Hi All.

I've come to the conclusion that modelling a real life location is somewhat of a mixed blessing. On one hand you can go there, see the place for yourself and get some valuable photos & notes to aid with replicating it in a smaller scale. On the other hand, you know exactly what you have to model and where it needs to go, and there is always the thought that if you miss something someone will point it out sooner or later! So, taking advantage of the fact that the Mid Hants is just a short distance from home, I charged the camera batteries and went to gather some photos of the various details around Ropley yard so they can be re-created in N gauge.

On the face of it there doesn't appear to be much to the yard in general. Here is a view of the area being modelled looking East:

And to the West:

However, when you look around there is a whole host of smaller details that are begging to be reproduced.

The ash pit outside the wheel drop shed is an area which will need careful attention to replicate the ash covered bricks and deposits. Those access steps (or whatever they are) will also need to be reproduced, possibly a candidate for a small etching? Also note the hose running along the ground and down the steps:

Down by the water tower is a the diesel fuelling point, again a lot more detail and when combined with the water tower it's self almost a mini diorama:

A flooded water drain, another etch for the drain cover perhaps?

There are also a few signs dotted around for which the actual photos will be used to produce them by printing them off to the correct size:

By the access road to the south of the shed there are a collection of storage sheds which will just sit on the very edge of the board. Again this is almost a mini diorama in itself and will probably be tackled as such before being added to the layout. There were various barrels and gas cylinders stored in these which will be modelled:

And just next to these is a stored boiler. Another interesting proposition for modelling. Rivets in N gauge anyone!

An interesting collection of springs by the coal staiths. Also some wheelbarrows which will need to be modelled:

As mentioned there were quite a few hoses lying around the yard too along with various pipe work & taps. This photo also shows the old sleepers retaining the higher level yard, some of which don't seem to be doing much retaining!

So whilst modelling a preserved railways yard on the face of it might not sound like much of a challenge, there are a lot of smaller details which will add a touch of realism to this project if I can recreate them effectively in N gauge. Some of them won't be easy, but that’s half the fun, right?

Cheers,

Tom

Oh, nearly forgot, a couple of gratuitous preserved steam engine photos: