The Heybridge Railway, 1889 to 1913

[Osgood]

No timber jibs (this is 1914 after all), but some examples off saggy chains and jib-mounted rollers:

 

[Richard Gawler]

Chains are heavy and my model chain ought to sag when the hook is unloaded.


I have made a lighter hook by cutting down another Meccano 57b. This version weighs about 1.2 grams compared to 3.8 grams for the complete cast hook and 0.8 grams for the kit hook.


1.2 grams is enough to hold the vertical chain taught and let the rest sag.

 

[Osgood]

And that’s a wrap - will do just fine until your Skytrex yard crane kit arrives

 

[Richard Gawler]

And that’s a wrap - will do just fine until your Skytrex yard crane kit arrives

Yes, it is time to call a halt. The Peco model looks pleasant and unassuming; few observers will notice the mistakes; and I will gain little by adding fresh detail.

All modelling needs compromises, and the Peco LK-735 yard crane seems to have more than its fair share. I have altered the model to improve on some, but I left it too late to improve on others.



Here is a list of details I know about this kit, to try to wrap up the last 35 posts in a coherent sort of way:

1. The use of a rolled steel joist (H beam I think) for the jib is unusual on this sort of crane, and I have used a length of maple instead.
2. The crane seems very large for a hand-operated machine and I have shortened the jib to a scale 24 feet.
3. The model takes its two jib stays onto spigots below the top pulley leaving the top part of the jib looking vulnerable to bending under load, and I have fitted longer stays reaching to the spindle of the pulley.
4. The supplied hook resembles something cut out of flat sheet material not a forging, and I have put a modified Meccano hook in its place.

and . . .
5. The model includes a peculiar “flanged area with a hole” near the foot of the jib stays and I haven’t found out what this represents.
6. The kit omits intermediate rollers to support a cable or chain between drum and top pulley, though these are straightforward to add.
7. The teeth on the gears are very coarse.
8. The mechanism seems unlikely to represent any prototype: the large gear wheel provides no mechanical advantage; the reduction ratio for the cranking handle is too small; and the effect of the brake (on the spindle of the winding drum) will be minimal.

Item 8 is of course the killer.

The model would look better and gain some mechanical credibility if the winding drum was on the spindle with the large gear. This would need alterations to other parts and I would want to prepare for this at the very beginning of the build. This arrangement needs some rollers hung between the jib stays (like the Ruthin crane), which I made and fitted but subsequently removed.


This should sit very happily on a layout until I decide I want something better, perhaps the Skytrex model.

 

[simond]

I think Andy Duncan does one. I’m sure I’ve seen others!

 

[Osgood]

I think Andy Duncan does one. I’m sure I’ve seen others!

I just checked this out following your post and yes he does!
A LNWR type - stone base not included …….

 

[magmouse]

Thanks, Richard for the summary - very useful to have your experience with this kit in one place. Because it may be useful in the future, and because it is delightful, I’ll just leave this here:

Weymouth Dorset cargo ship unloading port hoist stone harbour

goodnessgracious.co.uk

There are a couple more pictures in the sequence at the same website, too.

Nick.

 

[Phil O]

Yes, it is time to call a halt. The Peco model looks pleasant and unassuming; few observers will notice the mistakes; and I will gain little by adding fresh detail.

All modelling needs compromises, and the Peco LK-735 yard crane seems to have more than its fair share. I have altered the model to improve on some, but I left it too late to improve on others.

View attachment 219025

Here is a list of details I know about this kit, to try to wrap up the last 35 posts in a coherent sort of way:

1. The use of a rolled steel joist (H beam I think) for the jib is unusual on this sort of crane, and I have used a length of maple instead.
2. The crane seems very large for a hand-operated machine and I have shortened the jib to a scale 24 feet.
3. The model takes its two jib stays onto spigots below the top pulley leaving the top part of the jib looking vulnerable to bending under load, and I have fitted longer stays reaching to the spindle of the pulley.
4. The supplied hook resembles something cut out of flat sheet material not a forging, and I have put a modified Meccano hook in its place.

and . . .
5. The model includes a peculiar “flanged area with a hole” near the foot of the jib stays and I haven’t found out what this represents.
6. The kit omits intermediate rollers to support a cable or chain between drum and top pulley, though these are straightforward to add.
7. The teeth on the gears are very coarse.
8. The mechanism seems unlikely to represent any prototype: the large gear wheel provides no mechanical advantage; the reduction ratio for the cranking handle is too small; and the effect of the brake (on the spindle of the winding drum) will be minimal.

Item 8 is of course the killer.

The model would look better and gain some mechanical credibility if the winding drum was on the spindle with the large gear. This would need alterations to other parts and I would want to prepare for this at the very beginning of the build. This arrangement needs some rollers hung between the jib stays (like the Ruthin crane), which I made and fitted but subsequently removed.

View attachment 219026
This should sit very happily on a layout until I decide I want something better, perhaps the Skytrex model.

Richard,

I think that will sit on the layout very well.

 

[garethashenden]

Would the jib have remained unpainted though? I would think that would quickly lead to degradation of the wood.

 

[Richard Gawler]

My paint jobs on the styrene-covered jib didn’t work out. The attempt at a wood effect was wrong, and overpainting it all in white looked too modern. So I decided to try real wood for the jib.

Would the jib have remained unpainted though? I would think that would quickly lead to degradation of the wood.

If we suppose the jib is of oak, perhaps elm or ash, these woods will last for years exposed to the elements as long as they are not buried in the ground. Indeed English elm was used for lock gates and their sills. From the photos I have seen, I think the application of white paint is a 20th century thing, and I have seen no other paint on timber jibs.

If you think the jib should be painted (in 1894), please do suggest some evidence to support this. I can then think it through, but the bare wood finish, intended to replicate oak, does fit in with my ideas for a newly-constructed railway.

 

[Richard Gawler]

There are a couple more pictures in the sequence at the same website, too.

There is a wealth of life and activity to see in these photos at Weymouth. Also one of the photos shows the sort of post and steel rail fencing I want to make.


Weymouth Dorset cargo ship unloading soldiers port harbour

This is 1900 but suits me for the 1890s.

 

[Richard Gawler]

. . .

Concrete can be a difficult colour to achive as it all depends on the cement/sand/aggregate mix. Modern concretes tend to be grey whereas older concretes start off as a cream colour but weather to all shades.

I usually start with a pale yellow/cream colour and add tiny amouts of pale browns to mix the colour I'm after. I also add a very tiny drop of red.

View attachment 218853

All my painting and washes is done with acrylics.

I admire this work a great deal, but in spite of the detailed recipe I ended up with a perfect rendition of Peach. So I have gone back to a method which has worked for me before.


This is Johnson's baby powder sprinkled onto wet gloss enamel paint and then left to dry out. The idea is from a book by Gordon Gravett, "Modelling Grassland, and Landscape Detailing" where the author repeatedly suggests ways of laying something granular onto something sticky.

I laid the paint rather thick (horizontal surface) and this brings some texture to the result. If I lay the paint more thinly I get a finer-looking result with a more even appearance, less blotchiness. The talc is white so the final colour is a muted version of the original paint. The paint is an old tin of Humbrol gloss, slightly stodgy and the talc soaks up a great deal of the wetness straight away.

Obviously this doesn't have the finesse of Dave's work but it has given me a result for this building floor.

 

[mswjr]

I like that, I have been trying to get a good concrete colour for ages, I would be very happy what you have done i am going to try your technique on my layout.

 

[Richard Gawler]

The waiting shelter has reached the lighting table on its way from workbench to layout.


The plinth is hardwood strips glued onto a card base and faced with embossed styrene. I cut notches all around the top and filled then with mortar colour to complete the bricks. I simply could not do this in a smaller scale. 7 mm scale lets me choose the compromises I want to make, smaller scales force them onto me.
.

The building is a light sliding fit into its plinth. I can fix it later with one or two shims.

 

[Richard Gawler]

This has lead me to sucumb to a second building from Narrow Minded Railworks, this one they intend to go with a ground frame.

I am pleased with how the waiting shelter turned out and this has led me to buy a second building from Narrow Minded Railworks. I envisage this as a telegraph office for Heybridge Basin. This model is a kit rather than a one-piece 3D print.


The kit includes alternative doors (left- and right-handed), laser-cut glazing and an MDF floor panel. I had already glued the floor panel onto the baseboard when I remembered to take a photo of the kit.


I didn't realise 3D printing could do this sort of detail

I mean, the finger holes in the dial on the telephone, the desk handles and the door furniture. The fire buckets are hollow so can be modelled to be holding clear water.

It seems, I need to make a Morse key to replace the telephones (wrong period) and paint the rest.

 

[simond]

Looks a bit modern to me, that phone. You want one of these…

 

[daifly]

Although invented in the 19th century, it wasn't until after WW1 that dial phones started to be common. Railways were far from the early adopters. My mother worked a GWR plug board in the late 1940s.

A candlestick phone might be appropriate for the period.

Dave

 

[Richard Gawler]

A candlestick phone might be appropriate for the period.

Yes but I think a Morse key would be easier to make!

I am some years before the first telephone system in Chelmsford (1903), and Heybridge Basin is a long way out into the sticks.

 

[40057]

I am pleased with how the waiting shelter turned out and this has led me to buy a second building from Narrow Minded Railworks. I envisage this as a telegraph office for Heybridge Basin. This model is a kit rather than a one-piece 3D print.

View attachment 219986
The kit includes alternative doors (left- and right-handed), laser-cut glazing and an MDF floor panel. I had already glued the floor panel onto the baseboard when I remembered to take a photo of the kit.

View attachment 219987
I didn't realise 3D printing could do this sort of detail

I mean, the finger holes in the dial on the telephone, the desk handles and the door furniture. The fire buckets are hollow so can be modelled to be holding clear water.

It seems, I need to make a Morse key to replace the telephones (wrong period) and paint the rest.

Those drawer handles look awfully 1940s/‘50s to me …

That’s not a Victorian desk.

 

[Richard Gawler]

I agree, the desk is wrong. On the bright side, I bought a spare chair for my private coach project.

I never found a period desk for the coach. When I find something suitable for the telegraph office I can buy two.