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Brookhall Mill - A GNR(I) Micro Layout

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Patrick Davey

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This is where I am at close of business tonight.  Painting largely complete, just some touching up to be done then pointing with filler then an overall wash of dilute black to weather it. Then I have to fill in the two upper storey window openings - been researching and have decided on a corrugated iron louvre effect. Also need to find a way to make the doors openable……

 

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Managed to grab an hour or two today. Wasn’t totally happy with the paint finish so I have darkened it down a bit which has improved that I think, and I’ve also started working on the corrugated iron louvres for the upper windows.  I haven’t quite measured these properly so I might have to redo this later.  
 

Or maybe the irregular lines are more authentic? 

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Edited by Patrick Davey
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Well the louvres didn’t work….. they all fell apart! I had made a card frame for them to fit into but I don’t think the glue and the material liked each other 🤣 I had left it all overnight to cure but when I started adjusting it all this morning, it collapsed 🤣🤣

This small build really is putting up a big fight 🤣

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 19/6/2022 at 7:19 PM, Patrick Davey said:

Well the louvres didn’t work….. they all fell apart! I had made a card frame for them to fit into but I don’t think the glue and the material liked each other 🤣 I had left it all overnight to cure but when I started adjusting it all this morning, it collapsed 🤣🤣

This small build really is putting up a big fight 🤣

Would styrene be an option? Evergreen do corrugated "metal" sheets. It could be easier to build a frame from styrene strip and use strips of corrugated for the louvres all joined with solvent.

Cheers,

Mark

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At last - progress with the seemingly never-ending saga of the louvres…..

I ran out of corrugated tin though so an alternative from the Wills Range was used instead.  Still more work to do, might add more louvres to fill it in a bit more. 
 

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Edited by Patrick Davey
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Yet another change of direction for the louvres……. the Wills sheets weren’t quite co-operating, proving somewhat brittle and snapping when trimmed, something I have noted before if Wills sheets haven’t been used in a long time. Anyway, I had to resort to plain plasticard……. the old faithful never disappoints!

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

A TOTALLY FICTIONAL BUILDING…..

So far, all the buildings on Brookhall Mill have been built in the style of buildings which actually existed, most of which feature the GNR(I)’s polychromatic brick style, pioneered by WH Mills, the company’s first Chief Engineer.  As the main buildings were being completed I realised I had a small space remaining and this gave me an opportunity to try an experiment….you can tell me if you think it worked!!!

The WH Mills style always fascinated me, particularly as it was very adaptable, being identifiable in a range of structures across the GNR(I) network.  At the more modest end of the scale, there are small structures which have been built as add-ons to existing older station buildings such as at Drogheda and Oldcastle, then there are the very many distinctive small station buildings such as those at Dunleer, Ardee, Newtownstewart, and elsewhere, then at the grander end of the scale are the station buildings and locomotive works at Dundalk and also the GN headquarters buildings at Dublin Amiens Street.  The style may also be seen in locomotive sheds around the network such as at Adelaide and Bundoran, and of course in the ubiquitous signal cabins.  All these buildings and many more displayed a particular adaptation of the Mills style according to the function of the building, and it is a testament to the genius of Mills that he was able to create a style that united a range of vastly different structures.

So I have been wondering would it be possible to try out the style in a particular type of building which, as far as I am aware, never actually existed on the GNR(I).  I also have an interest in church architecture so I decided to try out the Mills style in a small church building.  There had to be a reason for having a church building in a mill so the idea is this: rural County Antrim would have had a lot of devout churchgoers, so what if some of them who also worked at Brookhall decided that they would like a space to worship, especially after a long shift ending early on a Sunday morning….. The mill management were just as interested in accommodating the spiritual needs of their staff as they were in accommodating their employment needs, so an agreement was reached with the GNR that if the staff could raise the necessary funds, then a small oratory could be built.  In an early display of ecumenical co-operation, Catholic & Protestant workers at the mill joined forces to raise the money from their home parishes, and the end result was the provision of a multi-faith oratory at Brookhall Mill - the only condition laid down by the GNR was that the building should be constructed in the familiar polychromatic brick style of WH Mills.

Looking forward to your thoughts!!!!!

 

 

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Edited by Patrick Davey
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10 minutes ago, Patrick Davey said:

Looking forward to your thoughts!!!!!

I can't speak for the likelihood of the Mills style on an ecclesiastical building, but it certainly looks very good to my eyes. I love the stained glass windows and the scroll-iron door hinge straps. Great work!

Cheers,
Mark

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The light from the window, reflected in the 'damp' setts - marvellous.

I can almost hear Ena Sharples on the harmonium at the Mission, with Minnie Caldwell's cat, Bobby, snoozing on the fence.

Edited by Broithe
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A bit of reconstruction took place over the past few days on Brookhall Mill.

Recently, this area had started to nag at me:

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I realised that the air aid shelter had been badly positioned.  It was making the middle siding inaccessible to longer vehicles and locomotives, and I had previously trimmed one of the corners to rectify this:

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The plan had always been to repair this at some point, then I realised that the only realistic solution would be to reposition the shelter, so I took a deep breath and it was duly excavated.  At least I know now that if the Luftwaffe had actually tried to bomb Brookhall, anyone in this shelter would have been quite safe:

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Linked to this work was the need to shorten the flat area in front of the office building:

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This would allow me to move the shelter closer to the office building and remove the issue of fouling the siding.

Then I filled in the previous opening with thick card.....

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...rebuilt the steps leading down from the office....

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...and repaired the shelter.  This time I decided there was no need to make a large structure and sink this into the board, instead I would depend on the positioning of scatter material and foliage to hide the shallow walls, although the access steps would still be sunk into the board to give the impression of depth:

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Scatter material added, and this will be left to dry thoroughly before painting and having foliage added:

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Looks neater now I think!  I also need to provide a water crane so the locos can drink from the tank atop the small boiler house...this will go to the right of the air raid shelter in the V between the platform road and the siding.

 

 

 

Edited by Patrick Davey
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Good plan, Patrick, although it’s hard taking up work already done well! The street version of those shelters were death traps, as the slab roof could collapse if the walls were hit by a blast wave. I have seen many shelters like yours over here and they were often surrounded by an earth bank, overgrown with grass, to soften the blast.

The NI Govt never seriously expected a raid as it was so distant, with relatively small targets compared to GB. As one Westminster official put it, it would be like a shoplifter walking through Harrods to do their pilfering in a corner shop! Sadly, when NIs meagre defences were tested they proved most inadequate. 

Edited by Galteemore
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