Thornycroft Building #10 - Packing Shed

In the photo below this building is shown roughly in the middle of the complex with two railway sidings entering it. (Click for a larger view).

  The Thornycrofts Motor Works, Basingstoke, 1928 - Britain from Above

Function

The name suggests it is where materials were packed and unpacked. The facility extended into the adjacent building on the left. A wall existed between the two areas, possibly with access between them. It is not known if railway loading platforms existed. A covered alley was provided on the right hand side for access to/from the rear alley way.

Two railway sidings entered the building. The right hand siding continued through and across the wide alley at the rear and into the machine shop, tool room and stores on the other side. It continued into the next building finally exiting to the outside at the far end of the site. Consequently, materials could be unloaded from wagons directly where they were needed. The siding on the left, where it enters the building, was a head shunt for the loading/unloading bay in the foreground of the photo above. The head shunt continued across the alley at the rear but did not enter buildings on the other side. 

The left hand door slid in front of the right hand door. The door on the right gave access to the right hand siding. With the left hand door pushed left it still partially covered the left hand siding but allowed trains to traverse the crossover (This is the arrangement shown in the above photo). Use of the head shunt required the left door to slide right. Both sidings could be accessed when the doors were slid over each other to the right and in front of the first window.

Time Line

Built in 1916. It survived until the end.

Construction

Brick with corrugated iron valance/fascia and roof. The curved roof included a cupola. The doors were wooden.

The Model

Here is the model on our full size plan in a similar orientation to the above.

Designed in a graphic editing application and ink jet printed on paper that is stuck to card. Window glass is opaque except the cupola, which is transparent cellophane. Doors are operational with 90 degree tabs that run in a slot behind the valance. The building has a plinth that will disappear into the ground. The model butts to the back scene so, the rear has no wall.

The clearances required for standard N gauge track and rolling stock required compromise on the model design compared to the prototype. The opening is taller and wider causing the sliding doors to cover both windows instead of one when fully open and the valance style differs at the right hand end. I'm not sure why there should be a clearance issue if all is supppose to be to scale but, it looks acceptable. 

David