4mm Monks Ferry LNWR
- Thread starter jonte
- Start date
John57sharp
Western Thunderer
We’ll it was morning , and now afternoon of the first day after a sleep, and I’m still bewildered, but I don’t think that matters, I will keep this area in mind in case I run into such questions in the future (there’s a good chance!). Decent weather and family commitments and an upcoming short holiday have reduce modelling to a background activity for now, but my background processor is working pretty hard and has at least 5 new major projects ready for consideration, a couple of them may be possible in the near term. We’ll see.must finish the others first - or at least one - nearly.Funnily Enough, I invariably experience a sense of weariness at any time when electronics is explained
Thanks, John, and glad you like the image too.
Jon
Watching and trying to learn
John
jonte
Western Thunderer
Will look forward to learning/seeing more of your chosen projects, John.
Enjoy your pending break. Could do with one myself at the moment.
Best,
Jon
jonte
Western Thunderer
Still needing an end piece, and a touch up or two with a modelling paint brush but otherwise I’m happy with it:
Everything, apart from power packs, will fit inside the board; the locations of the point motor and frog switches being adjacent to their points, will help the children navigate the controls more easily.
Am currently in the process of ordering some foam sheeting to fit between the rear uprights of the frames which will be covered in card to form the backdrop, the curved corners being firmed more easily from card.
I’m hoping to place some of the ready made scenery inside shortly to give the reader an idea of how the station and buildings will look/be sited, but due to the narrow footprint, the terminus end and full length of the layout will be scenicked with a wall of station roof base level in height, steadily increasing as it reaches and abuts the cutting prior to entering the tunnel. Apart from the station end, the boundary of which was firmed of station buildings on the road side which supported the overall roof, the boundary walling was as per prototype.
Thanks for reading.
jonte
Everything, apart from power packs, will fit inside the board; the locations of the point motor and frog switches being adjacent to their points, will help the children navigate the controls more easily.
Am currently in the process of ordering some foam sheeting to fit between the rear uprights of the frames which will be covered in card to form the backdrop, the curved corners being firmed more easily from card.
I’m hoping to place some of the ready made scenery inside shortly to give the reader an idea of how the station and buildings will look/be sited, but due to the narrow footprint, the terminus end and full length of the layout will be scenicked with a wall of station roof base level in height, steadily increasing as it reaches and abuts the cutting prior to entering the tunnel. Apart from the station end, the boundary of which was firmed of station buildings on the road side which supported the overall roof, the boundary walling was as per prototype.
Thanks for reading.
jonte
jonte
Western Thunderer
Still busy cutting out and fettling the signal parts, but which are now just about ready to be constructed as far as the moving parts. The posts and bases an be glued up and then primed along with the accessories which have been removed from their sprues and tidied (extremely delicate), although some have been left partially attached to aid priming. These jobs seem to take an age and there’s always above I e overlooked for drilling out.
Started running in my replacement Precedent earlier which seem to run quite smoothly. Unfortunately, it didn’t like travelling in reverse and came off so gave up. Not the model’s fault: it mentions that on anything less than2nd radius this is likely to occur; this was 1st. Regrettably I managed to break part of my circle of required 2nd radius so have had to purchase a new circle of track. Currently awaiting delivery.
Incidentally, the first Precedent I bought came with a front buffer detached. This one arrived replete with buffers but with the lugs connecting the top part of cab to the sides adrift. I’ve tried pushing them back into the housings but they don’t seem to want to go and they’re quite fragile. Once I’ve accomplished running in I’ll take another look, but how do these models pass inspection?
The 20mm thick sheet of XPS foam board to fit between the rear uprights as the basis of the backscene has arrived and can be seen atop (for now) the station board below. Once cut and fitted I’ll purchase some rolls/lengths of card on which I’ll paint a sky. I recall John @John57sharp mentioning that an art and stationery shop in Bebington sells this sort of material so will check it out. Thanks again, John
Meanwhile, I’ve stuck the original half relief station building on a (too high) piece of wood which represents the middle platform to give an impression of its new location on the platform:
Luckily I purchased a couple of other old Triang Hornby buildings from which they’re hewn for the recently abandoned train set project so will be able to build the rear side to match. Might stick a chimney pot or two on’t top. Perhaps it’s why the top part of the station overall roof is missing…… The building will also have LEDs fitted as it’s quite dark in the shadow of the roof.
The uprights and (damaged roof) are just placed for now (requires gutters fitting; have tried the Wills’ version in their buildings kit in past which seemed to fit quite well).
In between the next stage of signal making and fixing of backscene, I’m going to mock up the rear wall at the end of the platforms which will represent the archway entry/exit point for passengers after disembarking the Liverpool ferry. Old pictures of the ferry terminals thereabouts often showed these arches at exit entry points to landing stages etc.. I’ll also attempt a kiosk at the entry point of the platform kitbashed from the old Dapol kiosk kit. Depending on how much space is available on the platform at this point, it might have to be significantly reduced in width. Just to give an impression like everything else. Railway historians and scale modellers please look away now.
Thanks for looking.
jonte
Started running in my replacement Precedent earlier which seem to run quite smoothly. Unfortunately, it didn’t like travelling in reverse and came off so gave up. Not the model’s fault: it mentions that on anything less than2nd radius this is likely to occur; this was 1st. Regrettably I managed to break part of my circle of required 2nd radius so have had to purchase a new circle of track. Currently awaiting delivery.
Incidentally, the first Precedent I bought came with a front buffer detached. This one arrived replete with buffers but with the lugs connecting the top part of cab to the sides adrift. I’ve tried pushing them back into the housings but they don’t seem to want to go and they’re quite fragile. Once I’ve accomplished running in I’ll take another look, but how do these models pass inspection?
The 20mm thick sheet of XPS foam board to fit between the rear uprights as the basis of the backscene has arrived and can be seen atop (for now) the station board below. Once cut and fitted I’ll purchase some rolls/lengths of card on which I’ll paint a sky. I recall John @John57sharp mentioning that an art and stationery shop in Bebington sells this sort of material so will check it out. Thanks again, John
Meanwhile, I’ve stuck the original half relief station building on a (too high) piece of wood which represents the middle platform to give an impression of its new location on the platform:
Luckily I purchased a couple of other old Triang Hornby buildings from which they’re hewn for the recently abandoned train set project so will be able to build the rear side to match. Might stick a chimney pot or two on’t top. Perhaps it’s why the top part of the station overall roof is missing…… The building will also have LEDs fitted as it’s quite dark in the shadow of the roof.
The uprights and (damaged roof) are just placed for now (requires gutters fitting; have tried the Wills’ version in their buildings kit in past which seemed to fit quite well).
In between the next stage of signal making and fixing of backscene, I’m going to mock up the rear wall at the end of the platforms which will represent the archway entry/exit point for passengers after disembarking the Liverpool ferry. Old pictures of the ferry terminals thereabouts often showed these arches at exit entry points to landing stages etc.. I’ll also attempt a kiosk at the entry point of the platform kitbashed from the old Dapol kiosk kit. Depending on how much space is available on the platform at this point, it might have to be significantly reduced in width. Just to give an impression like everything else. Railway historians and scale modellers please look away now.
Thanks for looking.
jonte
Heather Kay
Western Thunderer
That overall roof is, if I may say, still a work of art. It strikes the right balance between utilitarian and delicate.
jonte
Western Thunderer
Thank you, Heather. I’m flattered.
The roof is almost that of Banbury. Ironically, it was the overall roof on my recently abandoned project that was more or less Monks Ferry and which I was attempting to turn into a fictional version of Waterloo in London (there’s a close up of the iron work in a soft back book I’ve got).
The only stumbling block with the roof is that it looks a little too weather worn for something approaching the turn of the nineteenth century, which is roughly when I’m setting the scene. However, Monks would have been over fifty years old by then. My excuse is that once it became too small to meet demand (which is true), moves were afoot to build its replacement in the form of Woodside which, for whatever reason, took longer than expected to enter use. With the Monks Ferry site being almost neglected by its new owners (it’s still in the livery of C&BR), it was left open to the elements, and the Mersey estuarial elements can be quite unforgiving.
Stretching it a bit, I know, but that’s my excuse
Hoping and trusting I find you well.
Jon
john lewsey
Western Thunderer
I'm enjoying it Jonte
jonte
Western Thunderer
John57sharp
Western Thunderer
Eek! I hope you haven't left yet, sadly the art shop is no more. The proprietor has retired and theł shop shutdown.I recall John @John57sharp mentioning that an art and stationery shop in Bebington sells this sort of material so will check it out. Thanks again, John
I've had to resort to Hobbycraft or the Works for bug boards lately.
Meanwhile I'm enjoying watching Monks come to life and I find the back story plausible - Birkenhead does have its own peculiar brand of depreciation!
Cheers
John
jonte
Western Thunderer
No probs, John, but thanks for letting me know. We’ve still Jackson’s on this side of the water and we’re spoilt these days I suppose with search engines, so I’m sure I’ll find something suitable
Thanks for your reassurance once more (on this occasion re the rather tenuous work of fiction) and of course your welcomed interest as always
Intriguing place B’head: travel out of the tunnel and it’s like driving out of the new tunnel on this side of the water along Scotty (Scotland Road), and yet turn right a bit further up and there’s the delightful Oxton where I used to visit a small yacht chandlers.
Funnily enough, my son in law’s sister has been happily resident there since marrying a couple of years or so ago, but have just sold up to move back home to Crosby on this side as she and her husband are starting a family. Not that there’s anything remiss about the Oxton environment, just handier to grandparents
Best
Jon
Thank you, Heather. I’m flattered.
The roof is almost that of Banbury. Ironically, it was the overall roof on my recently abandoned project that was more or less Monks Ferry and which I was attempting to turn into a fictional version of Waterloo in London (there’s a close up of the iron work in a soft back book I’ve got).
The only stumbling block with the roof is that it looks a little too weather worn for something approaching the turn of the nineteenth century, which is roughly when I’m setting the scene. However, Monks would have been over fifty years old by then. My excuse is that once it became too small to meet demand (which is true), moves were afoot to build its replacement in the form of Woodside which, for whatever reason, took longer than expected to enter use. With the Monks Ferry site being almost neglected by its new owners (it’s still in the livery of C&BR), it was left open to the elements, and the Mersey estuarial elements can be quite unforgiving.
Stretching it a bit, I know, but that’s my excuse
Hoping and trusting I find you well.
Jon
There's a historical precedent...
Leamington Spa c1903:—
Presumably the old roof was in such a state after 50 years that the centre section was (rather crudely) sawn out.
Pete.
jonte
Western Thunderer
Thanks, Pete.
Have seen this photo before when researching older railway architecture but the thought never occurred to me.
Jon
jonte
Western Thunderer
Whilst my wife took advantage of some glorious sunshine tending the flower beds and nursing a malaise clematis, I turned my attention back to the signals, removing mould lines and such ready for priming.
Following the briefest of instructions to a tee (or at least I thought) I attached various bits together to form the skeletons of a signal post or two. A slow process which saw me repetitively putting on the kettle whilst I tried to familiarise and re-familiarise myself with the ink diagrams and accompanying jottings. In the case of the bracket signal, I went further and began attaching the cranks as per the instructions, or at least so I understood. The orientation of the clamps on the diagram had me confused, so fiddling with as many parts as possible involved in the operation of the arms, I eventually worked out that while the cranks were correct in the accompanying diagram, the clamps weren’t and required mounting at ninety degrees to the positions shown. Biting the bullet but fairly satisfied that I was now along the right path I began cutting the wire pivots and threading on the cranks and clamps in the correct sequence. At one point, I happened to check one of the cranks for freedom of movement: good job I did as stray glue had begun to bond it to its clamp/cramp. I managed to free it somewhat, but realising it would always be a pronto smooth motion, I freed them from the trimmer and replaced both with parts from the sprue. Luckily, I didn’t bin them!
Whilst cutting one of the cranks from the sprue, it pinged off and as I was working on one of our glass topped garden tables, the lack of friction seemed to add to its acceleration, a quiet rumble nearby acknowledging its achievement of Mach 1. I shrugged it off. I’m certain there were more on the sprue and in any case there were sufficient to complete the bracket signal, any remainders being surplus to requirements as they weren’t required. Then I realised I’d forgotten about the shunt signal which required two. Panic!. Abandoning her patient, my wife generously joined me on hands and knees scouring the environs of the table, but trying to find a 3mm long black part on a grey resin path and patio formed of grey and black aggregate ………. B*gg3r!! I can salvage the bonded parts just mentioned but I’ll still be one short. I searched the spares box in vain as was a brief search on the Bay of E….. Then I reconsidered an idea I’d had for working the arms on the dolls originally as Iveasnt sure about using the fragile plastic ones in the kit, an idea I’d tried years before on a gantry using brass brackets soldered to brass tubing turning on a wire inside:
I had some fine tube which still looked a little clumsy to mine eye so dismissed it. As beggars can’t be choosers, it would perhaps be a case of Hobson’s here but required. I even thought about using some brass handrail brackets to enclose the fulcrum to make it more signal like, but I need to take a rain check on that. Perhaps; perhaps not. Latest thinking is to fabricate one from one of the signal bases in the kit. Jury’s out.
Then, turning my attention to the single post and its mechanism, a thought suddenly struck me which made me reexamine the instructions relating to the bracket signal. I went cold: whilst I was correct in fitting the cramps/clamps to their pivots which could be glued to the rear to keep them in place, the cramps shouldn’t have been glued to the trimmers, thereby enclosing the cranks, until AFTER the control wires to the arms and weighted arms had been attached. Whilst the crank holes leading to the arms can be accessed before the landing goes in place, the same can’t be said for the lower crank hole leading to the balance (weighted) arm. I’m just hoping there will be sufficient give to slide them in betwixt trimmer and rear of crank, otherwise I’ll be purchasing a new kit.
So there we go. Yet another typical day in my modelling journey. I’ll get it right one day. Perhaps……
I’ll leave you with a picture of state of play up to this point:
Apologies for boring you all with this.
jonte
Following the briefest of instructions to a tee (or at least I thought) I attached various bits together to form the skeletons of a signal post or two. A slow process which saw me repetitively putting on the kettle whilst I tried to familiarise and re-familiarise myself with the ink diagrams and accompanying jottings. In the case of the bracket signal, I went further and began attaching the cranks as per the instructions, or at least so I understood. The orientation of the clamps on the diagram had me confused, so fiddling with as many parts as possible involved in the operation of the arms, I eventually worked out that while the cranks were correct in the accompanying diagram, the clamps weren’t and required mounting at ninety degrees to the positions shown. Biting the bullet but fairly satisfied that I was now along the right path I began cutting the wire pivots and threading on the cranks and clamps in the correct sequence. At one point, I happened to check one of the cranks for freedom of movement: good job I did as stray glue had begun to bond it to its clamp/cramp. I managed to free it somewhat, but realising it would always be a pronto smooth motion, I freed them from the trimmer and replaced both with parts from the sprue. Luckily, I didn’t bin them!
Whilst cutting one of the cranks from the sprue, it pinged off and as I was working on one of our glass topped garden tables, the lack of friction seemed to add to its acceleration, a quiet rumble nearby acknowledging its achievement of Mach 1. I shrugged it off. I’m certain there were more on the sprue and in any case there were sufficient to complete the bracket signal, any remainders being surplus to requirements as they weren’t required. Then I realised I’d forgotten about the shunt signal which required two. Panic!. Abandoning her patient, my wife generously joined me on hands and knees scouring the environs of the table, but trying to find a 3mm long black part on a grey resin path and patio formed of grey and black aggregate ………. B*gg3r!! I can salvage the bonded parts just mentioned but I’ll still be one short. I searched the spares box in vain as was a brief search on the Bay of E….. Then I reconsidered an idea I’d had for working the arms on the dolls originally as Iveasnt sure about using the fragile plastic ones in the kit, an idea I’d tried years before on a gantry using brass brackets soldered to brass tubing turning on a wire inside:
I had some fine tube which still looked a little clumsy to mine eye so dismissed it. As beggars can’t be choosers, it would perhaps be a case of Hobson’s here but required. I even thought about using some brass handrail brackets to enclose the fulcrum to make it more signal like, but I need to take a rain check on that. Perhaps; perhaps not. Latest thinking is to fabricate one from one of the signal bases in the kit. Jury’s out.
Then, turning my attention to the single post and its mechanism, a thought suddenly struck me which made me reexamine the instructions relating to the bracket signal. I went cold: whilst I was correct in fitting the cramps/clamps to their pivots which could be glued to the rear to keep them in place, the cramps shouldn’t have been glued to the trimmers, thereby enclosing the cranks, until AFTER the control wires to the arms and weighted arms had been attached. Whilst the crank holes leading to the arms can be accessed before the landing goes in place, the same can’t be said for the lower crank hole leading to the balance (weighted) arm. I’m just hoping there will be sufficient give to slide them in betwixt trimmer and rear of crank, otherwise I’ll be purchasing a new kit.
So there we go. Yet another typical day in my modelling journey. I’ll get it right one day. Perhaps……
I’ll leave you with a picture of state of play up to this point:
Apologies for boring you all with this.
jonte
john lewsey
Western Thunderer
Nope we are not.
John57sharp
Western Thunderer
Enthralled - and pleased that I'm not the only one! Outdoor modelling carries that additional risk of lost escapees.
Keep it up Jonte, you are progressing and far faster than me at present.
Cheers
John
Keep it up Jonte, you are progressing and far faster than me at present.
Cheers
John
James Spooner
Western Thunderer
Also definitely not bored!!
Nigel
Nigel