Black Country Blues

[Old Gringo]

STEP BY STEP No.1. – THE INTERSECTION BRIDGE - RAILWAY OVER EXISTING CANAL

 

Although I had started these structures some months ago (as can be seen by the date of the first post), ballasting duties took over most of my modelling time throughout the month of December.  I began ballasting the track from the pub end (far right of the layout), as boards became available and it wasn’t until Christmas that the middle scenic board arrived.  After ballasting all this board, I was able to see how the plans for the railway and canal intersection bridge would work out on the model.  So, I’ll be taking this bridge first and describing how far I’ve got in the following posts.

 

The history behind the model:

 

The Grand Junction Railway arrived in the Black Country in 1837.  The Black Country Blues diorama assumes that our section of route was built soon after that date.  On the layout, the line crosses a river on a five-arch viaduct and then continues on a substantial embankment, running alongside a short flight of locks on a canal branch.  At the bottom of these locks, the railway crosses the main line of the canal (which follows the shallow river valley), on a skewed, single arch bridge burrowing beneath the full width of the embankment.

A step by step account of constructing this feature follows.

1. A general plan and elevation of this feature underline bridge was sketched out, based upon the colour photograph that appears in Simon Dewey’s book, “Wolverhampton’s Railways”.  The estimated dimensions to produce the plan, used a rail level to water level difference of 25 feet (100mm) and a canal and towpath maximum width of 35 feet (140mm).
2. Paper copies of the first draft plan were held up against the base board and first fix scenics.  The angle of intersection was reduced to 10 degrees, to miss the estimated positions of the under-board point motors.  There are some photographs of this somewhere in the other threads, with some of the team standing in front of the layout, all scratching their heads!
3. The rail level to water level was reduced to 90mm on account of employing shallower depths in the short flight of locks climbing alongside the embankment.  The plan was adjusted to agree with this change in height and the allocated space.

[trisonic]

Very nice, John.

Looks famliar to me - maybe it is like one over the River Wid on the GER mainline near Mountnessing. 

Your architectural drawings are as good as your paintings and just as satisfying to look at!

I'd really like a small one for my office wall (cheeky sod, says John).

 

Best, Pete.

Edited January 15, 2013 by trisonic

[Old Gringo]

4.  The details of the central arched section of the bridge were transferred onto a piece of 5mm thick foam board (overall size 250mm by 150mm). 

 

5.  The arch was carefully cut out from the foam board.

 

6.  Bracing strips were added to the rear of board, to avoid the foam board warping or twisting.

 

7.  Formers for the buttresses found on either side of arch were built up, using foam board triangles glued together.  This former was then faced with 1.5mm card strips to form a gentle curve.

 

8.  A sheet of .015 Plastikard, was stuck onto the front area of the arch.  This was used a base sheet, upon which other Plastikard elements could be built up – the arch, quoins, spandrels, and string course.

 

9.  A sheet of South Eastern Finecast English Bond Brickwork (SEFEBB- FBS402) was obtained and a piece was cut to the size of the area between the buttresses and above the arch (164mm by 56mm).  Then the curved area above the arch (where the rings support the span), was cut out, before poly-welding the remaining brick sheet into place.

 

10.  When building an arch, bricks are used on their edge, resulting in each ring of the arch measuring 4” deep.  Unfortunately, in the headers course on the SEFEBB sheet, the bricks are laid to match the stretcher course – so there will be a .33mm miss-match by using strips of this course for the arch rings.  However, I decided that this was the only way that I could produce the arch to match the drawing!  So, single strips were cut and poly-welded together to form the rows of the arch.

 

What the centre section looked like at this point and How the strips of the arch were built up can be seen in the first photograph of the bridge in post number one, taken by Chris in November.

 

[Old Gringo]

11.  Next the skew-back triangular support and then the quoins down the edge of the vertical abutments were shaped and poly-welded into place.

 

12.  The buttresses were finished by adding strips of SEFEBB onto the gently curved formers.

 

13.  String courses were added above the arch from 1mm plasticard and carried across the buttresses.  The strips were scored to represent stone blocks.

 

14.  The whole section was now finished in Tamiya acrylic (XF66) Light grey as a base undercoat and then the brick areas were dry-brushed with Precision Paints P954 Engineers’ Blue Brick.  The stone areas were painted with Tamiya acrylic (XF55) Deck tan as a base colour and dry-brushed with (XF 53) Neutral grey.  They will be weathered darker at a later date.

 

15.  A strip of capping stones was added, made from a laminate of two layers of 1mm plasticard. The top layer was shaped by attacks with my razor saw, knives, files and sandpaper.

 

16.  Pillar caps (about  6ft. by 3 ft.) were made by the same methods on three layer blocks of plasticard.  Tamiya Field grey (XF65) was used under the edges of the string courses, pillar caps and cappings.

 

Unfortunately, I appear to have misfiled a lot of the photos of these stages, but some of the processes are repeated later in the build!

[Old Gringo]

Soon after completing this centre section, the canal intersection baseboard was delivered for ballasting.  Whilst I had "track possession" and after completing the permanent way jobs, I had a chance to test fit the frontage and begin to install the structure. Here’s the space for the bridge.

 

17. A test fit established the centre section level and a check was made to make sure that the planned wing walls and the arch would fit..

 

18.  First the abutments to support this arch were made from 1/16” card, clad with SEFEBB and again all these parts were finished in grey primer and dry-brushed with Precision blue-brick.

 

19.  These parts were then taped to the frontage and then offered into the space beneath the track bed.  As the space available was a little larger – more strips of grey card had to be added to pack out the abutments.

 

20.  Next a card template was made for the arch.  As it is on a 10 degree skew, this proved a bit tricky!  The underside of the arch was again made, using 1/16” card and clad with SEFEBB. The edge sections were from SEF English Bond sheet FBS411 and these strips are set square to the edge of the arch.  The middle area was covered with the bricks running parallel to the abutments to form the arch.  I think that on a bridge with a greater skew than this example, the bricks in this section would be set at an angle to the abutments to turn the weight of the arch.  Perhaps, one of the engineers on the forum might explain this better.

[Old Gringo]

21.  I now had a kit of parts.  Time to try setting them in place!

 

22.  They were offered into the space and with lots of tape they seemed to fit!

 

23.  First the abutments were fixed and left to set overnight, as just like the real thing, they were going to have to take the force of the bendy skew arch.

 

 

24.  Then the morning came, when the arch was set between the abutments and whilst still able to be adjusted, the full centre section was fixed in place.  This was the fiddliest job I’ve done for years!  Against a thick bed of industrial strength goo, the centre section was set against the abutments and edge of the trackbed and two six inch nails pushed through the wing pieces.  Just inside the abutments beneath the string course two thin pins were carefully inserted through pre-drilled holes to hold this firmly against the edge of the trackbed and maintain the level.  Then the edge of the underside of the arch was pulled against the frontage and pressed together.  Amazingly it appeared to match!

 

25.  With plenty of masking tape making sure that all the joints were going to stay together – I walked away and left it to set for 24 hours. 

[Old Gringo]

26.  Before I’d fixed the centre section, I’d made templates for the wing walls.  So, the next job was to build them.

 

Both walls are a series of compound curves, curving horizontally to match the interface between the wall and the embankment and vertically to add strength whilst taking the weight of the bank.Of course the early Victorian engineers couldn’t resist adding style, by curving the tops in a lazy S, from level at the top and the bottom of the wall, where it is held in place by a pillar.

 

The left hand wing wall was built first, from card faced with SEFEBB plasticard, finished in the same manner as described earlier.

 

27.  Both wing walls required an end pillar.  On the left it was neat little job, 5 feet  long, 2 feet wide and 7 feet high, whereas on the right it was quite a lot taller.  I made the pillars separately, (from layers of card faced with SEFEBB) so that they could slot onto a tab, sticking out of the end of the walls.  A nice job to make in front of the telly!

 

28.  Now, because all the base-board sections and many of the signature features are being worked on simultaneously, sometimes adjustments have to be made.  The right hand wing wall is much larger, as it not only supported the embankment, but formed the boundary between railway and canal. 

 

The wall has a more gradual horizontal curve and is held in place by a taller end pillar.  I didn’t have the canal lock module, so I had to adjust the position of this pillar, so that it wouldn’t foul the canal section when it’s added later.

[Old Gringo]

29.  24 hours after fitting the centre section, both wing walls were added against a bed of industrial goo.  A pin was inserted to hold the top of the wall to the required level against the trackbed and some stirring sticks held the wall at the required angle and curvature.  This was checked by slotting on the end pillars, which should be vertical!

 

30.  Because the right hand wall is longer and on a gentler curve it was a lot easier to fit.

 

31.  It was time for the board to move on, so the cappings and pillars (made in the same manner as described earlier) will be added later to match the centre section.

 

32.  When I get the board back, I’ll tackle the rear of this intersection bridge.  In 1880, the industrial line was constructed and this would have entailed demolishing the original wing walls of the early main line and setting in a new section to accommodate the branch sidings.

 

By that date, the London & North Western Railway would have employed a simpler, more cost effective method of supporting the three new tracks over the canal.  We think that the engineers would have used wrought iron beams to span the canal, rather than matching the original skewed arch and finished the abutments with simple wing walls.  As there will be hardly any fiddly bits, it won’t take long!!!!

 

33.  And then finally, the bridge will be finished in shades of blue, grey, red, green and brown to match its location, all the other structures and our reference photographs.

 

Well, that's the story so far.

 

Next it's that tunnel, another great idea - at the drawing stage!!!!

 

As always there's lots still to do and lots more information to follow.

 

All the best,

 

John.

[Rich.B]

Probably operating out of the hot strip mill at Shotton, something like this Rich;

 

Shotton Steelworks 16a.jpg

 

A GUY Big J4T, with a tri-axle, coil carrying trailer, on super single tyres, in front of the Shotton blast furnaces. Undated, but definitely 1970's as the blast furnaces closed in 1979.

 

Shotton had a much higher reliance on road transport for its deliveries than any of the other strip mills, and had traditionally had a large customer base in the west midlands area.

 

Arthur

Hi Arthur,  Yep, that's the one .....was also one's with double axled but shorter trailers if memory serves me right, they were the one's that used to pass my parents house on the main A491 Stourbridge-Wolverhampton road with the round sheet coils on them but obviously roped & sheeted over back then.

 

Sometimes you would get two or more in convoy with one another, and crikey for older wagons they could certainly get a move on .

 

Cheers,

 

Rich.  

[Old Gringo]

Very nice, John.

Looks famliar to me - maybe it is like one over the River Wid on the GER mainline near Mountnessing. 

Your architectural drawings are as good as your paintings and just as satisfying to look at!

I'd really like a small one for my office wall (cheeky sod, says John).

 

Best, Pete.

Cheers Pete,

 

Glad you like the scribblings.

 

As you can see, I've been a bit busy over the last couple of weeks and have neglected my friends - apologies, as usual.

 

Send me a pm and I'll see what I can do after the February show.

 

All the very best,

 

John.

[trisonic]

Brilliant, John!

Now get some shut-eye.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Best, Pete.

[Old Gringo]

Brilliant, John!

Now get some shut-eye.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Best, Pete.

Damned good idea, old pal.

 

Played darts yesterday - local village derby - we won 6/2.

 

Hence came home and got stuck into posting all that stuff.

 

Should know better at our age!

 

All the very best,

 

Knackered Old G.

[trisonic]

People say Foamboard doesn't warp. I find that if unsupported it warps faster than an el cheapo guitar neck.........

I was really surprised about that.

Sweet Dreams...........................

 

Best, Pete.

[2ManySpams]

Very nice John, bit of a shock to see so much posted this morning - I thought I'd gone to bed late!

[2ManySpams]

Can I ask if the nails are a prototypical feature?

 

Pete, on the subject of drawings, John completed a pencil drawing of Towcester station for my father-in-law over Xmas. It's a beautiful piece of work and a JW original. Once he's done a sketch for you we can bump him off in a tragic accident involving masking tape, ballast and foamboard. The drawings will then be worth a fortune!

[trisonic]

Wot? You mean hide his body by incorporating it into the scenery?

Of course we could skip the big sleep by actually keeping him alive within the scenery by poking pies through a strategically placed hole and piping video of previous Dart Championships to a micro TV.

The waste output, which would be considerable, would be a major headache, though....

 

Best, Pete.     

[Stubby47]

Just put a wobbly box behind DitD...

[2ManySpams]

Andy, I showed No.1 daughter the photos of your Joey and she decided she could do better.

 

 

 

I'm worried what plans she has for the layout, after all it is in 'her' playroom...

 

 

 

I did try explaining the principles of scale and prototype fidelity, but apparently her models are prettier! 

 

[Old Gringo]

We've had a wobbly box behind DITD and at one gig, we had wobbly operators too!

[avonside1563]

I think we've found our 'Oss!

 

Chris, liking your half lock very much, putting my long drawn out efforts to shame, thinking I'm guilty of committing the old NHC catch of over engineering! Should be starting on the gates very soon once the locks are near to being finished.

 

Just a quick check to confirm the drop for each lock is 25mm at water level?

[Jason T]

Well, I think I have finished the shed. I have had a look through my bits box for suitable crap to go in the open part but have nothing that fits really, so I'll leave that to you guys (or anyone else who wants to volunteer - I am not good at detailing vehicles).

 

On one of the shots, there is slight planking on the slates which I only spotted when reviewing the shots; this has now been rectified. You will also (hopefully) note that I added the horizontal beams under the holes, which was fun to do (two pairs of tweezers were required).

 

Hope it is ok

 

 

 

 

 

[Jason T]

p.s. Any white spots seen on the roof are probably fag ash, as I was having a gasper when I took the photos

[keefr2]

Brilliant job!!

 

Keith

[2ManySpams]

Just the one gig?

[2ManySpams]

Very good Jason, many thanks for your contribution to the RMweb family project! I hope you've enjoyed the build.