Rivermead Central

[40057]

The only job done today on the Benham’s office building was to paint the ‘bricks and mortar’ around the join between the main building and the sloping-roof side section:



That’s all the brickwork done on the building itself. I still have to make the wall that will cover the gap between the office and warehouse buildings. The building though is now a solid structure, walls vertical, brick courses horizontal and right angles, well, right angles. No amount of weathering or detail will make a building look OK if those fundamentals aren’t right.

 

[40057]

Another one of those not-quite-finished-for-ages-projects completed today. The post-war, left-hand, 3’ 3”-radius, Scale Permanent Way point referred to in my posts #148–150 is finished. I cleaned it to remove corrosion from the rails and washed it back in July. The remaining job was to reinstate the black paint removed during the cleaning process. Bassett-Lowke convention was to paint black the transverse metal strips to which the rails were soldered on the sleepers near the crossing. Also paint over the solder joints and paint the tie bar. A fresh coat of matt black paint has been applied to these areas to restore the cleaned-up turnout to its original appearance:



I noticed whilst I was painting that the switch blade assembly needed a small adjustment; the switch blade adjacent to the straight stock rail was stopping short leaving a tiny gap — c.0.5 mm — even when the point lever was right across. I doubt if this would have derailed anything, but better and easier to sort it now. I removed one of the screws fastening the point lever, partially plugged the screw hole with a sliver of wood and fastened the lever back c.0.5 mm closer to the rails. I was surprised to find this alteration was needed. Generally, with post-WW2 Scale Permanent Way, the positioning of the check rails, alignment of the V and operation of the switch blades is absolutely perfect. This later track is much more accurately made than Lowko Track.

I now have four post-WW2 Scale Permanent Way points cleaned/repaired and ready for use. To recap, my plan now is to use this track for the yard at Cavendish Goods. This is the section of the layout at a lower level, accessed by a lengthy tunnel, and shown in pink on this sketch:



I have now lifted most of the Lowko Track previously laid at Cavendish Goods. Once it’s all up, I will repaint the base board. I’m keeping all the Lowko Track in the tunnel; I will make a short length — Lowko Track at one end, Scale Permanent Way at the other — to effect the transition between the two types of track. The transition piece will be at the end of the tunnel where trains emerge at the lower level. Although the battens, sleepers and rails are different sizes, the overall height (ground to top of rails) is almost exactly the same for Lowko Track and Permanent Way.

My rough plan for the track work at Cavendish Goods is this:



Apart from the ‘transition piece’, I reckon this track plan — or something very like it — can be built using standard, factory-made, pieces of Scale Permanent Way. I think it will fit in the space available. I will test that as soon as the baseboard is clear of the Lowko Track laid previously. I also think I have all the Permanent Way track pieces I need, though some still have to be cleaned/repaired.

I admit I was disappointed when I first accepted that, to reduce the number of Lowko Track points I needed to repair, I would have to use some other track system for part of the layout. A uniform track type would have been aesthetically pleasing, no question. But using the low level area to ‘showcase’ the post-WW2 Bassett-Lowke track system will add interest. The Cavendish Goods track plan as shown uses both the standard radii of Permanent Way curves and a variety of point-work, a good demonstration of the track available.

Operationally, Cavendish Goods is supposed to be the terminus of a self-contained, privately owned, goods-only branch. Two sidings will have loading/unloading facilities. There is a run-round with head-shunt so shunting does not require locos to enter the tunnel (how would I stop/reverse/re-start them?; they’re clockwork). Also an MPD for the locos operating the branch. I think the Cavendish Goods branch will add a lot of operational interest to the layout.

 

[40057]

Some further necessary preparations for laying Scale Permanent Way track at Cavendish Goods. I am aiming to start getting track down early(ish) in 2025.

I don’t have room at Cavendish Goods for a run-round loop made up using straight track panels. It is only possible to make a curved loop out of standard, factory-made track pieces if the loop curves 90 degrees (or a multiple thereof). This is because 90 degrees is the only length of arc that can be made using either 3’- or 3’ 3”-radius standard track pieces. I say 3’- or 3’ 3”-radius as per the catalogue descriptions, but the actual radii are 2’ 10 1/2” and 3’ 2 1/4” respectively (see my post #150). So my run-round loop requires two lengths of 3’ 3”-radius plain line, one 18” full length and one of the 6”-long ‘distance pieces’ required to produce a 90 degree arc of the larger radius track. Also, two 3’ 3”-radius left hand points. Depending on exactly where I need to position the two points (to accommodate the sidings and the buildings they serve), I might need to substitute two 9” or three 6” lengths for the 18” full-length of plain line, allowing the points (and sidings) to be spaced to fit the room available. I also need three full length pieces of 3’ radius plain line, as highlighted in pink here:



The pink ‘X’ indicates the transition piece for joining the Lowko Track to the Scale Permanent Way.

I didn’t have any 3’-radius plain line track panels until shortly before Christmas. They are common enough — actually much more common than 3’ 3”-radius track — but the smaller radius really is too tight and I was hoping to avoid using it. Anyway, needs must, and I picked up four 18” lengths of 3’-radius track from a friend when we were both at the same show in early December. The four track panels are all in good condition — nothing broken, not warped or twisted, no dents in the rails — but three of them are unbelievably filthy. So I have been doing some cleaning today:





I have also made a start on the ‘transition piece’ for joining the two types of track. This will be 3’ 3” radius and 3” long, so it can be combined with standard track pieces to make up 9” or 18” of 3’ 3”-radius plain line. This photo shows the lengths of rail for the ‘inside’ of the curve:



I have cut away the lower part of the drawn brass rail (= Scale Permanent Way) and filed the head to form a projecting ‘rod’ which fits inside the round hollow head of the Lowko rail. The two parts were then soldered together:





I think wheels will pass over the join perfectly smoothly. The transition piece will have a Lowko Track sleeper and chairs at one end, a Scale Permanent Way sleeper and chairs at the other. Each sleeper will need to be supported on the appropriate type of batten material and I’ll work out some way of joining the short lengths of batten on each side.

 

[40057]

I’ve made the ‘other rail’ for my transition track piece:



This is the outer rail on the curve, so fractionally longer than the one I made yesterday. No connecting spike on the end of the Lowko Track this time either, as the spikes alternate so all track panels will join to either end of all other track panels.

Of course, I’m not the first model railway builder with a need to join track with solid drawn rails to hollow-headed tinplate rails. Published accounts of various model railways during the 1920s and ‘30s describe layouts partly constructed using tinplate track and partly using Scale Permanent Way (or equivalent track made by some other manufacturer). This could be for reasons of cost (tinplate track being much cheaper) or because the line started with tinplate track but this was gradually being replaced as the owner sought greater realism.

Incredibly, some years ago, I obtained some commercially made conversion pieces for joining hollow tinplate rails to solid drawn rails. Such things are extremely uncommon. My examples came as ‘by-catch’. I bought a Lowko Track cross-over offered for sale on the internet. When the item arrived it was a disappointment, in worse condition than I expected, but one end of the cross-over had these conversion pieces on both tracks:



A piece of tinplate pressed into an extremely complex shape, one of the pair fitted with a spike for connecting to the tinplate rail with no spike. The other end of the connector grips the foot of the solid rail:



I don’t know who made these very obscure but useful items. I think possibly Mills Bros of Sheffield, who traded as ‘Milbro’. I’ve seen nothing like them in any Bassett-Lowke catalogue. Hornby (Meccano Ltd) did make something similar in the late 1930s for joining their ‘solid steel’ track to their tinplate track. The Hornby conversion pieces are cast zinc alloy and all have a spike to fit inside the head of a tinplate rail; the joining spike would have to be removed from the tinplate track unit to be joined.

If anybody on WT can offer any more definite information about the joiners depicted above, I would be very interested to know their origin.

So why am I making a conversion piece for Lowko Track to post-WW2 Scale Permanent Way when I have been lucky enough to chance upon genuine, period, commercially made connectors? Two reasons. Firstly, the conversion pieces shown above are clearly designed for ‘standard’ tinplate rails. The type of all-metal track produced by Hornby, Marklin and many others. Whilst the tinplate track produced by the different manufacturers was not identical, the rails were generally deeper and with larger diameter heads than the much ‘finer’ Lowko Track section. The diameter of the joining spike, and corresponding hollow, of the conversion pieces is too large to join comfortably with Lowko Track. Secondly, the conversion pieces are clearly designed for a much heavier section, specifically deeper, solid rail than the rail used for post-WW2 Scale Permanent Way. Earlier, pre-WW2, Bassett-Lowke drawn brass rail was much taller than the post-WW2 rail. Because the conversion pieces were designed for different, larger, rails, with the track types I want to join the result is a significant height difference between the respective rail heads. No use at all.

I may well end up using the above conversion pieces elsewhere. Meantime, I will carry on with making my bespoke transition piece for Cavendish Goods.

 

[40057]

The sleeper raft for my transition track piece is well underway:





(Sorry about the poor photos in artificial light).

At the end nearest the camera, a Lowko Track sleeper resting on Lowko Track battens. At the other end, a Scale Permanent Way sleeper resting on Scale Permanent Way battens. The Lowko Track parts are all ‘second hand’, recovered from beyond-repair track panels. The Scale Permanent Way battens similarly. The Scale Permanent Way sleeper, with chairs attached, is also second hand but just resting on the structure as an aid to accurately positioning the Lowko Track sleeper. I will use a new Permanent Way sleeper as I have a box of 100 sold for home construction of track but never used. I also have original unused chairs and brass spikes.

The Lowko Track battens are broader and thinner than those used for the Scale Permanent Way. The depth of the two types of sleeper is the same. The Lowko Track rail is deeper and is held further above the sleepers by the Lowko Track chairs. The overall height to top of rail is almost identical.

The wooden parts of the two types of track are joined by means of a ‘step’ cut into the deeper battens of the Scale Permanent Way, so the battens can overlap (by 3/8”).

 

[40057]

I see a few WT threads are featuring a review of the year. Not a bad idea and since ‘Rivermead Central’ is in the ‘Layout Progress’ forum under ‘Action & Activity’, how much progress, action and activity has there been in 2024?

Two areas on the layout have progressed significantly. Firstly, the sidings behind the station at Cairnie Junction:



During 2024, the sidings gained buffer stops at one end and points at the other. The Benham’s warehouse and factory buildings were completed and installed on the layout.

The other project completed on the layout itself was the anti-plunge wall around the north end:



Since the base board here is narrow, and covered in tracks, the wall is a significant proportion of the ‘scenery’ in this area.

I would, of course, like to have got more done, but I am happy with the additions made. It’s very difficult to assess the rate of progress. Ninety per cent, probably, of the layout is no further forward at the end of 2024 than it was at the beginning of the year. That said, for example, whilst I have not laid any Scale Permanent Way at Cavendish Goods, I have sourced and cleaned track so track laying can go ahead. Such essential preparatory work is certainly ‘action and activity’ even if not yet ‘layout progress’.

Regarding conservation and repair of vintage items for the layout, I have slightly fewer waiting for attention than I did a year ago. I do not usually post about small objects (e.g. ‘passengers’ to stand on station platforms) that require only to be cleaned to be ready to use. There really isn’t much to say. Miscellaneous items cleaned/repaired during 2024 include a loading gauge, two signals, two street lights, five passenger figures and a rail-built buffer stop.

Four wagons have received attention and are ready for traffic, including these two which got true-running, original-type, replacement wheels:



Two locomotives are similarly now in good order after work done in 2024, notably this Precursor tank from 1909/10:



Some other rolling stock has received attention but is still ‘work in progress’.

What about priorities for 2025? No more Lowko Track can be laid until further points are repaired and rebuilt. Two more points completed would open the door to further track laying. Four more finished would allow track to be laid the length of the layout on the west side. I must complete several more Lowko Track points this coming year. I also want to get track laying underway at Cavendish Goods using Scale Permanent Way track. Not a great deal more preparatory work needed before a start can be made; spring 2025, I hope. At least two more buildings finished and installed should be achievable during the next year. Which leaves repair and conservation of wagons, coaches and locomotives so these can be used. I’ll aim to get more completed in 2025 than I did in 2024.

Happy new year to everyone when it comes.

 

[40057]

Found them! The unused Scale Permanent Way sleepers and rail chairs I referred to in post #225. These came to me years ago along with other parts which I did want. At the time, I was committed to using Lowko Track throughout for my then embryonic model railway. So the Scale Permanent Way sleepers and chairs went into a box and got buried by other stuff put on top. I eventually found them last night.



This is almost time travel. Assembling track using brand new parts, just as intended by the manufacturer and, presumably, original purchaser. It’s just the brand new parts are seventy years old.

Also in the box with the sleepers were some vintage building parts, obtained at the same time. This was years before I started making buildings for Rivermead Central — but the aspiration was there. Four doors with door frames, suitable for a station or office:



Judging by the weight, lead alloy castings. Incorporated into the casting on the back, ‘M R Co’:



I don’t know who the manufacturer was. The Miniature Reproductions Co in the 1930s did generally identify its very superior hand-made rolling stock with ‘M R Co’ painted on the solebar. I can’t believe this firm was responsible for these doors, however. Whoever made them, I will aim to use these doors in a future building for Rivermead Central.

 

[40057]

That’s my transition piece done:



Lowko Track on the left in the photo, post-WW2 Scale Permanent Way to the right. The tops of the rails are pretty much dead level. The piece is 3” long and is made from rails recovered from damaged 3’ 2 1/4” radius curves.

Though produced for a specific use, the piece incidentally facilitates a direct comparison between the two track types.

I might end up making one or two more of these yet (which could be straight or opposite handed). I have still to decide whether to also lay some/all of the eastern side of the layout (Rivermead Central station/carriage sidings/MPD) in Scale Permanent Way or, as originally intended, use Lowko Track. I will need transition pieces to connect any further areas of Scale Permanent Way.

 

[40057]

I was watching earlier the very excellent short film ‘Train Time’ (British Transport Films, 1952). This delivery lorry appeared in one short sequence:



(Screen shot from the film).

I couldn’t help noticing the strong similarities between the delivery lorry above and the Minic model my wife gave me last May:



I am extremely ignorant about lorries and road vehicles generally. I have started to take note of Minic models, however, for use on Rivermead Central. Generally, the cars seem to have been sold as models of specific makes, and are recognisably what they are supposed to be. The box for the above lorry just describes it as a ‘delivery lorry’ — but I’m wondering if the model was actually based on the make/model of lorry that featured in ‘Train Time’? Anyone know the type of lorry in the film, please?

 

[40057]

Progress on the various current projects for Rivermead Central has been somewhat curtailed by a broken electric drill and freezing weather. Far too cold to go outside to saw up pieces of wood etc, or even work in parts of the house. A replacement mini-drill has been ordered but not yet arrived.

What I have been able to do is to start constructing the wall that will be joined to the Benham’s office building. The section to the right of the office in my concept sketch here:



Very much a work in progress, currently looking like this:



Sorry about the terrible photo.

The steps were supplied by JS Models and I think are normally part of a warehouse kit. Anyway, thank you to Jonathan Scott as his laser cut parts have saved me a great deal of work and I would not have been able to scratch-build anything as good.

 

[Fitzroy]

I was watching earlier the very excellent short film ‘Train Time’ (British Transport Films, 1952). This delivery lorry appeared in one short sequence:

View attachment 230505

(Screen shot from the film).

I couldn’t help noticing the strong similarities between the delivery lorry above and the Minic model my wife gave me last May:

View attachment 230507

I am extremely ignorant about lorries and road vehicles generally. I have started to take note of Minic models, however, for use on Rivermead Central. Generally, the cars seem to have been sold as models of specific makes, and are recognisably what they are supposed to be. The box for the above lorry just describes it as a ‘delivery lorry’ — but I’m wondering if the model was actually based on the make/model of lorry that featured in ‘Train Time’? Anyone know the type of lorry in the film, please?

Hi Martin, the lorries and a lot of the cars weren't make specific but they are closely representative of the time when first introduced. ie 1935 in this case- If you google 1935 Bedford lorry you will get a very close match. But I bet other lorries of around 1935 will also line up. The 1934 Bedford grille is more upright, like a Ford Model A, and later ones more swept back and streamlined. They used the same grilles for more generic cars. It was also at the tie when cars were moving from coachbuilt bodies offered on various different chassis to make-specific bodies.

 

[40057]

Hi Martin, the lorries and a lot of the cars weren't make specific but they are closely representative of the time when first introduced. ie 1935 in this case- If you google 1935 Bedford lorry you will get a very close match. But I bet other lorries of around 1935 will also line up. The 1934 Bedford grille is more upright, like a Ford Model A, and later ones more swept back and streamlined. They used the same grilles for more generic cars. It was also at the tie when cars were moving from coachbuilt bodies offered on various different chassis to make-specific bodies.

Thank you for that, Pieter.

I have never had any interest in cars (never owned one), even less in lorries. This has also extended to models — until my wife’s present. That caused me to realise that some road vehicles are absolutely necessary to create the period scene I am aiming for with Rivermead Central. I’m sure the Minic range is the right choice for the road vehicles needed. I have started looking at listings in auctions etc and can immediately see that some models are very common, others not so. My complete ignorance about the prototypes means I have no idea which models are better representations. Might well be a case that ignorance is bliss. In any case, I have some freelance and generalised locomotive models on the railway, so no problem with similarly vague Minics. But I must take some time to learn about the Minic range as I have seen some very charming examples. Then I can work out what would fit on the layout from amongst the common and affordable types.

 

[40057]

I am very keen to start putting down some Scale Permanent Way track at Cavendish Goods. I have lifted nearly all the Lowko Track previously laid on the low-level base-boards. Yesterday, the last pieces of Lowko Track were removed from the end of the yard where the branch down to Cavendish Goods emerges from under Cairnie Junction. With the base-boards clear, I set about testing possible track configurations by trial and error. Mostly error. It took about two hours to find a way of squeezing three turnouts into the space available. Essentially the problem is the length of the turnouts (18” — instead of 15” for Lowko Track). So the points are inevitably more widely spaced, length and width. Anyway, I found a solution by using various short lengths of track (straights and curves). I will test my plan again, to confirm it definitely works, with all the track pieces properly joined.

Where the Lowko Track has been lifted I have filled the holes left by the wood screws used to fasten the Lowko Track down. For a neat appearance, I have decided it is easier to repaint the whole base board before laying the Scale Permanent Way. The painted base board will be very visible on the completed layout as I am not planning to ballast the track. Famous historic layouts such The Sherwood Section of the LMS and Paddington to Seagood did not use track ballast. I want to use my vintage models on a layout that looks like a vintage model railway. I am going to repaint the Cavendish Goods base-boards in a darker grey. I think the contrast with the paler grey of the adjacent high level base-boards will emphasise the ‘separateness’ of Cavendish Goods and the dark colour seems appropriate for the supposed industrial setting.

Here, earlier today, is the ‘entrance’ to Cavendish Goods with the base-boards prepared for repainting:



The gradient on the branch ends where the base-board colour changes. My transition track piece (Lowko Track to Scale Permanent Way; see my post #228) will join to the end of the Lowko Track visible under the covered section. The transition track piece will sit across the base-board joint that also marks the transition from level (in the yard) to the 1 in 66 gradient on the branch. The track that emerges from the tunnel entrance into the yard at Cavendish Goods will be Scale Permanent Way and the Lowko Track in the tunnel will be hard to see, if it is visible at all. I haven’t yet decided what to do about the ‘tunnel entrance’. It might be more appropriate to model it as a girder bridge. However, Bassett-Lowke sold tunnel entrances as part of the range of wooden buildings offered. I actually have a couple and I should use one of these if it will fit.

The grey painted vertical ‘wall’ to the left of the tunnel entrance in the above photograph will be covered by an extension of the ‘brick’ wall in this photograph:



The above wall is made from vintage brick-effect wooden panels recovered from derelict buildings. The extension likewise and it is partly built. The exact position of the retaining wall approaching the tunnel entrance can now be fixed as I now know the position of the nearest tracks on both the high- and low-level baseboards. I will need to consider whether I should install the extension to the retaining wall before laying the Scale Permanent Way track at Cavendish Goods. If I decide I should do the wall first, it will delay track laying — which I am keen to progress if I can.

The above photo of the three Bassett-Lowke goods wagons is now an historic view, of course. The Lowko Track in the picture has been lifted.

The arrangement of turnouts I have devised for the entrance to the yard at Cavendish Goods requires a 3’3” radius right hand point. I do have one — see my post #148. Cleaning corrosion from this turnout will be a priority now I know I need to use it.

 

[40057]

The main part of the Benham’s office building now has a roof:



The structural wooden ‘box’ of the building is now complete. The heads of the countersunk wood screws need to be covered with filler and the roof given a finishing coat of grey paint. The building still needs coping, window-sills, windows and glazing — but it’s well on towards being finished.

 

[40057]

PEOPLE FOR RIVERMEAD CENTRAL

Cast metal figures of passengers and staff suitable for 0 gauge model railways were offered by several manufacturers from the 1920s onwards.

Prior to WW1, the passengers and staff included in the Bassett-Lowke catalogues were described as ‘suitable for gauges 0 and 1’. I believe these figures were made by W. Britain. Like most of that firm’s models, they were 1:32 scale, so correct for Gauge 1. From the 1920s onwards however, correct 0-gauge size figures were offered by Bassett-Lowke. Indeed, recognising that 0 gauge was by then the most popular size for model railways, in the 1930s Britain’s themselves offered railway figures in 7mm scale.

I have not been terribly successful at finding suitable passenger figures for use on Rivermead Central. One reason may be that, for example, the figures in Britain’s 0 gauge range are sought by Britain’s collectors. They are in demand and seem expensive, and not good value relative to other items. Dinky Toy figures produced by Meccano Ltd to go with Hornby Trains similarly. There are a lot of Hornby collectors looking for nice examples. I do have a few Dinky and Britain’s passengers, but nowhere near enough to even sparsely populate two stations both with more than one platform. The Dinky Toy railway figures are perfectly acceptable models. Very little of Meccano Ltd’s Hornby 0 gauge range is going to be suitable for Rivermead Central, but the Dinky railway figures are an exception.

I don’t have any of the post-WW2 passenger figures offered by Bassett-Lowke for a different reason; I don’t know what they look like. This is the relevant catalogue page from the mid 1950s:



No pictures! Quite a good range, including some distinctive and very appropriate types of passenger. The ‘lounging’ porter sounds a bit different too! I don’t know who the manufacturer was for this range of figures and I don’t think I have ever seen any of the passengers. Finding examples in their original boxes may be the only way of definitely identifying exactly what was being sold.

The only post-WW2 Bassett-Lowke figures I do have are four staff. No models of passengers were listed in the early 1950s Bassett-Lowke catalogues, but a set of staff was offered:



(From the spring 1951 catalogue.)

The above station staff set seems to have been popular as examples are frequently offered for sale in auctions and on-line. Very often the sets are complete and perfect with everything still attached to the backing card inside the original box, i.e. never used. Considering these sets are not at all hard to find, I have always thought they sold for too much money, so I never bought one. However, a few months ago, I found a complete set for sale in a very dirty and damaged original box — thus not a ‘collector’s item’ and correspondingly very affordable. So at least I now have the railway staff offered in the early 1950s.

This is the box (after cleaning!):



As here, Bassett-Lowke were careful never to say they ‘made’ their model railway equipment — because they were not the manufacturer. Even the works at Northampton (Winteringham’s, later Precision Models) was a separate business. While people often think the wording on models says ‘Made by Bassett-Lowke, Northampton’ it doesn’t say that. The usual wording is ‘Bassett-Lowke. Northampton make.’ or ‘Bassett-Lowke. Made in Northampton.’ — but not made BY Bassett-Lowke.

The contents of this box correspond almost exactly to the 1951 catalogue description:



There are five (not four) pieces of luggage; four suitcases and a bag of golf clubs — which is actually what the catalogue illustration shows. The two porters are identical. Either can push the barrow or carry two items of luggage.

The contents of the above box are still strung to the backing card. So all the items in the set, though seventy years old, are unused and essentially brand new, in the condition they were sold. The only change since manufacture is a covering of soot and dust. I will have to remove the figures, barrow and luggage from the backing card to clean them and so they can be used.

 

[Roger Pound]

Your mention of 'The Sherwood Section' brought back memories of it's appearances in the Meccano Magazine when I was a lad. As an LMS fan with Hornby 0 gauge clockwork loco and stock at the time - a no.2 0-4-0 tender loco in maroon bearing the number 5600 as I recall - it was very inspiring but unfortunately well out of my league at that age! Thanks for bring back happy recollections.

Roger.

 

[40057]

Mystery solved! I now know the origin of the range of figures listed in the mid-1950s Bassett-Lowke catalogues. I am advised by my good friend Simon Goodyear that the figures were made by G.N. Slater (Slater’s), and hence were plastic. That certainly accounts for the low price. Confirmation of Simon’s suggestion has come via the ‘Binns Road’ website. Illustrated there is an unopened packet of ‘Sacks of Flour’ branded as being in the ‘Slater’s Huminitures’ range, reference no. MO 11. In the Bassett-Lowke catalogue listing, the sacks of flour offered are also identified as ‘MO 11’, which surely cannot be a coincidence:



It appears then that everything below the bookstall on the above page was a Slater’s product and was, I assume, made of plastic. I believe the bookstall, built of printed card, was also made by Slater’s. The items above the bookstall are ‘traditional’ Bassett-Lowke and most or all came from Northampton. Evidently, customers had a choice of an old-fashioned, metal, weighing machine for ten pence ha’penny or a newfangled plastic one for one and tuppence.

The evidence suggests that by the mid-1950s Bassett-Lowke was struggling with both supply and demand for its 0 gauge range. The inclusion in the catalogue of standard Slater’s products is not in itself indicative of decline. In addition to the exclusive commissioned models, Bassett-Lowke had always bought in and retailed other companies’ products that were deemed suitable. The Marklin Precursor tank in my post #71 is a good example. The difference in the 1950s is the lack of new models commissioned by Bassett-Lowke and sold exclusively by them.

The station staff set in my post #235 it now seems represents the end of an era — the last traditional lead figures offered by Bassett-Lowke. Another sign that the transition from ‘tinplate trains’ to modern model railways was well underway by the mid 1950s.

 

[40057]

When I first shared my ideas for the Benham’s office building (my post #197) I said I was minded to add a chimney though I did not include one in my concept sketch. The purpose of a chimney at the front of the building would be to add height so part of the building at least was in front of the bottom edge of the sloping ceiling of the room. A taller structure at the front of the building also helps obscure that the building has no depth. The Benham’s roof sign does this for the factory building, the higher part of the front wall and canopy structure for the warehouse building, as seen here:



My thinking for the Benham’s office building has evolved. No chimney. But I’m going to put a date-stone on top of the coping with some ornate stonework either side:



I have an idea for how I shall make the ‘ornate stonework’. Today, I have made the date-stone:



The numerals are brass (from Cornwall Model Boats) soldered to a piece of thin nickel silver sheet. It took a while to get the numerals lined up and correctly spaced. I will make a wooden surrounding ‘frame’ and fasten it to the coping before attaching the coping to the building. It will be painted to look like stone/concrete.

 

[Allen M]

My method of dating a factory building



Regards
Allen

 

[40057]

My method of dating a factory building
View attachment 231857View attachment 231858


Regards
Allen

Thanks for that photo! Rather reassuringly, the styling of that real building has quite a bit in common with my made-up creation that purports to have been built in the same year.