Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post pictures and information about your own personal model railway layout that is under construction. Keep members up-to-date with what you are doing and discuss problems that you are having.
Dad-1
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Joined: Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:05 pm
Location: Dorset - A mile from West Bay.

Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Dad-1 »

Sorry Jim it's boring - My response that is !!
Superb, inspirational & a little frightening. Just wish I had the
imagination and skill !!

Geoff T.
joshing_man
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Location: High Wycombe, England

Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by joshing_man »

Been a long time since I looked in. This is frighteningly good work - I love the leaves on the bridge, not sure I've seen this elsewhere. I haven't looked back for an explanation but tell me how you have done the rain, is it just camera trickery?

Brilliant might sum it up.

Andrew
The Original Smiling Man With Train (SMWT):
Jim S-W
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Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 5:38 pm

Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Jim S-W »

Hi Andrew

The falling rain is added later but the wet effect is a combination of Tamiya smoke to darken the surfaces followed by AK interactive wet effect.
joshing_man
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Location: High Wycombe, England

Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by joshing_man »

Thanks Jim
The Original Smiling Man With Train (SMWT):
Jim S-W
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Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Jim S-W »

Remember the diagram 1973 mineral wagon I posted a few entries ago?  As pointed out at the time I missed some of the reinforcing bits that were added after they were built. Im not sure how as they were in the prototype pictures I was looking at!  Anyway thats been corrected now

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Ive finished off  a few Bachmann RTR wagons too.

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The steel high-fit was actually already done.  Ive just added a container to it. The other 2 are actually 2 of the 3 vans I first brought for the layout. Discounted in Modellers Mecca bargain bin!  The tarpaulin is black latex cut from a surgical glove.

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When I built the retaining wall for this side of the bridge I did intend to do something a little more substantial but decided that It would look weird if the wall was 2 different designs. However a friend mentioned that the buttresses looked a little too puny so I reverted to what i should have done originally and modified the existing wall to match.  I admit I did want something more grandiose than this but for where it is it wouldn't have made a lot of sense to have something to elaborate. I definitely don't subscribe to that inane 'rule 1' idea of its your layout do what you want.  There has to be some degree of plausibility in there somewhere.

Clutter - What is a yard if it doesn't have some clutter in it?  Much like the retaining walls though you don't want to go too mad.  At the end of the day this is someones product and they aren't all that likely to leave it lying around on the floor.

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So I opted for 3 small groups of stuff as can be seen above.

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I always wanted some coal facility and I had this in mind when I built my tractor.  Again nothing too posh, no coal staithes or anything like that - just a few piles and some more clutter.  The steps, scales and the conveyor (behind the tractor) are 3D prints kindly donated by my friend John.

Finally a couple more evening shots.

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Dad-1
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Location: Dorset - A mile from West Bay.

Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Dad-1 »

I do like a good pile of clutter.
Must get back and add some more here - A single ply of toilet paper
as sheets of wind blown paper stuck down with varnish to yellow it.
A little envious of you having a friend who's good with a 3D printer !!

Geoff T.
Bigmet
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Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Bigmet »

Looking good. The toppled 45g oil drum under the stops looks very much as though it has reached a natural resting place, out of the way of movements on the paving.

Can you sneak in a carboy or two, (in their iron transport frame stuffed with a straw palliase) on a platform, up against a building wall? This was a regular smalls traffic in my memories of the early sixties, both curious and distinctive.
Jim S-W wrote:...I always wanted some coal facility and I had this in mind when I built my tractor.  Again nothing too posh, no coal staithes or anything like that - just a few piles and some more clutter.  The steps, scales and the conveyor (behind the tractor) are 3D prints kindly donated by my friend John...
A tractor shovel is very posh! All the domestic coal handling I saw in small yards in central Herts was 'man with shovel', until abruptly killed off by BR's coal concentration depot scheme, and then the advent of hopper road trucks with a bottom conveyor loading the sacks at point of delivery for 'back of man' movement to household bunkers. (Those were the days, my Pa had two and a half tons of bunker capacity, filled in summer for the reduced price, which I then emptied between November and April.)
Jim S-W
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Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Jim S-W »

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Been fiddling with bits of brass again. I wouldn't normally bother taking a picture of something as simple as a point lever but I found that the ones I built before were a little vulnerable and easily bent.  I haven't changed the ones I use (Shirescenes) but what I have done is doubled up the levers themselves and they now seem a lot more robust.

I've built platform trollies before to but this time I have changed the supplier.  I think my previous ones were Scalelink but this one is from London Road Models and is much more detailed. It even had a representation of the brake linkages.  Regular readers will no doubt know by now I'm a sucker for this sort of thing!  The trolly is shown perched on a two pence piece for scale.

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Moving on to something a little more obvious.  This is the Churchward models (now sold by Phoenix models) footbridge kit shown in temporary position.  As my track spacing is quite wide here I did need to extend the main arch by one panel and, luckily as the etches for the arch are the same, I could use the spare bits that weren't needed on the facing side. The sides were cut and shut with  the new panels grafted in meaning the only bit I needed to fabricate from scratch was the main span floor.  An enjoyable kit to build this one.
Bigmet
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Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Bigmet »

The footbridge will look yet more wonderful when fully finished in 'urban grot'. (I still occasionally end a local train journey at Welwyn North, just to admire and walk across the GNR footbridge, which is of much the same character. Makes a slightly longer stroll home enjoying the viaduct arches across the Mimram valley.)

All that concealed detail on the platform trolley, that's a call to your proven artistry; how about parking it in a 2p size puddle so that the underside can be seen reflected?
Jim S-W
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Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Jim S-W »

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This is a little model of the crossing box from Level Street, modelled in its abandoned state.  Ive taken a bit of artistic licence with this as the real building appeared after the layout is set and lasted into the early 1980s.  Round oak did tend to move and rebuild things a lot though so a building that became redundant whilst still relatively new wouldn't have been that unusual for the area. Plus as anyone who's ever researched a real place will know, not everything at a location will always make a lot of sense.  The model is scratch-built with the nifty alarm bell a 3d print kindly supplied by Richard Of Mudmagnet Models.

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A few bits dumped agains the platform fence give just a hint that the station doesn't have long left.

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When I rebuilt my loading gauge (a while ago now) I actually built another one at the same time.  The frame is scratch-built from brass sections and the bow from Smiths.  This actually serves a purpose as provided the layout is properly levelled this is the point where a free rolling wagon will start to move as the siding descends to the same level as the mainline.

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Elements of a rudimentary water tower. The prototype for this stood on the Earl of Dudley's railway at the link between Oak Lane and Stallings Lane, Near to Himley's No.8 pit.   It survived until 1950.   Its Heath Robinson look appealed to me.

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In position on the layout.  Its days of servicing the EoD fleet of 0-4-0 saddle tanks are long gone.

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Jim S-W
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Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Jim S-W »

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In order to 'plant' my abandoned crossing box I needed a base so opportunity was taken to do a micro diorama and take a piccie first. This is the side no one will ever see so it was worth recording for posterity

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Here's were it goes on the layout.  One of those little out of the way areas that viewers will need to search out a little.  The fence is Knightwing modified to resemble pictures of the real place in the late 50s.  Below is the low light version.

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Ive also finished off my footbridge.  In keeping with the rest of the layout (in fact in keeping with everything I do!) it's modelled to look tired.

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In an effort to keep the line open to passengers a 4 new fangled 4 wheel railbus was tried on the route.  The experiment didn't work out and the station would be closed a few weeks later.

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I've mentioned before my preference for long platforms and short trains.  A BRCW type 2 and its 3 coaches demonstrates the effect I was after.
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manna
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Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by manna »

G'Day Gents

Superlative work.

manna
EDGWARE GN. Steam in the Suburbs
Jim S-W
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Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Jim S-W »

I think I may have mentioned before but one of my favourite things on Moor Street is the mechanical signals. Obviously on New Street there was never going to be an opportunity to do any but on Brettell Road things were different.  I had already built a few ground signals on part 1 and an abandoned one but part 2 has given me the opportunity to do some proper, working ones.

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So starting with the post for the simple one. Basically a bog standard upper quadrant affair only complicated by the need to have a co-acting signal due to where the signal stands in relation to the footbridge. The balance weights are below the platforms surface. The parts used are the MSE upper quadrant signal parts (S0012/1), LMS/LNER tubular post caps (SC0019) and LMS Adlake signal lamps (SC0011).  The Ladder is from Stenson models and various diameters of tube, sized from the left overs from the signal I built before. This will sit at the Stourbridge end of the platform.

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At the Dudley end things are a little more entertaining. So having found a suitable victim (which turned out to be a bit of a mongrel) I set to work emulating what I could see. More MSE bits such as Heavy Lattice Bracket Signal Base Post (S0010) and LMS welded stem bracket (50029) for the platform. The rockers came from the Brassmasters point rodding etch.  After I took this photo I decided that the operating 'wires' were too big so they have been replaced with no8 guitar strings.

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Platform starter in position.

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Gantry in position.  The left arm was used for the Kingswinford branch (now disconnected)

https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/

https://www.stensonmodels.co.uk/

http://www.brassmasters.co.uk/
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Mountain
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Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Mountain »

Your work is amazing. :)
Jim S-W
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Re: Birmingham New Street and Brettell Road in P4

Post by Jim S-W »

Thanks :wink:
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