Yesterday's recap seemed to go down well (thanks all who kindly visited) so I thought I'd take a few

more general snaps around the layout for the benefit of those who haven't seen it before, or lately!

 

These were mostly taken freehand with just the automatic setting on my camera so the depth of

field is fuzzy in places. Normally I use a tripod but it wasn't handy there and then. However I

think there is something quite pleasant and old-school about a good old slightly fuzzy photo, 

reminiscent of old railway modelling magazines?

 

 

Anyway, this one was taken with a tripod (or rather on of those flexible octopus type things) so isn't too bad. This shows the general arrangement at the station throat

with the Bachmann Shillingstone-type LSWR signal box renamed and slightly repainted. Beyond, the servo-controlled level crossing gates (fun, but a constant

maintenance headache) and one of several scratchbuilt, freelance cottages. Oh, and a fallen-down bloke: must be the heatwave, what a snowflake.

 

 

A slightly more shaky-cam view up the road, with the venerable Superquick "Swan" pub creeping into view in top left.

 

These crossing gates are very wide as they have to span a pair of tracks on a curve, so there needs to be allowance

for overhang of longer vehicles. I'd have been better off putting the crossing on a straight bit, but c'est la vie.

 

 

A pair of scratchbuilt cottages. The pink one is more than 40 years old, made in my early teenage years with scribed card in an enthusiastic if misguided attempt at emulating the Pendon

method in the spare half-hour before teatime.

 

 

 

An as-yet unnamed pub from the Wills Craftsman series. Quite a lot of work, these kits, but very satisfying as they come together. I built this one exactly to the plan.

 

 

 

Into ready-to-plonk territory now with the main station building being very obviously the Bachmann Shillingstone model. As those who have been following the blog for a while may remember, the layout

was originally conceived around 2007 as a model of said station, as I have a strong family connection to that part of the S&D. However, it took a detour into GWR mode for about ten years, and then by the time it

returned to the S&D theme, I'd decided that it needed to be a freelanced location. The idea is that it's located just south of Blandford, on the double-tracked portion. It's spelled Stourpayne rather than Stourpaine to keep up the naming convention of my layouts, Payne being a family connection.

 

 

Off into the countryside now as S&D 4F 44422 approaches the branch junction with a goods train. The 4F is on the main, while the line coming in from the foreground is the branch. This is roughly where the bridge used to be on the old winter scene - in fact it's the same bridge, recycled - but is much better for photographic angles.

 

 

The same 4F trundles through the station. It's a tender drive model, and one of the best runners on the layout, capable of incredibly slow, steady crawling! I've done nothing to it except shorten the loco-tender gap, and replace/rework the guard irons, brakes and sanding gear. The prestwin in the foreground is the Kitmaster/Airfix/Dapol model, which I made last week and is just waiting on final painting and weathering now. A tad unusual but will add some variety from time to time. While I'm mentioning kits, the vehicle behind the 4F is a Chivers 6-wheel LMS fish van.

 

 

A helicopter shot of the same train in the station area. Trackwork is Code 75 bullhead for the plain track (Peco and C+L) and Code 75 flat-bottom for the points, blended as best I can. The bullhead points weren't on the horizon when I started this but would obviously be an ingredient now.

 

 

Moving back out into the country, this time on the old spring module - not that there's any distinction in the seasons modelled any more - and S&D 5MT 73049 approaches Stourpayne Marshall with the Cleethorpes-Exmouth train. Normally this service only ran as far south as Templecombe Junction so what it is doing on the Blandford-Broadstone section is anyone's guess. The train is a mixture of Gresley,

Thompson and Stanier stock.

 

I alluded to the layout being in GWR mode: perhaps confusingly, it has two identities. The other version is King's Hintock, also nominally somewhere in Dorset but this time firmly on GWR metals. To swap between the two, I just need to move around some removable scenic modules and swap a few bits of infrastructure. It only takes about 20 minutes, but changing the stock is far more protracted! Perhaps that's why I've not reverted back to GWR mode in the two years or so that the S&D identity has been in place.

 

 

An older shot of King's Hintock before the trailing goods access was put in. In other respects, this is how it would look if I put it back into GWR mode. The loco is an Airfix prairie on a Comet chassis, pulling a pair of Slaters toplights. The station is a scratchbuilt model of Abbotsbury.

 

 

A view of the goods yard in GWR mode. The cattle dock goes where the S&D goods shed is, and the GWR goods shed sits roughly where the S&D station building is. The siding for the goods shed runs right under the S&D station, hidden by a slight rise in the forecourt.

 

 

A more general view of King's Hintock. At some point it will revert back to GWR mode for a period, but I must admit I haven't stopped enjoying the S&D stuf just yet!

 

Cheers and again thanks for reading.