The train shed: Liverpool (Cheapside) G.W.R.

jonte

Western Thunderer
Thanks, Chum; here's hoping!
Currently, the dimension of my reward will consist of the view of clear blue skies, which will be achieved after getting out of the morose miasma that are the wiper pickups on the Gibson J15. I keep telling myself to go split axle, but - along with others - I seemingly never listen to what I'm saying :)

Cheers

Jan

You appear to be firmly lodged in Gibson purgatory, Jan. I feel your pain :(

I’m afraid split-what-nots are lost on me, Jan, but why not dig out the flex and take the blighter out into the beautiful Devonshire summer haze? A sort of halfway house perhaps.

On second thoughts.........

Keep on keeping on my friend, it will all be worth it in the end ;)

Jonte

PS....is there a piccie or two of the J15?
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Just a personal note that I feel it is a shame that all the fine detail work of the foof beams are now hidden away under the roof. In the words of Pendon Museum (re all the detail inside the buildings - which you can't see) "At least we know that it is there!" Great modelling. Cheers, Earl

Gosh! The mention of Pendon on one of my threads;)

It’s generous of you to say so, Earl, and I was tempted to go with it Swansea Victoria style, but it’s the gloomy atmosphere that I seek (that rather goes with my mood:( ) hence my mention of the interior being more important to me than the exterior. Additionally, this is no accurate scale build as you can tell (like me it’s more style than substance) and I always felt that it’s inadequacies would be glaringly obvious and detract somewhat from what I was trying to achieve. For instance, there’s a distinct lack of brackets at the junctions of each piece of metal work. I had considered making them from thin plasticard, but just like slating the roof, it would take a month of Sunday’s to achieve as there are so many joints, and as always I’m working against the clock.

I’m glad that you’re still kindly showing an interest, Earl, but the only sagely advice I can offer as a fellow forum member is: don’t do what I do!

Many thanks once again,

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Confused of Oakley calling - just where is Cheapside station in Liverpool?

Bewildered of Liverpool calling Confused of Oakley:

Cheapside is an area of the city bounded to the north by Tithebarn Street and Dale Street to the south. It currently resides firmly in the heart of the city’s business district, and is notorious for its Main Bridewell, an old jail that once housed Napoleonic prisoners of war.

However, try as you might Dog Star, your search will be in vain for any station of that name as it exists only in the furthest demented regions of what I suppose you could call my mind. But it’s an area in which I regularly seek sanctuary from life’s occasional toils, one where God’s wonderful really did visit these parts and where careworn locos and stock still ply their lowly trade between here and Chester via Warrington, on what was once the Liverpool and Warrington railway and probably the Mole of Edge Hill’s greatest enterprise.

Perhaps one day I’ll tell you all about it, Dog Star, if you’re interested ;)

Thanks for your interest,

Jonte
 

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Thank you for your response.

So close to Shaw's Brow then? ( which gives you something to ruffle when modelling gets tough )
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Knocks my effort on my canopy into a cocked hat. Wonderful modelling Jonte.

Don’t be so harsh on yourself, Alan. Louville is a delight to behold; a composition full of charm and character. I always look forward to updates.

On the other hand, I have created thus far approximately one third of a station which still isn’t complete and may yet collapse when I run that test I mentioned. Even so, it’s littered with errors and ham-fistedness which many friends on here, including yourself, have kindly overlooked when paying gratefully received compliments I believe I really don’t deserve. Worst of all, Alan, I fear my luck may be about to run out and I shall prove a massive disappointment.

Never mind, there’s always Louville to raise my spirits :)

Regards,

Jonte
 

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
This is all looking good Jonte :thumbs:.

In some ways it's a shame to cover the excellent delicate trusses. Perhaps some roof panels could be left off? - but not as many as on this photo of Liverpool Exchange in 1968 (from Disused Stations website Disused Stations: Sites List!).

liverpool(1968)exchange_old3.jpg
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
This is all looking good Jonte :thumbs:.

In some ways it's a shame to cover the excellent delicate trusses. Perhaps some roof panels could be left off? - but not as many as on this photo of Liverpool Exchange in 1968 (from Disused Stations website Disused Stations: Sites List!).

liverpool(1968)exchange_old3.jpg

Ah, yes. Liverpool Exchange. Just around the corner from my Cheapside station and the source of much inspiration :)

Kind of you to say so, Dave, and although I thought long and hard, it’s the shadows and gloom I seek cast by the seemingly ad hoc solution to getting rid of the smoke from under the canopy.

Sadly, I’m too far down the road now to consider removing any more ‘panels’ as that epoxy is darned strong stuff ;)

But thank you for your interest and kind compliment, Dave, especially that wonderful photo. Exchange: sadly missed.

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
“It’s all gone quiet over there.....”

Morning fellow Westerners. I admit the frequency of my posts has slowed of late, and although slightly distracted by the warm weather, I have been keeping my hand in on the ‘shed’ front.

Some piccies:

My interpretation of elderly roofing felt in the process of giving up the ghost and parting company with the stuff it’s been sitting on for more years than any of us care to remember:

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Weathered slightly but more still required. All three apex’s sport them.

The idea is that when whomever punched a hole in the roof to let out the smoke, they furled back some of the excess and secured them with creosote, rough sawn timber batons. Here’s my attempt at showing some of the felt unfurled and hanging down inside:

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Again, more weathering required.

The weathered creosoted batons drying in the morning sun following a thin dark wash, with a further wash/dry brush of dark green required:

17E84C46-DC35-40BF-AA0F-9DD801B62DB0.jpeg

Some more, untouched, roofing felt attached to balsa beam for ease of painting in background. These will be fixed above the two central beams located above the iron columns to hide the uneven gaps caused by the shoddy way I unsuccessfully tried to fit the rooves as intended.

Talking of errors and warm weather, I now realise that it was indeed a grave mistake to use card for my roof instead of thin ply. The increase in temperature has caused the card to expand and contract in places, warping one or two of my nickel silver beams in the process. The result can be seen in the upper beam in this shot:

B31A0CEC-E989-4892-99EF-477D2E1ED163.jpeg

Ah well, too late now. Perhaps when the weather eventually returns to normal, it’ll pop back into shape. If not, c’est la vie.

Thanks for looking,

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
A brief update, fellow Westerners.

A picture of the rough sawn batons, shown in my last post, in place on the centre and adjacent roof sections:

7B2364EC-EEEF-4A1B-8BE3-03184C59B3CD.jpeg

I’m mindful of not overdoing the haphazard look, so just one or two at jaunty angles plus the odd one gone AWOL.
Although dark washed, they still look a tad anaemic despite additional washes, so further washes required I fear.

Please note also the additions to the ‘valleys’. Originally intended to use brass tubing with ‘biscuit joins’ to bolster the assembly, but once fabricated and tried in place, I rather thought they were a case of a hammer to crack a walnut so opted for balsa batons which should prove a little more kindly to the ‘felt’ coverings (masking tape) on the rooves. They seem to have imparted a lot more strength to the build and being lighter, should ease the impact on the rather delicate frame beneath. Finally covered in more ‘felt’ to match, the whole felting on the apexes will receive further weathering treatment in an attempt to blend them in.

New Boards:

74A8D7D0-C385-44DB-9AE8-3722EF7A04C1.jpeg 25645976-A783-49D8-8E93-F99A190A3396.jpeg

Bit of a nuisance having to build them off the model but will make the distressing easier (oxymoron?). Sporting a weathered wood look, they’re just a temporary fit while the glue joining the boards at their apexes sets at the correct angles. Peeling top coat to follow and hollows in roof to rear to be addressed.

They’re a little deep to say the least (measured against the roof edge at its highest datum) but serve to hide the errors made when fitting the roof. Never mind. The centre ones have also been made but thankfully aren’t joined.

That’s all for now, Westerners.

Regards,

Jonte
 

Lightman

Active Member
Brilliant modelling! The rooves/Roofs look very realistic and if you didn't know they were a model you could believe that they were the real thig. I like the overhanging unfurling roofing felt. Very good. (when writing for a magazine article once, I was taken to task about using the spelling rooves! I changed the spelling and when the article appeared it was the original spelling - rooves! English is a wierd language (says the ex americian - me. They can't spell over there anyway)) Cheers, Earl
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
High praise indeed, Earl, thank you.

Glad you like the ‘felt’. Came in handy in some places to hide unwanted gaps too :(

As a pre-Victorian building, I doubt the felt was original (its earliest noted use to protect temporary homes for miners during the Klondike!) although I’d like to believe it yet another wonderful innovation by the resourceful Mr. Williamson :)

Yep, English is rather a challenge and one I’ve yet to surmount although ‘good’ English, apparently, merely requires the writer/speaker to make their point as clearly and simply as possible without beating around the bush. That’s me out, then!

Thanks again for your interest and compliment, Earl.

Jonte
 

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
All looking Jonte - especially the felt and odd missing batten.

I wouldn't worry about gaps, mismatches and warping providing the structure is secure and stable. These all add to the air of dereliction.
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
All looking Jonte - especially the felt and odd missing batten.

I wouldn't worry about gaps, mismatches and warping providing the structure is secure and stable. These all add to the air of dereliction.

Kind of you to say so, Dave.

Thank you.

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Currently in process of building a 3 ply, 1/4” balsa, 3 sided frame for the shed which should help with combating torsional forces when lifting, while keeping weight down. Will also help with locating the roof on top of the lower level station structure when built:

DCEF24C9-041E-41DD-B77F-FE089D42DF86.jpeg
Just 2 ply at this stage, successive layers interlock for additional strength.

6184C42F-AE98-4EBF-8679-F5222FF3B82E.jpeg

Transpired that the balsa lengths I bought were warped at the edges. Guess when I found that out? Luckily for me the shop didn’t have the requisite number of lengths required so the extra lengths needed were catered for with balsa sheet of the same thickness which I cut into required lengths/ widths. Thankfully the edges of the sheets were true. I shall have to allow for the ‘out-of-true’ edges when I come to build the shells for the buildings on which the ‘shed’ will rest.

BD234FC2-E980-4639-B0A5-B89A8C591741.jpeg

A close-up of the ‘lip’ on the rear edge which will help with location. Not much meat, I know, but painting the balsa frame should help prevent movement due to atmospherics.

The glue (2 part epoxy to roof, PVA for intermediate layers) should have gone off now by now so back to work, fellow Westerners.

Regards,

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Hello fellow Westerners.

I’m pleased to report that the three-ply frame is finished and primed with two coats of wood primer.

359963D4-FA32-4E52-9BE8-3CE861BB043D.jpeg 1BBB021C-30EA-4687-BF74-D6ABFB8574A0.jpeg

I rather like the contrast with the roof. As it will be hidden by buildings eventually, I’m not proposing to paint it further.

A handy handle to help with lifting:

BCF424D2-086B-4B65-ABDD-5F8BC1A6D022.jpeg

It’s getting rather heavy now but for all that, feels a little more robust than just the original soldered frame.

Thanks for looking.

Jonte
 

jonte

Western Thunderer
Apologies, fellow Westerners, for plying you with yet more poorly taken shots of the shed, as it hadn’t been my intention. However, as I merely took them to see what the new ‘boards’ looked like after fixing them in place last night, I thought oh well, might as well share them by way of an update if nothing else. Don’t worry, hopefully not much further to go now.

600FC992-EA03-4BFA-B5FC-1DE0A7413CC2.jpeg

Still not sure whether the unsupported front end will hold up, hence the ‘chock’:

2D8802B3-C64E-49E5-B128-7C9E9C2C9A63.jpeg

I doubt whether the boards would have been left in their ‘scraped-down, yet to be repainted’ condition, however, it just appealed. Sums it all up, I suppose.

Still traces of dark stone paint in places if you look hard enough e.g.:

4562CE37-7C1E-444C-9225-DF6C5B567D6A.jpeg

Elsewhere, I ran out of those timber lengths that are doing a less than competent job of holding the turned back roofing felt in place at the apexes, so fabricated some more. ( Photo of same in following post).

With the ‘final test’ of strength in mind, and just to test the atmosphere inside, I cobbled together a grey board frame for the purpose (again, see following post for photo). I will eventually build something more permanent along the same lines, the faces of the frame being laminated with the station walls/building frontispieces. Well, that’s the idea.

Hopefully, my next bulletin will see the build completed.

Regards to all,

Jonte.
 
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