Carriage Sheds

Ok
Will grant you that one.

As for cost, Our building has cost to date around £100K including all construction work and Insulation. All raised by our own efforts mainly through recycling of paper and foil.
Shed itself is approx 45m x 18m with 2 roads.
We still have a number of wants to add in at some point but they get done as and when we get the funds together.

 

So maybe £50k-£60k could get a 25 by 25 with two roads and room to work.

 

I counted about 100 vehicles on your website including 813 itself and 4 carriages, so yes I think you may well be right! At least in standard gauge.

 

Don't forget the cost of the trackwork, unless you build it over an existing siding. And services of course, which could be significant depending on location.

 

You should also consider a pit, track which is dead level and straight for setting ride heights, and a floor strong enough to accommodate lifting jacks, all of which would add to the cost but would be hard to do in retrospect.

Sawdust.

 

So what do we need to think about?
Location, Planning permission, Pit, Drainage, Services (Elec inc 3 Phase), What work planned, Jacking bases, Shed size, Any Craneage, Stores, Track straight and level. Staff messing facilities, Available buildings (Ours was an off the shelf farm / industrial style) and Insulation.
Some steel work in these type of buildings available react badly to Steam loco emissions, so are locos likely to be used inside or ban them.

I would add another couple of items.
A concreted apron outside of at least 1 vehicle length also enabling Forklift / vehicle access.
An additional outside pit can be a benefit as well.
Make it wide enough to allow benches, working area and racking down both sides.
Make it long enough that if it is for one vehicle only per road then you have at least 3 metres each end beyond your longest vehicle.
If possible have an area where the rail is raised or floor is dropped about 1ft, makes access to brakes etc a lot easier.
Electrics, have plenty of industrial sockets all around the building if possible have a permanent 240v 16A Blue socket paired up with Yellow 11ov supplies.
Future developments Lengthways and Widthways. Possibility of extending by provision of a lean to outside.
CCTV and security measures.

 

I'd add heating. And the more insulation, the better. Compressed air is well worth installing, as well.

 

Insulation is good even without heating. Working at carriage roof height in summer in an uninsulated shed is like working in a furnace.

Sawdust.

 

You seem to have forgotten fire protection (it was mentioned earlier).

I guess fire portection is more important (and more extensive and expensive) for wooden bodied stock than metal Mk1s as the former are more likely to spectacularly oxidise.

Also I imagine that fire risk is a possible downside to having buildings. If there's a fire you have all of your eggs in one basked and the whole lot of them are going to go up (ouch), whereas if they're sat in a siding it'll probably only be one vehicle wrecked and possibly 1-2 more damaged.

I think the SVR shed has a IR detection and sprinkler system is that right?

 

Hello,
And the most valuable asset: A dedicated volunteer workforce so you can add in a rest room,washroom,thunder boxes ,then a comprehensive workshop...fully kitted out.........and hopefully a plentiful supply of money!!!!!!!!


Nick

 

Thanks for all the infomation a lot to consider. Plus dont forget the most important piece of kit, the kettle and some one trained to operate it!

 

A steam loco - in a carriage shed?

 

That comes under the title of Messing Facilities.

 

Lots of info on workshop type sheds but what about simple storage sheds? Having storage and workshops in the same building is putting all your eggs in one basket - especially with the added risks of hot works, flammable fluids/vapours etc in the workshop.

I have been told (because I have no idea myself!) that a storage only shed with all works strictly banned and electrics only for lighting (or solar storage lighting like some rural street lights have) would be better not to be sealed or heated. With vents at floor level along the sides and also along the ridge to allow ventilation to prevent condensation in the winter and stop it 'cooking' in the summer (when's that then?). Opinions and (polite) suggestions please.

 

Before we applied the insulation the inside of our shed used to suffer quite seriously from condensation dripping from the roof purlins.
Also the side walls used to run quite a bit.
The building itself is by no means "Airtight" as there are gaps around the roller doors and between the Side sheets and Concrete block walls.
Roof vents may have cured this though.
We have no form of any heating inside the building, it's not needed in general.

 

It seems to me that there are two separate issues - workshops and somewhere to keep the stock out of the weather.

Clearly the former is a much simpler structure and keeping the two separate reduces fire risks

 

Totally agree about the fire risk, far to many take the dangers of hotworks too lightly. I paid a visit to a very nice workshop on a railway a few years ago it had just brought in a rare carrage that had been left out side for over 30 years and was going to start restoration. Great i thought its now safe, then three days later the workshop burnt down an dthe carrage was lost, if it had been left outside it would still have been in existance.

Sprinkler systems really are a must, i hope and believe the SVR have one, i also believe the IOW has one so maybe some one from there could explain the costs, who supplied it and the problems of water presure in a remote location. I really hope that the Bluebell has one, may be if chances are being taken we should plan for smaller seperate sheds with gaps rather than one big one to house everything in one place. I also really worry about the collection at Didcot, the shed is only accessable via a traverser (unable to pull stock out), workshops next to the storage shed, i dont think any fire protection, dust and old bits of wood in the storage area, and hard for the emergancy services to acccess the site as it land locked inside NR lines.

As the fire at the National Trust property at Clandon in Surrey has shown a faulty fuse on a fuse board and all can be lost. I hope this thread will make some think and do some good for those planing storage projects.

 

The SVR shed has a firewall down the middle with two lines in each half. a fire should therfore be limited to half the shed. Steam locos are not permitted in the shed, removing one hazzard. Steam can propel up to the shed but if chimney leading has to stay outside and the move is completed with a gronk

 

Such sensible comments! As far as the IOWSR is confirmed, carriage storage is entirely separate from the carriage workshop. Water pressure is an issue as witness the provision of a water storage tank for the sprinklers in the storage shed. Regret I cannot supply any details; there are others who belong to NP who might be able to.

Paul H

 

Fire protection should be on the top of your agenda when considering a stock shed, as a smoke ventilation designer for nigh on 30 years I've seen most of the fire protection measures on similar buildings and have studied papers on similar fire incidents the nearest equivalent being bus depots and on a number of incidents they do show the way forward. Top of my list of measures worth considering (ignoring good management i.e. Not allowing hot works etc.) is compartmentation (walls etc.) to keep the spread of fire to a minimum, it's relatively cheap and requires little maintainance.

Next would be sprinklers, the likelihood of a fire within a vehicle is the worst case and whilst the water cannot reach the seat of the fire, it will keep the temperatures down and restrict the spread to adjacent vehicles as has been shown on bus depot fires. The downside is the ongoing maintenance and is not that cheap, but the problem of water supply (sprinkler tank) and frost protection can be overcome.

Last on my list would be smoke vents as in this type of building the costs outweigh the advantages, they will allow the temperatures to be reduced and restrict smoke damage, but a raging fire within a coach will not be halted by venting unlike the above two. It will however allow enhanced means of escape and allow better fire brigade access. It would be a good idea to provide ventilation to assist in condensation /overheating control and my preferred option would be ridge vents which if installed during the shed build are a cheap solution IMHO and can provide some modest smoke venting.