you recycle bits and pieces to create something different.
You must be pleased with it - you'lln soon be playing trains again.

best wishes form an unseasonally warm and very dry Sydney winter ( can you send any spare rain to us ?)

[user=606]Sol[/user] wrote:

Must have been a big brick factory in that area John….. red/brown bricks used by the train load…

very effective refurbishing.

Thanks Ron

I sometimes think I should have used stone for a layout based in North Wales…..bit late now though!

As it happens though I think there were brick works around Wrexham and the first railway from Wrexham to Connahs Quay on the River Dee was built ,in part, to transport bricks for export.

Best wishes

John

[user=540]gdaysydney[/user] wrote:

This corner of the layout is coming together nicely.
I like the way you recycle bits and pieces to create something different.
You must be pleased with it - you'lln soon be playing trains again.

best wishes form an unseasonally warm and very dry Sydney winter ( can you send any spare rain to us ?)

Thanks Dave…..glad you like it and yes I am quite chuffed with the way it is developing…..I put off dealing with the back for years and years because I was uncertain how to handle it…..I built that Metcalfe factory on the boat about 10 years ago and the Bilteezi tenements were built for Granby I….so thats over 20 years ago!

I actually played with tested some of the shed entrance schedules this afternoon…..usual chaos after a layoff with all manner of unanticipated results…..still good fun though

Best wishes

John

The whole scene in every picture comes alive John. Even more so when you get the people and odds and sods in.

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

.I built that Metcalfe factory on the boat about 10 years ago and the Bilteezi tenements were built for Granby I….so thats over 20 years ago!

I actually played with tested some of the shed entrance schedules this afternoon…..usual chaos after a layoff with all manner of unanticipated results…..still good fun though

Best wishes

John

It sure is scary when you use something that was built a long time ago - where did the time go ?  I was looking at some Airfix tankers that I had built when I first got into model railways as an adult - they are now 21 years old  :shock: :shock:

Glad to hear that you had fun with the schedules - hopefully it doesn't end up in frustration …

Happy modelling

[user=1120]peterm[/user] wrote:

The whole scene in every picture comes alive John. Even more so when you get the people and odds and sods in.

Thanks Pete…..that is very kind of you .

I was very tempted to add a few temporary people but I have found that a convincing “casual” cameo actually requires a load of planning!

Best wishes

John

[user=540]gdaysydney[/user] :shock:

Glad to hear that you had fun with the schedules - hopefully it doesn't end up in frustration …

Happy modelling

After all these years with RR&Co I am a veteran problem solver……..it just requires some time toget back in the groove

Cheers

John

I am not  sure why but I always seem to start or end with the weather ……you may  have seen in the UK papers that our provincial government has declared a  state of emergency because of the forest fires in the interior. It must  be horrific there but even on the coast where we live its pretty  unpleasant as the smoke drifts down. On a clear day we can see Mount  Baker in the USA 100+ miles to the south , now we can barely discern  Burnaby Mountain….a largish hill 5 miles away. It reminds me of the  smog that used to roll up from Manchester to Oldhan. The sun tries to  break through but its not at all nice outside.

Net result ……I have done a lot of modelling!

This  weeks jobs……Gardening apart, reinstall the sandhouse and water  crane. Finish the ash siding…..I think its now safe to add people  there……………..oh and fix that b****y chimney pot…again.

All done!












Water  Crane and associated stuff. I think this was Springside……..its for  Locos that are to coaled,,turned and out again…….there are three  Mikes Models for the GWR shed roads








Hydrant…..one of six………..these are from Gem………more to come from Modelu for the shed roads






Ash Pit














Sandhouse……..or should it be Sandfurnace?





I  was never sure where to position this, then I stumbled on a photo of  Leamington Shed…..with the sand wagons stabled on a siding  off the  turntable……a precedent for everything







I  struggled to represent 1:76 sand. The grains of the real stuff were far  too big. Not sure this mix of Cinnamon, Mustard and Turmeric does the  trick…..I may have overdone the turmeric




The last two shots kind of reflect the atmosphere outside













When  I first edited the last shot I almost discarded it because it seemed  too crowded and cluttered. then I realised thats exactly the atmosphere I  am trying to create in the shed area………….there is even a suggestion of smoke!


Best wishes to all


John


Edited because the system translated b****y as "gory" :roll:

WowYou have been busy - puts my efforts to shame.
I had a chuckle on your comments on replicating sand - 
The faint smell of the herbs wafting across the layout won’t detract from the wonderful atmosphere you have created

 :doublethumb

Some lovely shots of a great layout. I remember the smog down in London… 'orrible.

Thanks guys so glad you liked it. I sometimes think this thread would be rather quiet without my Australian followers:lol:
Ps Thems not herbs …..thems spices……and right now the only smell in the railway room is smoke…..wood smoke…..it seems to get everywhere:sad:

Best wishes

John

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

 
Ps Thems not herbs …..thems spices……and right now the only smell in the railway room is smoke…..wood smoke…..it seems to get everywhere:sad:

Best wishes

John

 

Whoops  - sorry for not appreciating that you were spicing up the layout :lol: We have had bushfires here ( and it’s winter here !!) and the smell travels for miles and can be choking at times so I understand your situation especially as it would be something that has, in the past, been a rare event.

ps taking of spices SWMBO was about to throw out a jar of tumeric - having just read your thread it is now designated as sand for the layout.



 

It's always good to see pictures of your layout, it certainly looks the part. The area around the turntable looks great especially the coaling ramp and building. Keep 'em coming.

Lovely work John.
 Putting a few of us to shame. :roll:


Tony.

S'mae John

How do you do it?!

Less than two months ago there was just a turntable and some blue polythene… I'd still be thinking about where to start.

Brilliant!

Keith

[user=540]gdaysydney[/user] wrote:

[user=434]John Dew[/user] wrote:

 
Ps Thems not herbs …..thems spices……and right now the only smell in the railway room is smoke…..wood smoke…..it seems to get everywhere:sad:

Best wishes

John

 

Whoops  - sorry for not appreciating that you were spicing up the layout :lol: We have had bushfires here ( and it’s winter here !!) and the smell travels for miles and can be choking at times so I understand your situation especially as it would be something that has, in the past, been a rare event.

ps taking of spices SWMBO was about to throw out a jar of tumeric - having just read your thread it is now designated as sand for the layout.

We always have some forest fires but not normally on the Australian scale……my friends daughter and son in law live near Melbourne and almost lost their home a few years ago.

Tumeric on its own is a bit bright…….you may need to add some other ingredients!

 :cheers