The Burford Branch

[Le Corbusier]

I think this has always been pretty widespread in industry, and also in the construction industry. (Getting builders to follow the architect's drawings in detail and with complete accuracy is like trying to herd cats!)

Giving a personal perspective ... As one who produces such drawings ... in reality there can be a fair few ways of skinning said cat. I will often draw what I am trying to achieve and show a method by which it might be achieved - the next stage is the specialist subcontractor's rods. At this point I normally visit the drafting offices and discuss things with the 'experts'. They often have much practical knowledge and experience to add.

[Phil O]

One of the first proper jobs I got given as an apperntice, was to manufacture a set of (marine) boiler gauge boards from the supplied drawing, I marked out the overall size and started adding the centre lines for each row of gauges and had I cut the board out and then marked out the gauge positions I would have run out of plate with a row and a half to go. The next drawing I got was nothing like the first. Another job I got lumbered with was sorting out how to fit a new incinerator into a compartment, all was fine and dandy on paper, but the only way we would get it in would be to either cut a hole in the ships side or narrow the passage down to 2 foot wide. This was supposed to be a class fit of 8 or 10 boats at that time, a new smaller incinerator turned up about 8 weeks later.

Cheers

Phil.

[johndarch]

[/quote]
Giving a personal perspective ... As one who produces such drawings ... in reality there can be a fair few ways of skinning said cat. I will often draw what I am trying to achieve and show a method by which it might be achieved - the next stage is the specialist subcontractor's rods. At this point I normally visit the drafting offices and discuss things with the 'experts'. They often have much practical knowledge and experience to add. [/quote]

Ah Tim, an enlightened Architect!

[Le Corbusier]

Giving a personal perspective ... As one who produces such drawings ... in reality there can be a fair few ways of skinning said cat. I will often draw what I am trying to achieve and show a method by which it might be achieved - the next stage is the specialist subcontractor's rods. At this point I normally visit the drafting offices and discuss things with the 'experts'. They often have much practical knowledge and experience to add.

Ah Tim, an enlightened Architect!

I find it also means that every one is invested in the project and looking to be proud of the outcome. We are lucky enough to work with some really skilled craftsman and it would be mad to think I know more about their craft than they do. The fascinating thing is that by developing a close dialogue I can then design to a skillset that otherwise I would never have known existed.

But I digress .... back to Burford

[martin goodall]

Yes. Back to Burford. I really do seem to have set a hare running with my remark about taking measurements from the model rather than the drawings, once you have got beyond the earliest stage of assembly.

Admittedly, the work on the layout is unvarying at the moment, concentrating exclusively on the construction of the bridge over the station throat, but I have resolved not to fall into my usual habit of breaking off to do something else, and then leaving the model uncompleted for several years before getting back to it. This time, I am going to get it finished.

Getting bored and turning to other projects accounts for too many uncompleted models, both buildings and rolling stock. The earliest building to be started on the Burford Branch was the Goods Shed (in 1992); it is still only in an early stage of construction, 28 years later! The buildings in Station Road and beyond the end of the station were started in 1994. They are still only bare shells with card roof mock-ups, with the exception of the Great Western Hotel, which is a bit more advanced, but still far from finished.

As for rolling stock, the 4-coach train of close-coupled 4-wheel coaches glimpsed beyond the bridge in one of the recent photos was started in 1975(!!!!). I still haven't completed the glazing and various other details. Other rolling stock is in a similar condition.

So Tim and others may be forgiven for the occasional digression to relieve the monotony!

[martin goodall]

Adding the parapets to the bridge has proved to be surprisingly time consuming, due in large part to the incorporation of pilasters above the buttresses. This was an optional extra – not all bridges had them; in quite a few cases, the parapet above the buttresses was plain and unadorned. My reason for choosing to add pilasters was that they would largely eliminate butt joints in the stone facing on the parapet. I had bargained without the extra work that this involves, but the pilasters do add something to the character of the structure.

The last photo I posted showed the outside of the parapet on the Down side of the bridge. The outside of the parapet on the Up side was similarly dealt with before I then added stone facing to the inside of the parapet on the Down side. The photo below shows this after completion of the stone facing but before the addition of the stone capping.

Seen from above, before the addition of the stone capping, the sandwich construction of the parapet is clearly visible.

The stone capping was fashioned from Evergreen strip. The easiest way of producing the larger caps over the pilasters was to stick three layers of slightly thicker Evergreen strip together in each case. I reckoned this would be easier and more accurate than using horizontal laminations of styrene sheet. The caps over the pilasters are slightly thicker (2.5 mm) than the capping over the plain parapet (2 mm).

[The missing stone facing on the left of the photo above will be added when I also build the wing walls, but this will be dealt with at a later stage.]

The next job will be to deal with the inside of the parapet on the Up side of the bridge in the same way. This really has turned out to be a rather time-consuming project.

[Andy W]

Time consuming but rather wonderful.

[martin goodall]

Thanks, Andy.

I'm reasonably pleased at the way the model is turning out (but am acutely aware of the errors, particularly the slight misalignment of some parts of the capping on the parapet - I may have to rework these bits). In the end, though, the success or failure of this model is going to depend largely on the painting and weathering of the model.

One thing I meant to explain is the apparently hanging end buttress seen in one of the photos. The only reason for this is that most of this buttress below the string course will be concealed by the embankment on the approach to the bridge. (There's no point in modelling components or details that won't be seen.)

[martin goodall]

Back to ‘Plan A’

With the coronavirus restrictions about to be eased, the Big Move is back on, after three months’ enforced delay.

I have made good use of the time while we were all largely confined to barracks, although I have hardly dented my long list of ‘Things To Do’. (To be realistic, they comprised at least two yearsworth of model-making, so it is hardly surprising that I have not managed to touch most of them.)

I have nevertheless made good progress on the overline bridge, which turned out to be a far more time-consuming project than I had expected. The parapets are finally complete, but further work on the bridge will now have to be deferred until the layout is re-erected in its new home, leaving the wing walls and adjoining stone panels to be completed at a later date, to be followed by the approach embankment.

These two shots show the completed parapet on the Up side of the bridge.

I was careful to keep the capping in line on this side of the bridge. (I managed to ‘fudge’ the out-of-line capping on the Down side of the bridge by judicious filing.)

The bridge will now be removed from the layout, and final dismantling can take place at last. The next news will cover the resumed dismantling process and the final delivery of the layout to its new home (I hope).

[JFS]

The bridge will now be removed from the layout, and final dismantling can take place at last. The next news will cover the resumed dismantling process and the final delivery of the layout to its new home (I hope).

Lovely work as ever Martin. Fingers crossed for the next phase - good luck!

Best Wishes,

[martin goodall]

Thanks for your good wishes, Howard.

I wrote yesterday that the next news from ‘Burford’ would consist of the resumed dismantling process ; but yesterday evening, I decided while the baseboards were still in place, to take a last-minute opportunity to set the Water Tank on its legs.

The feet are located on ‘spigots’ which have been planted in the ground, so the correct positioning of these legs under the tank is critical. I ensured the perpendicularity of the legs by viewing them from all directions, and with the legs now in place, I shall be able to make further progress on this structure off the layout, after the baseboards have been removed. My aim is to continue working on various buildings and structures for the layout at those times when I can’t work on the layout infrastructure itself.

[martin goodall]

Final preparations for dismantling the baseboards have now been completed.

The joint in the middle of the backscene is disguised by the chimney of the Blanket Mill, and a plume of smoke issuing from the chimney. The chimney is modelled from card in very low relief.

The chimney is fixed to the backscene by small squares of double-sided tape, and was carefully prised off with a thin palette knife. The smoke is supplemented by thinly teased out cotton wool (which my wife thinks looks really naff). The cotton wool is not stuck to the backscene; it adheres simply by molecular attraction / static electricity. So it was a simple matter to pull the cotton wool off the backscene. The painted smoke doesn’t look too bad by itself, so I might make do without the cotton wool in future, subject perhaps to some minor touching up of the painted smoke.

I had literally papered over the crack, and so the paper had to be cut through with a craft knife in order to enable the two main parts of the backscene to be separated. (I have yet to devise a means of disguising the other joint in the backscene towards the left-hand end of the layout, but the gasworks chimney will be positioned immediately below that joint. I may resort to a similar subterfuge there, although I will have to arrange it in a different way, so as to avoid its looking the same as the other joint.)

When disconnecting the wiring, I had omitted to undo the cross-baseboard connections. These take the form of improvised plugged choc blocks (which I may replace with proper plugged choc blocks); so these were now pulled apart.

All remaining items were then removed from the baseboard (various miscellaneous detritus that really had no business being dumped there), and the baseboard was given a long-overdue sweep with the vacuum cleaner.

The next task will be removing the two white chests of drawers that sit beneath the layout, together with the desk that abuts the layout at one end, followed by various bits and pieces which have been stored under the back of the layout. This should free up enough room to separate the baseboards and take off the backscenes.

[martin goodall]

With chests of drawers and other items of furniture removed from the railway room, dismantling of the layout could commence.

The first component to be removed was the smallest of the three baseboards (‘Baseboard C’), together with its backscene. The legs were removed after this shot was taken.

Next, the two halves of the lightweight baseboard extension that supports the brewery yard and surrounding brewery buildings were removed.

The second baseboard (‘Baseboard B’) was then separated from its neighbour and moved into the middle of the room so that its backscene could be removed. This was secured with clamps while the fixing screws were removed.

The clamps were removed, and with the help of my wife, the backscene was lifted off.

The remaining baseboard (‘Baseboard A’) was dealt with in the same way.

‘Baseboard B’ was laid on its back, so that its legs could be removed.

The legs of ‘Baseboard A’ were removed next.

Spacing pieces were now fixed to the baseboard frames to make the two main baseboards into a box for transport. Pieces of ply sheet have also been fixed across the ends of the baseboards to protect the exposed ends of the track at the baseboard joints.

The other job that remains to be done is to fix hardboard sheets to the undersides of the baseboards to protect the wiring and various electrical equipment fixed under the layout.

[Dave K]

Martin,

I’ve been following the dismantling of the layout with interest but can you tell me what is the material you have used for the backscene.

Dave

[martin goodall]

The backscene is standard 3mm hardboard. It is curved naturally (as the curve radius is fairly generous) - so there was no need to use water or steam to bend it.

It comprises 2-foot wide sheet, so it stands about 21" high above the baseboard surface, and is screwed to the baseboard frame (with the smooth side facing to the front), with one or two extra supports where necessary.

It was primed using household white emulsion, and then painted with artists' acrylics.

One of the jobs awaiting completion is to wrap the backscenes in bubblewrap to protect them during transport.

I have had to turn to other things this week, so it is unlikely that I shall get back to final packing of the layout until next week.

[martin goodall]

The final job before the removers come was to screw fibre board to the underside of the two main baseboards to protect the wiring and fittings (such as electro-magnets).

………and then to wrap the backscenes in bubble-wrap to avoid their being scraped while they are moved.

A moving date for the layout has now been agreed; some of the smaller parts of the layout have already been transported to their new home, and I will report further after Moving Day itself has been and gone. I’m just praying for good weather that day, as making the move in the rain would be a total nightmare.

[Philip Hall]

Good luck with the move, Martin, I don’t envy you. I wouldn’t want to do all that again - once was enough. You’ve done some good protective work, and I do like seeing a proper hand drill in use again!

Philip

[martin goodall]

Thanks, Philip. Fingers crossed.

I bought the hand drill (at least 55 years ago!) from Woolworth's, of late blessed memory. It's still useful for some drilling jobs where an electric drill would be too fast or too fierce. This was a good example - drilling blind pilot holes for wood screws in softwood.

The layout is now all trussed up and 'oven-ready' (as Bojo the Clown would put it), but there are various other items to be packed up which will be moved at the same time. This isn't a complete house move yet, but we are taking the opportunity to move a number of items at this stage, which will make things easier when the final move takes place at a later date.

[martin goodall]

Avoirdupois

A couple of weeks ago I boasted that the layout was now all trussed up and 'oven-ready' for its forthcoming move, but this proved to be no more accurate than Bojo the Clown’s claims about his Brexit deal.

The layout had been successfully transported in this form on previous occasions, but when we tried lifting it, it became clear that the layout had put on some weight since its last house move (rather like its owner).

As there was still more than a fortnight to go before moving day, there was time for a re-think, and the answer was clearly to separate the two main baseboards and to provide each of them with their own protective cover.

Two side pieces were cut for each baseboard from some plywood sheet I had to hand. I then screwed 2 x 1 battens to the plywood sides to which the new top covers could be screwed.

Baseboard A was dealt with first.

When boxed up, this was the new slim-line version of Baseboard A, ready for the move.

Baseboard B was then dealt with in the same way, starting with the ply side pieces.

The top cover was then screwed to the bearers to complete the box.

The two main baseboards now form separate boxes, and will be rather more portable and manoeuvrable than the original arrangement.

Moving Day is now only a few days away; the weather forecast is looking good, and so by next week all the component parts of the layout should be safely in their new home, although it may be a few weeks before re-assembly can get under way..

[myoxall]

Modelling - NOT POLITICS please

[martin goodall]

Politics? No, not really. Just a passing analogy (but an accurate one, nonetheless, for which no apology is offered).

[martin goodall]

Moving Day

Moving day was hot, hot, hot! But at least it was dry all day. And it all went quickly and smoothly.

The removal crew arrived promptly and got straight on with loading.

The layout, various book cases, tables, chairs and other paraphernalia were all loaded in about 75 minutes………..
………. and two hours later, unloading was under way at the other end.

After another 75 minutes, everything had been emptied into its allotted rooms, just 4½ hours from the word ‘Go’, and the removal men were off to another removal job in Oxford.

I mentioned several months ago that emptying the old railway room was like emptying Tutankhamun’s tomb. But everything had had to be piled in there in the first place. So the scene when the removal men had departed was one that might have been familiar to Howard Carter.

While I reorganised the railway library in its new home, my wife very kindly produced some order out of the apparent chaos in the railway room.

I shan’t be able to do anything with the layout for the next week or so, due to other commitments, but I have placed the first of the baseboards on a convenient work surface, with a view to making an early start on the planned changes to the wiring and electrical arrangements.

[BrockleyAndrew]

Good to see the move went well. Very much enjoyed the King Tut references. Was there, in your dismantled railway room, "gold - everywhere the glint of gold", or more the exotic gleam of steel rail!

Andrew

[philip-griffiths]

Moved daughter to Cirencester this week so totally understand the hot hot hot. Not a great week to be lugging furniture around. I should also now ask for a degree in Ikea assembly....

[martin goodall]

Was there, in your dismantled railway room, "gold - everywhere the glint of gold", or more the exotic gleam of steel rail!

Andrew

I wish! No, only the dull sheen of oxidised nickel-silver rail, which will need cleaning before any trains run on it..