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  1. Good evening everyone, following on from the news of the layout extension, we have a short progress update. The grass is now 'growing' well over the new bank area, some railway clutter has started to appear and the grounded ex GWR van has received dramatically accelerated weathering. Vegetation is once again starting to encroach around the perimeter of the site including a new hedge, and the bufferstop along with the turntable deck has been re-instated. The 'wartime incident' alluded to in the title has left some physical traces - but only if you know where to look for them... The cause of this can be traced back to the dark days of 1941, and the night bombing campaign on this country by the Luftwaffe. At this time, the searchlight Battery at Sproston was fully operational as part of NW AA Command. It had been established at the end of 1940, tasked with the illuminating of raiding formations of bombers en route to their primary target of Liverpool to the North, and specifically the docks there. Most of the bombers assigned this target followed a North West flight path up the country. During one night attack, the incoming raiders attempted to avoid the main belt of AA guns situated around major urban connurbations in this area( Manchester,Leeds,Sheffield Derby and Birmingham ) by 'jinking' on their track from NW to W then back to NW again. This manouevre brought them closer to Sproston. The Battery here was already at 'readiness' when the raid was reported closing from the South at 10,000' and was ordered to stand to and Illuminate targets for the AA guns.. However one of the aircraft in the German formation took great exception at having a very bright light suddenly shone straight into his cockpit and ordered his gunners (in German of course!) to 'Put that bloody light out'... The gunners tried very hard to do exactly as ordered, and 3 streams of heavy machine gun fire arced down onto Sproston - faced with this, the Battery Commander did the only thing possible in that situation and quickly extinguised the light, the bullets fortunately missed their intended target, but struck another... Little remains now to remind one of this incident-except if you cast your eyes in the direction of the Sproston Creamery administration building - specifically the North tower offices, at ground and first/second floor level. Fortunately at the time of the raid these were all empty, being used by the Creamery day Managers only, but a fair amount of damage was done - many windows were smashed, and the brickwork was heavily 'pock marked' with diagonal streams of bullet holes from the aircrafts gunners. Most of this was repaired quite quickly, being wartime no photos of the damage caused are know to exist. However if you look at the SE corner of the building as you walk down the hill on Chapel Road towards where the battery once stood, the rough wartime repairs to the brickwork are clearly visible on the first two floors.. Well thats the end of the story! Comments, good or bad are always welcome. Regards (SIGTECH). Steve.
    3 points
  2. It’s that time of year again, when Christmas shopping, finding presents for the Grand-children, etc., mean that modelling has to take a back seat for a while. In fact, I seem to have had more than the usual number of distractions from modelling throughout most of the past year. So, to have a bit of fun and to show that I’ve not forgotten my aim to build ‘Rob Roy’ with its train, I have placed my model of this engine, in its current state, at Trowbridge Station – with a little help from Photoshop. It looks as though the original photo (which, incidentally, really does show a Waverley-class engine) was taken at the time of gauge conversion, so I imagine this occasion was the last BG train at that station. I’m sure that I’m not alone in finding that enthusiasm wanes a little, when the main scratch-building tasks have been completed and all those little details, like handrails, pipes, whistles and so on have to be added. At least I can be thankful that the old GWR let me off from having to make any brake gear Choosing the colour for painting is another task that has just been eased, as a result of the ‘new’ GWR rail franchise having decided to adopt the old ‘Holly Green’ colour as part of the new corporate image! See https://www.pentagram.com/work/great-western-railway-1/story for more information. So, I now have a specification for what colour to use for my engine: Apart from the engine, I have a Mail coach, 3rd-class and composite carriages, and a luggage van, all needing those ‘final touches’. My hope is that the New Year will provide me with the time and inclination to complete these tasks and then, who knows, I might even find an old illustration of North Leigh from back in the Broad Gauge days My best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to fellow modellers, hoping that many children and grand-children will receive presents that will encourage them to take up the hobby. Mike
    3 points
  3. The Stygian gloom that descends upon Sherton Abbas platform at nightfall has been a concern for sometime now. Complaints from passengers about the complete absence of platform lamps has been on the increase as nights are drawing in and Winter approaches. Rumours of "Ne'er-do-wells" lurking in the darkness abound, which although completely unfounded have proved unsettling for passengers of the fairer sex. The Sherton Abbas Chronicle has been stoking this discontent and shouts of "Something must be done!" have been shattering the tranquillity of this normally quiet market town. Fortunately something has been done! The previous paragraph in reality just means I've finally got round to making some platform lamps for the layout:-) I've held off sorting some lamps out for a couple of years now, mainly because I haven't found any that I liked. The proprietary white metal offerings look a bit coarse to my eye and although I was impressed by these brass versions https://www.kemilway.com/kemilway-architecture.html, despite numerous email requests I had no response back from the manufacturer:-( Modelu have been promising some for a couple of years now, but I think other projects have taken priority. I probably should try to make some splendid examples like Mikkel's http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/75/entry-20710-lamps-and-lamplighters/, but know when I'm beaten! I rather liked the fineness of these lamps from Peco https://peco-uk.com/collections/lineside-scenic/products/station-platform-lamps but was initially put off by the hexagonal cross section posts. I also liked these white metal posts from S&D models https://www.sanddmodels.co.uk/products_43_lamps.htm GL14 in their range. A plan was hatched to combine the Peco lamp tops, the S&D posts and hopefully make something at least a little GWR looking! Peco and S&D components Peco parts The Peco plastic lamp housing was cut off the posts and then glued to the top of the white metal posts using 5 minute epoxy resin. Lamp housing glued to post I want two of the lamps to be wall mounted, so brackets were made using some plastic card strip and etched brass scroll pieces from the scrap box:-) Lamps and posts Completed lamps The lamps and posts were then positioned on the platform, the wall mounted versions were fixed onto the Goods shed and Station building. Lamps in situ on the layout I’m reasonably happy with the way the lamps have turned out. The finials on top of the lamps aren’t quite representative of G.W.R. practice, but are probably adequate, at least until Modelu bring out some scanned examples!:-) Peace and tranquillity have returned to Sherton Abbas, indeed a number of passengers are reported to have expressed their gratitude to the Station Master. The following headline has also appeared in the “Chronicle” Lamp lighting ceremony at Sherton Abbas station! We are pleased to report that a lamp lighting ceremony took place at Sherton Abbas station last Thursday evening. Local residents arrived in considerable numbers to witness the event which was presided over by the Mayor of Sherton Abbas, our Station Master and members of the Great Western Railway board. The ceremony was punctuated with enthusiastic applause and a rousing chorus of “For he’s a jolly good fellow!” rang out across the station forecourt once the lamps had been lit. Until next time .......... Best wishes Dave
    2 points
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