A “ Really Tiny Project”

Hi All.  My project/ s are really portable. But I need to put the “ finishing touches” ie Coal staithes, Goods Shed” and whatever DIY Railway Modellers add to a puzzle plank, without adding too much bulk, otherwise they wouldn’t be so portable . Off the shelf plastic as supplied by leading manufacturers don’t cut it, it is about time I had a go at scratch building , but everytime I search for scrathbuilding, GOOGLE doesn’t understand my request ( I am looking for dimensions). And I get inundated with Fleabay adverts and their postal charges. Now if I  can get scratcbuilding i may even surprise myself ???  Best wishes.  Kevin

Kevin, find a picture of what you want to build.  Then, scale it by using known features (like doorways) as a means to determine a scaling factor.  You can count brick courses as well.

Scalescenes has a lot of different bricks, stone and other elements.  To me these are perfect since they are already coloured - better than I could do.

I scratchbuilt the coal staithes and engine shed:



Shed was built by using drawings found in Paul Karau's excellent book on GWR branchlines.

Staithes are Evergreen plastic.  I scaled this from Stephen Williams model of Faringdon.

Signal box is Ratio.

Water crane is from Mikes Models available from Holt Models.



Nigel made the goods shed from Karau's book as well, stunning in my view.

Mikes Models GWR yard crane in evidence.

John

Hi John    Thank you for your reply. My one and only. GWR Book is Great Western BRANCH LINES 1955-1965 by C.J. Gammell. But now I am a Southern fan.  Best wishes. Kevin

What i do is look online for what i want to build and get a collection of photographs. I then look at the photos for something i know the size of and measure that. Then do some math to get the scale of the photo. i can then measure stuff on the photo and work out what size i need for the component parts of the thing to build. I then draw it and work out the bits i cant see in the photos. (some imagination is needed here.) and make it.

In some case i have found engineering drawings of the thing and used those, these are best.

Research into the thing you want to build is the key part of scratch building, not into scratch building as there are as many techniques in scratch building as there are in making stuff in the real world.

Hi Kevin,

You really need to scale from a photograph, or get some of the books that have diagrams of buildings on the SR and it's predecessors. The Southern Country Stations series for example (£10-12 each on Amazon).  Nobody cares if you are a mm out here or there. Old Ordnance Survey maps can often give you the footprint (length/width) of buildings with surprising accuracy if the scale is big enough. Also very useful for where on a layout they should be.

Nigel

Also google earth / street view can be useful.

Hi Nigel    Thank you for your reply.  Something I am not very proud of is my reasoning for avoiding either eBay orAmazon purchases ( apart from delays and postal charges that is) there was a letter from a mobile phone company telling me that “ I was in debt with my mobile account “ . I got  straight onto my card provider and their fraud investigators and explained that I had never opened an account with that company. . After several phonecall s etc, I cancelled my card and cheque book account. Then it was sorted.
It may well be convenient. Mail order and eBay , but, it is not for me anymore . I have come to realise that it is better to wait., and buy at Model Railway exhibitions or over the counter. But I will take your advice on board.
  Best wishes. Kevin

Hi ChrisH.  Thank you for your reply. The trouble is, that unless you are referring to a preservered Railway , coal staithes and the like of signal boxes, goods sheds, are mostly redundant  and missing from google earth.
Best wishes.  Kevin

Yea i understand that not all research routs are fruitful, that's what research is about.

For my layout, i will need to make a signal box, a quick search on google gave me this:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1200&bih=946&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=HCtmWozrLofAgAbL6KXYCA&q=dovercourt+signal+box&oq=dovercourt+signal+box&gs_l=psy-ab.3...16045.19331.0.20262.13.12.1.0.0.0.114.776.11j1.12.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.2.191...0i13k1j0i7i30k1.0.mmYOV_-RNpA

(might have to copy and paste) and go to photos.

For those things you really cant find anything on, then adlibbing is the only answer, search for 'look-alikes' and use those for the basis of the design.

Hi Chris H.    Thank you again.   I will look in to that. Best wishes.   Kevin

[user=1801]Passed Driver[/user] wrote:

…… there was a letter from a mobile phone company telling me that “ I was in debt with my mobile account “ . I got  straight onto my card provider and their fraud investigators and explained that I had never opened an account with that company. . A…..

Kevin, I too (  no doubt many other YMR members get them as well ) receive letters from companies saying I am in debt and to pay ASAP or else.

Firstly I don't pay as 99 % of the time, the letter is not addressed to me personally not do I have an account with the firm not am I expecting a large parcel.
Secondly, if possible, I forward on the mail to the real company to their security /scam mail section for them to follow up.
Thirdly, I then delete all mail relating to that "request"

Yes, the mail maybe addressed to you personalty but if you don't have an account with the firm, no need to race to your bank and cancel everything . Your name & address can be obtained by many methods, some legal & others not so legal.

But most importantly  , DO NOT reply to the mail nor click on any images or open any attachments.


Now for mail from companies that you do have accounts with, if they are reputable, they will not ask you to click on any thing but to ring the firm on the normal number that you would be already aware of.  For attachments, it is suggested again, do not click on them to open direct from the mail but save it  to your computer, scan it first with anti-virus etc.

Purchasing via Paypal is safe as if your normal account has limited funds, Paypal can't  take out money if it is not in the account.

Searching via Google itself can be rewarding but it can take some time - part of the "fun of model railways"

Hi Ron.   The difference being this was an actual letter with my Bank Account details. Not just a letter to the occupier.The fraud people who work for the card company also took it seriously . So everytime I spend cash in the shops.
Best wishes. Kevin

In that case, yes, your bank needed to be advised  because a reputable mobile phone company would not spell out your banking details in a letter that anyone could access.

Good luck then on only spending cash in shops, OK if the shop is close by but many of our model rail shops can be a couple of hundred miles or more away.

Hi Ron.   And that is exactly what I did.   Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Try the local library. Or go to a large show with cash and hand and head to the book stalls.

Nigel

If it's only your banking details, you don't need to sweat it, Kevin.

It's the passwords that you need to be concerned about.

I put my BSB and Account number on all of my invoices, so my clients can make payments.

Hi Max.  Thank you. Speaking to the fraud advisor on the phone, I could tell that he had a different opinion .And with passwords or not the company got the “ bit between their teeth” and weren’t letting go, asking for the return of their non existent phone .    Best wishes  Kevin 

Hi Nigel.  I always look at the bookstalls when I go to Model Railway exhibitions,  but books about the Southern are popular , and in short supply, but, at a pinch one set of coal staithes could look like any other?Best wishes. Kevin

Hi Max.    I have just been reviewing “ Members Layouts “ and I spotted a pair of Coal Staihes on Smithy Lane,Next to an average length wagon, guessing that the wagon is ten foot long? I would make the pair ot em at about
10 or 12 foot wide. So unless I find something different I will go along with that. Best wishes. Kevin

Hi Kevin
Look at it like this:-
coal staithes were custom built by the individual coal merchant and, lets face it not, many people were willing to grab a couple of lumps of coal and run away with them so security was never a huge consideration and so they tended to be built as cheaply as possible from whatever was easily available. So! In a railway environment that usualy means dead sleepers. Therefore normally a square W shape with the sides one or two long + uprights at the corners and in the centre of the sides. These were probably also from sleepers. Not too long as the idea was to load sacks then hump them onto a lorry or cart and you didn't want to carry them too far.
This means that you can use the sleeper length and width as your basic scale. Sides 30mm long x 4.5mm wide so 30 or 60mm long 13.5mm high (3 sleeper) with sleeper uprights at the ends, centres and back corners. In fact you could even strip off some old track or buy sleepers and custom/scratch build them that way.

Regards
Jim