building the Glenthorne Harbour
conceptual drawing of the harbour
Glenthorne is not one of those cutesy harbours like
Clovelli but a hard working coal port, bringing in South Wales coal for the
area. It is dirty, covered with coal dust and not a listed building in sight!
Some commercial fishing operates from here and at times, general cargo is
offloaded. The part of the port depicted is the coal handling facility. It is a
reminder of the other side of the 1930s. If you were a Bertie Wooster, you would
be holed up at the Glenthorne Hotel having driven down from London in your
Lagonda. Life was not at all as pleasant for those working at the port.
The Glenthorne Harbour Authority also operates its
own collier, the Glenthorne Rose. Its name belies its 1896 origin and the fact
that it is now nothing but a rustbucket! It plies from Newport, South Wales to
Glenthorne and back and probably, by now, knows the way on its own!
Construction of the baseboard began in earnest in
early July 2008. Rather foolishly, we really pushed the boat out to get it
finished for EXPONG 2008. In the end, the show was one of two which we wished we
had never bothered with.
The temporary end loop was dismantled and the plywood base was
adapted to fit inside of the new baseboard. The track base of the harbour branch
was fitted to continue with the 1:40 grade as far as the exit through the tunnel
cliff portal which brings the track down to the level of the harbour.
The cross members under the port itself were then
fitted. This is when I had a bit of trouble with uphill water! The sea level was
1/2" higher than the East Lyn River on the next board. It all had to come apart
again and the baseboard sea level re-cut.
the completed baseboard being prepared for painting
the hidden loops under the cliff
The first thing to build was the cliff. Being
concerned with weight, we used blue foam, normally used for building
composite aircraft. Having stuck the lumps in place with a hot glue gun,
the shape was obtained using an electric drill with a 3/8" bit. It is
about the messiest job I know and it is not a good thing to do on a windy
day! For days we found blue foam granules, in the toilet, sofa, corn
flakes and cat!
the cliff ready for coating
The cliff was coated in Polyfilla, carved and
detailed and the harbour walls completed. The uprights showing in the
photo below will support the backdrop.
The outer sea wall is largely complete and
railing are being fitted. - click on image to enlarge
the
coal wharf walls finished with a rather uncomfortable reminder of the
'Black Shirts' of that era. The lines under water will represent keel
scrapes once the water has been built up. At this point, only one coat of
'water' has been added.
- click on image to enlarge
The track was then laid
and wired up and finally set in plaster to simulate tram track.
The bollards and coal piles are in and the first coat of 'water'. The
finish round the coal hopefully represent coal dust which has been
brushed. - click on image to enlarge
click on image to enlarge
The buildings were
constructed from plaster castings from Townscene, detailed and fitted into
place. Following full detailing, the collier was built and fitted.
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