Farthing, June 27, 1914. Europe is on the brink of war, but noone knows. The staff go about their morning routines, and No. 835 sleepily shunts a horsebox.
Station Master A. Woodcourt examines the scene. He likes the order and calm of the bay area. He is feeling his age and hopes it will be a quiet day.
But it is not to be. As he propels the horsebox into the sidings, driver T.F. Oberon notices a problem. Throughout hi
"Surely you do not intend to transport my prize-winning champion in that ?!". Mr Bull looked incredulously at Woodcourt, the Station Master of Farthing.
Woodcourt was acutely aware that the situation required all his diplomatic skills. "I'm afraid this is our only option" he replied "and we do convey horses in cattle vans quite frequently. The sheeting will keep her from panicking." He decided not to mention that the only horses ever carried in cattle vans
The men stood in silence and stared at the broken crate. It had fallen on its side and the contents had spilled out. There was no mistaking it: There in the middle....
.... was a human skull.
Station Master A. Woodcourt was the first to speak: "Well it may be a murder, but it's hardly a recent one!"
At this point the director of the travelling theater company launched into
Modellers try to recreate the real thing. But sometimes we don't know how the real thing looked. Then what? These photos show my experiments with what I think was a standard livery for larger GWR goods depots around 1907, following lots of browsing of photos in books, and a brief discussion in this thread (many thanks gentlemen!).
The trouble is of course that photos from the period don't have, er, colour - and are full of light and shadow. So it's hard to
I’ve been working on the alternative side of the goods depot recently. The sides and roof are now more or less done and I'm preparing to lay the ground and track in front of it. The roof has caused much muttering and swearing. Some time ago I dropped the whole thing on the floor, and had to rebuild much of it. Because of the accident, the roof is now slightly out of true in some places. That's not really visible, but it meant I had to give up on flush-glazing it. Certainly a compromise, but I wa
When I was a boy I hated The Weasel with all my heart. The Weasel was our maths teacher and to me he was the prototype of the Evil Teacher. When he taught he got all worked up and saliva formed at the corners of his mouth, and he would walk down among the desks while talking and suddenly pounce on you and slap his hand into your desk and hiss “Am I RIGHT, or am I WRONG?!” It was a rhetorical question of course. We were expected to confirm that we was right, and we always did even if we understoo
A couple of the coaches I’m restoring had buckled or sagging rooves, so I’ve been rolling and detailing some new ones from Plastikard. It’s one of those pleasing tasks where you get the satisfaction of making something from scratch without things getting too stressful - although with brass rooves it can of course be a bit more tricky. Here's a brief illustration of what I've been doing.
“So tell me dear, should I be worried?“ In retrospect, I can see why my wife was slig
Some years ago I picked up a number of secondhand GWR four and six-wheel coaches, originally scratchbuilt by Colin Edge. They were lovely models but had been worn by time.
I have since been gradually restoring the coaches - not to finescale standards but to general working order. This and the following blog entries is a lighthearted
Here's a little scratch-building project that I'm working on in-between the coach painting. The prototypes were used extensively at Paddington Goods in the 1900s. A similar but more austere type was used at Hockley. I couldn't find any drawings, so the dimensions are guesstimates based on photos. The build was a real pleasure, especially sourcing the parts. I'll let the pictures explain the rest - gradually!
Here's an idea for a potential future layout in the Farthing series. The idea is to show a small section of the yard and sidings at Farthing. The trackplan is based on a real-world prototype, namely an interesting ladder of kick-back sidings in Gloucester Old Yard, which served a variety of purposes. By focussing on one end of the track ladder, the layout can feature a variety of stock movements in a limited space, while still following the prototype.
Crown Copyright 193
Nörreport station, Copenhagen. Every day after work, I wait here for my local train home. Today it’s late, rush hour is over. Everyone is tired, noone is talking, noone is present. We’re not really here, we’re already somewhere else.
While I wait, commuter trains roll into the platforms and leave again. Many are
I spent an enjoyable morning installing my two shed cranes in the goods depot. As previously mentioned, the cranes are copied from the ones used at Paddington Goods, although similar types seem to have been used in other large goods depots in the 1900s. I have not been able to find any technical specifications, but I doubt if they were able to handle anything heavier than light goods in vans and wagons.
The cranes were scratchbuilt using plastikard and various oth
No, this is a not a post about my financial situation - though it could have been! This is about building and painting wagons for my goods depot layout , which is set in the period ca 1900-1908. For wagons this was a real transition period, with a diversity of styles, technical developments and liveries. So I’ve started a wagon building programme which tries to capture some of that variety. Here are some photos of developments so far.
First off was this 3 planker, which
I’ve been reading Patrick McGill’s “Children of the dead end: The autobiography of a navvy”. McGill worked as a navvy in the 1900s and became known as the “navvy poet”.
It’s a fascinating read, and it made me realize just how much we owe to the men who built the railways, canals and towns. Talk about standing on the shoulders of giants!
So instead of the usual progress report, I’ll let the navvies do the talking this time. The lines are excerpts from McGill’s poem “Have y
Here’s an update on the sidings at Farthing, or "Old Yard" as I have now dubbed this part of the station.
I have reached the point where detailing can begin. I'm going for the uncluttered look, although a few weeds etc will be added at some point.
Inside the "biscuit shed" we find an old timber built buffer stop. Like the shed itself, it is a survivor from N&SJR days, before the GWR gobbled up the proud little station and turned
Here's the third and last instalment about my recent trio of horse drawn wagons. This is yet another GWR "dray", as they are commonly known. GWR drawings generally use the term "trolley", which I understand was the original and more correct term for what is today popularly called drays.
The wagon was built from an old Pendon kit, picked up on ebay. There is no mention of the prototype, but it resembles a 7 ton trolley drawing in the Great Western Horsepower book.
Here’s a summary of the work so far on my attempt to backdate the Oxford Rail Dean Goods to 1900s condition. Thanks to everyone who has helped with advice and information.
My model is based on a 1903 photo of No. 2487, sporting the S4 roundtopped boiler and wide footplate. Various features such as a short smokebox, large cab spectacles and "piano lid" cylinder cover will make it a bit different from the superb Finney kit models out there - no other comparison intended!
I’m detailing my goods depot, something I’ve been looking forward to. As the layout is designed for close-up viewing I’ve been searching for goods items that could pass muster at a reasonably close range.
To begin with, here is a selection of crates. I'm afraid it's my usual unholy mix of kitbuilt, scratchbuilt, modified and ready to plunk! Hopefully it will all blend in with a bit of weathering and careful positioning on the layout.
First up are these
My GWR 1854 ST is now done. To recap, this is a much modified Finecast body on a Bachmann chassis.
My original plan was to find an acrylic spray paint that gave a suitable representation of the pre-1928 green. When that failed, I was recommended the Belton bottle green which has the RAL code used for landrover green. However, while this and some of the others looked fine outside in the sun, they all looked wrong under my layout lights.
So in the end I reverted t
Here’s an update on Farthing – and some new ideas.
The “biscuit” and “jam” sheds have been painted and are ready to embed on the layout. The buildings are an attempt to hint at the past railway history of the area. They were originally built for the old N&SJR terminus at Farthing, which was alongside the Great Western station. When the GWR swallowed up the N&SJR, it kept the buildings and used them as loading and distribution facilities for the town
Last year we had a discussion about SDJR Road Vans here on RMweb, which revealed that – contrary to what one might think – these vehicles travelled well beyond the SDJR on a regular basis, including foreign destinations right up to London. For details, please see Buckjumper’s notes in the thread.
I thought I might justify one of these vans making an occasional appearance at Farthing, perhaps carrying small consignments of cheddar, cider and other Somerset delicacies to satisfy the pa
Here's a summary of my latest build, an agricultural merchant’s warehouse, inspired by this prototype.
As has become my habit I've modelled all doors open to allow for…
...see-through opportunities.
That approach does mean that the interior walls and framing have to be indicated - don’t look too closely though!
I used Will’s corrugated iron sheets for the main walls. They are rather thick so I fitted sliding doors on the outside
I've been working on the “Biscuit Shed”, the first of the buildings for my new Farthing layout. It is inspired by the “beer shed” in the GWR Goods yard at Stratford on Avon, which was used as a loading facility for beer traffic from the Flower & Sons brewery.
The biscuit theme draws on the so-called “biscuit siding” in Gloucester Old Yard, which served a small loading shed that was used by various industries over the years, including Peak Freen’s biscui
Line dance, 4mm style. I’ve been painting some figures from Andrew Stadden’s excellent new 4mm range of Edwardian figures.
A group in primer, showing the detail of the figures.
Being pewter, the Stadden figures are a little harder to modify than whitemetal ones. It’s not impossible though. This gent had his bag removed…
… making him look more like a railway employee. I sometimes file the caps to repre
This is the third and final part of a story based on a real incident on the Great Western at the turn of the century. It draws on the transcripts of a court case at Old Bailey. The story is narrated by Dennis Watts, a slipper boy in the employment of the GWR. The story began here.
Having produced their damning evidence, Detective Benton and constable Walmsley rounded up the four thieves and took them to court. I was the star witness at the trial, and made sure to tell
