4mm Monks Ferry LNWR

[jonte]

…….and back together again it went quite easily:



The pair of dowels can be seen protruding from the beam to the right, and the wooden plate that has since appeared to the upper left support will be for the lower half of the front (upper) catch when I get round to attaching it, and also one to the rear. But for now….

A quick test showed that the rail joints were as before; I’ll take that as a ‘success’.

Now back to tiling the roof.

Jonte

 

[jonte]

Slow progress.

The result of about a weeks’ work:



From the odd picture or two that I’ve seen of the Bertram style roof, the slates appear to be of the larger type, although ai prefer the narrower look. I tried representing this on the first couple of rows, but didn’t like the appearance, so reverted to the slimmer version.

In this next one, the guide paper beneath will need fixing down with some glued applied sparingly to the edge:



Talking of which, the worn areas of paint below the slates caused by remedial work to the ill fitting ceiling edge on this side, will need masking off and retouching, and the slightly raised edge of the graph paper guide to which the slates are attached, re-seated.

Jonte

 

[Roger Pound]

Jon,
I can but only admire your extreme patience and persistence in the pursuit of perfection .

Roger.

 

[jonte]

But a poor second to your splendid example of alliteration, Roger

Still a long, long way to go.

Thanks, Roger

Jon

 

[John57sharp]

I happened to visit Birkenhead Priory this rainy pm and saw this map, which made me think of you and revisit this thread. I know the project is likely defunct, but it’s still interesting.
By the way, I also aim to model that Wapping Goods scene a few pages back, such magnificent desolation if I may quote either Buzz or Neil.

so here’s the map before I forget…


Best
John S

 

[jonte]

I happened to visit Birkenhead Priory this rainy pm and saw this map, which made me think of you and revisit this thread. I know the project is likely defunct, but it’s still interesting.
By the way, I also aim to model that Wapping Goods scene a few pages back, such magnificent desolation if I may quote either Buzz or Neil.

so here’s the map before I forget…

View attachment 191173View attachment 191174View attachment 191175
Best
John S

Hiya, John

Many thanks for posting this; it was very kind of you to write and let me know

I sincerely hope you’ve thoroughly dried out by the time of writing

Think I’ll pop over on the ferry with the baby some time soon and check it out for myself. Hard to think what the area must have been like when the Monks first founded the abbey, although I don’t think I’d have built it so close to a shipyard

Hope nobody minds, but I’ve dug out some photos to show the layout of the yard at around the time those plans were drawn.

From this fabulous, well-thumbed, book:



It was used as a permanent way storage yard by this time, and access to the dock side for coal trains carrying fuel for the Mersey ferries:



And another:




Photos by K.Longbottom and J.A.Peden respectively.

It’s coincidental that you should bring this thread to the fore, John, as thoughts have recently turned to reconsidering the theme of this particular thread, as neither this nor my current project - GWR BLT - are really suitable for a children’s model railway, and for the life of me, I don’t know why even considered they would

Due to recent events, modelling in general has all but stopped, although I’m partly through building several semaphores for the BLT which will continue. However, both this and Minories will take a back seat while I attempt something far more suitable in the form of a traditional continuous circuit, which will be far less detailed than before, as advised by my good friend and more experienced modeller Mr. Roger Pound, but far more suitable for maintaining a child’s interest.

To that end, John, I’ve begun stock piling some older Hornby locos which I’ll service, DCC chip and perhaps even re motor if required, although the track (Hornby train set stuff) will be purchased new to ensure the best running possible (derailed trains are enough to put off even the keenest of children - or me ).

To that end, I’ve been considering a couple of plans I’ve found on line, which I’ll extend to fit into a space of approx 12 or 13’ x 5’:



Both would be slightly amended, but currently, my preference is for the first with its four mainlines, a station being sited on the set of right hand curves as you look, only the entry and exit points to the station being modelled to save time, in effect, providing the same purpose as the ubiquitous tunnel on a conventional train set.

Although tempted to run ‘anything’ as tradition dictates, I’m restricting it to (London) southern rail - I’d prefer early pregrouping but models in a particular livery that takes my fancy are beyond my budget when factoring in the cost of track etc- so it’ll be late steam in BR days which is anywhere between ‘61 and ‘67 according to enquiries thus far, although with Hornby semaphores much in evidence, it won’t be strict practice by any means, so it’s probably not even worth posting up, John.

Anyway, thanks once again, John, and I’ll catch up once I start posting again.

Thanks once again, and I’ll leave you with some photos I found online of the kind of thing that interests me.



Best,

Jon

 

[John57sharp]

You and me have very similar tastes when it comes to this subject Jon! I have had a Widened Lines hankering on the back burner for several decades now!
good luck with the new layout, but i hope the others get a turn now and again too. My grandad started me with a 7x4 double tracked Hornby Dublo layout, some of which I still have, and it stuck with me!

cheers
john

 

[jonte]

You and me have very similar tastes when it comes to this subject Jon! I have had a Widened Lines hankering on the back burner for several decades now!
good luck with the new layout, but i hope the others get a turn now and again too. My grandad started me with a 7x4 double tracked Hornby Dublo layout, some of which I still have, and it stuck with me!

cheers
john

You mean like this, John, saved in the annals of my photo album from some random online search of whenever:



If you want one of those, I think you’ll need to opt for the kit building route, which in my case, doesn’t concern me too much, it’s just that the total cost of kit building is prohibitive here, bearing in mind the amount of stock required, added to which the time for painting/lining/transfers etc. makes it simply non-viable. The children would likely be my age by the time it’s completed

Like you it seems, I simply can’t resist the grime and the squeezing of the rail scene onto an area the size of a postage stamp, for which I believe there’s no cure

And I’m still quite fond of that Wapping Dock scene you mentioned

Good ol’ Grandad, say I; I’ve a lot to live up to

Btw, I simply can’t help enjoying all those Dublo based videos on YouTube, which for me are inextricably linked with the steam age itself. Almost like watching history in the present, or something like that.

Thanks for your kind interest too, John.

Jon

 

[John57sharp]

Yes like that, or these, that signal cabin nested into the wall….

Amen to all that, and your absence had been noted!

Bestest
John

 

[jonte]

Yes like that, or these, that signal cabin nested into the wall….

Amen to all that, and your absence had been noted!

Bestest
John

View attachment 191455View attachment 191456

Ah, yes: Liverpool Central, High Level. If you turned your track through an arc of almost ninety degrees at the end of a platform like that, everybody would scream ‘trainset!’ As they say, John, there’s a prototype for everything

I like the example you’ve given in the second shot. I’ll bet that’s a great article.

And with talk of signal boxes in half relief, here’s another one on the line that led down to Wapping:



I went so far as to purchase some etched brass windows from Churchward Models to build this. Needless to say, they’re still in the packet. Perhaps one day.

Jon

 

[jonte]

Good morning fellow WT-ers, and I hope I find you well and making the most of your May Day Bank Holiday.

The sky here at Universe Central has gradually darkened in the last hour or so, such that my tortoise friend, Olive, was seen scurrying for the shelter of a flower bed about half an ago; trusting to his barometer-like instincts, I think a downpour is imminent!

As usual, I transgress……..so what’s the point of me digging this thread up from the annals you may or not be thinking whilst boring you all to death?

Well, a catch-up.

It appears it’s just over four years since active modelling ceased, the last entry making mention of an inkling about a ‘new’ venture; one of a train set nature; one more suited to younger family members; one where I could simply model without having to stick too much to prototype (why suddenly have I gone all JFK?), although I’m not sure I’ve been that carefree in practice.

True to my word, this - and the BLT I mentioned - were both put firmly to bed and lie dormant beneath the glacial paced progress of that ever growing train set.

So back to the original question of why now?

Once or twice I’ve mentioned in the train set thread my inkling for a side project. Anything from re-wheeled Diesels dawdling through an Anglesey idyll, to the rekindling of annO gauge branchline terminus, another reworking of a previously abandoned project in a long list of such, having even recently acquired an O gauge engine for the purpose. However, both require the outlay of baseboards, track, wiring, lighting………………see where this is going. And that’s to say nothing about the time taken just to get something rolling.

Realistically, I need a distraction: one that’s further along the road, not so demanding of time or outlay (although there’s really no getting round the latter. This is an expensive hobby), which brings me back to this thread. Here, the boards are built, the track is layed, wired and works, together with a working fiddle yard. Okay, I could pretty much say the same about the similarly dormant GWR branch line which lies along side it (tgat even has working overhead lighting installed, and working signals am) but I’m not that fussed on country branches at present. I suppose you be just got to be in the mood. So returning to this, it’s a bit of a no brainer. Plus, the neo-Georgian style building I’m fabricated present would be ideal in the Monks Ferry setting, created as it was in the 1840s, especially with the Grange Lane windows I fitted. Due to the restrictions in area of Minories, which is what this is in reality, I’d only need to build it in relief!

So, I decided that this was the way to go. Era? Railway company? Well, with the growing number of pregrouping stock these days, I decided to go to Monks’ latter years when it was in the hands of LNWR (and GWR, but I’m not sure of that). In reality, Monks was gone by the time most of the available LNWR locos and stock were around, but hey, modellers’ licence an’ all that.

So, I’ve dug deep and started ordering the first of the stock on the list. I’m partially fond of those little Hornby LNWR 6 inch jobbies - probably not accurate but will help with the flavour of things - but you can’t find ‘em for love nor money (great size for the relatively short platforms of Minories, and they’d form a great branchline service .The Bachmann fifty footers look delightful, but the price of a single coach……….. Evolution seem good value, although again not true to form, and I’ve always hankered after those former ratio kits.

London Road’s Crew Special has always been a draw for me. Would I be up to the job? Would I manage to melt the resin boiler in the process?

Thanks for reading.

Jonte

 

[Roger Pound]

If I may venture, Jon, the Bachmann Webb 'Coal Tank' 0-6-2T is pretty compact and quite appropriate.......... . They appear on the second-hand market if not currently in production.

Roger

 

[jonte]

If I may venture, Jon, the Bachmann Webb 'Coal Tank' 0-6-2T is pretty compact and quite appropriate.......... . They appear on the second-hand market if not currently in production.

Roger

Your wisdom and wealth of experience are always welcome, Roger.

Apologies for delay in responding, but been entertaining the grandchildren all day. First opportunity to respond (or as I thought as they’re still wanting my attention as I write .

I spent the evening before last and yesterday searching for a Coal Tank in LNWR livery but it proved fruitless (Bachmann have a body in their spares section but no chassis only for sale elsewhere). Having traced an example in said livery, I note that the loco sports merely all over black with a plate on the tank sides as a token gesture, there being no lining thereon. This is one reason why I’m reluctant to opt for a kit (I’m not that skilled at applying transfers - I recall Fox’s do them).

There is one I was tempted by (a used option offered by an online retailer in LMS livery) but as I’d purchased a Precedent from them on an ‘offers’ day, thought I’d wait to see if I’d been selected (I never win lotteries etc so doubt that will pay dividends!). Anyway, the short n tall of it is that I’m determined to pick one up at some stage as I’m intending it to pull a rake of small six wheelers which I’m calling a branch train.

Fingers crossed something comes up soon.

Cheers for now, Roger, and thanks for your kind interest as always.

Jon

 

[John57sharp]

Looking forward to seeing developments on this project Jonte! Monks has been quite mysterious to me until recently - your updates have added sparks of interest that may one day ignite into something, but there’s a queue and a similar lack of time, space and available outlay!

Keep up the good work.

John

 

[jonte]

Looking forward to seeing developments on this project Jonte! Monks has been quite mysterious to me until recently - your updates have added sparks of interest that may one day ignite into something, but there’s a queue and a similar lack of time, space and available outlay!

Keep up the good work.

John

Hi John, and thanks for your return visit

I’m relieved to hear that my iteration of the title on different projects hasn’t quite started to grate on all members - yet (and I wouldn’t blame them!) and to read that it’s piqued your interest. However, I think the name is charming, enchanting even (like the nearby Priory from where the name emanates which I’m planning to visit in the not too distant - and by ferry, of course, what else ? ). Incidentally, from aerial views of the ruined(?) priory site, it’s striking how over the centuries it’s become hemmed in by industrial sites (both old and new) and housing ( both terraced and modern apartments), and I find myself wondering what the immediate surroundings were like when the order of monks first visited.

I think also that the terminus was unique - like the name - as it was also a ferry terminal with many passengers arriving by ferry from Liverpool, their journey time on the timetable apparently including the time taken to cross the river. Sadly, with me using the Minories plan - and thus the footprint- there won’t be room to portray this aspect, but I’ll know it’s there - somewhere - towards the end

Think I’m beginning to develop a ‘thing’ for Wirral termini with adjacent Ferry terminals……

Now I’m waffling……..but thanks once again, John, and good luck with future plans!

Btw: I could almost have written your last sentence myself

Jon

 

[jonte]

The final pair of ‘stacks’ posed atop some of the newly purchased mainline stock for Monks Ferry:



Really pleased now with my decision to revisit.

Thanks for looking.

jonte