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About this blog

Follow the progress of Addleford Green, a fictional station on the now lost Hawkhurst Branch Line in Kent. Addleford Green is a "what-if" scenario, assuming the line had been extended beyond Hawkhurst to the titular fictional Kent town. This facilitated a connection with the Express Dairy creamery and the subsequent diary traffic would keep the line open into the 70s.

 

Addleford Green measures 5ft by 16 inches, is modelled in 4mm and utilises standard analogue controls. All buildings are scratch built where possible, some based on existing locations, some completely imaginary! The time period is intentionally left open, anywhere from the early 40s up to the 70s, allowing me great freedom of motive power and rolling stock.

Entries in this blog

Addleford Green Blog

Cattle dock - Part 2

The cattle dock build continues...   A concrete 'apron' was created out of some mount card painted a concrete kind of colour. This was then simply stuck to the outside edge of the track, sloping slightly away to allow for drainage. Care was taken to ensure it didn't foul any wheels and that it sat just below rail height so the rail heads could still be cleaned. Constant testing with a spare wagon is essential.       A buffer stop was made out of some cof
Addleford Green Blog

Ground cover in the yard

From my research it seems that a great deal of rural lines (perhaps some major ones too) would not have used proper ballast for sidings and smaller lines. Instead the substrate would be ash or just compacted earth, probably mixed with whatever was cheap and easily to hand. I really wanted to achieve this effect on Addleford Green and have been thinking about how I would do it for a long time.   Images of Hawkhurst's yard show that a lot of the sidings, particularly around the goods she
Addleford Green Blog

Engine shed - Part 1

Hawkhurst originally featured a two-road engine shed but it was closed in 1931. After that, one of the lines was removed leaving one for access if required. I wanted to feature an engine shed on Addleford Green. My reasoning was that those in charge would not have repeated the same mistake twice and opted to build a single track version. I used the plans for the original two-read shed as a template for my own paired-down design.   Once again, I must give huge thanks to the Wild Swan bo
Addleford Green Blog

Cattle dock - Part 1

Originally, I had no real plans for the two sidings on the right side of Addleford Green. Eventually I settled on a creamery building for the rear siding, my interest mainly being in having a different form of traffic on the layout. I had a loose idea that the other siding would have a goods shed, likely based on those present on the real Hawkhurst branch. But in reality it would have meant two large structures (the other being the engine shed) close to the front of the board and I felt it would
Addleford Green Blog

Station garden

This weekend I turned my attention to adding some planted areas to my station, as per the prototype. Looking at images of Cranbrook station gave the most inspiration and it seemed to be among one of the most adorned locations on the line in terms of floral displays. Clearly someone took a lot of pride in keeping the station looking its best!   The border is oversized ballast applied grain by grain with tweezers. It took about 30 seconds for me to hate myself for taking this approach...
JRamsden

JRamsden in Addleford Green Blog

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Addleford Green Blog

Model railway figures

WARNING! Snob opinions incoming... I've lost count of the amount of images I have seen of stunning model railways which are marred by less than convincing model people. Every modeller has their own areas of interest; some enjoy scratch building, some prioritise complex electronic systems and some just want to get down to running trains, all pretence of "finishing" their layout out the window. This is fantastic because this kind of diversity in approach is what makes any hobby interesting. But I
JRamsden

JRamsden in Addleford Green Blog

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Addleford Green Blog

Addleford creamery - Part 4

The Christmas period has been useful for getting more done on the layout - particularly when you're in Tier 4 and really can't do much of anything else. I've made a start on various different elements but, as I so often tend to do, I've held back on mentioning any of them until significant progress has been made. Also, because I'm pretty rubbish at keeping up with any kind of running commitment such as a blog!   I finally got to the stage where I can consider the Addleford Creamery bui
JRamsden

JRamsden in Addleford Green Blog

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Addleford Green Blog

Fiddle yard adventures - Part 3

With the fiddle yard board constructed, I rolled up my sleeves and had a grand tidy and move around in the shed! Everything was put into it's new place and I made a simple removable stand for the fiddle yard to sit upon.     Next up - creating the piece that would join the main layout to the fiddle yard. This would need to curve the track so that it met the fiddle yard at it's centre. I did some measuring, calculating, crude offering-up and plain guesswork to create a templa
JRamsden

JRamsden in Addleford Green Blog

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Addleford Green Blog

Fiddle yard adventures - Part 2

I recently lost my enthusiasm with Addleford Green. I realised that I just wasn't all that interested in running trains on it. After some thought I realised this was due to the fiddle yard. The thought of using my clunky cassette design filled me with dread and would ultimately break the careful illusion that I was running a railway. What I really wanted was a traverser. But I just didn't have space.... did I?   Long story short, I made space!   Another issue had always been
JRamsden

JRamsden in Addleford Green Blog

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Addleford Green Blog

Addleford Green's new terrier

I haven't done as much work to the layout as planned over the last couple of months. The creamery is pretty much complete and photos will follow the moment I finish painting a few figures to go with it.   Until then, my interest has been side-tracked by the arrival of my new Rails/Dapol A1X Terrier in Southern lined green livery. What a stunner! I just though I would share some sub-par quality photos of her in place.       All for now, Jonathan  
JRamsden

JRamsden in Addleford Green Blog

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Running in board

When you start to look at running in boards you soon realise that they are as individual as the stations they adorn, even within the same region. It's quite fascinating when you start studying their various designs. This site has some useful pictures of various Southern running in boards and may be of some interest to anyone modelling the Southern areas: http://www.semgonline.com/infrastr/ribs_01.html   Some aspects of the Hawkhurst branch differed from station to station, the platform
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Laying the ballast (Magic?)

I recently received an order which had been a few weeks in the delivering. It contained Deluxe Materials' Ballast Magic, a dry glue for mixing with ballast. The idea being that it only needs a light misting with water for a good solid hold. Ballast clumping and shifting is, apparently, a thing of the past. I'd seen a favourable review in a modelling magazine and thought I'd give it a go.   I laid the whole layout (not exactly large by any standards!) with ballast and sprayed as directe
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Addleford creamery - Part 3

Just a quick update to show that some further progress has been made:   The engine/boiler house has been rebuilt. The water tower and roof access build has been started.  The main building and all sub-builds have been painted. The chimney has received it's "Express Dairy" lettering. Windows, doors and lintels have been added.     All for now, Jonathan
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Addleford creamery - Part 2

When starting the diary build I decided not to include an interior. This was mostly because I had no idea how to model an accurate replica and also because it would be largely unseen and therefore pointless. But the huge window at the front just begged to have something behind it. I decided that multiple floors and a staircase would be a likely feature and easy enough to build.    I started by measuring available space and drawing some plans on Excel, with cells set to 4mm squares.
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Fiddle yard adventures

When I first planned Addleford Green I didn't really plan for a fiddle yard or any kind of out-of-view area. "I'll just figure that out later," I said to myself. I realise now how foolish that was. In future projects I would definitely consider the fiddle yard an essential part of the plan. Not being able to reliably have a train remove itself from the immediate viewing area really limits operational potential.   A while ago I started looking at options for my fiddle yard. I had planne
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Addleford creamery - Part 1

The right-hand side of Addleford Green features a rather awkward corner where the backscene hides what is essentially a single track fiddle yard. Originally the plan was to use a low relief industrial building to extend beyond the backscene and essentially view block the garish square hole to nowhere. I also envisioned a tall industrial chimney which could be placed over the join between backscene boards. As I started to research possible industries I stumbled upon information about rail-served
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Hawkhurst Branch - Station building scratch build - Part 2

So, the station building for Addleford Green is finally finished! I won't bore you with too much description but would be happy to elaborate if anyone is interested. I hope the photos will say most of what needs to be said...   Windows... now these were the bane of this whole project. The windows I settled for came from https://www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk as they were the closest match in terms of size and style. I painted each frame white and assembled them with a layer of acetate bet
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Addleford Green general progress

So for the sake of posterity we are currently in the midst of a global pandemic. the COVID-19 lockdown means I have been working from home for some weeks, until this week when I have been furloughed for at least the next 3 weeks. Less travelling and less opportunity to leave the house has increased opportunity to model. However I'm pretty bad at keeping a regular record of anything I do, hence the recent inactivity! So here are a few things I have achieved recently, lumped together for ease and
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Station building woes

You may remember that I started to document my scratch build of the Hawkhurst station building in this blog entry. You may also be aware that I never actually completed both the blog posts and the actual building. I thought I'd explain what happened before the final version is completed... hopefully!   Despite the prototype having a devilishly simple and cost-effective design, the model version proved to be anything of the sort! I've never been interested in pinpoint accuracy, but beli
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Backscenes assembled

Another quick post to show my backscenes assembled on the layout. There's still some work to do, not to mention the eventual effect that will (hopefully) be created by some view-blocking buildings and scenery. The corners are held together with plastic L-shaped strip glued around the edges. I may use Velcro strips for those I want to keep removable.   I've had to cut some panels as I purposely overestimated when purchasing the panels. Luckily they're incredibly easy to cut. I'm pleased
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Backscenes

A quick post to say I have just taken delivery of these beautiful panels for Addleford Green's backscene.     They are 3mm Foamex with the images printed on the surface and treated with a matt protective layer. I bought them online from one of many suppliers of this kind of material. I ordered them Monday and they arrived this morning, Thursday! The process was uncomplicated, completed entirely online and they even contacted me when they thought some white would show at the
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Farm buildings (almost) complete

Just a quick post to show the result of a couple of days of painting. Hope I did them justice! Can't wait to get them 'planted' and actually have something scenic on the layout.     The oast still needs its steps assembling and glazing fitting, but that may not happen before Christmas.   All for now, Jonathan
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Half-relief Kentish oast

I haven't had as much time to dedicate to modelling lately. The colder weather has made spending time in the shed even less desirable too! However I have been making slow progress on my farm buildings.   The latest project is the half-relief oast house. Despite square kilns actually being older, there are far more round kilns dotted around Kent and Sussex and I prefer the look of them. I must see dozens of different examples every day in my travels. They are a firm fixture of this area
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Building the farm

I haven't been able to spend a huge amount of time on the layout recently. As a result I have started many things but haven't completed much. Some projects have been started, scrapped, restarted and stalled! Some simply require more time to complete. I prefer to post when I have something significant to show.   So in order to get away from the nightmare building project, I tackled something easier and altogether more enjoyable. Some low-relief buildings for my farm and a small stable b
JRamsden

JRamsden

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Addleford Green - Future plans

I recently realised that I hadn't really detailed my plans for Addleford Green on this blog, despite having a reasonably clear idea of what I am hoping to achieve.   So here's a shot of the layout so far complete with annotations for each major area:       I outlined in my very first blog entry what I wanted to achieve with Addleford Green and I believe I've managed it here - in plan form at the very least - despite the small board size. Every major elem
JRamsden

JRamsden

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