Leek station- an O Gauge project

Discussion in 'Specifically for scratch builds' started by York Paul, Sep 6, 2020.

  1. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    For a long while I've harboured a desire to build a detailed model of my home town railway station of Leek, the issue was the building was demolished nearly fifty years ago and no structural references of the stones actually still exist... that was until a small team of us pedantic researchers discovered a few little know elements still exist. all we had were photos to work from until it was found that some of the stonework had been incorporated into a self-build home and even more amazingly copies of several original estate plans relating to the North Staffordshire Railway extensions alterations and modifications were made available from an hitherto unknown private collection in the South of England. A visit to the self build to examine the stones and photograph them for texture reference and the long process of redrawing the plans to create a working drawing in 7mm scale began... at last we were in business as the estate plans represented proof beyond all expectations that it was possible we could model an exact size replication with only very minimal artistic license in Super Real detail. The model is to be constructed from laminations of architectural plasticard sheet and the intricate door and window mouldings will be 3D printed from some meticulous design craftsmanship by Andy Sollis but I'll let him add his own story here. Also a big thank you to Fruit when we sent him off to various obscure locations with a tape measure to get facts and for wandering around Morrison's supermarket car park looking completely lost whilst counting brick courses on the A52 road over railway bridge in order to gain some sort of a perspective for the model.

    Anyway I started by drawing the elevation plans for the Macclesfield platform waiting shelter, here is the end elevation showing the cantilever canopy overhang.


    [​IMG]

    So the project has now become "live" at last and progress has reached a point where we now have something tangible to report on, this diorama will take a long time to make but a start has now been made.

    Construction began making the buildings shell from sheets of 1.5 mm thickness Plasticard forming the basic carcass which will take the printed doors and windows wheere initial cut outs have already been made. This measures eight and a half inches wide by sixteen inches in length.


    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]



    The next part of the station I turned attention to was the Parcels Office and Booking Hall where a floor plan was drawn and this will allow me to measure and cut the various wall elevations. We think the best way is to cut the different wall sections out first marking them for the doors and windows then once fitted the various wall can be glued together and the stone coursing decor detail of each building can be added in as an overlay. other elements of the station will be the drawing up of the main waiting rooms and staff room, then the toilet areas with the glass atrium entrance awning and platform canopies. The water tower and the main road bridge along with the milk dock and horse landing will be added as features of this scene.


    [​IMG]

    That's all for now until the next development happens.

    Here is the drawing so far
     
  2. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    As follow on to Yorkies post, here are some brief bits about the doors and windows, which as you can imagine being wiped away 50 years ago, much is guesstimated from the drawings Paul has (and rescaled) or from the photo references. Sadly, nearby surviving structures actually differ. Cheddleton, the next station south surviving on the Churnet Valley has different windows and doors, so only offered a few standard dimensions for us as a reference.

    8687A69B-7D3B-493E-9F41-0ABE92590B11.jpeg

    So the first task was draw up a doorway. I started with a basic shape (and added in a flat panel to replicate the plasticard.) the door is a little unusual in having a curved/rounded top.

    6F013A57-5A31-4A60-A93A-2E6CFC163D23.jpeg
    Here is an early version of the door.
    70070461-3091-4CF8-AD25-EECFF06A2771.jpeg

    As this part was based on an example at Cheddleton, I drew up from photos I had there. Some of the doors at Leek have windows above, but Cheddleton has a double window as above, Leek’s were single square windows.
    E63493EA-88F2-4092-B3ED-0A5A9A3FE981.jpeg
    584148A1-FF4C-4748-9209-B8F7FDACB513.jpeg
    An early version again to work out how to incorporate the glazing, so the top window is in two half’s.
    85DC84EC-E48C-4489-ABE9-7953BB818D15.jpeg
    again an earlier version with the windows now drawn up before modifying for the Leek style which is a single top and two lower with a stone mid lintle.

    894D09BE-FC17-4C95-BC47-0A57D02999BE.jpeg
    A fair bit of adjustment later and here we have the Leek door and the single windows. There is also a 2 and 3 set to go with them in the building as well as door frames without the top windows.

    475F9BBE-0329-4C81-A59A-DD939EC14437.jpeg
    And finally, a test print of the single window front.
     
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  3. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Although not quite right yet and needing a revisit, a start was also made on the water tower tops. These are 4ft sections.
    02BFCF6D-F576-497F-87D4-FB5754188693.jpeg

    There is some work to adjust in the middle, the O being a little too small.

    but, it’s quite impressive when set up!

    E9465FE4-3D62-47E6-8AB9-A062AC85F328.jpeg

    hopefully we will have some items to print and test fit soon.
     
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  4. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    As we can see the cast iron water tank segments the actual design shape are not something which ordinarily is noticed but get it wrong and the whole structure looks wrong, thankfully we are very lucky because as a teenage self I took pictures of the water tank way back when in 1971 /2 before demolition. Another super find was aquiring a digital copy of an original NSR water tank build plan in watercolour on linen, this particular tank was located on the Biddulph Valley Line at Knipersley, the route of the line was from Milton Junction to Congleton Brunswick Street Wharf with a back spur connection to the Macclesfield - Stoke main line at Congleton Upper Junction. Ok so its not Leek but when I studied this document looking particularly in the method of underpinning and supporting the tank base to the walls the hitherto forgotten memory of how the Leek tank was suddenly came flooding back, now we can build an exact replication of the Leek water tank as it was because we have certain crucial measurements.
     
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  5. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Further on the windows, I can show some of the design work that went in to it. It’s not always clear from photos (shading and age etc) and drawings how things went. So we went through a number of versions where things were adjusted.


    First was the V shaped mullion(s)
    22E2ABC3-379F-42E8-B306-9E21FC810367.jpeg

    The outside was right, but the vertical mullion was totally wrong, so it was amended.
    461B18FF-D252-47F1-B167-035E40BC381F.jpeg

    We closed in more here with what the final version was, but now our mullion was too thick.

    15C9A923-4D78-41F0-9D22-EF94AD3C41EE.jpeg

    the final version for the mullion, but we then spotted that I had drawn the horizontal wrong.
    Effectively the 3 sides (vertices and top) should all be the same, with only the sill being slanted.
    E37CDE83-0567-426D-9FC7-60EF43554A68.jpeg
    This is a cross section of the mid horizontal.

    So we’re now happy with the design and ready to go to test print for sizes and any development “tweaks”.

    9F6BFDAF-04A0-4399-8443-847DC481F688.jpeg
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2020
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  6. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    I think it was well worth all the interrogation to get the shape as near to true as we possibly can given the time and effort involved, the final version of stone decor moulding around windows and doors is as close as we will ever be. Lets be honest when this model eventually goes to show who is ever going to know... we will have created a Super Real object which captures the spirit and essence of the real thing, that has to be correct for historical accuracy.
     
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  7. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Sorry appears I have a duplicate post.
     
  8. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    Was what is now the Barnfield industrial estate a few hundred yards past Morrisons in Leek part of railway land (sidings/goods sheds etc)? I worked on an extension to the ( Dairy Crest???) factory which fronts this estate about 10 years ago and it seems a sizeable area of flat land possibly repurposed from the railway.
    Keith.
     
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  9. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    That was the station site where Morrison’s now stands (well under the bridge)
     
  10. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    B92448C8-61DC-4E39-B829-FDBFB00F217F.jpeg

    8B4D344B-C79F-481D-85F1-894A7EBCD476.jpeg

    7BA469E4-152D-413A-B380-C7745107609D.jpeg

    Sorry, I don’t seem to have the photographers details recorded. (Although I suspect the first and second are John Burgess)

    I believe the signal box would fall somewhere within Morrison’s. They are both looking towards Manchester.

    the last is the removal of the goods shed prior to Morrison’s being built i believe.
    Sure Yorkie will chip in here and put me right?
     
  11. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Chaps that last view is looking south towards Alton Towers, Uttoxeter and Derby... the goods warehouse was a listed building ... i think in this very sad shot the only thing it is listing is to one side and total collapse. Apparently the warehouse alone without the 1880 office and the later beer landing was over 57 metres in length and 18 metres wide.
     
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  12. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    Hi Andy

    I've got the files and did a little re-arranging to get this on the build plate

    upload_2020-9-8_23-59-41.png

    I have recessed the holes for the door knobs and printing them seperately, there is always the possibility of getting the door handles made in lost wax brass castings, if so I would thicken up the riser to suit the casting process better.
    I've done the door and frame seperately to allow for doors to be open if required, and may make for easier painting.
    Estimated print time is approx 3.5 hours, will be interesting to see how long the printer would take.
    Hopefully will get a test print off at the weekend.

    Paul
     
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  13. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Look forward to seeing the results.

    I hope the door frames don’t warp with the door being removed.
    Don’t worry about the door handles, already spoke to Yorkie and they were due to be deleted on later versions.
    Have you left the door frame in on the stone section?
     
  14. Keith M

    Keith M Staff Member Moderator

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    It must have been quite a sizeable station/goods depot in it's day then considering there are a couple of derelict mill buildings almost in the town centre (on the right as you come into Leek from Ashbourne), and the pics show at least 4 other (perhaps mill) chimneys visible so there was presumably considerable goods traffic at least up until the onset of more lorry transport after WW1. That was the start of the slide away from goods transport by rail and onto the roads.
    Keith.
     
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  15. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Yes Keith it is called London Mill... not to mention all the other textile mills braid, yarn, silk and dye works in the town, Brittains Paper and Pulp at Cheddleton even though some of their traffic was handled at Cheddleton, there was also all the beer traffic hence the beer landing, the horse and cattle traffic, the coal traffic to the gas works, all the perishable produce and the sugar beet for cattle and corn consigned as Paul's Poultry Foods. Not to mention Market day traffic and sundries along with general cross town cartage and all the newspaper traffic.
     
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  16. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Taken from the road bridge looking south through the yard back towards Leek Brook etc. The platform extended back under the bridge towards rudyard.
    P-0815_068.jpg
    NSRC(1978) photo.
     
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  17. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    I realise I didn't put up a drawing of the final windows.

    door 56.jpg

    Here is the door with the top windows. Not all the doors had these fitted, and they ended just above the triangle stonework. Some doors also didnt have the windows fitted and were simple panelled doors.

    Window 16.jpg
    Here is the 3 bay window with the correct edging and mullions.

    Window 17.jpg
    and finally the single window as seen from the inside.
     
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  18. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    The square looking building to the right with the three metal brackets in the roof is the old parcel office and behind it out of view was the booking hall and clerks office, the three metal brackets carried the long wooden sign which Andy made saying LEEK PASSENGER STATION. The longer building behind the parcels office consisted of the general waiting room, the WH Smith bookstall and ladies room with lavatory, this was the part of the station which in 1912 as part of a expansion and modernisation program was totally rebuilt some fourteen feet back from the platform, notice the clean stonework below where the roof gully line becomes lower, this was because there once stood a beautiful cast column and glass roofed atrium entrance area which protected passengers from the harsh elements of Staffordshire weather. In the back ground can been seen the headshunts which were used as horse landings and cattle dock with a milk churn bay behind the building and obscured out of sight in the picture.
     
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  19. paul_l

    paul_l Staff Member Administrator

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    First test print results - 3h 24min



    I think I will add door step to retain the squareness of the sides and maybe re-attach the door. Also need to move the two frams further apart.

    Paul
     
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  20. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    I had similar results with the FDM.

    F98509A5-387F-45C6-BA78-857E27CA4C72.jpeg 559B660E-863F-4409-B633-49B01A6C9080.jpeg

    trouble is, I’ve done all my tolerances for a Shapeways printer.. I may need to adjust for yours, so any feedback great fully accepted.
     
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