Macton Waggon Diorama

michael mott

Western Thunderer
The work I started on the Crewe Pet has spawned a layout. I have space now inside the house, was able to use the spare bedroom that is in the basement which was full of stuff still not sorted since moving back to the city. The conditions for being able to use the room were that it still had to be able to store household stuff.

I put three boards together that are 4 feet x 2 feet and set them up along one wall they are free standing and are 44 inches high. I put a black curtain along the front so that household stuff could be stored underneath. The only other requirement was to add a bit of lighting so hung a couple of plug in Led type long lamps one over the workbench at one end of the room and the other over the boards.

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After thinking about what scale to build my layout I decided to go for a scale that will allow me to get into the minutia of detail that will satisfy my long winter evenings working on the scene or set as it were because this will obviously be limited in the scope of operating potential. I am more inclined to build than run stuff. That said I do want some movement and for it to be credible.
For convenience I will be using Peco O gauge flex track to represent an 18 inch narrow gauge type track. and some code 215 Llagas Creek flat bottom rail in some modified sleepers to represent the standard gauge track. Most of the standard gauge and narrow gauge track will be set into various materials to bring the surface up to the height of the rail-head. At the extreme left end of the layout the standard gauge track will be modeled up with proper sleepers and spikes.

A rough sketch of the layout.

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and some shots of a little playing with odd bits of track and some card to get a sense of the massing, Most of the backdrop will be the outside of the loco building facility with some interior at the right hand end .

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The large standard gauge loco will be mostly built up from card and plastic although it will be able to move with radio, as will the small 18 inch gauge locos. By using radio I won't have to fiddle with track wiring.

The standard gauge track is basically 4 inches and the overall scale is .070" = 1 inch so 56.5" = 3.955" or 100.45mm.
working at this scale will not strain my eyes, or fingers.

Michael
 

michael mott

Western Thunderer
Well after looking a bit deeper into the rail sizes I need to change them a lot so the 18 inch gauge rail will be the code .215" the rail head width being the determining factor, it will represent a width of 1 3/8" and the standard gauge track will be code .336" which represents a rail width of 1 7/8 or 40 lb rail., I can live with these sizes and as most of the rail will be buried either in the ground or by boards and sets I can live with that.

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I picked up some 1/2 inch rigid pink insulating foam today to use for the sub layer of the groundwork. along with some 1/8th and 1/4 inch MDF for building substrate.

Michael
 

michael mott

Western Thunderer
More thoughts about the layout and the credibility of the space, now that the rail sizes have been sorted I have simplified the plan so that it only shows the one main brick building with half inside and half outside with a couple of small sheds outside. by squaring up the building I can incorporate the overhead crane on the columns better

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Michael
 

michael mott

Western Thunderer
Working out the pattern for the brickwork using Engish Bond was not as easy as it looked here are the two c0urses looking through the plan of the window wall.
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First layer

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Second layer

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Combination to ensure that the layers interlock

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does this make sense to those of you who are familiar with Brickwork?

Thanks Michael
 

michael mott

Western Thunderer
cut out the backdrop wall today it is 1/4 inch hardboard that will have 140lb arches watercolor paper lain on as strips with the mortar spaces cut out to create the individual bricks, This is going to take a bit of time I think. The window frames could be wood or metal I am not sure yet which way to go.

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Michael
 

michael mott

Western Thunderer
Worked on the inside arch wall yesterday. it is 6 feet long and 21 inches high.DSCN1043x1024.jpg

The front layer is 5/8th with two 1/2 inch layers behind.

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The cross section drawing shows the position of the column and crane rails. the front edges will be curved so that the corner bricks will be rounded.

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Putting the bricks on seems to be a daunting task at this point , but I;m sure that once I get going it will flow steadily forward.

Michael
 

AdeMoore

Western Thunderer
Looks right Michael,
Was going to post at your first request but couldn’t find any decent reference pics.
Impressive thing your building.
Keep the updates coming.
Cheers
 

michael mott

Western Thunderer
Thanks AdeMoore
After thinking a lot more about the track plan and the logic of the two doors into the works and also wanting to be able to capture a scene like this one, with the small flats carrying a standard gauge wagon
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I have reworked the the track plan to consolidate them into one door and a dual track turn table inside the works.

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The turntable is 14 feet in diameter.

Michael
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
Very nice. You probably know that there are a couple of Crewe narrow gauge wagons preserved at the Crewe Heritage Centre. They are very basic in construction.
 

michael mott

Western Thunderer
Mike being on this side of the pond I have not been able to visit Crewe, but there are some good drawings in the Talbot /Taylor book along with some photographs, when I need a break from brick work I will tackle a couple of this small wagons.

Michael
 

Mike W

Western Thunderer
Sorry Michael, didn't realise you were so far away. The drawings are probably all you need as it was Clive Taylor who rescued the wagons and donated them to the museum. Almost certainly the same ones as drawn.

Mike
 

michael mott

Western Thunderer
Yes the Clive Taylor Edward Talbot book is a goldmine for me. As I cannot possibly do a real justice to the Crewe works My layout is really just catching a glimpse of the type of things that were incorporated in the long life of the works.

Michael
 

michael mott

Western Thunderer
It has been a busy week. First I decided to move out of the basement and out to the model workshop. this entailed a big reorganization of the workshop. these pictures tell their own story.

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Then back to the drawing board for the details of the brickwork. I am going to use an elliptical brick arch for the workshop entrance ans so doing a bit more research on the way the bricks are used to create a good arch with only three templets for cutting
the voussoirs. An old textbook on building construction gave me the correct information for striking the arch.

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Had to use a large magnifying glass to read some of the drawing. Here is the constructed arch.

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It was important to get the bricks laid out correctly for the entrance wall .

Some shots of the progress to date laying things out in the new space, it is much more comfortable in the model shop. and I do not have to go up and down lots of stairs.

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Also I have changed the roof orientation so that I can make the roof stronger even though the front side is open. using the sawtooth configuration allows for the structure to be properly supported on the back wall and on the columns.

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Time for some tea.

Michael
 

michael mott

Western Thunderer
The workshop needed a pit so a hole was cut and filled.

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The bases will be covered with two 1/2 inch layers of pink foam. so the top of the rial needed to be just above the surface of the foam.

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I also made a couple of gauges for the track.

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Also did a little experiment to see if the foam could be made to represent the stone sets in the floor. this was embossed with various tools to see which worked best including a 4B pencil, then chalked with some conte crayons.

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The 18 inch gauge will stop just a couple of feet short of the pit, it will also be inset of course.

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Michael
 
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