Coalorsdale - A shropshire Branchline - 1965 to 71

[Paul H Vigor]

On 28/04/2020 at 18:40, Ian Smeeton said:

I wish that I had blown my student income on Streamline Points & Flexi rrack reather than beer & Women.

 

Looking good so far.

 

Please keep us all updated.

 

Regards

 

Ian

As an undergrad at Exeter I toyed with an idea for a small narrow gauge layout (009) on the wall-hung bookshelf in my accommodation. Beer & Women 1 - 0 Model Railway!

[whart57]

14 hours ago, Horsehay Railway Modeller said:

(possibly with some semblence of a plateway or wagon way)

 

 

 

 

There used to be examples of a plateway at both Coalbrookdale and Blists Hill museums. Except that the pictures of both on the internet are so much tidier than I remember

Edited May 14, 2020 by whart57

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

a strange question guys, has anyone seen the inside of coalbrookdale station? Im mocking up the building in CAD and have plenty of outside photographs, as well as google maps to get vague roof dimensions. but have no real idea of internal layout.

 

here is a top down veiw of the building. I know its a long shot but if anyone knows a vague layout feel free to annotate.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

chipping away at the layout again. 

 

i have now made the control panel for the ironworks. Its very simple, just three switches for point control. I'll update the building diagrams when they get added to the layout.

 

I have also begun work on the station. After measuring all the scrap wood i could find i discovered an old desk i had built was mostly 18mm mdf. This is perfect for 00 platforms and sits just below step height. I made templates using a mk1 coach and pencil and then cut them out with a circular saw. the platforms are about 3 ft long meaning i can fit 3 coaches comfortably or four at a push.

 

i then decided to blend the main platform into its surroundings as often the station and its car park etc. are level with the platform. This was acheived using another peice of 18mm mdf and then using cardboard formers to begin the hillside blending the platform and the incline. 

 

i also decided tio put a small gravel lane down from the station towards the signal box and sidings.

 

Elsewhere on the layout i have applied plaster bandage to the large cutting and tunnel , as well as working on several 3d printed and CAD items such as a custom designed tunnel portal and platform edging as well as cad for the station.  all of these will be posted later on when complete.

 

 

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

I also need some advice for the last unplanned bit of baseboard. the area between the track and the incline. 

 

i am thinking of raising it up slightly, probably to the same level as the platform and station, and adding a slope down to the the track. then constructing a station masters house or old farm house with a nice detailed garden and driveway. 

 

i will also need some sort of access road for the station. probably tarmac possibly gravel. accessed by either a tunnel under the gradient or via a level crossing, or both.

 

here are some terrible sketches. all input welcome.

[whart57]

Farmhouses and an ironworks?

 

Now I know that East Shropshire is far from being an industrial wasteland, and it was never anything like the Black Country, but you really need a bit of space between the two. You could say you are providing a break but you have a roadbridge under the ironworks sidings.

 

Some workers' cottages might be a better bet - plenty of examples around Dawley and Horsehay. And how about a tin tabernacle or chapel, there's one in Blist's Hill museum, for something that is definitely not Metcalfeshire.

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by whart57

[whart57]

By the way, were you aware of this bit of level crossing still lingering in a road near Doseley

 

 

Some forty years ago I took some pictures of my then two year old daughter peeking through the level crossing gates. I'm pretty certain this was the spot.

 

 

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

8 hours ago, whart57 said:

Some workers' cottages might be a better bet

perhaps  you are right. I was just worried it would look a bit "train setty" with a row of houses or cottages backing on to the line in this loop. maybe slightly more seperation can be acheived with i line of trees along the retaining wall? not as a scenic break but rather as if they had been planted to deaden some noise from the works. Then i should get away with a station masters house/cottage and gardens.

there is a small level space along the gradient which may suit the back of a row of cottages, at the moment i had only planned it as a feild or woodland.

8 hours ago, whart57 said:

how about a tin tabernacle or chapel

now that is something i hadnt considered. perhaps i could model one on top of the embankment at the other end of the layout. This is where i had origionally planned a stone church. I think a tin chaple would nestle into the woods above the tunnle quite nicely.

 

7 hours ago, whart57 said:

By the way, were you aware of this bit of level crossing still lingering in a road near Doseley

 

 

Some forty years ago I took some pictures of my then two year old daughter peeking through the level crossing gates. I'm pretty certain this was the spot.

 

 

 

 

As it happens i walked very near there today. it shouldnt be too many years before telford steam trust reinstate the line through this crossing. I believe they already own some crossing light and signs and were doing well laying concrete sleepers on the track just north of here  until lockdown. 

[whart57]

I take your point about looking "train-setty" and it would if you merely went for a set of Metcalfe cottages. However your idea of a row of trees to create a sound break is 21st century thinking, no-one would have bothered in the mid 20th century. There is also the little matter that a row of mature trees in the 1960s would have been planted in the 1930s to 1940s. But what with the war and the Depression before that people had other things on their plates.

 

I hope I am not offending you with my suggestions, but I am coming to this from having lived in the area forty years ago and not having been back since. In my mind I have a vision of the place in a period not far removed from the one you are modelling. Out of interest I have been "driving around" using Google Streetview and it seems to me today that Telford is a lot greener and tidier than I remember.

 

The other thing to remember is that in your period Dawley New Town (not even Telford yet, Wellington was not added to the new town till a few years later) had only just been created.

 

To come back to the workmen's cottages idea, the Metcalfeshire idea of rows of back to backs wouldn't work, that's not East Shropshire. More typical is individual small, low ceilinged cottages with small outbuildings for kitchens and sculleries, or perhaps a short row of three or four, not even all to the same design. Today most have been gentrified - blame the first generation of teachers and office managers moving to Telford for that - and often a short row has been knocked together to make one residence. And most would have had a bit of garden, usually turned over to vegetable growing.

 

But keep up the good work, I'm interested in this one.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

Work has recently progressed on the first stage of plastering the cuttings and hills. 

 

There is now atleast two layers of plaster cloth on all of the terrain (except the river banks as I am currently deciding what to do here). 

 

You can clearly see all of the ribs, however this is fine as I am going to fill in all of the embankments with sculptamold. Sculptamold will fill in all of the dips between ribs as well as allowing me to sculpt the landscape exactly as I want and add different textures etc. 

I have mocked up the slope for the river temporarily with masking tape. However this is likely to change as I am not currently happy with it. 

This is what I have done to the right hand side of the station. My next post will go over this in greater detail. 

 

[1722]

Enjoyable thread. As someone who moved to the area several years ago I enjoy a jaunt on the TSR and have got quite a few books on the line.

 

Any plans to purchase the blue Hornby peckett and turn it into Rocket?

[The Johnster]

The sweeping curve is very attractive, and the scene is coming together nicely, but I do have a worry about the river.  It isn't the Severn, not wide enough, and seems to me to be in a very steep sided looking channel that doesn't quite 'gel' IMHO.  My suggestion would be to have a shallower slope to the banks and make it more of a brook, maybe with a steeper slope on one side.  The gentler slope could have buildings, or a road/lane/pathway, or even the remains of an old tramroad on it.  I'm thinking of the real Coalbrookdale, a narrow valley with a stream running fairly steeply down to the Severn, the original power source for the ironworks.  In reality the railway runs along this valley, not across it. so your stream very obviously isn't the 'coal brook', but could be a tributary or another stream in the area.

 

Buildings could be of the pigeon loft/tin shed/small workshop sort; there might even be one or two of the 'chalets' you find along the SVR that were built by Birmingham Blitz refugees during the war.  It feels like a natural spot for a semi-derelict caravan...

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

This is what I've ended up with by the station. I started by sketching out a rough idea. With a main road coming from under the works and crossing the tracks. Then a lane branching off to the station as well as some sort of raised area for  whatever building I decide to place here. 

Having made my initial sketches I decided it made more sense to put in the road and embankments first and then I can model whatever fits in the raised area. 

 

I began by adding an mdf riser to make the tunnel the same height as the station and then adding risers to create a gentle slope on the road. I then added a raised section just a little higher than the station area. 

 

Finally I created the embankments using crushed paper balls. I used this method as apposed to cardboard formers quite simply because I was fed up of cutting cardboard strips

This was then covered in plaster cloth and will be covered in sculptamold In the future. 

 

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[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

35 minutes ago, 1722 said:

Any plans to purchase the blue Hornby peckett and turn it into Rocket?

Definitely plans for some sort of pecket to work the ironworks sidings. 

 

9 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

do have a worry about the river.  It isn't the Severn, not wide enough, and seems to me to be in a very steep sided looking channel that doesn't quite 'gel' IMHO.  

Exactly what's been bothering me recently. I think I will sit and sketch some ideas in some form and decide what to do next. The river was added before I decided the layout would be a compressed version of the Wenlock branch. And therefore very obviously isn't the severn. I may end up redoing the framework allowing for, as you suggest, a smaller shallower tributree 

[The Johnster]

The prehistoric formation of the area lends itself well.  Probably teaching granny to suck eggs, but around 12,000ya, as the ice sheet that blanketed what are now the British Isles broke up an retreated, there was a huge meltwater lake where Shrewsbury is now, as the remaining ice blocked the Severn, previously a tributary of Dee, until it overflowed in a massive cascade somewhere around Buildwas Abbey and created the Ironbridge Gorge; the Severn now drains into the Bristol Channel, not Liverpool Bay.  
 

This means that any tributary in the gorge area, like the Coal Brook, which originally flowed fairly gently on the plateau around Telford New Town, now cuts deep and steep, eroding it’s small valley into the plateau.  Thus were created the perfect storm of circumstances for Abraham Darby to develop his revolutionary ironworks in Coalbrookdale; coal, wood for coking it, iron, and the deep, steep, and hence fast Coal Brook to drive the bellows, and the navigable Severn on hand to export the output by the developing canal network network and coastal shipping; the sea going Severn trows could get to the river wharf, and it is these that are the reason for the graceful high arch of Telford’s lovely bridge. 
 

So your brook now becomes something similar to the Coal Brook, but within a hundred yards or so of the point at which it leaves the plateau and begins it’s steep drop towards the Severn.  All eminently plausible, I’d say!

[whart57]

Does this mean that our friend from Horsehay should include the ruins of Abraham Darby's furnace as they were in the 1960's, pre Telford New Town and the revival of interest in the Industrial past? Be an interesting bit of modelling.

 

Incidentally, you have mis-spoke here. The Ironbridge was commissioned by Abraham Darby III and designed by one Thomas Pritchard. Telford designed the first iron bridge, replacing a medieval stone bridge, at Buildwas. But that is not the modern bridge.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

 

I have just done some work to make a start on the new brook.

i began by cutting the plywood under the double mainlines to a better shape as i know wish to leave this in place and scratch build a bridge around it. The works branch will have some sort of girder bridge construction that will be built seperately. 

 

i also ripped out the formers i had made and began experimenting with some insulation off cuts to raise the level up.

 

i have also made another dodgy computer eketch showing my ideas for a smaller brook with a simple brick viaduct at the front and some currently undesigned iron or steel bridge at the back serving the works. there is also a gravel path to one side allowing possibility to old an old wagonway or abandoned buildings etc.

 

3 hours ago, whart57 said:

include the ruins of Abraham Darby's furnace

i am not sure they would fit however some sort of ruined industtry etc. may be on the banks.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Horsehay Railway Modeller

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

Ive now made a few orders for items needed to progress the layout, including sculptamold and plasticard of varying types. until they arrive ive been dabbling with different projects including carving the brook and weathering some stock. (photos to follow tomorrow)

 

I think the first Building i am going to make will be the station building, based off of the station building at coalbrookdale. I am hoping to 3d print the bulk of it but i will use plasticard and other materials for some sections. 

 

I have managed to get vague measurements from google as well as many photos of different window placements etc. however i am unsure on the internal layout. I was just wandering if anyone had any idea. i assume it would be pretty similar to most GWR built stations of this size. if not a standard design. 

 

The right hand side appears to be a toilet. but i am unsure of the layout of the waiting room / office etc. 

 

here are some basic mockups

 

all advice welcome.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

3A few updates from the layout over the last week or so. 

 

As promised here are some photos of the weathering I did. I began on my class 55.

Its an old lima model but the tooling looks quite good when the details are picked out. I looked through several photographs and  the roof vents were black in nearly all of them. It looks like later resprays painted the vents the self's black to hide the grime but I chose to simply airbrush some grime on all of the grills. I also used some light white airbrushing as it seemed common for them to develop dusty white streaks on the fuel tanks and underframe. Finally I finished with some light yellowish dust up the sides. I made sure this was minimal as body panels always appeared clean in the photographs I looked at. 

 

Having finished  the loco I still had a pale sandy colour mixed in the airbrush and decided instead of wasting it it spray a bit on the underframes of my mk1s. I also ended up dusting some of the side panels. 

I think the overall effect is good but I will definitely revisit coaches in the future as I only sprayed half of them, and it was just a quick test. 

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

Elsewhere on the layout I have just about finished the carving /melting of the foam for the Brook. 

This will be blended in with sculptamold when I have the viaduct built. I'm just waiting on some English bond brick plasticard to arrive for this. 

 

My sculptamold has arrived and I have been sculpting all of the embankments. Its not completely set yet however I am very impressed. It hasnt quite hidden all of the ridges, however a second coat probably would. I don't think I'll bother as most of the ridges will either be under woodland or long static grass. 

Finally I have installed even more lighting above the layout. I had initially replaced an old flourecant tube with three daylight white led bulbs, and was very impressed. until I came across a Canadian layout which made such good use of bright led strips. Some scenes on his layout look photo realistic simply due to the leds making it so bright and evenly lit. 

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

A few things have happend on the layout over the past week or two. ill be writing updates over the next day or so. 

The first thing i did was weather my Hornby 61xx.

Here is a photo of it pre weather. I gave it a good clean and made sure it ran well.

 

I then took about adding real coal, I smashed up a lump we had remaining from before the flue broke on our coal fire.

I then weathered the body and underframe of the loco with black acrylic in the airbrush .

 

I am very happy with the result, however i will likely return when my skills and techniques have developed.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

The most recent task completed on the layout is the platforms for coalorsdale Station. 

 

Having looked at photographs of the Coalbrookdale platforms I had origionaly designed and 3d printed some platform edging strips similar to the peco ones. Unfortunately I made the capping stones too wide and some of the prints didnt come out too well. I have learnt from my mistakes and will definately be using the 3d printer in other areas. However I decided to crack on and use English bond brick plasticard. I also bought some paving slab plasticard as it matches the surface of the origional Coalbrookdale platforms well. 

 

Once the plasticard was glued down I still wanted some sort of 3d edging. After a last minute amazon prime order for match sticks, the next morning I began gluing them along the edges. 

This neatly covered the join as well as adding depth to the edges. 

 

Once all of the matches were glued I leveled them off with a chizel so they didn't stand proud of the paving stones. 

 

I then made an experiment block to practice painting. The result looks good. I will do a separate post on the painting of the full platforms later.

[whart57]

Do you have a copy of Gordon Gravett's Modelling grass and landscape detailing? It has some good stuff on things like road surfaces and the like. Not tried his techniques myself but having seen some of his layouts they certainly work for him. I personally find hard surfaces like roads and platforms a nightmare to get right so when the occasion arises - as it will do pretty soon - I'll give some of his stuff a whirl.

 

I would say though that the brickwork needs a lot of sooting up.

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

The painting of the platforms took almost a whole week. With various coats of paint and dry brushing as well as air brushing. 

 

I began painting the top surface a slate grey colour. As well as using white acrylic to fill the mortar of the bricks. 

I used some light washes to bring out the texture in the slabs and also lighten them up as the initial grey coat was a little dark. 

 

In this photo you can also see that between coats on the platforms I glued in barrow crossings made of matchsticks at either end, and began painting the hills with greens and browns. 

 

Later on in the week I got the airbrush out and sprayed black acrylic. To make the bricks alot more sooty as well as the platforms. I later decided the platform surface looked a little too grimey.

 

I also decided to get out my old homemade static grass applicator and add grass on various sections of the platform.  I have seen many photos of other platforms on the line being almost entirely grass by the time they closed. The grass I used is an old mix I've had sat in a draw since my last layout. And definately needs toning down a bit but it gives an Idea of what I'd like to do. 

 

I was initially happy with the platforms like this, however I soon began to think the black "soot" on the surface was a little over done in places and looked quite patchy. Over several days I would walk into the garage. Wipe off a little paint or spray on some new shades. I ended up spraying the slabs with a concrete shade which lightened them up well. And then following up with a very dilute wash of brown which toned them down again. 

 

After various different coats and methods over several days this is the result I ended up with. 

 

As you can see in the second photo I sprayed the bricks with black but made sure to leave some cleaner areas. As well as wiping of all the paint except in the mortar in some areas to give the impression of newer patches at different times. 

 

I am very happy with the results over all. I may come. Back and neaten up the platform edge. And If I want to match Coalbrookdale a little better I need a strip of larger square slabs along the platform edge, however for the first bit of scenery/construction I've done in years I am quite pleased.

More photos to follow. 

[whart57]

That platform edge is looking a whole lot better.

 

The ballast colour will affect the overall look though. Aside from the fact it doesn't want to look too clean, what colour are you going to use?