Focalplane

Western Thunderer
I have exchanged emails with John Gymer at Youchoos about the best setup they provide for the DAPOL 14XX. In reading the descriptions it seems that DAPOL really have pulled out all the stops for a convenient installation and Youchoos have taken this two steps further, with one of their ice cube speakers and a stay alive capacitor. Everything fits in the boiler/smokebox with only the minimum of additional wiring.

A second 14XX sounds like overkill for the 1950s Moor Street but with my shorter platforms and Rule 1 that allows the Alcester Branch to stay open, another autotrain would perhaps have saved the North Warwickshire line from early extinction. As it was, the line was very nearly closed anyway but had a last minute reprieve. That is all hard to believe today, but truth is sometimes larger than fiction and any number of Rule 1's can be applied as necessary!

I was going to buy two Orion Hawksworth C83 non-corridor all thirds coach kits to mimic the reduced suburban rakes of the period, but then remembered I already had two Haywoods' Collett C43 coaches. They have been started so there is no need for the Hawksworth kits after all.
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
I received a parcel from Tower Models today with my pre-ordered DAPOL bogie bolster. And very nice it looks too! Already the stash for Moor Street is growing and I really haven't started. Two PECO curved points were in the parcel which should allow better running on the approach road curve into the station. I know I have stated that I don't like the geometry of this design of point but it does seem to work better than the other alternatives. So on my return next year the local fiddle yard can be completed and all trackwork laid. That means I have no excuse to avoid wiring up the Tortoises!

I have also started on sketching out the side elevation of the water tank. This will help to decide on what materials to order, particularly the size of the support I-beams. I'll have to show some progress on this in the next post.
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
A basic side elevation of the Moor Street water tank:

Screen Shot 2021-11-11 at 1.29.37 PM.png

The pipework underneath the tank has not been added yet, neither ladder nor other superficial details. I have also not scaled the leg supports but the general idea is there. The length is 36 ft (252mm in Gauge O).
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
More work on drafting the water tower:

Screen Shot 2021-11-11 at 6.53.35 PM.png

I am not entirely happy with the end elevation, it appears to be too narrow, yet four panels is what the photos suggest and also the footprint on maps (i.e. 16ft). I might add a panel and see how it compares with photographs. The placement of the water inlet and outlet pipes is approximate, based partly on the photo at Earlswood. I am not sure yet where to attach the upper diagonal bracing points so have left them off for the time being.

The next job is to print off the drawings at 7mm scale and make a list of required materials.
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
OK, here is a wider tank, 5 panels in place of 4, so 20ft wide.

Screen Shot 2021-11-12 at 9.56.11 AM.png

And here is a photograph for comparison.

Screen Shot 2021-10-26 at 2.41.17 PM.png

One give away that this might be better is the diagonal cross bracing seen in the photo, which appears to be at right angles, starting at the top below the support bracing to the stiffening horizontal beam. I have not got the roof curvature adjusted but otherwise I think it is going to be the wider tank of the two that gets the nod.

But others' opinions are most welcome!
 

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
Just looking at the photo again is it possible the prototype Moor St tank could be 4.5 panels wide? - my interpretation of the stronger appearing items highlighted. All made difficult with what appears to be an elusive and apparently rarely photographed object.

88dj5ntu.jpg

Otherwise I would make up cardboard mock ups of both tanks and place each one on the layout for a week or so at a time to see which one looks right for the location.

After all (unless you're blessed with acres of space) layouts are invariably a compromise due to the level of compression required.
 

Dave Holt

Western Thunderer
To me, it looks to be four panels wide. There appears to be a joint line right under the middle of the roof curve, meaning an even number of pane;s.
Dave.
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
Thank you both! There is no saying the panels were all the same size, in this case width. Four panels 5ft wide could work. And as Dave (Holt) suggests, a join between two panels at the centre of the roof could tie in with a ridge support for the roof.

Yorkshire Dave, your suggestion of building two mock ups makes sense but I can’t plonk them on the layout until next time in France.
 
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Focalplane

Western Thunderer
Yorkshire Dave

Ironically, for once space is not a problem. Due to curving what were straight tracks in the prototype there is plenty of room. It’s going to be what looks right, not too large, not too small. The problem remains that the lack of good photos destroys the accuracy of the tank design. It’s going to be a fudge, one way or the other! But the challenge is to minimise the fudge!

I would love to be dead on accurate but that may not be possible.
 

Dave Holt

Western Thunderer
Paul.
I imagine that the tank was a variant of a standard GWR tank of the period. There is a smaller, but otherwise similar, tank at Toddington on the GWSR - the supports, cross beams, tank panels and inlet/outlet arrangements all look exactly like the Moor St version. That might provide some useful details and panel dimensions.
Dave.
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
Dave

This is very interesting as we have so far been focussing on Henley in Arden and Earlswood Lakes water tanks, built at the same time as Moor Street. Checking the GWSR site I see that the replacement tank came from the Wallingford and Cholsey Branch but it is an exact copy of the tanks on the North Warwickshire Line. That seems strange as the Oxfordshire branch line was built earlier and photos show parachute tanks. Nonetheless, the GWSR note that the replacement is an exact copy of the original. The line at Toddington was part of the Birmingham Bristol GWR line which was put together piece by piece. If Toddington needed a larger tank at that time, the GWR would have used the same design as at Henley and Earlswood.

It’s too bad we moved from the Cotswolds two years ago as we very rarely go back. However we now have a third photographic record of the design.

I am keeping an open mind on the end size for the time being. Who knows what could surface next?
 
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Stephen Freeman

Western Thunderer
Could I suggest plate 474 on page 311 of a Pictorial History of Great Western Architecture - eastern end of Reading station, though you might wish to omit the advertising that is on it.
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
Could I suggest plate 474 on page 311 of a Pictorial History of Great Western Architecture - eastern end of Reading station, though you might wish to omit the advertising that is on it.

Yes of course, I welcome the suggestion, but I don’t have a copy of the book!
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
You know, with so much information perhaps yet to be found I stumbled on another tank on warwickshirerailways.com. Yes, Stratford on Avon had an engine shed with water and coaling facilities in one. I knew it was there but because it is not a standalone water tank I never realized the tank is to the same North Warwickshire Line pattern. I’ll just add several relevant links.

Stratford on Avon Shed: View of the single road leading to Stratford on Avon's two-road shed after passing the coaling and watering facilities

Stratford on Avon Shed: Close up showing the side of the combined coaling stage and water tank with a wagon placed to coal the next engine

Stratford on Avon Shed: The combined coal stage and water tank at Stratford-upon-Avon shed, showing the ladder to inspect the tank

Stratford on Avon Shed: View of the East end of Stratford on Avon shed's combined coal stage and water tank in September 1956

There are several more photos. Now, one description says “The base of the coal stage was 30 feet by 16 feet and the tank could hold 22,500 gallons of water”. Note the tank was longer than the coal stage, so the tank would likely have been 36ft. Sounds familiar?

While there remains the argument “so what, Moor Street could have been larger” I am beginning to think it was the same size, 9 panels by 4 panels, each 4 ft wide.

Maybe it’s time to move on and look at Moor Street’s 20 ton wagon hoist!
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
Before I do move on to planning the 20 ton wagon hoist, I will be planning the construction of the water tank. As with the Goods Station structure, I plan to use brass for the frame and brass sheet for the tank panels, riveted as appropriate (the rivet pattern on the Stratford tank is different, by the way!) The supports will also be of brass strip, assuming I can get the right sizes, otherwise I may need to use styrene. I hope to use mostly brass so that it can be soldered.

The foundation for the tank was on top of the Bordesley Viaduct which was filled with ballast, so a simple flat base plate will be used to add strength and then bedded in with my ballast mix. There is a photo of the area where the tank used to be but I can't find it right now. This would have been taken after steam was withdrawn and during the early DMU phase of operations, so the photo is not on warwickshirerailways.com.

To this end I have treated myself to a Proxxon saw table which should arrive this coming week. Axminster Tools are offering a Black Friday reduction which makes the purchase a little less painful! It may come in useful in the Motor House as well.

I see that Albion Alloys have a new product line called CONNEC+O which combines special connectors with microtubes to make complex framework shapes. I am wondering where this system could be employed. Possibly for the complex shapes within the wagon hoist structure?
 

LarryG

Western Thunderer
B

To this end I have treated myself to a Proxxon saw table which should arrive this coming week. Axminster Tools are offering a Black Friday reduction which makes the purchase a little less painful! It may come in useful in the Motor House as well.

Please show us your Proxxon saw table when it arrives. I'm leaning more towards small modelling machinery in old age and getting away from sledge hammer to crack a wallnut industrial stuff that would remove limbs if ow't went wrong.
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
This is the model, Larry

PROXXON KS 230 Saw

I added the fine saw blade for non ferrous metals, and with the £10 special offer, the extra blade was free. There is a useful video as well.

I agree about the industrial strength overkill, by the way, and try not to mix up my two tools kits when in the Motor House!
 

Focalplane

Western Thunderer
The Proxxon saw table arrived this morning. I have yet to use it because the materials to be cut have yet to arrive! But this is it, with my average hand to give an idea of size:

093D63C0-1F04-4F31-8488-00CDC8B5B3B1.jpeg

It’s small and maybe won’t find so much use in the Motor House but for building model structures out of wood or non ferrous metal it is just right.

I have placed both angle stop and longitudinal stop to show them, though both should not be used at the same time.
 
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