Worton Court

Worklist:

Continue on from last week.....

Well, that was the plan, but Stephen had taken one of Geoff's books on railways in quarries home the previous week and had found a photo that inspired him on two fronts.

Firstly, the projecting corrugated iron clad building could be incorporated into the scene, straddling the track as it enters the masons main building? Secondly, the roadway with check rails and lorries, was exactly as envisaged for the masons yard. 

Due to car problems, Laurence was a little late, so he found Geoff and Stephen deep into a discussion about how to recreate the scene. Working around the Peco plastic sleepers and oversized spikes was the issue. Thin plastic strip - flimsy and fiddly. Code 100 upright - trial notches were cut in the base of a short strip to avoid the spikes, but it became higher than the track rails due to wood-grain. This was to be avoided as it could prevent cleaning of the running rails or if level, whilst the running rails needed to be clean, the check rails really needed to be dirty - a height difference was needed. Code 100 on its side soldered to paxolin sleepers - nope. Code 70 flat-bottom - too fine. We needed chunky flat-bottom rail just under code 100. Geoff started rummaging and found the box he wanted. It was the remains of a large quantity of track sections with plastic ballast bases, bought for 50p. We were aware of code 83 rail, but this was 89/90 thou high. It was perfect, but there wasn't much and it was in lengths of 50-200mm. It was all stripped from the bases and the bottoms cleaned, ready for soldering. Geoff marked the sleeper spike positions and ground a section of the rail away to suit. Paxolin sleepers were packed in alternate gaps and the check rain soldered in place. It looked great.

We also discussed the guarding of the crossing, yard and roadways. Geoff was able to describe the probable requirements - no crossing gates, minimal yard enclosure/fencing etc. The area could be maintained fairly open, which was ideal.

Stephen drifted over to the engine shed and, after forming the section break at the doorway, fixed the rails spanning the inspection pit. A quick check in the control panel and under-board wiring strip confirmed the electrical connection to the shed section had still to be fitted, which it was.

The rails are stiff enough to support a model train, so would be operational for running sessions. Edgings, columns, bracing etc will be fitted in due course.

A long discussion ensued regarding the cottages. Stephen was concerned about the size of the paper mock-ups he'd produced previously in comparison to the industrial buildings. He'd drawn-up a new cottage from the booklet - 'Welsh Industrial Workers Housing 1775-1875'. This was smaller, with smaller windows, and the reduced details made the appearance much better. Q - were we looking at the front or rear of the cottages? The space between the engine shed and cottages was restricted, maybe not suitable for front doors? Furthermore, the path would be minimal, and would end up down in the stone yard. Geoff was adamant that the buildings drawn, although 'Fronts', were similar to the backs of some he'd seen alongside a North Wales NG railway line (with the addition of some kitchen plumbing!). Regarding the path, he explained that it would be quite normal for such a path to meander through a railway yard. The bottom dwelling could even be a larger managers house. It all sounded feasible.