Hookton and the Lipp Vale

[Mike]

The name Hookton and the Lipp have been lifted from Halequin the first book of the Grail series by Benard Cornwell who has kindly given his permission for me to use the names.

History.

Hookton is a small village on the South Coast of England in the County of Dorset. The Lipp is a stream that is almost a river which enters the sea across a shingle beach creating a hook shaped shingle bar from which the village gets its name.

During the Great Plague of 1665, Hookton could easily have become one of what we now call Plague Villages, just grass covered mounds where once there was life, but Hookton was lucky and refused to die.

There were limited opportunities for the folk of Hookton, you were either a fisherman, worked in the salt pits or if you were lucky worked on the Lords Estate. (*The Gasquet family came just after the Norman invasion of 1066 and where granted lands by William of which included Hookton ).

After the Hurricane and storm surge of 1824, when the sea roared over the hook destroying several small boats, the need for a safe harbour became a priority, although in typical Hookton fashion it was a long time coming.

Hookton has, and I am sure that most will express surprise, a railway albeit a narrow gauge one. Started in 1875 and completed in 1877 by Sir Thomas Gasquet* who financed and promoted the line to put Hookton on the map and of course to turn a profit. The line follows the Lipp stream along its shallow valley, so construction was relatively easy with no major obstacles to overcome other than the need for a bridge over the Lipp.

From the harbour, a small collection of inshore boats fish for mackerel, crab, lobster, and shellfish and all is right with the world.

The model.

The village consists of perhaps that should read will consist of, the Harbour Office, The Anchor Inn (Palmers of Bridport), Saint Andrews Church, Post Office, Watkins*and Potts Chandlery, Legg’s boats, Crumplers General Stores, and dwellings of the locals, namely John Higgins, Harry Bugler, Peter Wellman, and Francis Blake. As usual I have moved things about such as The Anchor Inn is from Seatown (Bridport) and is in fact owned by Palmers brewing in Dorset since 1794. (Note the names are Dorset Surnames with the exception of Watkins and Potts)

In my usual style I have created the story first before commencing the modelling in 0-16.5. I have constructed the baseboard all 4ft x 3ft of it by mainly recycling the materials from my old layout New Level Mill and I have built and laid the trackwork to a simple inglenook design. All the track is code 100 rail soldered to copper clad sleepers, the two points are operated by Cobalt point motors and control is analogue. (So, the only chips will be with a nice steak, a piece of fish or maybe a pie. No fancy electrickery required.) 

* Watkins is the surname of my dear friend Barrie affectionately known as Chisel Chin.  Both he and Dick Potts are ex Railwaymen so it seemed right to use their names. I have placed the village of Hookton about where Bradstock is and the Lipp replaces the River Bride. see https://www.burtonbradstock.org.uk/History/Dorset County Museum/3.3.htm which shows a hook shaped mouth crossing the shingle beach. Welcome to fake Britain.

ps note to self. Must finish detailing and weathering all the structures and get on with completing the actual railway.

 

 

[Aldgate Box Boy]

Lovely model Mike, please post more details as you progress.

Cheers Tim

[Derbys65]

That is looking sublime Mike , and your usual excellent work too. Following with interest. 

[Mike]

A selction of Hooktons motive power  a real mixed bag but at least I can ring the changes and there are another 5 available. You can never have too many engines. 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Mike
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[otty]

Locos are great Mike but love the rail-pickup. May I ask for more details & photos please?

 

Baz

[Mike]

Heavy Metal, ex Leek & Manifold 2-6-4  arrives in Hookton.

 

[Mike]

Hookton: Just trying what will be the raised section. The buidings in the background are a scale 2 metres higher but, maybe the height will be increased by another metre.

[Mike]

Monday morning thoughts posted on a Wednesday. Wow! me thinking, now that's a first.:

I cannot claim to be a railway modeller as I do not really model railways. I have scratch-built locomotives, made my own trackwork, built baseboards and scratch- built structures all of which are just part of a process.

I start with a place, a period in history, a community. I follow the seven W’s system. What, where, when, which, who, why and not forgetting how. The W is at the end of how. So, the railway is coincidental as it arrived last and is Just a part of the whole.

[Mike]

Just  made a start on the the jurassic coast rock face with still loads to do but it helps in forming the scene. Heart scan tomorrow so fingers crossed I can get on and do some more modelling as the rockwork has taken 13 days so far - slowly slowly. 

 

[Mike]

Bodging the village buildings all need finishing but just getting the placemnts before finishing the landscaping.

 

[Mike]

Finalizing the positions of the buildings (still need at least one more) in Hookton. and the Lipp Vale

[Mike]

OH ******, ran out of tiles so just placed an order and whilst I was at it, down-pipe fittings and guttering. Now that the position of the buildings are finally sorted I can get the ground work sorted and fix and finish each of them.  Here are a few photos.

 

[Mike]

Hookton update: Guttering and down-pipe brackets now arrived from ModelU, paint and Evergreen plastic and Wills granite sets due on Monday, so no excuses not to crack on. In the meantime here are a few happy snaps showing some progress.

 

[Mike]

Thought I'd have a play day and give down-pipes, guttering,chimney flashing etc a break. 

 

[Mike]

Hookton update; Started adding colour to the boat. Once I have completed it I can move on to the harbour mud and grot. Meanwhile the Rio Bus bodies are soaking in Dettol to remove the paint

 

[Mike]

Just a little bit more on "Rainbow" I have decided as she will be moored I will leave the nets off and their booms lowered. Deadeyes rigging, fat fingers and failing eyesight  - Okay it's a cop out Now for the weathering and final details. The ships wheel is a Ratio plastic wagon wheel with the flange removed. In the background the railbus stripped of paint thanks to an overnight in Dettol.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Mike
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[Mike]

Update (too many to count) Hookton harbour and surrounds: The Rainbow  is still not fixed as I need to finish work on the buildings behind where she will be moored.

 

[Mike]

Update number eighty twelve! Just  bodging. Rail-car slowly getting there and I've started painting figures.

 

[Mike]

Why is it that when you have had a trouble free and enjoyable time operating your layout, and just when you want it to absolutely  spot on for a requested video for a digital exhibition it all goes pear shaped. I have managed to assemble a video but it's far from perfect. The video is about 10 minutes long and can be seen using the link. Makhis is a name given to me by my Greek friends if you wonder where Makhis Video Postcards comes from.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LZ2kVUFhBY41PvJ9m4_eu6j_c0Ki-tBl/view?usp=sharing

[thirty2a]

it's the Gremlins every time, great video though, lovely layout.

Tony

[Mike]

They say (who ever they are) you can never have too many engines, so I've had a bit of a bodge. Still W.I.P. is a 2-4-0 built from some old Springside casting and a Hornby LMS pug. plus a cobbled together tender to become the HLVR's first wood burner. It weighs a preverbal ton and runs like a dream. Still lots to do including adding a crew.

[Mike]

Needed a water tank so I thought why not incorporate it with a useful building. So Leggs Boats was added with said water tank along with lobster/crab creels, net mending (fabric mesh, cotton with small beads threaded on for corks) crates and a pair of oars made from brass wire with the ends flattened by basing the hell out it with a large hammer (ears are still ringing) and marker buoys

 

[Woody C]

Some highly detailed, captivating and very impressive modelling  throughout this thread Mike. I think what really catches my attention as one item that shows how you really get those other details so right is how you have gone so far as to accurately model crab creels, fishing nets, crates, etc. To get over my lack of ability if I were modelling that scene I would have just modelled a tarpaulin covering everything and called it a Sunday when no work on nets was going on! Full respect for your skills! Woody

[Mike]

Started to rework a Fleischmann  Magic train 0-4-0 to a little more  akin to a British loco. Photo shows WIP

[Mike]

Resurrecting an old model to form the maintenance of way train. Currently looks awful but runs  really well. I have also started but not yet finished modifying the open boat to a small inshore fishing boat. It is in primer to show up all the imperfections before continuing.