Garden Railway Forum

Just putting the finishing touches to some coal bins at Beeston market station.





As you can see from this photo - I still have to complete the coal yard and the station approach in the background.


A quickie question. I'm sure, in my days as a 00 modeller, these were often referred to as coal staithes - and yet I'm now beginning to wonder if a staithe is really where coal was loaded into ships .... What is your understanding of this term??

Rik

Round here, Suffolk and Norfolk, a place with 'staithe' in the name tends to be a place where boats and barges can load and unload cargo.
According to Concise Oxford Dictionary this is the case in the north and east of England.
However, if I were to hear a reference to a 'coal staithe' I would have in my mind the sort of thing you've made a brilliant model of.

Thanks Andy
It was a recent visit to Norfolk that got me thinking about what exactly a 'staithe' was. Up until now I've always referred to these 'bin' things as staithes - and then I saw a photo online which referred to them as bins - hence my moment of doubt.

Rik

Rik,

They are absolutely beautiful. I had to do a treble take on the second photo to convince myself it was a model not a 12" to the foot prototype!

Regarding the term, I've always known them as coal staithes too. If a staithe is somewhere where loads are transferred from one means of transport to another it all makes sense. That may be road or rail to ship, but can equally be rail to road! I've a feeling I've seen sectional appendix entries, or rather Local Instructions entries, referring to staithes.

Great work Rik, all the better for being clearly built to suit the vehicles in use on the railway. well done.

All the best,

Andrew

Soar Valley Light:111615 wrote:Rik,

They are absolutely beautiful. I had to do a treble take on the second photo to convince myself it was a model not a 12" to the foot prototype!

Regarding the term, I've always known them as coal staithes too. If a staithe is somewhere where loads are transferred from one means of transport to another it all makes sense. That may be road or rail to ship, but can equally be rail to road! I've a feeling I've seen sectional appendix entries, or rather Local Instructions entries, referring to staithes.

Great work Rik, all the better for being clearly built to suit the vehicles in use on the railway. well done.

All the best,

Andrew

Thanks Andrew.
I'm glad you liked the second photo. I am particularly pleased with the way this turned out which is one reason I featured it. More by luck than judgement, I'm afraid.

Rik

Absolutely superb....... I am in the process of building a coal yard too but I have no doubt the end result will not come up to the standard of yours.
Just brilliantly realistic and well used appearance.

Peter Butler:111619 wrote:Absolutely superb.......  I am in the process of building a coal yard too but I have no doubt the end result will not come up to the standard of yours.
Just brilliantly realistic and well used appearance.

Wow, thanks Peter.
I have little doubt your coal yard will be great. I expect I'll be pinching some of your ideas to finish off my yard - eg your coal merchant's office. That'what's so good about this forum, we can share experiences and ideas.

Rik

That is certainly a scene to try and emulate. How have you achieved the walls? I assume it is real wood. However you've done it they do look blooming good.

bazzer42:111632 wrote:That is certainly a scene to try and emulate. How have you achieved the walls? I assume it is real wood. However you've done it they do look blooming good.

I've just written up how I did it on my blog. I ran out of stripwood half way through but I had a store of balsa so used that. Hopefully, it will last just as long now it's been toughened up with hardener.

http://riksrailway.blogspot.co.uk/2015/ ... e-bin.html

Rik