Bagshot station build

[john lewsey]

Hi Pete I used to work on these cookers when I was an apprentice on the Gas Board they were disappearing then but I still remember them and yes it will be interesting when you have made the pan suports (we didn't call them grid irons although other districts may have called them that ) and I don't ever remember them only having two burners only four but I stand to be corrected .Great representation of the cooker though and again this is great modelling Also why have you got two taps and feeds going to one burner
John

 

[Peter Insole]

Aha JL! You have just proved that while I like to think I know some stuff about an awful lot of stuff, there's an awful lot of stuff that I know nothing about!

I didn't have access to an appropriate cooker for exact design and dimensions, so looked on-line for any antique dealers that provided pics along with measurements!

Oddly, I found two identical stoves, where the numbers quoted were completely different! (amusingly, they were also confused by depth and width). You would think that folks who make a living buying and selling would be reasonably good with numbers? I, on the other hand being profoundly dis-numeric spotted their errors straight away! That must also prove something, though I can't imagine what?!

However, this little beastie came up trumps, looked just the part with enough shots on the website that were downloadable, so I was able to draw it up and build it!

In the pics it shows that the left burner is an integral double ring thingy, allowing the chef to either simmer quietly or go supersonic on full afterburner power!

Many moons ago I moved into a furnished bedsit in Ilford. It had a wonderful vintage but completely filthy Stones & Co. "New Home" cooker provided. It took an absolute age to clean it up. The iron bits on top proved particularly troublesome, so while I had no idea what the technical terms were for the aforementioned parts, at the time I could think of quite a few choice epithets for sure!

Pete.

 

[Peter Insole]

Well folks, I did have a go at the pan supports, but it turned out pants!

Using an old trick that worked really nicely for station canopy spandrels in 4mm and the luggage rack brackets in the L&B coach failed this time.

I think the reason is that the aforementioned assemblies were compact designs with lots of whirly-twirly shapes, whereas this one is all square and parallel strips!



I have a sneaky suspicion that the solvent used several years ago was the rather more friendly Humbrol Liquid Poly rather than the terribly aggressive Dichloromethane stuff that seems to be causing so many problems for some WT carriage builders, and that I now habitually use (or abuse?)!



Nope! After allowing it to set and then carefully skimming it off the backing with a fresh scalpel blade it has proved to be far too ragged and flimsy.

There's lots of other work to be getting on with, so I'll put this one on the back burner for a while!

 

[Thirtysecond]

Pete, I think you're being over self- critical. By the time that that has a big kettle standing on it, I am sure it will look perfectly OK.

 

[Peter Insole]

Thanks Derek, I might see if I can clean it up a bit more!

A big problem will be fixing that kettle so that it settles firmly atop without slowly sinking with a drunken list to port or starb'd!

 

[Dog Star]

If you are worried about rigidity of the top piece... you could make the part from perspex, engrave the ironwork, fill the grooves with paint, "muck-up" and then stick to the base of the kettle. And where are you going to put the dregs from the tea-pot?

 

[Peter Insole]

Dog Star, you are an absolute champion! Kettle and grid as one piece - and it can neatly and firmly plug into the top of the stove - brilliant! Thank you ever so much for that suggestion.

As for the dregs, if you look at old photographs of signal boxes you will notice that many display a dark stain below one of the windows (presumably or hopefully at the downwind end!). Generations of signalmen have thus disposed of the remnants by that route!

The drain hopper just outside the door at Bagshot would get blocked by pouring down there, so I rather imagine that the pot would have been taken for a short walk across the platform and the contents un-ceremonially tipped over the edge onto the track! That's where Porters usually swept everything anyway. Old film also shows that whenever an express train roared through it was accompanied by a blizzard of rubbish! At quiet country stations, the hapless, lowly staff would thus be kept occupied sweeping it all back again!

And we call them the "Good ol' days"?!

Pete.

 

[mickoo]

Seems to me that the pan grill would be better as an etch part, Nickle Silver 15 Thou should suffice

How big is it, rough guess it looks about 20 mm².

MD

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

contents un-ceremonially tipped over the edge onto the track!

Or onto the rose bed if they were proud of their station gardens.

 

[Steph Dale]

Seems to me that the pan grill would be better as an etch part, Nickle Silver 15 Thou should suffice

How big is it, rough guess it looks about 20 mm².

MD

Or silver soldered brass/nickel silver strip

Steph

 

[simond]

Hard work, soldering that, I fear.

Etching is expensive, for a one-off.

Laser cut acrylic?

How big is it? How thick is it?

Can't promise success, but I'll have a crack if you can post a suitable drawing.

Best
Simon

 

[mickoo]

Etching is expensive, for a one-off.

Indeed if you are thinking of doing it solo, but, if you know someone who is sending a sheet off soon I'm sure a small corner could be used to accommodate an oven grill for a few paltry shekels.

Laser cut would work pretty well as well.

There are a lot of options available to Pete, but knowing Pete he'll keep sniffing the glue and persisting until he gets it right

MD

 

[Peter Insole]

Thanks guys! I very much agree that an etch would save an awful lot of bother! It would have to be extraordinarily fine as the grille is only 13mm x 11mm. I was worried about that, forgetting that you are the masters of non-ferrous micro surgery, whereas I feel a bit like a navvy clunking around in wellies when working on luxuriously big 1/32nd, gauge 3 or 16mm scale models!

Hmm, I can think of quite a few super miniature bits and bobs for this station that would benefit? Then there's the 1/24th Routemaster kit rebuild, RT type bus project, Thames Sailing Barge, (started as a kit, but has only three little original bits remaining from the box - you know the sort of thing!) the Woolwich Arsenal composite carriage.......................!

Do Rhododendrons like tea? I was under the impression that the ones at Bagshot were so vigorous that the odd lost commuter might have been nourishing them!

Pete.

 

[mickoo]

This battery cover is 11 x 26 mm, each anti slip lozenge is 0.06 x 0.65 mm in size, the stirrup latches are 1 mm wide and 2 mm long and o.2 mm thick. This is on 10 Thou Nickle Silver material.

Detail is not an issue



Which reminds me, I must get back to the Canada cab variant

MD

 

[Peter Insole]

Thanks too Simon and Mick, you both posted while I was typing my last reply! I'm going out doing another little job tomorrow, and will be in just the right place for a consultation on the subject!!

Many thanks again for your kind offers of help.

Pete.

 

[Peter Insole]

Mick,

Whew, those stirrup handles are drop-dead gorgeous! I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight thinking about them now!!

Pete.

 

[Peter Insole]

This week I have been divided between the Love Lane leper colony (we've all got the Lurgi now!) and wood-graining King Arthur's seat!

Meanwhile, in a dark corner of the porter's room, I've managed to get on with the awkwardly angled hob grate.



After yet more brick bashing and nibbling I now have a slightly crumbly fireback.

Getting this part to be a snug, sliding fit in the triangular chimney breast was going to be a bit of a jiggle job so I cut it over size, then steadily trimmed it rather than trying to work out all the angles, getting it wrong and ending up with a loose one! I didn't fancy having to scribe any more bricks that evening!

When it finally slotted in sweetly I could start making up the cast iron hob grate:



Once again, the fire surround acts as the runner, the fire grate slides up behind it. This is easy with a flat plate type that allows a bit of side misalignment, but this one has the brick recess right up to the inner edge and must fit fairly accurately!

The right hand side fought back, so has had a ply layer shaved off the corner by making a shallow cut and then de-laminating with a scalpel. This is the same method used to make door architraves etc., see below:



I was intending to leave this humble surround sans mantel shelf. Then I noticed that I had cut the uprights full length, and the rail dropped between. Wrong! It would never stay up like that, so will have to be sorted!



Now it needs some firebars and a hearth as well for attention tomorrow. That is if my schnozzle doesn't get any worse anyway!

Pete.

 

[Peter Insole]

Although I am still rather croaky, the cold is curing, so work can continue with a little added vigour now!

I have a dear friend (of many years standing) who recently came out with this classic line during a conversation;

"Oh Peter, when will I ever learn from your mistakes!"

This has got nothing to do with what I am about to tell, but just seemed too good not to repeat!

I am always banging on at the club about the lack of comprehensive drawings to work from and our habit of designing and building "on the hoof". Of coarse, when we take on large projects it is tempting when faced with the prospect of many hours work to skip the prep and get cracking! It never ceases to amaze me that despite this approach on Love Lane everything has fitted together so well, though this is doubtless a demonstration of everyone's high level of skill. I dread however to imagine how much extra time it has taken in the end to achieve it?

In the previous post I was making the hob grate, and just to show what a hypocrite I can be, either by being lazy, too hasty or whatever excuse, had not done my usual drawing first!

It all looked OK until I placed it in the Porter's Room. Somehow I'd managed to get the dimensions completely wrong. It looked awful!

Yesterday, after trying to work out if salvage was possible I decided to bin it and start all over again!

Here is "Hob Grate II":



Somehow, the first attempt had got squished! There would have only been enough room for a couple of lumps of coal!! Sadly it was the awkward shape fireback and fiddly firebars that needed redoing,...



...including nibbling and nibbling away at the back angles until it fitted!



I did take advantage to improve the strength of the top bar and add a bit more detail to the lower one!



The fender was saved, but still requires the trivet and top moulding to be fitted to complete.



The new slate surround is not only correct now, but has had a few nicks, knocks and chips applied for added effect!



Looking better? Just an extra day that could have been spent drawing it up and getting it right first time?!!

Pete.

 

[Peter Insole]

Picking up the pace now. I want to get some paint on the walls of this room soon, and there's still a couple of fixtures to make beforehand!



Cutting the trivet top for the fender was a bit of a task and took two fails before I got one straight or a reasonable enough fit!

That was despite having very carefully drawn it up first as well - ho hum!!



I wanted another shelf bracket for the drainer, but this time it would be large enough to do an almost proper jointed job!



I didn't have any ply thin enough for the raised edge strips, so once again used the delamination method. This particular bit separated really sweetly, only taking a few seconds and luckily no slips or gaps were encountered.



When looking at this enlarged photo I noticed that I had lost the tip off my scalpel blade! Rat bags, no flippin wonder I had so much trouble cutting out the fender top - though it might be why the ply veneers separated so easily?!



I must resist the temptation to turn up the kettle, teapot and some manky old tannin bottomed cups just yet!

Pete.

 

[Dog Star]

I must resist the temptation to ...

Bar of Sunlight soap on the drainer?