Buntingford

[Ramblin Rich]

I've just got hold of the current BRM & very much enjoyed reading about Buntingford. Have to agree that it's very impressive with a great feeling of space and everything seems to 'gel' together with nothing standing out. Having enjoyed 'Fenchurch St Peter' a few months ago too, the BR green Eastern Region is definitely getting a good standard of layout at the moment!

[mogman1969]

Obviously an attack of the vapours

ahhhh the smog from an oil fired dmu heater .... .. .

[leopardml2341]

On 05/05/2017 at 22:52, mogman1969 said:

ahhhh the smog from an oil fired dmu heater .... .. .

Or just the DMU itself:

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=dmu+clag&client=tablet-android-pega&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi29c2QpN3TAhWCAcAKHZskDE0Q_AUICSgB&biw=960&bih=600#imgrc=Dz1nVBppMiJBIM:

 

Edit (11/05/2023) Link doesn't link to same place anymore,  damn you Google! 

Edited May 10, 2023 by leopardml2341
Stated in post.

[stfgroxb]

A long time since the last post, but between coats of varnish during the re-painting of the Buntingford Class 31 there was time for some shunting action with D5047 collecting empty fertiliser vans and loaded grain wagons from the Buntingford terminus.

 

 

D5047 has collected the empty vans carrying seasonal fertiliser traffic from the goods shed, and then sets back to collect the loaded grain wagons from Anglia Maltings.

 

 

The unfitted grain wagons are set back into the platform road before the vans are shunted to form the front of the train.

 

The signalman discusses the final run-round manoeuvre and shunt required to place the brake van on the rear of the train.

 

 

And finally D5047 makes a spirited departure towards St Margaret's having received the single line token from the signalman...hopefully to be embedded in next post.

[stfgroxb]

OK got there in the end!

 

The daily goods departs for St Margaret's and ultimately Temple Mills yard.

 

trim.6BE3C7C3-DD05-4CD1-A4BE-D4EE0B014B6B.MOV

[stfgroxb]

Or does this work better?

 

[stfgroxb]

It has been far too long since I posted on RM Web but as Andy has kindly included Buntingford in next weekend's virtual show I thought that I should start up again. Lots of recent work on the Class 125 DMU to make itook and sound like the o es that ran on the branch. This has turned into something of a Labour of love! Images and other updates to follow soon! 

[wamwig]

Looking forward to seeing Buntingford on the virtual show, hopefully it will spur me on to start my own representation of Widford, which I think is the most picturesque station on the line, but all those trees!

[EHertsGER]

When the time comes (!) I plan on using these chaps to do the hard work: https://www.treemendus-scenics.co.uk/handmade-trees/

 

The problem with Widford is that the trees are seriously high - nobody will believe them as models and probably not be able to see over them as they screen the station from the weir side. Building it from the road side would allow a backdrop of trees, certainly, but it curves away from the viewer and reaching in for shunting could be an issue, to say nothing of losing the view of the front of the lovely station and signal box.

 

Best get on with some locos, then (4xJ15s, 2xF4s, 1xF5, 1xF6, 4xN7s, Cls 15 & 16 all done...). I just can't quite get into the mood to set saw to a Bachmann 117 for a 125 (I have the destination blind box and spare window ready to fit) !

 

Ok, wagons, then.

 

Best,

Marcus

Edited November 2, 2020 by EHertsGER

[stfgroxb]

That's an impressive array of locos and I agree that sawing up a Bachmann 117 would be a bold step! The lovely thing about Widford is that it is still possible to visit the site to obtain a 360 degree view of the surrounds. And of course the trees are even taller now!!

[wamwig]

25 minutes ago, stfgroxb said:

That's an impressive array of locos and I agree that sawing up a Bachmann 117 would be a bold step! The lovely thing about Widford is that it is still possible to visit the site to obtain a 360 degree view of the surrounds. And of course the trees are even taller now!!

Indeed and I frequently do, if you have a GIS system (QGIS is free) you can also download the (also free) LIDAR data and then draw sections through the site to create a quite accurate ground model, yes I know the station etc has all gone but everything around it is much the same, with as you say much taller trees (and more of them).

[EHertsGER]

1 hour ago, stfgroxb said:

That's an impressive array of locos and I agree that sawing up a Bachmann 117 would be a bold step! The lovely thing about Widford is that it is still possible to visit the site to obtain a 360 degree view of the surrounds. And of course the trees are even taller now!!

It doesn't seem to bold a step - it's just such a lovely thing as it is. However, take the destination board/roof section from a pair of 108 bodies (ebay spares) and the windows out of a Dapol bubble car body (DCC Spares - Bachmann are not issuing 117 spares yet) and the job is done. What stops me is the circuit boards and so on - trying to work out how to keep the destinations lit and not muck up anything else that should work. It wasn't like this when I was hacking up LIMA bodies!

 

I have even thought about chopping up bubble cars (much like the LIMA experience, above) but it came out almost as expensive as the 117 plus spares, so no idea what the eventual solution will be. Best sit tight for a 116, I suppose.

 

Best,

Marcus

[stfgroxb]

OK so as promised some images of the Class 125 DMU now resident at Buntingford. These Lea Valley DMUs provided the branch service from the end of steam to closure, and it must have been a leisurely duty for them given the power available! 

 

The model is based on the Silver Fox product, although much modified as follows :

- motor bogie replaced by Replica Railways powered chassis

- DCC sound (Class 127 from Legomanbiffo) installed, with two speakers to reflect Rolls Royce engines installed in two power cars on the real thing

- Interiors repainted and crew and passengers installed

- Steps added under all doors of new powered car and some sections of othets

- Grab rails installed on ends of middle car

- Correct destination codes and route indicators added

- Roof weathered to remove white ends

-Correct split yellow warning panels added

- General weathering

- Keen close coupling system between two cars

- Overhead cable warning transfers added, together with orange star coupling code transfers

 

Many hours of enjoyable fiddling! I know it is not perfect - the original units ride a little high compared to the RR chassis, and the original engine mouldings are not accurate for the Rolls Royce engines fitted in reality. That said, I am quite chuffed with it, particularly having wired the second sound speaker through the length of the unit! 

 

Videos to follow! 

 

 

 

 

[stfgroxb]

Sorry that photos are not up to Andy's standard. Limited to mobile phone at present! 

[stfgroxb]

Videos too big so will attempt Plan B via another route! 

[wamwig]

Wow that looks good, well done!! Presumably there are not too many passengers on it?

Edited November 15, 2020 by wamwig

[stfgroxb]

No, only a smattering across all 3 carriages! 

[stfgroxb]

OK and hopefully a couple of videos showing the unit departing from and arriving at Buntingford. The guy in red is clearly immobilised in awe of the spectacle!!

 

 

 

[stfgroxb]

Please note branch line malpractice of leaving tail light at each end of the unit, as observed in photos within Peter Paye's book, The Buntingford  Branch. 

[Schooner]

@stfgroxb What a beautiful beautiful model! An amazing achievement, which I'm sorry to have only just come across (thanks to BRM). I've just read through the thread (and am about to do so again with notebook to hand), and thank you for the inspiriation and wonderful example set.

 

Thank you also for demonstrating some of your methods for weathering, very interesting and very useful. On which...the ground texture, tone and detail that you have achieved is absolutely superlative, if there's better out there I can't think of it:

This is largely down to your skills of observation and modelling chops, as well noted by previous commenters, but part of that is is choosing the right materials and techniques to use. Would you be able to share how you went about the ground cover?

 

I ask for my own benefit, of course, as I plan a layout with a lot of open ground but I'm sure I won't be the only the one to benefit from your knowledge

 

Cheers, all the best and merry Christmas and a happy new year!

 

Schooner

[stfgroxb]

Dear ‘Schooner’, I am sorry that I have not replied earlier. As a teacher it has been a rather hectic couple of weeks and I have not been keeping a close eye on RM Web! Thank you for your very kind comments, and I will certainly get back to you in more detail over the next few days.

[stfgroxb]

@Schooner It is a fair while since I completed the ground cover on Buntingford! The track ballast is all Carr’s ash ballast, as this was the only product I could find to replicate the ash ballast used on the Buntingford branch. It was very difficult to fix as proved almost impermeable to the usual PVA glue/washing up liquid mix - but it soaked in eventually!
 

The goods yard was formed by a thin layer of DAS modelling clay, painted with a base colour. I then tried various materials to add texture - mixes of fine sand, Carr’s ash ballast and fine lumps of real coal around the staithes. The grass/weeds was short grass scatter via a Noch GrassMaster. I followed guidance from a magazine article on the puddles - these are painted plastic covered with DAS clay to form the outline. 
 

I think the key thing to the overall finish was liberal use of a range of weathering powders applied with a large, soft brush. Very much trial and error until it looked about right....

 

sorry - all a bit vague but I was making it up as I went along.

 

Graham

[stfgroxb]

The recent 'publication' by BRM of various bits of Buntingford video footage brought back fond memories of Andy York's visit to photograph the layout for BRM - now way back in late-2016, although it seems like yesterday! His photos really flatter the layout, and with hindsight I think that this is my favourite! The engineers have had occupancy further down the branch to undertake some track replacement and re-ballasting - but the train has trundled up to Buntingford to run round prior to its return journey. And the Class 16 laid on by Stratford has not yet broken down......

 

 

[stfgroxb]

A little afternoon project as a break while adding some more Parkside coal wagons to the fleet! The aim was to add a bit more realism to the figures at Buntingford, so a little cameo was added based around a couple of heavily-weathered parcels/luggage trolleys dumped towards the end of the platform. A couple of crew are taking a break, no doubt discussing why Stratford have allocated such a clean Class 15  to a very grubby engineers ‘ duty (see earlier picture!)!

 

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by stfgroxb
Adding deleted images

[stfgroxb]

Another long beak between posts reflects a period of modelling inactivity. Very happy to be using the Jubilee weekend as an excuse to kick-start a few projects. First up, some weathering of an Oxford Rail ‘Pilchard’ as an addition to the engineering train that occasionally ambles to Buntingford in order to fettle some of the increasingly decrepit track along the branch. The Pilchard is being used to remove redundant lengths of track. Weathering based on close observation of an image on the Paul Bartlett site. Most of these wagons were ER based so a plausible addition to the layout.