Addleford creamery - Part 1
Entry posted by JRamsden
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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 dairies. Some further research ignited a fascination for this subject. That coupled with the availability of so much RTR milk-based stock gave me a brilliant opportunity to run trains I wouldn't have thought of before.
It appears there were two types of dairy facility. The creamery would accept milk direct from farms to process and send onward to a dairy. The true dairy would then bottle the milk and it would be dispatched to homes and commercial outlets from there. It wasn't uncommon to find a creamery in rural locations as they were close to the source of milk - farms. They sent milk by rail direct to places like London. For anyone interested in finding out more about milk by rail, I would recommend a forum search on this very website, plus a look at this very detailed resource: https://www.igg.org.uk/gansg/12-linind/milk.htm. Big thanks must also go to @Karhedron for being very patient and answering my unsolicited questions about milk by rail, something he knows a great deal about.
It was quite common for branch lines to see passenger numbers decline around the 50s and 60s as road traffic became more popular. Branch lines often closed to the public first and ran as freight only for a short while longer. It seems that the diary industry was one that was instrumental in keeping many lines open for as long as they were. The line through Hemyock station in Devon, for example, remained open until 1975 purely to serve the creamery and their private siding. The real Hawkhurst branch closed in 1961, but Addleford Green proposes an extension sometime earlier. The subsequent joining with the (fictional) Addleford Creamery means the line could also conceivably have remained open until the 70s and that gives me the option to run diesel stock too. Everyone wins!
One of the facilities that really grabbed my attention was the old Dairy Crest creamery at Torrington: https://goo.gl/maps/bQKsWYCfkb34jTDH8 I fell in love with the art deco design of this building and knew I had to include it on Addleford Green somehow. I did some measuring, swearing, re-measuring and design on the computer. I settled on a reduced-size design which still maintained the overall look I wanted while fitting in the available space. Because the backscene was at right angles to the board but the track was another angle entirely, I ended up having to design the buildings with a diagonal cut through the back as shown below. This made assembly a little bit more interesting!
I started with Torrington's iconic large window. I wanted to make sure I knew the exact size of the frame I had before I started cutting into the plastic. A good, accurate fit was essential here as it would be a focal point and draw the viewers eye. I started with a printed template and a highly technical frame made from masking tape, card and steel rules! Then I used strips of styrene to create the beams and bars. It's not an exact replica but I did copy a lot of the external decoration and am pretty pleased with the result.
Next up were the main outer walls. Templates were printed to help with cutting. I use mainly Slaters embossed Plastikard. Windows came from the Peco building components pack LK-78: https://peco-uk.com/products/building-kit-1 It's a pack I use a lot for the handy doors and windows, but there's a single sprue in there that contains a set of modern doors and windows. Over time I had acquired 3 of these sprues which gave me a good selection of items I would have otherwise never used.
Walls are almost always doubled up, with a layer of plain plastikard glued to the reverse for extra rigidity.
Proses' magnetic corner clamps are amazing! Keeping this thing square was vital due to all the angles and the general size of it.
Finally starting to take shape...
The vertical bricks were from York Model Making: https://yorkmodelrail.com/shop/00-scale-ho-scale/industrial-and-construction/00-brickdetail-01-vertical-bricks-850mm-2/
A good coat of Halfords grey primer really shows off what it could look like eventually. I always spray the inside with Halfords black matt too. This stops any inside areas from being visible when no interior is planned. Nothing ruins the illusion more than an obviously empty building! I'm really pushing it by having such a large window and no obvious interior! I am considering putting a suggestion of multiple floors and a staircase inside the window. I may make a mock-up and see how it looks. Also planned for the roof is a suggestion of access to the roof with a water tank as well.
Also visible here is the tall chimney and the engine/boiler house. The latter I'm not happy with. It's style is completely different to the rest of the facility so I may make a new one with a matching flat roof. I was pleased to be able to integrate the bridge, another iconic Torrington feature, above the main reception. Some good shots of the prototype here: http://www.abandoned-britain.com/PP/torrington/1.htm
Say what you like about the urban explorers who risk life and limb inside dangerous old relics; I can't deny their photos are fascinating and I owe them a lot for giving me such great reference material!
Next up, painting and detailing!
All for now,
Jonathan
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