Electric Trolley

Electric trolleys were used to move materials about the site.  The only photographic evidence found is a rear view of a trolley in the movie shown on our Thornycroft page here. Much web searching eventually revealed a similar trolley, though not Thornycrofts, and this was used as the basis for the N gauge model shown in this posting. It was  designed and fabricated using CAD and our 3D printer.

Alongside is the driver looking at the materials rack and wondering how he is going to lift off a heavy casting from such a great height!

Close up photographs of N gauge modelling show all manner of flaws/missing detail that are not so noticeable at normal viewing distances. This is because viewing from two feet or so back the eye takes in a broader view of the scene and missing details go unnoticed.  This disparity is peculiar to N Gauge and smaller scales, less so in double O and above where detail is easier to build into a model and flaws more noticeable at normal viewing distances. Or, is this discourse just an excuse for my less than perfect scratch build modelling. I have seen some very finely detailed proprietary N gauge models (our Dapol M7s for example) but also many in the market that lack detail or are flawed (people without facial features for example). On balance I'm probably right in that compromise of detail and quality is to be expected in N gauge and models should only be viewed from a position well back.

David

Goods Yard Clutter - 4

Just a quick update to show the newly installed racks of materials alongside the Experimental Shop.

Please see previous two postings for construction details.

David

Goods Yard Clutter - 3

Having determined that there was some form of racking alongside the Wood Store (previous posting) I went back over the photos at BritainFromAbove.org.uk and recognised similar structures alongside the Museum Garage and the Experimental Shop.

Here is the arrangement alongside the Museum Garage (the white sided building) on our N gauge model layout.

Below is the normal viewing distance and angle. Racking was fabricated as described in the previous posting.

It is really difficult to identify materials on the racks as most photos of the factory only give distant blurry views. Where we have found useful photos, like workshop interiors, it is still difficult to identify many of the vehicle components that are laid about. I realised that it does not really matter in N scale. All we need is some odd shaped lumps.

In the close up photo below we recognise mud guards and wheels left over from our vehicle modelling but the rest of it is bits of plastic sprue and spare plastic kit oddments. Some of it looks like castings and are painted silver whilst other parts are painted with 'red oxide' primer.

I can't tell from factory photos if materials were laid underneath the racks (I can't even be sure that the model racks are accurate to prototype) but there probably were to some extent.What I feel is important at this stage of the project is to populate all the yards with some people, vehicles and materials so that the model overall looks like a busy factory and then add more details later as and when the mood takes us.

David