GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

 

:It's a no no:It's a no no:It's a no no

 

Ok you are forgiven - just dont do it again  (especially around here)     PLEASE !!

First off I have to say I am really chuffed, as was my grand daughter, at part of the Canal saga being voted Header of the week…………its very gratifying to receive recognition like this from one's peers……….thank you guys and particularly Pete (Wogga) for making the nomination

I have spent the last three weeks playing with my new storage sidings and perfecting an automated (RR&Co) shunting routine for the pick up goods………..eventually I will work out how to U Tube this……is there a tutorial anywhere?

I also, very belatedly, started on Octobers (?) Monthly Project………a North Wales Warehouse 




I am fairly certain that this model will not meet with the total approval of Doug (Dooferdog) although I did borrow a lot of ideas from his masterful prototype……….I have to confess it is not made entirely from Paper and Card.

On the other hand I didnt buy anything…….it all came from my leftover and just in case boxes

The walls are Slaters plasticard glued on to mounting board……….the loading doors are a plastic extrusion that came with the Langley Warehouse…..I replaced them with Metal Castings…….the forming has sat in the left over box for 15 years!  

The windows and frames are the last remaining bits from a Wills Building Pack

Thus the walled in windows in the first shot did not result entirely from a desire to time stamp the building in the window tax era

Similarly close examination of these side shots would indicate the architect had a schizophrenic moment…….or the building supply company had a very low inventory







This model is not all it may seem at first sight 




It is going to be my solution to this problem




My incredibly ill conceived ravine:twisted::twisted::twisted:

Hopefully this shot of the model in situ makes the purpose of the cutaway clearer




Havent decided how to continue the wall yet and the roof weathering may be a bit overdone…….as this is a warts and all thread the moss is a feeble attempt to conceal a less than perfect marriage between the roof and coping stone 


From the other side




And from the canal………..the lift chain is, I suspect, worth rather more than the model……..a donation from Doreen……I winced every time I weathered it




From the back




The Dew design signature item……an unfinished wall……………..but for once not idleness……carefully planned

[a] I was running short of Slaters walling and I am going to bulid some sort of lean to structure off the back

You may be wondering about the empty swimmimg pool (salvaged from a Wills pack)………..this was Doug's idea…..thank you!!!……….I have some Magic Water left so this will become what was known in Oldham as a Mill Lodge…….water for the boilers

You also may wonder why I have been diverted, yet again, from track laying. Well it was very enjoyable but also a necessity. The canal from start to finish ( and there is still a way to go) has been chicken and egg. I really want to get the next bridge (the girder) bedded in……..but I cant do that until I have detailed the road area…….and I cant detail the road until the pavement is laid…….and the pavement cant be laid until I know what I am doing with the ravine 





So I just need to do a bit of detailing …….Drain Pipes, lamp posts, new road markings, a traffic light for the bridge and I will be all set to run a long coal train with a 56xx over the girder bridge ……………hopefully before Christmas

Edited to remove bold

That is a wonderfull warehouse mate, its a good build, i am sure doof will also like i. Looks very good in situ as well.

Phill

It fits in perfectly, J D.  :thumbs  Nice build, too - especially using scraps!        I have to say it . . .   Tick, VG  Elephant stamp exclam:

Thanks Phil thats very kind of you………..I worry about Doofers reaction because I sort of said I would  try something with paper

Gee Max ……….the ultimate accolade…thank you…….is the Elephant African or Indian

 

 

 

Swiss. 

Absolutely soooooper!  Full of atmosphere, the roof 'growth' is deffo not overdone, I've seen entire buddliea bushes growing from roofs!

Love it, I shall have to up the ante a bit to compete with that,


Doug


[And all observed pre-prandially….:lol:]

That's a little masterpiece John. :thumbs

It is so prototypical - I've seen many a canal-side warehouse in industrial Lancashire wedged in a tiny gap alongside a railway bridge.  It really does suggest that damp, rather derelict atmosphere so common with those buildings. 

I'm green ……………….:mrgreen::mrgreen:

I've just read the whole thread again and thoroughly enjoyed it thank you John, I especially enjoyed the canal section:thumbs

it always amazes me how people can find the right solution to an odd space, yours is spot on
what a build.

:doublethumb:lol::cool:

Anybody would think it was made for the space!  Lovely bit of work.  

Cheers
Dave

Well done, John.
Full of interest and planning skill.

A collective Thank you Guys

Glad you liked it……I must admit it did work out rather better than I anticipated, mind you I still have to work out how to make the section at the back with the lodge look convincing…….I am still trying to get my head around that

A couple of individual responses  

Doug (Doofer)

Thank you so much for your suggestion about a different colour washing on the walled in windows…….a great idea…..I am off to try it out and will post a photo when done…….hopefully before my pre prandial beer and weekly dose of American Football…..why I continue to watch Seattle is a mystery to me……  this season their play bears a remarkable resemblance to the last days of Accrington Stanley 

Which is a fairly neat segue into:

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

It is so prototypical - I've seen many a canal-side warehouse in industrial Lancashire wedged in a tiny gap alongside a railway bridge.  It really does suggest that damp, rather derelict atmosphere so common with those buildings. 

Thanks Peter…..Damp and derelict was exactly what I was trying to suggest………you have struck a bit of a chord with "Industrial Lancashire" because that is where most of my memories are based…….rather than North Wales……..and as the layout progresses it is tending to look as though it should be part of the old Lancashire and Yorkshire………..its only the Green Locos and Chocolate and Cream coaches that stamp it GWR

If I am honest the industrial part of North Wales was actually dominated by the LMS (ex LNWR) and the GWR lines in the area were more bucolic (as opposed to South Wales)………….anyway I am where I am and its too late to change now…….although once the main line is done you will see some LMS appearing because the fiction is that Granby is a joint GWR LMS station as was Chester………….and the Chester Birkenhead line was a joint line where the practice was to have LMS Engines on GWR Coaching Stock and the reverse on alternate weeks…………..there I have convinced myself all is well:lol: 

Congratulations on the header photo and the industrial scenes with their Lancashire grime you portray; much of my professional working life was spent in and around places like that (including Accrington), which I is why I now prefer to model things clean, neat and tidy!

Thank you John…….I am flattered by your comments

Having admired your layout I think I have the easier task………….I can use the grime to hide my (many) errors :lol:

Regards

John, absolutely Brilliant.

I just clicked on your layout thread from wow to go and it's brilliant.

A lot has to be said about having majority of a layout up against the wall and with big corners so you can do more with the scenery.
With my layout you can walk around it, so I can't do what I want (an over sight by me) and it restricts me no end.

Keep it up John as I'm getting some great ideas from you.

Thanks 3801…………..glad you like it and have gleaned some design ideas.

Thats one of the big advantages of this forum……

Kind Regards

Hope everybody had a great Christmas. I didnt get quite as much done as I wished but I have managed to do some more detailing and run the first train over the girder bridge.

This shot shows a Mikes Models Lamp Post, Scalescene Manhole Covers and Drains and new Road Markings.

 The NCB van is probably pushing the 1947 time envelope, but al least it looks shiny new!

I am pretty sure the Walls Austin 3 Way is right outside the envelope……this is just an exercise in nostalgia……In  my first job after I left the Army I had to drive one of these puppies from Staines through London to the Docks……..having only previously driven in Germany this was a somewhat harrowing experience!  

 




This is a better shot of the traffic light that controls access to the single lane thru bridge #1…….it also show all the saw dust after I drilled the hole for the light



On the other side of the Girder Bridge (#2)




I have filled the gap between the canal level and the site for the creamery with an "under the arches" garage cameo




Here is a close up of the Petrol Pumps (1940s-1950s Langley)




I didnt have too many qualms about painting them as Langley suggested……I could relate to Shell Yellow and Red and BP Green with a Shield……..although I suspect my memories were based on the 60s rather than the 40s

I was happily putting the finishing touches to the scene with Tiny's signs when I realised all was not well…….I had just stuck on 3 BP signs………not a trace of Green……….Big Union Jack…………."Its British its the Best!"

A quick Google and I am now Canada's leading expert on BP liveries…….amazing sites…..I am in the clear……the shield was introduced in 1923 and BP tried to get retailers to convert to Green from 1934. It is perhaps a little unlikely that this back street garage would have changed though!

Having seen all the photographs, and there are lots, I think the pumps should have been taller and thinner with a sort of crane that lead the hose on to the street.     

The other thing I learned was that for every pump at a garage there was usually an oil cabinet……this squared with my memories of Dinky Toy Garages………..no oil cabinet with the kit so I cut a Peco (Merit) chocolate dispenser in half, painted it Green and stuck a Castrol Sign on

Enough of this trivia……the Girder Bridge (#2) is now bedded in, track laid and operational




Here is a 56xx 0-6-2  approaching the bridge with a train of coal empties……the photo is a bit of a cheat in that there are only 12 wagons but the photo does succeed in creating the impression of a long winding, almost endless, procession.








The 56xx class were very powerful locos designed for the South Wales Coal Fields……but a number were shedded at Wrexham

The model is from Bachman and is one of the smoothest running locos that I have. I have another similar one which is equally good and that will be seen hauling  full wagons in the opposite direction

Before that happens I have a bit of work to do…….this is the exit from the Girder Bridge



The Viaduct sits over this track section but I removed it for the shot

In the next wider shot you can see the spaces next to the canal where the one of viaduct legs sits



In the foreground is the site for the Pub and in the background the Warehouse site. The rails approaching at right angles are the sidings that were laid before Christmas

Before  I can install these buildings and lay the main line over the the viaduct  I have to fix the coal track bed and landscape it and set up the tunnel mouth on the main baseboard to the left

 Lots to do……………..Happy New Year from Vancouver


 

 

 

It's all looking pretty darned good, John.  I love the rusty bridge.  :thumbs

Absolutely brilliant John. :thumbs

When I see the last couple of shots with the buildings / viaduct removed, I realise what a good eye you must have.  To visualise what you have ended up with looking at the open spaces must have taken some doing. :roll:

The garage cameo is great - there must have been hundreds of those places tucked under the arches in the 40's and 50's.  I'm with you on the pumps too - the colours are as I remember them but for me, it was indeed from the 50's.

The swinging arm holding the hose  was also an interesting feature.  If memory serves me right, there was a little sight glass at the outer end of the arm with a "twisty barber's pole" type of float inside that turned whilst the fuel was being fed into your tank  and large clock type hands on the face that showed the volume. 

They also served you, checked your oil and washed the windscreen if necessary. And all for less than £2 per gallon at today's values.