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EM layout of Weston, Clevedon & Portishead Railway 1936-40

 

 

 

Entries in this blog

Manning Wardle No 5

During the rather enjoyable exhibition at Expo EM Autumn this weekend, I started to think about the gap in my loco fleet, namely no 5. It was one of the engines that didn't have a name. This was one of the two engines the line purchased from new, the other 'Walton Park' being too heavy for the line was transferred to the East Kent Railway. No 5 as far as I have deduced was a Manning Wardle class L, modified with disc wheels. I'm still trying to find out whether an accurate drawing exists as
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12

Clevedon WCPR update

I'm happy to report that the layout's been put up ahead of the outing to Uckfield and all is well. I took the opportunity of giving the scenery a bit of a refresh, adding some ground cover and trees as I've been using all the stuff on Cheddar anyway. An additional hedge or two help break up the previously plain grass to the right hand end. One of my operators has very kindly provided a traction engine and trailer, hauling some timber for Clevedon Saw Mills and it'll make a nice cameo in the ya
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10

Let there be light...

...and there was light. And it was not lo, but I saw that it was electric. I've been making the proscenium arch and lighting rig for Clevedon. I've gone with the aquarium lighting again, this time 2 x 4ft sun-glo tubes with a slightly warmer tone than I used for Wheal Elizabeth. The arch is in 3 sections and supports off the floor via a couple of hanging rails which slot into the sides as I didn't want the foam boards to take any weight. They're clamped to the layout for stability. Th
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9

Clevedon Debut

Afternoon all Greetings of the Season and all that. Hope you had a good one. Time for an update. I've been quiet on here of late, not because I haven't been doing anything but the opposite. It's been all systems go since the end of October. Not solely model railways either. SWMBO decided that the time had come for a new kitchen so we've had the house upside down. Thankfully everything went live on 22 December and the brownie points I've acquired will last me most of 2014 I hope! I
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9

WCPR No 5 - part 6

Had an enjoyable show at Tolworth last weekend with Clevedon. Thanks to those who came and said hello. Alas I didn't get No 5 finished in time. Almost but not quite! Since the last blog I've finished off all the bodyworks and spent a lot of time painting various bits and pieces. The engine when originally purchased was a 'pea green' with black, yellow, red, yellow and black lining. The overall colour darkened to almost black as a result of years of cleaning (aka smearing the dirt about). M
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8

Green fingers

Afternoon all Sorry for the lack of postings recently, but progress is being made. Don't know if it's the influence of Springwatch or the Chelsea flower show, but things are definitely blooming in Clevedon. Fencing has been completed and the last of the various sheds have been built (finally). Signalling is all built. With all the boards up, I've been planting static grass and am starting on the various trees and bushes. Fibres are a blend of Heki with some Green Scenes straw
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8

Filth

Progress continues. Well it wouldn't be progress otherwise would it? I've been experimenting with weathering using baby powder mixed with Carrs powders. As you can see I couldn't resist putting a few models out to take a few photos. After trying a number of different colours and paints, I settled on a grey/brown mix sprinkled onto wet Humbrol acylic (roof grey). I've made three batches up varying the blend of Carrs to give a mottled effect. I'm quite pleased with it. More clay has been laid.
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7

Lower Queens Road 2

Evening Have been building the end terrace for Lower Queens Road (the house was purchased by the railway when the line extended to Portishead in 1911). It's taken a long time to get this far as I decided (foolishly it turned out) to cut and place each quoin stone by hand. It's all plasticard and strip of varying thickness and section. The lighting rig will be up against the houses hence my only modelling the front inch of them. The infill stonework was going to be Wills Course stone but I've d
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6

WCPR Ex GER Full Brake

In-between working on the Ivatt 2MT for Cheddar, I've been looking at the ex GER 4 wheel brake, which ran as coach no 14 on the WCPR. The prototype was originally used to convey milk churns but was involved in a fatal accident in Worle in the 1920's, after which it was towed to Clevedon and never used again. There are a couple of photos of it in the dump road in the mid 1930's. This blog is really a co-ordinated effort because it uses a number of resources of this fair forum (that's RMWeb t
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6

WCPR No 5 Part 2

Managing to make a little progress with No 5 in-between getting Weston ready for the Portishead show in 3 weeks' time. Good news is the layout is now fully working, has a new temporary power supply rigged up (it shares the power box I use for all my layouts) and has had one or two running repairs. In the meantime, I've assembled the chassis using my Avonside jig and High Level horn blocks. As you can see it's simply compensated with a fixed rear axle. The footplate has been cut from 15 thou ni
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6

Exhibitions

Afternoon Hadn't realised I've not posted an update since March. How time flies. Clevedon has a few shows this year, starting with the Southampton exhibition this weekend. Thereafter it'll be at York - Easter Epsom & Ewell - April Oop North - September (provisionally)   Also, rather excitingly I can confirm a one off event on Sun 22 Oct 2017 (next year) when both Clevedon and Weston will appear at the same time. This will be the 100th anniversary of th
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6

WCPR No 5 Part 5 - undercoat & WCPR show

First of all, thanks to all who came and said hello at last week's WCPR anniversary show in Portishead. Numbers were in excess of 750 through the door for the day and it was busy from opening all the way through until closure. So busy in fact that I didn't get to take many photos at all! Highlight for me was meeting Howard Carey, whose father was a guard on the line. Howard has been an amazing source of information over the years and his memory (given the line closed 76 years ago) is astonishing
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5

WCPR No 5 Part 4 - bodywork bits and pieces

Didn't manage to get too much done this weekend, but the odd evening here and there has seen some progress. I'm now adding bits of pipework and body fittings to the loco. The smokebox has been made from tube and the saddle added, the old Finney T9 lost wax smokebox door casting ground down to fit and the chimney soldered on. I think I may need to replace that with something finer as it's not completely accurate. Depends if I think I can get away without telling anyone. Oops... Handrails have
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5

Railwells

Another short update to says that Clevedon will be at Wells next weekend. The population will have increased a little and I'll be trying out a mock up of Fitter Hill's cottage to act as a scenic break at the Portishead end of the layout. Come and say hello if you're there. We'll be the ones in shorts (probably)...   Those of you that know the story will recognise the lady with the brolly.
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5
Coaches

WC&PR exhibition, Portishead 2 October 2022

As I've posted in the exhibition thread, the Weston Clevedon and Portishead railway Group are holding another exhibition in Portishead, some 5 years after the last one. Details here: https://www.wcprgroup.org.uk/exhibition2022.html   It's the only time I'll contemplate exhibiting my EM Weston and Clevedon layouts simultaneously and probably the last time Weston will go out ever. It hasn't been operated since the last exhibition so I've got a little over a month to get both layouts
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4

WC&P in the movies

Had a great weekend at the Eastleigh show last weekend so I thought I'd try to take a couple of movies. It's taken an age to upload the first, so I'll need to sort out a few things before I upload the second... The locals don't even seem to notice the 11.30 from Weston...
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4

Backscene

Evening all I have been a bit preoccupied with the backscene of late. I must admit to getting really stressed doing them. SWMBO is quite a talented artist and has helped with the last two layouts but it very nearly ended in divorce last time...   The plan for Clevedon has always been for a continuous backscene. This will include the town at the Portishead end, pan round including Hangstone Quarry then flatten out to reflect the levels towards Weston. Originally I envisaged a
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4

and on to the last board

Evening all. After a very enjoyable outing to Scalefour North last weekend, this week I have been mostly back on the WC&P.   The middle board platform's had a coat of paint and the lineside fences added from Evergreen strip and EZ line elastic. All three boards have been temporarily reunited so I can work out the line side fencing for the last board. As can be seen it's going to be mainly scenic, with an occupation crossing at the Weston end of the loop. The final scenic blitz is
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4

Sunshine in Clevedon

As it's been such a beautiful day, I couldn't resist putting a few bits of stock out on the layout and taking a few pictures. Progress since the last update has mainly comprised making the various signs and putting some (hopefully correct) 1930's film posters on the hoardings. Eventually I'd like to make up some flyposters for the Curzon cinema and Knightstone theatre but they'll do for now.   Railcar creeps over the River Yeo bridge Railcar emerges onto Lower Queens Road Hesperus and c
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4

Lower Queens Road 3

Have just about finished the building in Lower Queens Road. DAS was applied to the plasticard building shell and stonework carved with a pasteboard scraper when dry.   Paints are a mixtures of acrylics and emulsions for the Bath stone decorative sections.   Just a little toning down required with the airbrush, but that's for another day.
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4

Lower Queens Road

I've started so I'll finish.   First some bad news. My trusty modelling chair and I have parted company. Literally. Unfortunately it gave way during a modelling session. Thankfully the replacement has been sourced. It swivels and tilts and everything. The only problem is the incessant bleeping every two minutes. Da da da daaaaa, da da. Now that my buttocks have returned to a comfortable place, the other bad news. The pva river didn't work. It dried clear but with lots of tiny bubbles. I won
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4

WC&PR repeats

Clevedon was out at the Nailsea show last weekend and a good time was had by all. It's probably the closest it'll ever actually get to Clevedon and as usual, the local shows bring out the locals. Some of whom know more about Clevedon than I ever will. We had the projectionist of the old Curzon cinema and someone who's house wasn't shown on the backscene despite it being built in 1935... It's always interesting to hear tales and recollections of those who actually rode on the line, though as
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3

Back to front

Evening all Gosh, it's almost 3 months since I posted anything about the WC&PR. edit can't count! Well I have been busy with the T9... Had a blast at Expo EM North last weekend and on the journey I home I was reminded that the next show I'm exhibiting at is Clevedon's debut. Eeek Nothing like the headlong descent into blind panic to get the juices going! So where was I? Oh yes, at the last local EM meeting, there were a few mutterings about which side of the la
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3

WCPR Wagon No 19 and Taff Vale Coach part 1

I was reminded at Railwells that I'm taking Clevedon out to an exhibition in October. As Adrian cheerfully asked 'are you ready for Uckfield yet?' I realised that I haven't done anything on Clevedon since the end of the Tolworth show last November, blog update included. Well there's nothing like a looming deadline to get the creative juices flowing so I've embarked on a little distraction from the Cheddar scenery. First up was wagon No 19. This was a 7ft wheelbase 3 plank dropside of suppose
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