GWR/LMS OO Gauge DCC RR&Co

Thanks Guys……..I have been mostly running trains so little or ,actually, no progress to report………..eventually I will do a video…I promise

The Gents urinal is a very old Mikes Models kit…….its superbly detailed and I really enjoyed painting it  (actually them, I have two )  years ago .

I now realise its far too neat……so eventually there will be posters and other tat applied

Thanks for posting the link Ed………sadly, as Peter says, I cant access it in Canada  without creating a VPN alias in the UK. Curiously I have been fiddling around with a solution like this but only last night came to the conclusion it was too complicated  and the picture quality was too poor ……….so I now spend $9 a month subscribing to the BBC World Iplayer app…….better than nothing but a much narrower and shallower selection

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

I now realise its far too neat……so eventually there will be posters and other tat applied

I'm glad you said that John, as I was thinking, it does also need dirtying up a bit, grass around the base etc, it should really blend in then.

 

Phil

Found a picture.

http://www.bewdleystation.co.uk/Tour_25.JPG

See what I mean about similar.


Ed

Where was the sewer, was it a pipe to the nearest river:lol:

Phil

I note the "lack of handwashing facilities and inadequate sewer" was OK for around 100 years.   No wonder people didn't live long in those days ………………:roll::roll::roll:

p.s. great photo Ed. :thumbs:thumbs

Hi Ed

Thanks for taking the trouble to find and post that picture. You are quite right there is a striking resemblance to my model.  Mike Sharmans models were all based on the prototype and in his catalogue (which unfortunately
I discarded years ) I now have a vague memory that the urinal was based on  one at a preserved station………I guess it could have been Bewdley.
 
Not sure about the inadequate sewage but I rather think the absence of handwashing facilities was the norm in many mens urinals  right up to the fifties and sixties….Football Stadiums, Pubs, Stations and definitely Army Camps all spring to mind

The next project was supposed to be taking an axe to the embankment at the far end of the Engine Shed……..next to the  window in this shot







In typical butterfly fashion….the charm of the hobby…..change of plan:



Looking in the opposite direction towards the door into the train room:





We have a rather pointless (sorry!) double track……. leading towards……a light switch .

At one stage this was going to lead to a coal mine ……..but the site  got taken over by a turntable for the storage sidings at the upper  level.



I use one track, in a rather half hearted fashion, as the unfinished terminus for the lower level branch Autotrain 



Looking the other way you can see the double track over the canal with  the pub beyond…….to the right are the arches of Granby viaduct

The plan is/was for one of these arches to provide road access to the, as yet unbuilt, dairy on the other side of the viaduct



Its been like this for about three years waiting for inspiration……the first thing anyone sees when they enter the train room

Finally not so much inspiration as necessity has created the catalyst to get going

On the upper level is a siding designed to accommodate 3  carriages……increased levels of passenger traffic necessitate  4 coach trains which, with loco attached, foul  the exit from the Turntable………you can just see this below.



So the plan is to extend the upper level carriage siding and at the  lower level provide a factory to hide the light switch and provide a  purpose for the twin track………watch this space

Watching . . .  ;-)

I wouldn't mind seeing a view like that if I came into your train room John. :thumbs:thumbs:thumbs

I love it when you get these ideas that create a masterpiece out of almost nothing ………….

Like Max, I'm watching. :cheers

And me,it will be interesting to see how you can improve on the masterpiece you've already created John.

Thanks for the comments guys:thumbs

Got cracking right after the last post and pulled up the track and  relocated the existing point so I could  add a second point to create a  Xover and a second siding leading to the warehouse site



The points are short radius insulfrog not ideal but there was no way I could dig down and install tortoises ……..in fact all the wiring had to be surface laid   from its original baseboard entry point…….fortunately in most cases  there was a convenient channel between the original cork  base…….where there wasnt or I had to go at right angles to the track  I just cut out a little trench and covered it with masking tape!

 Where there was no cork base I added foamcore (uk/aus foamboard?) to  create a uniform level for both scenery and track……the track had to  be relaid off the cork base because when originally laid, 3-4 years ago,  I managed to misalign it

Its exactly a year since my "Last Spike" post………….I actually used my very last rail joiner on the far siding! 

Even though the electrics are not exactly complicated I spent a fair bit  of time checking them……..with the surface wiring taped  over I dont want any issues…..I am about to post a rather poor video  of one of my tests

Only thing remaining is to solder the feeds for the sidings but before  doing that I want to check that the sidings will be absolutely square to  the warehouse entrance doors




The first 3-4" from the points have been glued down so that they are  dead straight from the point…..the rest of the siding is loose because  I need to create a very slight curve so that they are dead central  through the doors




Those of you (I suspect many?) who have built the Scalescene Warehouse  will recognise the base units above.  There isnt quite enough room to  get 4 bays across the front .



Rather than extend the TT area on the upper level to the edge of the  warehouse I think I will build a brick wall to hide the wiring and  gubbins and to suggest  a side yard/passage.

I think that will also create a better perspective when viewing from the other side.

Lots of cutting and pasting in the next couple of weeks !

Meantime here is a quick run down on the plans for the remainder of the run:





This is a scratch built Halt Platform from Granby II……..not sure  about it being right over the Xover but needs must…….the Wall at the  back is the last remaining module from the quantity I bought from  Langley Models for the Branch retaining wall.

Have to build a support for the shelter and fiddle with the position a  bit! The ramps provide access for the folk working at both the warehouse  (purpose to be determined) and the dairy on the other side of the main  line.


 Heres a very rough outline of the extended carriage siding



When finished the front will be covered by the arches you saw in the last post




It will be curved to follow the line of both the mail line and the  carriage siding.The two outside arches will be bricked (stoned) in.




Allowing the dairy traffic to enter and exit over the level crossing


Lots to do!!

Fantastic John. :doublethumb

Where do you get the ideas from :hmm  It's as if you'd planned this little corner right from the start - the dairy, the halt, the warehouse to hide the switch and give a "raison d'etre" to it all.  Just wonderful. :pathead:pathead  

I still look at Granby and wish …………:roll::roll::roll::roll::roll:

Thank you so much Peter! Over the years you have always been exceptionally generous with your praise of Granby.

I have to say though that on this occasion , and undoubtedly others, you are too kind.

I am afraid there was no forward planning here……….the two levels of Granby are connected by a single line bank out of the branch and a hidden double track line………..this double track was supposed to end in a coal mine by the light switch ( I am very envious of Phil  C's suprb mine)………having built the bridge over the canal I changed my mind about the mine and installed a turntable instead………leaving two tracks going nowhere……….it has taken me three years to finally arrive at a solution:oops::oops:

But nevertheless thank you for your kind words  :cheers:cheers

great to see Granby again John, like an old friend, I like what you are doing in the corner will follow with interest
:thumbs;-):cool:

Owen I am so sorry I didnt acknowledge your post. You must think me very rude. Anyway better late than never……thanks for the comments. I am really glad you consider Granby to be an old friend:thumbs

Hard to believe that it is two months since the last update

Lots of gardening and other alleged top priority jobs intervened

We have had some great weather here and while the boss was out I sat on the deck and finished the Scalescene Warehouse that will hide the light switch at the entrance to the railway room







Hope you like the company name;-)  They were actually based in East London but expansion to North Wales is not completely unrealistic.

 A Soap Factory will enable me to shunt Vans for the finished product, a tanker for raw materials and coal for power (and tar:roll: ?)





I have built a few of these but they have previously been low relief…….this is the first stand alone model……it is, like all John's models, very robust…..I havent attempted this but I suspect I could drop it from a great height without ill effect

Its designed ti fit into a sort of inglenook so I had to customise a staff entrance for the third bay





I improvised some detail with plasticard doors and added some signs and a suggestion of a loading dock.

The kit is designed to have Northlights which I chose to ignore……….Instead I scratch built a flat roof with an access shed and a shed for the wheel hoists





Some of these ideas came from my wife whose mother and sister used to work in a mill in Oldham………Doreen is insistent I add some old packing cases and chairs…….apparently the mill roof was a great place for getting a tan (through the ever present smog?)



This is the site for the finished model…..the light switch has now been replaced with a wireless remote)







The view from the other side across the storage yard turntable






And how it looked in 1947?





Hopefully I can show the finished halt and sidings later this week

Hi John,

Excellent building. Fits like a glove.

Toto

Like it a lot John.:thumbs

Hi John, that new building fits in very well, it's positioning looks so natural. Another good result, keep them coming please!

Very nice John.
Marty

Certainly a perfect fit :thumbs


Ed