Lapford in N gauge.

[Cowley 47521]

51 minutes ago, TomJ said:

Apparently Lapford is haunted by a former vicar (who murdered his curate) in revenge for not being buried in the churchyard. And one a year the ghost of Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Beckett visits the village 

Good lord. I always knew it was a bit strange out there.

Ghosts in the road, caravans rotting away, disappearing hitch hikers...

”Don’t stray off the path!”

[jcredfer]

33 minutes ago, mudmagnet said:

There  was an old caravan further up the road tucked in behind a hedge where an old couple lived. The tale goes that after the old man died, he could be seen hitchhiking along the road.

The caravan was left to rot and believe gone now.

 

Very close, very nearly there.....   but it wasn't quite hitchhiking.....

 

Julian

 

 

[Cowley 47521]

2 minutes ago, jcredfer said:

 

Very close, very nearly there.....   but it wasn't quite hitchhiking.....

 

Julian

 

 

I’m worried about the direction this is going in! 

[Cowley 47521]

This what happens when the Battle of the Beanfield was too much for you and you decide that it’s time to settle down with a dilapidated bungalow in some forgotten backwater in Devon...

 

 

Once you’ve decided what to do it’s best if you throw all of the furniture and the white goods out into the garden while you think about what to do next.

 I mean at least the kids have got somewhere to sit...

[Karhedron]

What great shots. I have enjoyed watching this layout come together.

 

Out of interest, does anyone have any photos of the Ambrosia factory while it was in operation? Or know of books with photos in? I know it is still standing but the only photos I have seen of it are recent.

[Cowley 47521]

17 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

What great shots. I have enjoyed watching this layout come together.

 

Out of interest, does anyone have any photos of the Ambrosia factory while it was in operation? Or know of books with photos in? I know it is still standing but the only photos I have seen of it are recent.

Thanks for your comments Karhedron.

I must admit that I don’t have any photos of it while it was still working. I’ve seen a photo of a two tone green 25 with full yellow ends taking the the spur to the loading dock with some milk tanks, but photos of it pre 1973 are pretty hard to come by.

 

[jcredfer]

48 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

What great shots. I have enjoyed watching this layout come together.

 

Out of interest, does anyone have any photos of the Ambrosia factory while it was in operation? Or know of books with photos in? I know it is still standing but the only photos I have seen of it are recent.

If you Google Ambrosia Lapford and click the images tag, there are a number of pictures, although the Lipton end of the business keeps interfering.

 

Julian

 

[Cowley 47521]

10 hours ago, jcredfer said:

If you Google Ambrosia Lapford and click the images tag, there are a number of pictures, although the Lipton end of the business keeps interfering.

 

Julian

 

I just did that and there were a couple of pictures that I hadn’t seen before, and a couple of shots of my own railway which was a bit weird...

Edited July 5, 2020 by Cowley 47521

[jcredfer]

7 hours ago, Cowley 47521 said:

I just did that and there were a couple of pictures that I hadn’t seen before, as a couple of shots of my own railway which was a bit weird...

 

Fame...  at last!   

 

Julian

 

[Karhedron]

8 hours ago, jcredfer said:

If you Google Ambrosia Lapford and click the images tag, there are a number of pictures, although the Lipton end of the business keeps interfering.

 

I tried that but all the photos I got were either of Lifton or of Lapford after it closed. The only one I could find of Lapford in operation it this thumbnail-sized one.

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Karhedron

[jcredfer]

10 hours ago, mudmagnet said:

There  was an old caravan further up the road tucked in behind a hedge where an old couple lived. The tale goes that after the old man died, he could be seen hitchhiking along the road.

The caravan was left to rot and believe gone now.

 

Laying the ghost to rest.....

 

The Umberleigh ghost, was, indeed, an old gentleman and his wife, who did have a very old, very, very, tiny caravan in their last couple of years.  Before that they had lived in an old grey Austin A 30 car, both of which were kept in a small roadside, disused, quarry, in amongst bits of shrubbery.  He used to write clues for the Times and Telegraph Crosswords, although no-one knew what happened to the money earned, which, back then, would have been quite reasonable.  Whilst thinking up the Crosswords, he would sit on an old black Sit-up-and-Beg bicycle, while she would push him for miles, along the road.  When it rained they continued as before, but he would don an, all enveloping, large translucent white[ish] cape, which, if you came round a corner in the dark, would appear to hover a couple of feet above the road.  Lit up by the car headlights, the translucent white spectre was really rather heart-stopping, if you hadn't been previously aware they actually continued their travels at night.  

 

Not being fully aware it was their deliberate choice of location, or financial well-being, the pupils on the School bus, naturally felt very sorry for what appeared to be a couple badly down on their luck.  The pupils clubbed together and made up a Christmas Hamper for the old couple and arranged for the bus driver to stop, when they came across the couple.  When they took the Hamper from the bus to wish them a Happy Christmas, they got the surprise of a lifetime.  Both of the old pair railed furiously at them, flailing their arms and told them what they could do with the presents.  It would seem that they were happy with their chosen way of life and didn't appreciate interfering snotty-nosed kids suggesting they couldn't look after themselves...  They didn't bother again, can't think why.

 

Uz 'ant niver si'n thicky, Lap'fd arky bisop, mind, but ee'm sed tu be moity froshus on ees 'ors an all!!

 

J

 

 

[Cowley 47521]

1 hour ago, jcredfer said:

 

Laying the ghost to rest.....

 

The Umberleigh ghost, was, indeed, an old gentleman and his wife, who did have a very old, very, very, tiny caravan in their last couple of years.  Before that they had lived in an old grey Austin A 30 car, both of which were kept in a small roadside, disused, quarry, in amongst bits of shrubbery.  He used to write clues for the Times and Telegraph Crosswords, although no-one knew what happened to the money earned, which, back then, would have been quite reasonable.  Whilst thinking up the Crosswords, he would sit on an old black Sit-up-and-Beg bicycle, while she would push him for miles, along the road.  When it rained they continued as before, but he would don an, all enveloping, large translucent white[ish] cape, which, if you came round a corner in the dark, would appear to hover a couple of feet above the road.  Lit up by the car headlights, the translucent white spectre was really rather heart-stopping, if you hadn't been previously aware they actually continued their travels at night.  

 

Not being fully aware it was their deliberate choice of location, or financial well-being, the pupils on the School bus, naturally felt very sorry for what appeared to be a couple badly down on their luck.  The pupils clubbed together and made up a Christmas Hamper for the old couple and arranged for the bus driver to stop, when they came across the couple.  When they took the Hamper from the bus to wish them a Happy Christmas, they got the surprise of a lifetime.  Both of the old pair railed furiously at them, flailing their arms and told them what they could do with the presents.  It would seem that they were happy with their chosen way of life and didn't appreciate interfering snotty-nosed kids suggesting they couldn't look after themselves...  They didn't bother again, can't think why.

 

Uz 'ant niver si'n thicky, Lap'fd arky bisop, mind, but ee'm sed tu be moity froshus on ees 'ors an all!!

 

J

 

 

That’s a great story and I’ve not heard it before, yet I can absolutely picture the people!

[Ramblin Rich]

On 04/07/2020 at 23:34, Karhedron said:

 

Out of interest, does anyone have any photos of the Ambrosia factory while it was in operation? Or know of books with photos in? I know it is still standing but the only photos I have seen of it are recent.

Been looking through "the books"  

There's a rather hazy view from 1963 in the 2010 edition of 'The North Devon Line' by Nicholas and Reeves, looking into the yard from the platform. There is a van end-on (so there may be more beyond) in the siding nearest the dairy by the loading dock. The siding parallel to this has milk tank(s) in it further along and looks like it has some form of pipework overhead, presumably for cleaning. And just to show coal traffic was still important then, a long line of 16t minerals occupying the siding by the road embankment. The same book has an internal view showing the milk powder processing plant.

There's another picture in the 'Devon & Cornwall Railfreight' book from 1969, showing 2x class 22s with the milk train from Torrington shunting the sidings. Strangely the main train is still coupled up, so the locos have 3 tanks ahead of them (being pulled out of the siding) and around 10 behind them, trailing off down the line towards Barnstaple. A strange sandwich to be sorted out by running around some part of the train in some fashion....

[Cowley 47521]

1 hour ago, Ramblin Rich said:

Been looking through "the books"  

There's a rather hazy view from 1963 in the 2010 edition of 'The North Devon Line' by Nicholas and Reeves, looking into the yard from the platform. There is a van end-on (so there may be more beyond) in the siding nearest the dairy by the loading dock. The siding parallel to this has milk tank(s) in it further along and looks like it has some form of pipework overhead, presumably for cleaning. And just to show coal traffic was still important then, a long line of 16t minerals occupying the siding by the road embankment. The same book has an internal view showing the milk powder processing plant.

There's another picture in the 'Devon & Cornwall Railfreight' book from 1969, showing 2x class 22s with the milk train from Torrington shunting the sidings. Strangely the main train is still coupled up, so the locos have 3 tanks ahead of them (being pulled out of the siding) and around 10 behind them, trailing off down the line towards Barnstaple. A strange sandwich to be sorted out by running around some part of the train in some fashion....

I saw that photo of the 22s for the first time quite recently and it’s definitely an interesting picture as the trackwork all looks fairly well kept and also complete.

 

I’ve got a map in one of my books (unfortunately packed away at the moment) that shows the station in its heyday and I can picture it but I never saw it like that.
I went for the much simpler track layout of how I remember it in the 80s, but I’d love to make a version set in the late steam/early diesel period when it still had everything and was busy.

 I wanted to try and pinpoint a moment in own my youth I suppose.

 

Edited July 6, 2020 by Cowley 47521
I’d forgotten how to spell

[Cowley 47521]

Part this bit

 

Evening folks.

 

This is covering the last few months to show where I’ve got too now more or less.

It was a case of putting some lights in and adding extra bits of detail where I could by looking at photos of the place back then and trying to recreate what I could.

There’s a couple of photos here of the lights showing the platform and road (with the warehouses in the background):

 

It seems that people were quite happy to drive around with no lights on in those days. I guess they knew the roads well?

 

Around this time I put a backscene in. It’s not Devon (actually I think it’s the Peak District), but it made a big difference to how it looked from eye level.

 

A bit of detail around the station entrance:

 

The odd dodgy cameo...

(My friend kept asking me where the digger driver was)

 

This is the station garden with my other half moving the chairs around ready for a post work glass of wine as the dog pointlessly barks at her (I don’t know why he hasn’t grown out of that yet).

 

A DMU arriving at the station past my attempt at rhododendrons (yes I know they’re not purple enough).

 

Here’s a good overview of the yard and station showing hopefully the view I was trying to achieve.

It’s not quite finished but I’m quite pleased considering so much of it was a first attempt:

 

And here’s a little YouTube clip of 33102 arriving and departing on its way to Exeter.

 

 

That’s all for tonight but I’ll post a few more photos in the next couple of days. Thanks for taking the trouble to look at it though.

 

Nick

 

[treggyman]

Hi

 

Superb set of pictures....

Very realistic.

Thanks for posting & i'm  looking forward to more....

[Cowley 47521]

39 minutes ago, treggyman said:

Hi

 

Superb set of pictures....

Very realistic.

Thanks for posting & i'm  looking forward to more....

Thanks @treggyman. That’s much appreciated and I’ll post some more stuff in the next couple of days.

[jcredfer]

Yes please...   

 

Julian

 

[mudmagnet]

Excellent. Captures the atmosphere extremely well.

 

 

[Cowley 47521]

Evening everyone.

 

 I thought I’d do a little fleet rundown as I took a few photos the other day, but first a big thank you to @jcredfer for taking the time to do a wee trackplan for me which is here:

 

 

 

Now that’s better. Thanks Julian!

 

Ok first up I have the Farish 2 car 108 and the Dapol dummy 121 Bubble Car:

 

TMC supplied the 108 and I got them to weather it. I need to change the destination blinds on it at some point because it’s heading to somewhere up north at the moment...

The 121 was a birthday present from my other half which I weathered myself and is perfect for the line in this era. Both of them have a bit of extra (although not necessarily correct) pipe detail on the outer ends.

I’ve also disconnected the lights on the coupling end of the dummy.

 

Next is the first N gauge loco I bought which is Dapol 33 - 33102:

 

Again weathered by me (although I wish I’d read some of the tips that @Duncan. mentioned in his thread before starting).

I also removed the coupling socket and added the buffing plate and some pipes plus the buckeye etc.

 

The second loco I bought was the Farish triple grey 47 - 47209 Herbert Austin:

I like the model but it’s probably the one that causes me the most problems with poor running... I seem to have to constantly clean the wheels and track to get any kind of decent tune out of it.

I’ve weathered it a little and added some detail to the front but I wanted it to look fairly smart as it would have been a fairly new livery in the period I’m going for.

 

Graham Farish 37 - 37035 in Dutch livery:

 

I had to get this because around that time I had a run behind it towing an HST from Exeter to Plymouth and back...

These Farish 37s do sit a bit high unfortunately with quite a noticeable gap between the body and the bogies, but I do really like it and it runs nicely.

 I bravely cut the NEM socket off one end and mounted the ploughs to the front bogie so that I could fit some pipes and whatnot on the bufferbeam.

It’s also been weathered by me (I really don’t like the nose aerials).

 

Dapol 33008 Eastleigh:

 

The most recent arrival. As with 33102 I cut the NEM socket away and then adapted the snowploughs in the detail pack so that the centre one was removed and the outer ones were filed down to make them smaller as per the Southern Region 33s.

It’s also had extra pipework/coupling etc added as  well as a dose of weathering.

 

Dapol class 50 50032 Courageous:

 

This is another TMC weathering job. I actually sent them a load of photos of the real thing and I’m very pleased with what they did for me.

I realised later on that the crests were missing by the time it became a ratty DCWA machine but I love it and it’s pictured above with my version of the Exeter spare set from its runs to Barnstaple around 89/90.

 

This is my friends photo of the real 50032 at Barnstaple in 1990. What a filthy, disgusting, disreputable, wonderful machine:

 

 

 

Apart from the above I’ve got various stock including Cargowaggons, VGAs, a Polybulk and a mail train that looks the part behind a 33 or the 50.

Here’s a silly clip of the 50 on a van train at night...

 

Although I’d like to buy so much stuff I’m trying to keep to the things I remember and that worked on the line.

Next up has to be a 31 or two and I may well go for sound with one of the 31s. I particularly like the look of the refurbished 31/1 in original railfreight. Mmm....

Edited July 13, 2020 by Cowley 47521

[LBRJ]

I am watching this so far quietly! 

Its a line I know, but not too well, so its most interesting.

Backalong about 15 years, when I couldn't be bothered with the car, I used to travel on the line occasionally to Barney, when on my way over to Bideford to see a young lady..

Said girl's dad had a burger van  in a layby somewhere near Umberleigh ( i think) so maybe he was responsible for the ghost mentioned elsewhere in the thread

[Cowley 47521]

16 minutes ago, LBRJ said:

I am watching this so far quietly! 

Its a line I know, but not too well, so its most interesting.

Backalong about 15 years, when I couldn't be bothered with the car, I used to travel on the line occasionally to Barney, when on my way over to Bideford to see a young lady..

Said girl's dad had a burger van  in a layby somewhere near Umberleigh ( i think) so maybe he was responsible for the ghost mentioned elsewhere in the thread

He may well have been the Ghost of Sausages past! 

[dogbox321]

Looking very nice.  Dapol Class 50's and 33's seem to have arrived at the right time for you!

 

Was 50032 on a railtour in 1990?  Always remember seeing it at Laira from the train spotting area.

 

Regarding Lapford - wondering how the operation worked.  I have seen photographs of freights from the Barnstaple direction, going through the platform and then propelling into the loop (as per one of your photos), and then into the sidings.  How did the operations at Lapford work, where were they controlled from (Crediton?), and with the absence of a headshut, how were they protected (obviously can see the trap points towards Barnstaple)?  Seems an interesting operation.

 

Best Regards,

 

Chris.

 

 

 

 

[Cowley 47521]

43 minutes ago, dogbox321 said:

Looking very nice.  Dapol Class 50's and 33's seem to have arrived at the right time for you!

 

Was 50032 on a railtour in 1990?  Always remember seeing it at Laira from the train spotting area.

 

Regarding Lapford - wondering how the operation worked.  I have seen photographs of freights from the Barnstaple direction, going through the platform and then propelling into the loop (as per one of your photos), and then into the sidings.  How did the operations at Lapford work, where were they controlled from (Crediton?), and with the absence of a headshut, how were they protected (obviously can see the trap points towards Barnstaple)?  Seems an interesting operation.

 

Best Regards,

 

Chris.

 

 

 

 

Hi Chris.

 

Yes 50032 made it up there TnT with 50031 in 1990 which was the tour my friend was on. There’s a good photo of it here passing through Lapford on the way back:

 http://www.hondawanderer.com/50031_Lapford_1990.htm

 

The run round loop at Barnstaple had been removed earlier in 1990 so at that point any freight for Lapford was shunted in the station area and there was a ground frame at each end of the site.

Until 1987 (when Barnstaple still received freight and had a signal box) wagons for the yard were included in other trains that ran the length of the line and were dropped off in passing (do you ever get that uncomfortable feeling that you might have got something important wrong and you’re about to get pulled up on it..?)

 

 I hope I’ve got that right without getting too technical, but there’s a very interesting (and long!) thread on the subject here:

 

 

And yes! Praise be for Dapol releasing the 33s and 50s.

There’s no way I’d have attempted it otherwise.

 

Nick

[LBRJ]

That picture of 25 225 (which was a Cornish reg) on the ball clay, and all the other "Barney bits" in the shot has somehow just "fired something up within me" - Not sure what yet mind!!