Future covered workshop and storage space (especially for carriages) ?

We have solar panels on the roof of train story at Havenstreet, the budget was enough for a commercial array but unfortunately (good in many respects ) on a sunny day the island exports electricity to the mainland and the cables at the time did not have sufficient capacity. We had to settle for a domestic arrangement, perhaps it is time to revisit the idea.

 

One factor might be the physical orientation of the roof, which would be site-specific.

I’m not aware that any of the sheds on the Bluebell have solar panels; however, the main carriage shed at Sheffield Park certainly has rain water recovery, the water thus recovered being used to supplement the loco supply and thereby slightly reduce reliance on the river. As I understand, using it requires a bit of juggling round with boiler chemistry because the pH of rainwater is not the same as the river. AFAIK, rain water harvesting was in the planning conditions for building the shed.

Tom

 

Train Story also has rainwater harvesting.

 

Another possibility - especially if you're dealing with an environmentally, ecologically or visually sensitive site - would be to go for a grass roof, like the Rolls-Royce factory at Goodwood, or even bury the whole building in earth and grass, like this hangar at Hullavington: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kmy2shHyL...0ZopPpiw/s1600/Hullavington+hangar+type+E.jpg

 

That is a great idea to capture rainwater for the steam locos. With carriage sheds that is a lot of surface area to capture the water from.

As for a grass roof. That would be an interesting one. Might take a bit of mowing though. Certainly give you something to do for the weekend! Hehehe

A regards solar panels it is very much dependent on facing south ideally and having them at the optimum angle, but it might be and ideal way to reduce running costs for such a shed.

From experience, does anyone know what the first step are in getting on the road to building a carriage shed? Drawing lines on paper is the easy bit, but I'm guessing there is a fair amount of red tape to deal with before you can turn a sod of soil. What would the shopping list be? Thanks for any thoughts.

 

The whole point of a grass roof is you DON'T mow it... you leave it to become a wildflower meadow (or in R-R's case, plant it up as such with carefully selected species) and thereby encourage wildlife, biodiversity and all that shizz. I'm not convinced solar is worth it in this country tbh... what I would CERTAINLY consider would be a ground-source heat pump. When you're disturbing a large acreage of soil, you've got the opportunity to run the pipework, and the initial capital investment becomes worth it in the long run. It won't provide enough heat in winter, though, so you'll need some kind of solid-fuel boiler then.

 

Solar's a bit of a funny one for the UK as obviously 54% of our days are overcast. That being said, the UK probably averages about 10% or so efficiency when using commerical solar panels. Meaning it's 10% we're not burning on fossil fuels or nuclear. Your house panels are probably only about 8% but again, it's 8% you ain't burning.

Germany is the leader on solar panels and they have a similar climate to us.

 

Don't forget though, you have to factor in the additional cost of the stronger roofing and supports to take the extra weight...

and if you don't mow - in a dry summer - on a steam line - all that long dry grass on the roof close to the chimneys.....

 

"Grass Roof" is something of a misnomer. Although you can arrange a putting green atop your building should you want to, the more usual choice is a far less labout intensive selection of planting. Sedum, also known as stone-crop or house leek is a very popular choice ..... and you won't even need to hoik your lawnmower up onto the roof!

 

The 125 group aims at constructing a massive covered track in order to keep the 41001 and six MK 3 carriages safe from the british weather.
http://www.125group.org.uk/porterbrook-jump-starts-125-group-hst-depot-appeal/

I think they startet this appeal short while ago.

 

Just to add a correction to this - the building is to be a 2 road 4 vehicle shed. 3 of the vehicle spaces will be reserved for the 125 group. It will not be a 'massive covered track' and will not cover all the group's vehicles.

Keith

 

Was surprised to see today that the existing RVP rolling stock storage building at Swithland Sidings on the Great Central looks if it is going to be doubled in size to accomodate GCR owned vehicles as well. It gets a mention in the C&W report in the latest edition of Main Line, stating that it will eventually provide space for 12 GCR and 12 RVP vehicles. It's currently a 12 vehicle size and used by RVP only. Provision was made to enlarge the original building when it was constructed a few years back.
A very sensible step to take.

 

That's great! The GCR must be one of the last of the big preserved railways not to have proper carriage storage. It is a must have for every railway, really, to make the vehicles last. Of course its the usual money and time thing... Still great they are building one

 

Renewable technologies are excellent concepts, we used to have a National Skills Academy for Environmental Technologies in the UK and the government launched The Green Deal loan system to encourage consumers to install renewable systems. Solar photo-voltaic, Solar thermal, Rainwater harvesting and Ground and air source heat pumps, were the NSA's focus.

The Green Deal had a "Golden Rule"

"The Green Deal's Golden Rule states that the energy savings a property makes in a 25 year period (it is possible to choose a shorter period of time, but return on investment must be paid for within the time period) must be equal to or more than the cost of implementing the changes in the first place."

Take up was extremely poor, making the maths justify the Golden Rule was nigh on impossible when all associated costs were taken in to account.
The exception being solar photo-voltaic, where take up was initially high due to artificially subsidised sell back tariffs, which had to be swiftly reduced.

The NSA ET and Green Deal no longer exist, renewable technologies are still excellent concepts.
Local authority planners often require "renewables" to be incorporated in to commercial new build schemes.
One of the best seminars I was present at explained the reasons we don't invest in renewables to save money.

 

Maybe I'm confused, but I don't think the GWSR has one yet, although they are about to build one at Winchcombe.

Noel

 

Well, I wouldn't say "about to" but it's certainly on the cards.

 

I got the impression from this post on the boardroom blog that work would be starting 'soon'?

Noel

 

Perhaps jumping the gun a little there! There has been yet more unplanned expenditure this year, it was a while ago now but I recall the Gotherington span cost more than expected and the replacement of the aquaduct at Laverton is costing a huge amount too. Then there's the bash beams at Broadway as well. AFAIK there has been no actual groundwork on any of those 3 projects mentioned in that blog post yet, which is disappointing. Planning does continue though. Good things come to those who wait, and I'm confident it'll all happen.

 

Progress is being made in Cumbria.
https://www.facebook.com/KirkbyStephenEast/posts/1820982701271874

And they certainly need the cover up there.