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Lapford in N gauge.


Cowley 47521
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3 minutes ago, jcredfer said:

 

There were so many fantastic items in that collection, ancient fire engines and farm oddities.  I hadn't known how long it had continued to exist, as back in the 60s, it was rumoured to have a very limited time left.  Do you know what happened to it, as it was such a valuable source.

 


As far as I know his son took it on and was going to continue operating it and doing the odd open day. Colin died about six or seven years ago I think.

Hmm. I’ll do a bit of digging and see what I can find out.

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Inspirational stuff!  Many thanks for sharing!

 

Lapford has always held interest for me following seeing the fertiliser traffic on railfreight today south west.... when it was a new release ;)

 

Really enjoying the thread

 

cheers

Will

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1 hour ago, dj_crisp said:

Inspirational stuff!  Many thanks for sharing!

 

Lapford has always held interest for me following seeing the fertiliser traffic on railfreight today south west.... when it was a new release ;)

 

Really enjoying the thread

 

cheers

Will


Thanks Will.

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8 hours ago, jcredfer said:

The hangar now seems to have a Chepstow Classic Busses label...

 


Yes I can’t seem to find an awful lot out about it. I’ve been told by various people I know today that they may have to move out, but then I’ve also been told that it’s all fine and they’re still working away up there.

Let’s hope that we’ll see some of the vehicles out at a local bus weekend sometime over the next couple of years.

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The end time...

 

Hello again.

 

I’m really not a fan of corners on railways and seriously debated avoiding them in the scenic section altogether before deciding to have them but minimise the impact as much as possible. The only way I felt I could do this is to find a way for them to blend into the backscene as much as possible and not show all of the curves. 
So I struggled a bit with this end as I had to somehow make the road disappear as well as it’s quite a prominent feature at this end of the layout. Here’s what I settled on in the end.

Trees.

Lots of them...

And another bridge.

 

Actually two bridges because I’ve sent the river back under the railway to follow the new country lane, although it’s smaller at this end as I’m imagining it joining another river just off scene near the station as it heads north (don’t ask which way all of these rivers should be flowing please).

 I pretty much copied the other river under rail bridge for this in the absence of any other ideas, although the line is on a curve and the river is at an angle this time.

There is actually a (private) lane going over the railway about half a mile south of Lapford with a river bridge just before it which slightly inspired this end. It is different but there’s elements of it in this.

 

Here’s an overview of the new section then where it meets the old (just on the other side of the bridges in the foreground):

 

6E7E444F-4468-4434-951C-D3B06A89FC68.jpeg.41b0227f54a89c8535cdf064cb78fefe.jpeg


And a couple of shots from this evening when I cleaned the track and had a bit of a running session.

A 33 on the cement heading north:

 

F1556ADA-DD95-4933-9EDD-26BAB6217BAC.jpeg.3839e4cee1fd787fd32817bb130e8c16.jpeg

 

Celebrity 33008 heads towards Exeter on a Saturday loco hauled service:

 

273EA4CE-2F42-4DF5-9B9E-657821E659B4.jpeg.a98e0328205dfeb237955e249599d5ea.jpeg


Also heading towards Exeter a DMU set:

 

2C6CA187-D587-4CF4-A0C0-3C8857F09F22.jpeg.70b2903978674852170dda77876721a8.jpeg

 

Looking up the lane towards the A377:

 

D718C51E-F4E2-441C-8DCB-47663EDA2D74.jpeg.3e41b4b8eff7e7cde06872634ee76e9c.jpeg

 

A couple of photos of the A377.

What I’ve done is carry the road on through the backscene on a curve and try and recreate that ‘tunnel of trees’ thing where you see a road go into a wooded area.

I made a handful of trees that stretched across the road from each side and met in the middle, but also a line of trees (cheap ones that I bought) next to the road on the corner so that it hopefully looks like the road disappears into the woods.

Like this basically:

 

7C6EAFD5-2A6B-451A-8C46-9E872494C27B.jpeg.29c75f7bb3f4f172ee566f9301fcc109.jpeg

 

This is what it looks like as you look up it (should have some road signs next week after realising that I’d hoovered the ones I had left up by mistake):

 

E9B3F1E4-D19A-49D2-BB8B-EC722FDE1BA7.jpeg.0e492d9f72caf7bfd4e1b00e0ef90b80.jpeg

 

I also carried the scenery on through the new bridges at each end of the layout so that you don’t see bare boards etc.

This looking back through the bridge. Overkill? I don’t know!

 

AFCEDE0C-AE52-4207-91EE-CC265DA5B2C1.jpeg.27d0907c68dcfb3730f2f81af56b69df.jpeg

 

So that’s that little lot.

The next job is to get rid of the dust on the original section and fix a few bits that have got broken. Oh and enjoy running some trains obviously.

 

Project Not Quite Eggesford might start seeing a bit of work soon too, although in a way I don’t want to rush it or I’ll run out of things to do...

 

Thanks everyone!

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What a delightful representation of the railway and the area it ran through.  That has skills many can only dream of, self included.  The pictures are a delight to view and stir distant memories, thank you.

 

 

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10 hours ago, jcredfer said:

What a delightful representation of the railway and the area it ran through.  That has skills many can only dream of, self included.  The pictures are a delight to view and stir distant memories, thank you.

Agreed. My layout looks nice enough but I don't think it would stand up to such close scrutiny. I've almost convinced myself that it's more the 'fault' of the scale but you see pictures like this that put the lie to that. N scale can look 'almost realistic' in close-up if you have the skill.

 

Oh well - I've only been modelling for six months so there's time for me to learn, yet :)

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Thank you for your very kind comments everyone. I just logged in to have a quick glance this morning and it’s really nice to have some feedback like that. :good:

This was my first foray into N having always been into 00 and it’s surprised me what can be achieved with a bit of effort and perhaps also that it was the right time in my life to get into it properly (the kids all growing up has given me a lot of extra free time plus my other half is incredibly supportive which helps a lot).

There’s also a small group of us down here that all got into it at the same time and we’ve been helping my best friend with showing his N gauge railway (not this last year unfortunately though),  so we bounce ideas off each other and push ourselves to improve our skills all the time.

 

And then of course there’s this forum. Although I do a bit of moderating on another railway forum which I love doing, this place has been a real joy to get lost in at times and to marvel at some of the work other people are doing.

 

I only started this as something to practice this scale on originally but it’s turned into something much bigger than I thought it would!

I don’t really know what I’ll do when it’s finished because I’ve realised over time that one of the main things I enjoy is making the scenery.
I’d originally wanted to do the disused Seaton Junction when it still had some sidings and I may well do something like that one day, but I’ve completely fallen in love with this line and the traffic it had in those days.

Edited by Cowley 47521
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A quick question for you clever types - Opposite the platform at Lapford was ‘LAPFORD’ laid out in what looks like white painted stone.

Does anyone know what it was made out of? It looks a bit like painted brick as it’s quite neat.

But also does anyone know how long it lasted for? You can see it in some photos but not others and I’ve been told today that a chap used to come along and paint them himself once a year.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Edited by Cowley 47521
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Hi there,

 

Just spent a happy half hour catching up on this thread.   Lovely layout and lovely modelling.  I think the way you've 'cheated' the road/rail disappearance into the scenic break is inspirational.

 

Thanks for sharing!  Might we see your layout at an exhibition at some point?

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

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On 14/03/2021 at 19:26, Cowley 47521 said:

A quick question for you clever types - Opposite the platform at Lapford was ‘LAPFORD’ laid out in what looks like white painted stone.

Does anyone know what it was made out of? It looks a bit like painted brick as it’s quite neat.

But also does anyone know how long it lasted for? You can see it in some photos but not others and I’ve been told today that a chap used to come along and paint them himself once a year.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Cockett station, between Swansea and Llanelli, used to have what sounds to be a similar arrangement, and I have seen photos of other locations (was Berwick-on-Tweed one?) The individual letters appear to have been cast in concrete, then laid on a bed of chippings, somewhat finer than ballast. I have seen places where the whole arrangement was planted out.

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9 hours ago, Ben A said:

 

Hi there,

 

Just spent a happy half hour catching up on this thread.   Lovely layout and lovely modelling.  I think the way you've 'cheated' the road/rail disappearance into the scenic break is inspirational.

 

Thanks for sharing!  Might we see your layout at an exhibition at some point?

 

cheers

 

Ben A.


Thanks Ben.

There’s a bit of me that would like to take it to a show but dismantling it and taking it down the stairs at my house gives me the fear!

If I manage to build the cabin in the garden this year and move it into that then possibly I would be able to as it’d be a lot easier with level access etc...

I have made it in such a way that it breaks down into four sections so yes. Maybe next year I might think about doing it if I can find the courage.

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7 hours ago, Fat Controller said:

Cockett station, between Swansea and Llanelli, used to have what sounds to be a similar arrangement, and I have seen photos of other locations (was Berwick-on-Tweed one?) The individual letters appear to have been cast in concrete, then laid on a bed of chippings, somewhat finer than ballast. I have seen places where the whole arrangement was planted out.


I think you might be right. Someone else has suggested this too and from the not very clear photos that I’ve seen it does look like there might be chippings involved.

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  • 1 month later...

Evening everyone. Hope you’re all doing well?

I’d better do a bit of an update on the various railway happenings in Devon...

 

I got a bit stuck in to my Eggishford project over the last month and it’s starting to come together now. It’s only ever going to be a bit of a fun extra bit but I’m enjoying doing it (and god knows what I’ll do when it’s finished but I have had a couple of ideas).

 

Here’s a shot of the scene once I’d painted the hills and sorted out the road markings etc - which isn’t actually very big but with the wonder of N gauge it is possible to make it look more than it actually is:

 

E5BE3396-0C9E-478C-9FC5-15ED4744BFF8.jpeg.e72b737e23bcb934998b933c150e79e4.jpeg

 

At the north end of the station I’ve had to reinvent reality somewhat and in my version there’s a bridge carrying a small lane over the railway just after the end of the platform which leads to ‘Eggishford School for Naughty Boys who think they’re The Messiah’. 
Unfortunately I couldn’t fit in the lovely wrought iron bridge that crosses the Taw behind the platform so you’ll just have to imagine that.

 

35498E89-3A25-412D-A47E-850B56C7BAFB.jpeg.286a398842df527e9ef9cc12e40272cf.jpeg

 

That 3D printed bridge cost me £6 delivered!

You can see the squashed nature of this area here:

 

E2F2081D-9BED-4CE2-93D9-0F8CF0B8E049.jpeg.3a99fb7a054e630a1562eb930f59d9b6.jpeg

 

The idea is that I’ll have a sky backscene and the river will disappear into it via the cunning use of many trees. The backscene will then run at an angle this side of the bridge to cover trains disappearing into the fiddle yard.

 

Next up was trying to make the slightly naff Peco half barrier crossings look a bit more substantial and that really was like trying to polish a t*rd.

I wonder if anyone can guess what I’ve used to bulk up the dangly bits on the barriers?

 

748D4F24-C015-4BAF-A855-9231CE74EC23.jpeg.9ab6408fa17408e652461401d79a2eb3.jpeg

 

A complete nightmare really and I’m still not entirely happy with them but they’ll do for now...

 

6CCB2328-53C8-4312-8D37-374D18F0F3F3.jpeg.0d8a7ac1acaa262251cbe773ef5b2230.jpeg

 

You can see in the last photo that I’ve made a bit of point rodding out of some thin plasticard which I was quite pleased with. I could really do with Dapol releasing their SR ladder signals though. I can’t find anything suitable to use instead and I just don’t have the skills or patience to make my own.

 

Here’s a shot of ‘Eastleigh’ leaning into the curve as it arrives. Things were looking a bit more finished at this point but it’s taken a lot of work to get to this point:

 

6AFB55F2-741F-4232-A0A6-152E2B8D0051.jpeg.4b21f8c3e53df5c3a0f14b671cc78020.jpeg

 

Some photos of things getting green...

I’ve toned some of it down since I took these and it looks a bit gaudy here:

 

4A5BB54E-344D-4AE6-8376-CBAC8D943E91.jpeg.a178ca65ba771a6dc5b32efbccb24265.jpeg

 

8856AF58-B746-4FF9-9A0F-BA9AC93A1BE5.jpeg.a988b2b1fb63a22a58fbc52e93fb82c5.jpeg

 

Coming together though...

So far I’ve added something like 35 handmade trees to the scene and that’s made a big difference (alongside varnishing the river and doing lots of fences around the place).

These were taken yesterday:

 

2B73181F-362A-4A07-ABDF-4A991CDE06B4.jpeg.417d5a3b62b77e191125e0f58e004042.jpeg

 

370B7B04-3520-4990-B912-C2FA4DF1A8BA.jpeg.75a1a5a3ef64c6d69b087ebd1860a466.jpeg

 

Next up? More of the same...

I’ve got lots more stuff to add, as well things to tone down and weather plus some kind of backscene to separate both sides of the layout.

 

It has added an extra dimension to the layout having two stations to operate. It all feels a bit more versatile and interesting as I can run it from either side and when a train leaves Eggishford I can stand up and watch it roll into Lapford which is rather good fun actually!

 

Thanks as ever for reading all of this. I’ve probably skipped all kinds of stuff out but if I’d left it any longer it would have become a bit overwhelming!

 

Nick

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11 hours ago, Cowley 47521 said:

‘Eggishford School for Naughty Boys who think they’re The Messiah’.

 

I know the area very well as I was the local Building Inspector and Eggesford was part of my "patch" but I certainly don't recall visiting that building ! :laugh_mini2: ( There was something similar on the edge of Chawleigh though ! ) .

 

I remember the old timber signal box finding itself up the hill at the Wembworthy Centre and was erected as a temporary building in the grounds.

 

Your layout/s certainly give a good representation of both stations.

 

G

 

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8 hours ago, bgman said:

 

I know the area very well as I was the local Building Inspector and Eggesford was part of my "patch" but I certainly don't recall visiting that building ! :laugh_mini2: ( There was something similar on the edge of Chawleigh though ! ) .

 

I remember the old timber signal box finding itself up the hill at the Wembworthy Centre and was erected as a temporary building in the grounds.

 

Your layout/s certainly give a good representation of both stations.

 

G

 


Thanks Graham. I’m not surprised that you didn’t visit the school. I imagine it was very hushed up...

 

I’ve recently found the information out about the box being moved myself and I had no idea. I’d just assumed that it was destroyed at the time. 
Still lots to do on the railway but I’m happy with it so far.

It was only really meant to be a practice run at the start but I think I’m stuck with it now!

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It must have been very well covered-up, I did my first 4 years in teaching in Exeter and such places were generally known about and there were a number of incidents which did the rounds, but nothing of Eggisford.  I also did my final teaching practice at Chumleigh Secondary, as was.  There were quite a few tales of "incidents" around there, {near deepest Devonshire might come to mind, here!!} told to caution and educate {it did too...} the new hopeful about where to tread cautiously!!  However, nothing Eggisford there either.

 

Julian

 

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19 hours ago, jcredfer said:

It must have been very well covered-up, I did my first 4 years in teaching in Exeter and such places were generally known about and there were a number of incidents which did the rounds, but nothing of Eggisford.  I also did my final teaching practice at Chumleigh Secondary, as was.  There were quite a few tales of "incidents" around there, {near deepest Devonshire might come to mind, here!!} told to caution and educate {it did too...} the new hopeful about where to tread cautiously!!  However, nothing Eggisford there either.

 

Julian

 


Ah no, I see the problem here.

You’re thinking of Eggesford. This is actually Eggishford, a completely different place. Any similarities are entirely coincidental, but I can see why you might get the two mixed up...

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  • 1 month later...

Evening everyone. :rolleyes:

 

Not a massive amount to report recently although there has been a couple of new arrivals.

First up is Dapol ‘Western Invader’ which isn’t really common motive power on the line, although I have seen a couple of photos of them north of Coleford Junction, including a shot of a very clean one at Barnstaple on 8 mk1s but unfortunately no information as to where it was going.

Any thoughts?

 

It’s the wrong loco in the wrong place at the wrong time, but as they’re my favourite diesels I just had to have one.

Here’s the beast after a bit of bufferbeam attention: 

 

0C95A7A4-D0E6-4BF3-94AA-187F581B388B.jpeg.8ba83028ebe8f6d14dc31d62bf149ec0.jpeg

 

And running into Station 2 with a mail train heading to Barny (yes I know one of the lampposts is wonky):

 

7D40CD57-82FA-43F7-924A-0CD3A98238CA.jpeg.396806e391353e5654e8ceaf94d69df9.jpeg

 

The other new arrival was a BR blue 31. You can’t really do this line in that era without a blue 31 or five can you?

I weathered it and made up most of the pipe work for the front as I kept pinging the ones in the detail pack into oblivion.

So unbelievably fiddly. Yet the pack that came with the Western was really easy to use.

 

F347EF71-CF6F-4375-AC07-5CF38E6CD063.jpeg.9513e4627edd5bdd638c56d5fd489389.jpeg

 

The 31 heading towards Exeter on grey summer Saturday:

 

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In the second photo you can see the little gabions that I made up the other day. I’m still adding bits of detail to this area when I think of them and I realised that if that bank wasn’t strengthened then the equipment box was going to get wet and explode, and we just can’t have that.

This was also fiddly. Actually it all is! :wacko:

 

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There’s also been a small rise in the population of EggishfordEggesford. The people in orange want to take my signalbox away and they’ve already nicked the signals (which I still haven’t got around to doing actually).

 

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F791EBCD-240E-45C8-A052-06C9C5684878.jpeg.4b3152bca2c41d955eb22571bdc12ab3.jpeg

 

I think that’s about it for now and I’m working on the sky backscene at the moment which I still can’t properly make my mind up about.
I did give the whole layout a Hoover recently though which made a big difference to things I must say. 
 

For those of you that have three minutes of your life that you don’t mind never getting back, I made a little YouTube video the other day after swapping the sound chips over in 31s and that’s here: 

 

 

Over and out.

Edited by Cowley 47521
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