Thornycroft Sidings video #3

The third video of our Thornycroft sidings model railway. This time the G6 shunting engine (stationed at Basingstoke), arrives with empty lowmac wagons, and departs at night with some PB class lorry chassis, heading from the Thornycroft Factory to Basingstoke Station. Interspersed with cameo scenes from around the factory.

We Need More Chassis

The cry went up 'We need more vehicle chassis for the yard'. So, here are another five.

This time it is the Thornycroft PB chassis, manufactured from 1926-1928. Perhaps a little early for the period of our Thornycroft Factory model but they are the vehicles shown loaded onto LOWMAC railway wagons in a photo from our reference book, a scene that we can now replicate.

The PB chassis is noted for its 'Forward Control' cab which covered part of the engine affording a larger payload area than previous models with the same wheelbase.

The wheels are of interest being spoked cast steel with solid rubber tyres.

The models were designed in 3D CAD and 3D printed in plastic as a kit of parts. I did not think the spoked wheels could be made this way, being so small, and expected a biog of plastic but was surprised to see the larger rear wheels were a good rendition with light showing between the spokes! The smaller front wheels needed a drill passed between the spokes to remove  'flashing'.

The model is finished in black framework with grey primer wheels and body work, ready for either Thornycroft or the customer to fit the loading platform and finish in the appropriate company livery.

Do we have enough chassis in the yard now. Apparently not!

David

There Are 9 Million Bicycles in Basingstoke

With apologies to Katie Melua, only 50 shown here.

These are the bike stands outside the Thornycroft running shed. Each bay accommodates 5 bicycles. They are fully populated and awaiting their owners collection towards the end of the working day.

50 bicycles is the limit for the third of the factory we are modelling and represents about 10% of the total bicycle storage capacity on site. To put this into context take a look at the movie on the Thorncroft Sidings page. Towards the end you'll see the swarm of cyclists leaving the factory.

The bicycles are plastic by Peco Model Scene (12 in a pack). Each one is about 10mm long. Wheel spokes are not included and the handle bars are too short but they are a crisp moulding. You don't really notice the omissions at this scale and especially as they are buried under cover here. We painted most black with a grey and red one in there somewhere.

David

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

Goods Yard Clutter - 2

In 1928 this area next to the Wood Store contained an untidy mishmash of materials that spread into the roadway. Long wooden or metal poles/beams were leant vertically against the wall.

In 1939 the area was much tidier with either racking or workbench alongside the wall and a barrier alongside the road. Next to the barrier were more materials tidily arranged but on our model we don't have the same space available for these because the Wood Store had to be located closer to the road to fit on the baseboard. It was either that or shorten the building.

Rack frame and barrier models are 3D printed. The rack surface is card. The prototype was assumed to be metal painted black. I have added areas of rust.

The next photo shows oil drums (3D printed) laid next to this small white store. I gave them the Shell red and yellow livery for variety of colour on the layout.

I like the waste ground grass here, being straw coloured signifying late summer. Note the weeds along the base of the palisade fence.

David

1920s Petrol Pump and Another A1 Van

Outside the Pump Room is some form of machinery. It is not clear from available photographs what exactly was there but since petrol and oil tanks existed underground here and the Pump Room was associated with these then it is a logical assumption it was a petrol and oil dispensing stand.

Having found a photo of a 1920s petrol dispenser I went overboard modelling as much of the detail as my dexterity would allow. A little foolish perhaps for a thing that is only 12mm tall for which a magnifying glass is needed to see the detail. But, I enjoyed the challenge. It is a column with hand crank and dial. The gun part of the hose attachment hangs by a ring over the top of the column when not in use, as is the case here.

Next to it is an oil dispensing cabinet. The top half is open and contains the dispenser that fills an oil can placed next to it.

On the other side of the yard from the Pump Room is the Repair Shop. Another A1 van has been placed here, this time a Thornycroft demonstrator van, with driver and another in conversation alongside.

A background  was created for this photo and stitched into it to represent factory buildings at the far end of the site that are off our model layout.

David

Goods Yard Clutter - 1

The only photograph available to us that clearly shows the type of  materials laid about the Thornycroft factory yards is in our reference book 'The Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway'. Well, there is another that shows a group of oil drums but we could do with more close up photos of the yards around the west end of the factory site so that a fair representation of the clutter there can be modelled.

Nevertheless, here is the view of goods yard clutter in the loading bay area of our model, staged from the scene in the book photo.

The most notable difference is that the yard appears much wider in the book photo, which is a surprise because we modelled the layout from a scale plan. This just goes to prove that creating a scale replica is rarely feasible, especially as we do not have sufficient photographic evidence of the entire site. All we can do is create an impression of what the factory looked like in the 1930s.

The yard clutter was modelled from and set out as in the book photo. Here we have a stack of wooden barrels (3D printed), a group of cowling castings made from FIMO clay and a group of 3D printed rear axle castings. The castings are waiting their turn in the pickling tanks located at the end of  the yard.

Below is an atmospheric night time scene photographed by a security guard after the workers had left the site at the end of the working day. 

The lamp construction method is the same as described in an earlier posting. The crates were 3D printed as individual sides and glued together to form the box.

David

End of Phase 2

Phase 2 was about creating the groundworks for our Thornycroft Sidings layout. The photos below also show the buildings from phase 1 of the project. A back scene is work in progress and should prove an interesting subject to post here because of the novel design method being used.

The final Phase 3 of the project is about populating the scene with shrubs, tress, vehicles, people and factory materials laid about the yards.

This photo shows most of the layout area (scenic area about 4' x 3'). Maybe not as exciting as the usual low level magazine shots that make it look like the real thing - those will follow after phase 3 is complete.

And this is the aerial view of the real factory for comparison, except we have modelled the 1939 scene, which has some extra buildings to the 1928 view below.

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

Moonlit scene with building LED lights ablaze

There may be a delay in publishing more updates as we turn our attention to our Cliddesden layout in preparation for another exhibition outing (Details later).

David

Loading Dock

Our reference book* has quite a good photo of the loading dock with lowmac trucks carrying lorries in the adjacent sidings.

The loading dock is unusual in so far as the raised platform on the right of the siding is very narrow and of no use for loading; on the left is a retaining wall instead of a platform. The retaining wall seems to be there to stop loose materials falling on to the track. The buffer stop is simply a stack of track sleepers.

There needs to be some way of loading lorries onto lowmacs. My initial thought was that the lorries were driven up a ramp over the buffer stop (the top of which appears to be only about 6 inches above ground level) but the model has shown that there may not have been enough turning space there to line a lorry up with the truck.

Another mystery is the long channel between two of the sidings (there is also another one further along and out of view in this photo). Whilst they are clearly visible in photos of this area it is not known what purpose they served. The two ends look like metal square hoops with boarding between them.

This triangular yard  between the black shed and sidings was covered in various materials and this will be populated with such in phase 3 of the project. Beyond the shed is a dump of loose waste material that has already been modelled.

In latter years this entire triangular area is known to have been a dump for waste from vehicle manufacture and that may have always been the case, which to some extent makes sense of the retaining wall.

David

*  The Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway, Dean, Robertson & Simmonds.

A Glimpse of Scenes to Come

Having completed construction of Worting Road and the factory boundary, but not the entire layout, it is time to see how our scene in this corner is coming together.

This is the view from Worting Road railway bridge across Worting Road, the palisade fence and hedge to some of the factory buildings. Behind the hedge shrubs and trees will appear in due course to reflect the prototype scene as it was in the 1930s.

In this photograph we get a real sense of the industrial landscape that we are modelling.

David

Thornycroft Buildings - Review

The 15 factory buildings (and a railway bridge) presented in previous posts were scratch built in hobby time over about 5 months. All are based on documentary evidence of the Basingstoke factory and an invaluable contribution from a past employee.

Some aspects may be incorrect so, if any other Thornycroft veteran or academic would like to proffer their knowledge then I welcome it as I have no qualms about remaking buildings or correcting background information presented in postings.

There are three distinct phases to our Thornycroft Sidings project. The first was creation of the buildings; the second is the baseboard with scenery and working railway and the third is populating the layout with people, vehicles and factory materials. I expect all this to take well into next year.

With the buildings complete it is time to build the baseboard to accommodate them and this will surely be the subject of the next postings.

But, before moving on let's reflect on 'phase 1'. Faced with recreating the factory buildings (actually about a third of the real factory) sounds a daunting task but elements of it have helped to spur me on.

First, is the historical research undertaken because each piece of information or photograph uncovered increases knowledge in all manner of things from architectural details in building construction to the 'pickling' process of metal castings.

Second, is the variety of buildings on the factory site that make modelling challenging, from ornate brick to functional corrugated iron, from a model no bigger than half a thumb to one nearly half a metre long!

Third, is experimenting with different modelling techniques during construction. The most significant of which was window fabrication. No less than five different methods were tried, which I would like to review for you here.

At the outset I assumed that to model the actual buildings the windows would need to be scratch built rather than using proprietary parts so, brass frets or injection moulded plastic, which I know can have the finest level of detail were not used.

1. Opaque Printed

Designed in a graphic editing program to a resolution of 600 pixels per inch and printed on ink jet printer. The opaque window glass is a photo of  a real glass pane. For windows It is dark grey with white overtones giving the appearance of light reflection. For roof skylights, white to very light blue.

Good Points
Any style can be created with very fine glazing bars. Repeatable elements are produced quickly with consistent dimensions.

Questionable Points
Two dimensional, no relief although shading effects may compensate for this. Need a computer, printer and have access to and be competent in use of a graphic design application. No good if interior views or interior lighting is wanted.

2. Transparent Printed 1

As  above but printed on transparent film.

Good Points
Transparent like real windows so interior decoration or lighting can be seen.

Questionable Points
Limited colour palette for glazing bars using conventional home printers. White is not a printable colour and rainbow colours tend to be washed out. Black is commonly used but how often do we see black glazing bars? Possibly OK  for leaded panes. In the photo the glazing bars were printed this way but the frames are white card stuck on the film.

3 Transparent Printed 2

As 1. above but printed on a sticky label sheet that is then stuck to transparent film. The window panes are next sliced out to reveal transparency using this technique.

Good Points
Very fine glazing bars are achievable with good eyesight, a steady hand and sharp scalpel. I found the exercise quite therapeutic. Realistic glazing bars in relief. Could be done without a computer using sharp pencil and rule for design.

Questionable PointsSome may find it too repetitive or tedious. Quite easy to break and peel off bars, for which very thin strips of sticky paper have to be cut and fitted to repair it.

4. Sticky Label Strips

Fit transparent film to the window opening. Cut a long thin strip from white sticky label sheet and cut to length for each side of the frame. Stick to window. Cut another long strip thinner than the frame and cut to length for each glazing bar. Stick in place on window. This technique was used for the roof skylights in photo.

Tip: Lightly rub a pencil over the paper before cutting out for a weathering effect.

Good Points
Quick, using conventional modelling tools of scalpel and metal rule.

Questionable PointsNeed to accurately mark up the paper to get consistent dimension, which is a manual task prone to error. Manually fitting the strips may also lead to inconsistency.  Overlapping strips whilst quickest may be unsightly.

5. 3D Printed Plastic

So, you don't have a 3D printer? Shame on you! When you do get one you'll also need to obtain and learn to use a CAD Application so you can design the windows. The side wall windows in the above photo are 3D printed and stuck to transparent film for the glass.

Good Points
Create elaborate designs with built in relief. Can batch produce at the touch of a button.

Questionable PointsHelps to be a mechanical CAD designer. Design and print can take a long time but small, simple objects like window frames are quick to design and print out in batches. Printer may not be capable of very thin N scale details. Smallest width on our machine is 0.5mm (3 inch glazing bars in 2mm scale!).

In conclusion

Not one of those methods stands out as a best approach for realism or simplicity. They each have their own  merits and downfalls. Best thing to do is choose a method that suits your own needs and abilities. If I had to choose a method for 'N' gauge I would lean towards the first method, assuming it's a bespoke design and transparency is not required.

David

Thornycroft Building #16 - Running Shed

In the photo below this building is the white ended building between the main yard and the road on the right.

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

 Function

The running shed was where chassis builds were stored until the body shop was ready to accept them. The small extension on the west side contained lorry test loads. These were one ton concrete blocks, which were bolted onto the chassis for test drives. The NW corner of the building contained a block of lavatories and along the front wall was a lean-to cycle shed. Each bay accommodated 5 bicycles, was fully utilised with more bicycles stacked outside.

Time Line

The dutch barn roofed section nearest the main yard was built between 1902 and 1919. The other parts were added between 1919 and 1928. By 1939 the small extension on the west wall had been lengthened to join the next building and by the 1950s the small yard there was completely roofed over.

Construction

Corrugated iron throughout with white finish. The front of the original building had a series of tall sliding garage doors separated by tall windows. The doors were later replaced with same style windows, except the lavatory end, which had shorter windows, presumably finishing above the water closets/urinals. The later addition of a cycle shed hid the lower half of the tall windows.

The enlarged building had a vehicle roller door (assumed roller) on the end and two personnel doors, one of which was for lavatory access.

The south wall of the complex was pierced all the way along with windows comprising a small frame above a larger one.

The saw tooth roof had skylights.

The Model

The next photo shows the model in situ on our full sized layout plan in a similar orientation to the real building shown above.

Designed in a graphic design application and printed on paper that is stuck to card. The building is raised on a 4mm plinth that will disappear into the ground on the layout. 

The front of the extension is unclear from photographs so the double doors placed there are guesswork. I would not be surprised if it was open to the elements since concrete blocks do not need protection. The hole in the end of the extension is where the strip light pokes through into the next building.

The large vehicle entrance doors are operational and made in a similar fashion to other models in this series.

Window frames and cycle shed frame are 3D printed in plastic but the glazing bars are too thick, a limitation of our printer. The cycle shed is populated with bicycles from the Peco range. Eventually the entire shed will be filled.

The South side window arrangement was taken from an artist illustration of the works as this side is completely hidden by trees and shrubs in photographs.

The model is shorter than the real building, being cut short by the back scene that it butts onto. Consequently the East end is blank.

This building has working interior lights (one strip from a Livarno 3 strip set sold by Lidl) so, all windows are transparent.

David

Thornycroft Building #15 - Worting Road Bridge

In the photo below the bridge is bottom left of the site. (Click for a larger view).

J.I. Thornycroft and Co Motor Works, Basingstoke, 1939 - Britain from Above

Time Line  

Built 1899/1900 along with the railway from Basingstoke to Alton that opened for public services in 1901. Just to the north of the bridge is the siding off the single track line into the factory site. When the railway closed and track lifted in 1936 this stretch from the main line at Basingstoke to about 400 feet this side of the bridge was retained for the movement of factory goods. In the late 1960s part of a ring road was constructed on the railway route and the bridge replaced with a bigger concrete type spanning the new four lane dual carriageway.

Construction

Brown old English bond brick with the stronger blue engineers brick in vulnerable areas. Four buttresses, two each side were probably flared towards the base. Grassed embankments each side of the bridge.

The Model

Here is the bridge on our full sized layout plan in a similar orientation to the above.

There is a photo of the prototype here, whilst it can be use to scale the model the decor is less clear. Other colour photos of the bridge at Winslade on the line and drawings in the book "The Basingstoke & Alton light Railway" helped to provide details.

The model is made from brick paper on card and lightly weathered with black soft pastel scrapes applied with a dry paint bush. The height of the arch has been made higher to accommodate our tallest wagon load, which is our Thornycroft J class lorry.

The buttresses have not been flared due to complexity and mostly hidden by the embankments.

The model will be built into the landscape of the layout (the roadway shown is temporary). The roadway will be created with the landscape so that its texture and colour will be uniform as it crosses the bridge.

The next photo shows how the bridge fits into the landscape.

David

Thornycroft Building #14 - Experimental & Repair Shops

In the photo below this building is second in from bottom left of the site. (Click for a larger view).

J.I. Thornycroft and Co Motor Works, Basingstoke, 1939 - Britain from Above

Function

The western half was the Exprimental Shop where new and innovative parts were developed and trials undertaken. The eastern half was a vehicle service/repair shop.

Time Line

Built between 1928 and 1932 it was extended westward in the 1940s to join the next building. Close scrutiny of the larger aerial photos at 'Britain From Above' shows that the rear wall extended westward beyond the building. This may be an indication of work in progress to enlarge the entire building. The building did not survive to the end, believed demolished in the 1980s.

 Construction

The architectural design is similar to building#6, being brick with sky lighted saw tooth roof.

Two very tall doors at the front for vehicle access were roller doors. The rear is largely hidden in photographs by vegetation but tall windows can just about be discerned. This wall may also have had personnel entrance door(s). The East wall was pierced by tall windows. No photo available of the west wall.

The Model

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

Building#6 designs were adapted to create the walls for this building, which enabled fast construction of the building shell.

However, the roof is another matter being a complex shape. Several weeks overall hobby time was needed. The sky light frames are 3D printed in plastic and stuck to transparent celluloid, a relatively fast process. The rest of the roof in card and paper plus assembly was what demanded most time.

 The roller doors are operational, constructed as for building #1.

In the next photo the extended rear wall is evident. This looks odd but as our period of interest includes 1930s and it was present in the 1939 aerial photos then it has been included.

Window/door details of both the west wall and rear wall (above view) are not clear from photos so they have been modelled with best guess for window provision.

All windows are transparent because this building will have partial interior lighting. What this means is the strip light for the building next door is long enough to poke into the repair shop!

David

Thornycroft Building #13 - Paint Mixing Shop

In the photo below this building is on the left of the site in the middle of the main yard between a dump of materials and another small but longer building. (Click for a larger view).

J.I. Thornycroft and Co Motor Works, Basingstoke, 1939 - Britain from Above

 Function

 Paint mixing.

Time Line

Built between 1928 and 1939. It did not last until the end, probably demolished shortly after manufacture ceased in 1969 when the site was taken over by a variety of small firms.

Construction

Corrugated iron. Available photos suggest 3 windows on the east end and a door on the west end and a couple of white panels on the roof, which may be skylights or vents. Nothing is clear in these respects.

The Model

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

Made in the same manner as the Weigh House, except the roof is decorative paper stuck to thin card.

David

Thornycroft Building #12 - Case Hardening Shop

In the photo below this building is on the left directly behind the long building with three ridge roofs.

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

Function 

The left hand half was the Case Hardening shop. Case hardening is a process of heating a metal iron object to harden the surface layer. Inside the building were several electrically controlled furnaces.

On the end was a boiler house (construction post dates the photo above), the boiler(s) being fired with sawdust waste from the wood working shop. It may have fed steam to the pickling shed located next to the railway siding.

The right hand half of the building was the packing shed.

Time Line

The packing shed was built in 1916 and the case hardening shop added in 1919. The small boiler house on the end appeared between 1928 and 1939. The chimney was demolished later but the main buildings survived until the end. They had undergone some remodelling in later years, being extended across the rear alley to join the next building and the roof line changed from seven saw tooth's to nine and covered in corrugations.

Construction

The packing shed was of the same architecture and construction as building #6 and assumed to have a similar shingle roof covering for the period of our model. The case hardening shop was not the exact same style. It's wall construction is not clear from available photographs of the exterior. It could have been brick but an interior photograph suggests corrugated walls. The boiler house construction is even less clear but probably brick. The boiler house roof seems to have also been its water storage tank. A tall external chimney connected to the boiler house. An ash dump was located at the other end.

The Model

Here is the model on our layout plan in a similar orientation as above. Building #10 has been permanently fixed to it because it was was integral to the packing shed described here.

Designed in a graphic editing application, ink jet printed and stuck to card. 

The case hardening shop is shown in brick. If photographic evidence materialises to confirm it was corrugated iron then it would not be too difficult to overlay paper depicting this. The building butts to the back scene so the rear walls are not modelled. In fact the real building is deeper than that modelled, the remainder being in the back scene. The windows, including skylights, are opaque.

 

The chimney is 3D printed in plastic and covered in brick paper. None of the buildings on the layout are permanent fixtures and can be removed for storage. In the case of the chimney, being rather tall, it is a separate model. Its hollow interior enables it to be held in place by a bolt sticking up through the baseboard.

The boiler house, being a later addition, obscures the tall windows on the end of the case hardening shop.

The ash dump walls are simulated railway sleepers and purely fictitious as no clear photo of its construction is available. The water in the roof tank is a photograph of tank water. It is quite realistic with shadow and ripples.

David

Thornycroft Building #11 - Pickling Shed

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

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

Function

The building contained pickling tanks for cleaning metal casting surfaces prior to the machining process. The castings were submerged in a sulphuric acid and water mixture that remove sand and scale. Hot steam was used to heat the acid as this reduced the pickling time. An example pickling time is 60 centigrade for about 30 minutes. After pickling the castings would have been rinsed, possibly in a tank of lime water to neutralise residual acid and then again in clean water.

Time Line

Probably built when the siding complex was altered and expanded between 1902 and 1919. It did not survive until the end and was probably demolished when the sidings were removed in the 1970s(?).

Construction

Open timber frame with corrugated roof, although close scrutiny of the above photo reveals that the end facing the camera was partially covered in corrugated iron.

The Model

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

Being open framed the interior has been modelled. This is entirely fictitious for Thornycroft but is based on a photo of a pickling shed in India! 

The timber frame was designed in CAD as a kit of parts and then 3D printed in plastic.

The is the timber frame after assembly and painting.

Three pickling tanks were also CAD designed and 3D printed. Two girders (Plastruct) are fixed to the roof beams from which hang two hoists made with washers and wire. These hoists are used to lift either large castings into the tanks or a cradle containing smaller parts. The shed lies alongside a siding so that side of the shed has been given corrugated iron cladding for 'elf n safety' reasons. The corrugated iron walls and roof are printed paper stuck to card. This photo shows the interior before the roof was fitted.

David