Studland, A Purbeck Might-Have-Been

[Crisis Rail]

1 hour ago, Ian J. said:

 

Oi, I'm doing that in my S&P idea

 

Any images or a thread  Ian?

 

Ian

[Calidore]

14 hours ago, Crisis Rail said:

On the Purbeck theme here is the resurrected Furzey Oil (unnamed as yet) micro I started a while ago as you requested a view. Something and nothing but one thing it’s totally unprototypical . Just an excuse to run Type 2 Crompton at the opposite modelling ends of the country. 

 

 

 

Thanks for posting these, Ian. Looks like a nice project to me and there's certainly nothing wrong with the 'excuse to run _______' type of layout! Interesting that your grassed area does a very good representation of the slightly tufty, matted grass alongside the Swanage branch with that summer blend of patchy green and yellow. Is it hanging basket liner? I can only ever find much more brown ones when I've thought about trying it.

 

13 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Lovely idea and modelling so far but one thing with your map, how does it get through the huge Ballard Down at Ulwell without a very long expensive tunnel?  

My Lulworth Castle uses a similar premise but heads west to Lulworth, assuming the tramways were upgraded to standard gauge, but unlikely to have had the money to tunnel through the Down. It’s very steep on both sides having walked over it many times so tunnelling would be the only option. 

(copyright a Google terrain maps)

If you swapped to the North side of the Down it saves a huge amount of engineering and is quite feasible. If it came off at Norden you could always create a village around the houses at Brenscombe or Rempstone. It’s also rather close to the existing line on the South side  
The MOD connection to Studland is perfectly plausible with the huge exercises there in WW2 and the continuing use of the beach up to today for assault landing practice. They also hid some large rail guns on the branch when invasion was expected. 
Whatever the story behind it is the modelling is super!

 

Hi Paul, thanks for checking in and yes, my route choice does seem to have caused a stir  You're quite right that going North makes more sense (as the clay railway did in reality) -- I suppose I was trying to avoid making it too similar to what was actually built, but also perhaps such an imagined engineering feat is part of the fun of these kinds of route plans and might-have-beens. It'd be interesting to look through the original land survey book for the Swanage branch, recently donated to the SR from its previous custodians the IoWSR.

 

Your Lulworth Castle layout is a wonderful model and certainly one I'd count amongst the list of 'inspirational layouts' we all seem to keep. I've enjoyed videos but haven't had the chance to see it in person yet -- maybe one day. Your attention to the gradient profiles etc is very impressive. Thanks for your kind words as well.

 

 

12 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

With regard to military matters, don't forget "Starfish" on Arne!

Thank you for posting this comment Paul -- another example of the untold depths of knowledge to be found on RMWeb! I hadn't come across this before but having just done a bit of reading it sounds fascinating. It really evidences the strategic importance of the area and makes one realise that it wasn't only cities which really came in for it during the war. Also the evident interest in targeting the area goes some way to explaining that strange old story about 30120 being shot at by enemy aircraft whilst working in the area too.

 

11 hours ago, petethemole said:

Nissen huts were erected on a brick or concrete plinth. This one has concrete, but others at the same site were brick, so you could mix them.

Thanks for this Pete, another very helpful post. I'd thought about a platform-height plinth, but after testing the huts on the layout (last photo of my previous post) thought they didn't need that much height. This will be a perfect compromise.

 

------

 

It's sunny in my neck of the woods today, and a blue sky tends to always remind me of sunny days around Swanage, so here are another couple of photos from the past few years.

 

Through the castle ruins, looking towards Poole Harbour with Arne visible to the left and the heath in the middle distance.

 

From the footplate on 30120. With the timing of the pandemic being what it is, she may well not steam again on her current ticket. After that, who knows.

 

Adam

[PaulRhB]

Well you did get some incomprehensible tunnels, Ventnor springs to mind! 

[Calidore]

2 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Well you did get some incomprehensible tunnels, Ventnor springs to mind! 

One of my favourite pieces of ridiculous infrastructure is Calstock Viaduct on the Callington branch. Absolutely enormous (and beautiful to look at), but all for a tiny branch line. It's those kind of things that make the early railway speculators seem so mad but also so brave.

 

Taking advantage of the sun, base track colour is done -- a decent shade for a lightly-used, end-of-the-line kind of place I think. I plan to add to it with dry brushing for highlights and detail patches in due course.

 

Adam

[Ian J.]

7 hours ago, Crisis Rail said:

 

Any images or a thread  Ian?

 

Ian

 

There's a link to the blog in my signature. No scenic stuff yet, as I'm still sorting out the fiddleyard boards, slowly but surely.

 

Edit: I've just remembered I modified the idea to take out a diversion and put in a branch line, which funnily enough heads to the north of a down that is in essence the one to the east of Corfe. While the geography of my idea is technically fictional, it is heavily influenced by the Dorset area.

Edited June 1, 2020 by Ian J.

[Crisis Rail]

Adam

 

Dobbies basket liner - plentiful stocks are availiable i'm sure - but probably a 2 hour queue.

 

Ian

[Guest Jack Benson]

Hi,

 

Any further progress on this project? My tiny diorama of the Purbeck clay tramway uses much the same idea, based on the line to Goathorn except only enough space for the workshop and maintenance yard of the system.

 

Thank you

 

StaySafe

[Calidore]

13 hours ago, Jack Benson said:

Hi,

 

Any further progress on this project? My tiny diorama of the Purbeck clay tramway uses much the same idea, based on the line to Goathorn except only enough space for the workshop and maintenance yard of the system.

 

Thank you

 

StaySafe

 

A bit! Thanks for asking. Sorry for disappearing on this one -- it's an endlessly repeated phrase on here, but life really does get in the way of modelling terribly. An unexpected move and starting an all-consuming research project rather put paid to it all.

 

I've actually built a station building, constructed over a month or so around March. The break from thinking about this project made me realise I'd been overthinking the question of a prototype for it, so I just built something which looked 'right' to me. I'm not with the model at the moment, but I can post a photo in a few days. It just needs the chimneys and guttering, plus a canopy, to finish off. I'm not sure whether I like it or whether I'll build another one, but the simple act of actually making something does wonders when stuck overanalysing.

 

After similar overthinking on the track plan for the station part of the project, I think I've also got a much better and simpler one to use which I thought up a while ago for something else. The board and track for the MOD sidings are still stored and usable.

 

I happened to be in Purbeck yesterday, so today is an opportune day for this to resurface. A very fine drive around Lulworth in gorgeous sun, a visit to the castle, and then a drive across to Corfe and Swanage to see Eddystone back in traffic -- what more does one need?

 

The Beaminster Road blog and thread are always such an interesting read, by the way -- I tend not to comment on anything much at present due to all of the above, but I've been enjoying silently following along. I must drop in and correct that soon.

 

All I need to do now is build the thing... Plus the little urban parcels plank which I started, for a slice of the 'other end' of the LSWR...

 

Adam

[Guest Jack Benson]

Adam,

 

Thanks, I am in awe of your modelling skills, the water tower is superb.

 

StaySafe

[Guest Jack Benson]

Adam,

 

Thanks to your idea and the timely arrival of the tiny baseboards, we have the germ of an idea. A short line to a  ‘50s army camp ‘somewhere’ in Dorset/Hampshire. 
 

This is the link but can we ask about the source of your Nissen huts, surely not the dreaded Ratio kit?  
 

Thanks for providing the spark, hopefully we can build it, we have a thread in Dioramas and Boxfiles.

 

 

StaySafe

[Calidore]

1 hour ago, Jack Benson said:

Adam,

 

Thanks to your idea and the timely arrival of the tiny baseboards, we have the germ of an idea. A short line to a  ‘50s army camp ‘somewhere’ in Dorset/Hampshire. 
 

This is the link but can we ask about the source of your Nissen huts, surely not the dreaded Ratio kit?  
 

Thanks for providing the spark, hopefully we can build it, we have a thread in Dioramas and Boxfiles.

 

 

StaySafe

Glad to hear news — I’ll keep an eye on your progress!

 

The huts were scratch built — I’ll see if I have any WIP photos I can post. Many hours spent softening corrugated plastikard in hot water and then trying to get it to stay in shape with elastic bands!

 

In other news, after the small 7mm project I’m working on at the moment, there’s a possibility Studland may come back to life in O gauge. Still taking it (extremely) slow…