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Northroader

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  1. What we now call Taplow was originally the Western terminus for Maidenhead, before the bridge over the Thames was completed. The goods shed is contemporary with the one at Paddington, sharing the same design, but the Paddington one is larger. The Taplow shed lasted until quite recently, but then demolished, which was a real pity.

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  2. It looks as if the upper body panels are stepped out above the wheels. This one looks as if it’s designed with rail transport in mind? Presumably those are securing chains hanging down, there are no placard boards above the roof to take down, and the front pole for the horse harness pushes back under the vehicle, rather than detaches. Suppose it’s painted chocolate? Pity the sign writing front or back doesn’t show.

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  3. I did a Duncan Models pantechicon in 0 scale, and used it as a load on a LBSC machinery wagon, which is how it would go by rail. The wagon had a flat deck, not a well, and the pantechnicon was a tight fit inside the wagon. The poster boards above the roof have to be removed, the drivers seat folded down, and the pole at the front removed. If it is loaded dead central on the wagon, I found it is just within load gauge limits, nothing to spare.

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  4. Nothing to show you now, and talking small sizes of buildings in 0 scale, but in the past I’ve painted embossed plastic sheets for bricks or stonework by an overall wash, using Humbrol flat paints, maybe patchy dabs of slightly different tone. Then do a paint mix for mortar and load a sprinbow pen, going along all the courses and risers by hand. This is tedious, but the courses aren’t as prominent as when you’re flooding and wiping.

     

    p.s. There’s always doing this, which looks great for old buildings:

     

    https://www.westernthunder.co.uk/threads/old-parrock.6209/page-5#post-172805

     

     

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  5. Not everyone is a marshmallow fan? I would have left them on the plate and passed the “perverse bastard” test. Anyhow, fully approve of your purchase, pre 1914 continental, just about, with the potential to form the centre of a nice little layout. I touched on the preserved  Dampfbahn Frankische Schweiz on my thread, a nice little branch in a very scenic setting, although I see the video links I gave have gone for a walk, but using lumpy goods tanks as a branch line mixed traffic in the hillier areas was a German thing. Must pop out and get some premium bonds.

    Heres 1910 continental in 0 scale on a board under 3’6”, so you can do it. Sorry it’s a bit dim in there after sunset.

    IMG_0362.jpeg.2979d71be3a442022bbf355234a279e5.jpeg

     

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  6. Being a former native of the area, I took great pride that the first railway locomotive in the world was done at Coalbrookdale. I used to own a very scholarly book “A history of railway locomotives down to the end of the year 1831”, by C.F. Dendy Marshall. This was the sort of work where there’s more footnotes than text, and quite limited illustrations. He brings out that information on this engine is very shadowy, and early on in its life the boiler failed, leading to casualties and a magistrates court case, which killed the project off. I’ve never come across more detail than this. There used to be a “replica” outside Telford Central station, which was given to a local school some time ago. Would this be the same job which is now at Blists Hill, or are there two? It would seem the creation was done by backtracking from what is known about the better known Pen-y-Darren loco. 
    Just down the river there was Raistricks Hazeldine Foundry, at Bridgnorth, which Trevithick used for castings on further locomotive work.

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  7. I would fancy the western end of the old GWR rather than the eastern end. It’s just that there are more hills, generally well wooded, so the scenery would be better, and all the buildings would be in Bath/ limestone. Places like Box, Chalford, or Bradford, small towns with a Regency upgrade. Having a dock might take up too much space, but there’s a canal in two of the places mentioned. A small yard with wagon turntables, there’s really enough vehicles in your fleet to overstock this already. Points to a minimum, if at all, they take up far too much space.

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  8. I think that in going from Broad Hinton to Wroughton, you’re going to hit some very hard gradients off the scarp of the Marlborough Downs, and you would better heed the softly, softly approach. Diverge from the GWR main line at Rushey Platt, and slope gently South Westwards to reach the scarp below Bicknoll Castle, then a steady gentle climb, crossing the Broad Hinton Road just at the top of Broad Town village, and on along the back of Clyffe Pypard. By about level with Highway you should on top of the scarp, and be able to swing South Eastwards to a junction with the  Calne line at Heytesbury, and joint to Avebury, passing south of Windmill Hill.

    Also if you surveyor persists in using a felt-tip pen on an inch map, you’re going to be involved in a lot of unnecessary surplus land purchasing.

    Also modern day surveyors may care to note that whilst checking the topography, there is a Brewery in Broad Town, where some beers are called “wide to gauge” “footplate” “gricers choice”, which could show pro railway partiality by the owner, a former signal engineer from S. Wales, just saying. Me, advertise a brewery??

     

    https://www.broadtownbrewery.co.uk/our-beers/

     

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  9. The GWR did plan a light railway approximating to your plan, between Salisbury and Pewsey. (Presume this faced west from Salisbury terminus,  diverging soon after at Bemerton, then swinging North)

     

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amesbury_and_Military_Camp_Light_Railway

     

    For my money, I would take it west of Amesbury, keeping clear of the LSWR, also bringing tourists much closer to Stonehenge. Then after Upavon swing further west away from Pewsey, as for a through route the Tan Hill Alps would be impassable. I can visualise an 850 class 0-6-0ST with some clapped out four wheelers at Amesbury (for Stonehenge) GWR station now.

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  10. That sounds a most interesting trip, right the way through. Hope your mum stood up to the rigours of West Cornwall.  As to the avoiding line at Reading, the Southern inherited a station from the SER, which from all accounts degenerated into a right dive, before BR brought an extension up into the GWR station, and closed the old place. In living memory it had another platform stitched on, so with the station rebuild it’s now platforms 4,5, and 6, at the south eastern corner.

    The train services using it are off the ex LSWR to London Waterloo, South Western Trains third rail, and former ex SER services  through Guildford and beyond in the Redhill direction, now to Gatwick airport, and these were gifted to the Western to run with d.m.u’s. Consequently, the SWR e.m.u’s are stabled from the London end, but the GW d.m.u s have to nest at the new depot, out west of the station on the north side. The goods fly under from the GWR relief lines on the north side to the SR line had been lifted with rundown of goods trains, but with the station rebuild it was reinstated, as good for getting the empty dmus from the depot to the southern platforms without having to snarl up all the GWR routes.

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