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Building a Southern Region layout


Tim Hale
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I finally completed the conversion of the two Wills Country Station kits into something more substantial, although it will not be used on the layout, I am fairly pleased with the effort. It certainly has that Southern Railway look about it, maybe a few more twiddly bits?

CF15.jpg

Ballasting is the currently activity and installing the vestigial point/signal control equipment - so fiddly and a pain to get right. Then the real pleasure of building the layout- the greenery and I have some lovely reminders of WW2 to scatter in strategic places on the layout.

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  • 1 month later...
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Just been 'introduced' to this layout. Love the broom; I have researched it at the NRM (took two days of pushing broom, and an eight by twelve 4 bit room )overnight accommodation(.

Can't wait now to see lovely SR stuff chugging about - especially a fleet of Black Motors and Zs.

P @ 36E (ex 72A)

Edited by Mallard60022
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More structures:

 

The Wills water tower is a rather nice model, the mouldings are exquisite and well suited to any area where the vernacular is stone e.g N.Cornwall, Isle of Purbeck etc. but all the buildings for Beaminster are brick construction. The solution is to utilise the tank, some Will brick walls and Ratio industrial windows- I almost forgot a scratchbuilt door. Bill built the base (and it is lovely) whilst the tank is my own work. One advantage, the result is approx. 25% taller than the original Wills structure and looks more like a proper water tower.

 

Why do I need a tower, surely not for an intermediate station and a very small station? The plausible excuse is that Beaminster Road was the end of the very hilly branch to Beaminster hence the need for water, the fact that neither the branch nor Beaminster Road ever existed is overlooked.

WT4.jpg.JPG

WT2.jpg.JPG

 

Some creeper vegetation from Mini-Natur should soften the hard outline of the building and I really should fabricate an outside ladder but is one really needed?

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Some creeper vegetation from Mini-Natur should soften the hard outline of the building and I really should fabricate an outside ladder but is one really needed?

 

All water towers need to have some form of access to the tank for inspection and maintenance purposes. The valve gear and floats can be damaged by ice moving up and down on top of the water. Also debris may need to be removed and the inside of the tank repainted from time to time.

Edited by Baby Deltic
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SR_Dept_Van.jpg

It is not too often that one encounters a piece of model railway archaeology but the box containing this Airfix van was marked 1977 and after a new set of Hornby wheels and Kadees, it has cleaned-up quite well.

It is an SR standard uneven planked van in departmental livery, until I came across it on EBay I have never seen this model before but it is rather nice.

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Gday Tim,

Hope you are well, any development with the layout? I for one would love to see some photographic updates of what you've been up to or current state of play for that matter.

Looking forward in anticipation,

Regards Glenn (from the deep South!)

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  • 2 months later...

Act one, scene off

 

 

Now that the four month sulk is over, I can get on with some scenery. and at last, some scenery on the doorway section although not much to write home about, it is a start.

 

IMG_0646.jpg

The eastern tunnel

 

For preference, for scenery shapes polystyrene blocks are used with hardboard profile boards which protect the crumbly polystyrene and provide a rigid surface to attach backscenes etc.

 

As speed is needed, a hot glue gun was used to tack the profile boards in place and the run a bead along the joint edges, strength is not an issue as the blocks will be bonded to the profile boards to form an amorphous scenic lump.

 

Both tunnel mouths are Javis resin castings, not particularly square but a nice texture once painted matt white prior to application of limestone colours to replicate the local honey-coloured Ham Stone of South Somerset.

 

IMG_0640.jpg

The lifting section joint - ugly but functional

 

Polystyrene blocks may not be everyone's first (or second) choice for scenery shapes but I find the material easy to shape with simple hand tools and once covered with a skin of one-ply paper towels and a plaster/PVA mix, it is very robust. The other advantage is easy of planting trees, a hole is made with a sharp dowel - a pencil is great, then the hole filled with non-solvent Gripfill and the tree planted.

 

Tim

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I do have to agree with you Tim that having polystyrene as the basis for scenery does make tree planting very easy. On Wencombe, as its not going anywhere, I just push a hole in with suitable diameter screwdriver and put the tree in, I don't even use glue.

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Only four months Tim? My "I'm not going to continue with this layout lark" sulk has lasted a very long time indeed (almost 50 years!!!)

Glad to see it has got going again. I like the casting for the tunnel mouth. I also forgot to say how good I think the Water Tower looks too; very nice bit of paintwork matey.

P @ 36E

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  • 3 weeks later...
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It certainly looks the part Tim, as we dicussed yesterday that was a good value purchase.

 

I don't suppose your Dad had any other Tavern car shots in his colection?

Edited by Graham_Muz
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi there,

 

This is an update to a rather neglected thread, I only post when either I have time or there is something to add. For most evenings this month, I have been ballasting the layout and most of time was spent re-learning the process. My first efforts were so bad that I had to remove all the ballast and start again but with trial (and error) I found a method that suits my wobbly old hands.

 

Now the ballasting is almost complete, the worst bits are over with the turnouts ready for use.

 

http://timhalesblog.blogspot.co.uk/

 

My ballasting method needed simplifying and I dispensed with sugar shakers and 'ballast spreaders', instead I just used a paper coffee cup and tapped it with my finger to make the ballast grains sprinkle onto the track. Really easy and cheap.

 

Ballasting_tools.jpg

 

That is all I use, the hog's hair brush is twenty years old and still the best scenic brush of all time.

 

BTW Do you see the LaBelle sticky oil in the picture? This is wiped on the turnout blades to prevent the mechanism from 'gumming' and it is easier than freeing a jammed turnout.

 

Tim

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Guest jonte

Looking good, Tim.

 

Can't wait to see this one finished.

 

Do you use travel spray in lieu of washing up liquid?

 

Thanks,

 

Jonte.

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The travel spray is bought as an empty container called 'Travel Spray' from Boots, it is filled with water and a small drop of rubbing alcohol.

 

The flat hog's hair removes excess ballast from sleeper tops ( hold it almost flat and stroke the ballast), it also tamps the ballast flat to remove annoying lumps and throughs, finally, I push-in the edges of the ballast with the brush.

 

Should I record the process and put it on YouTube?

 

Tim

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This is an update to a rather neglected thread, I only post when either I have time or there is something to add. For most evenings this month, I have been ballasting the layout and most of time was spent re-learning the process. My first efforts were so bad that I had to remove all the ballast and start again but with trial (and error) I found a method that suits my wobbly old hands.......

 

 

This is no time for wobbly hands, you have an L12 to finish and display.

 

PB

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Guest jonte

The travel spray is bought as an empty container called 'Travel Spray' from Boots, it is filled with water and a small drop of rubbing alcohol.

 

The flat hog's hair removes excess ballast from sleeper tops ( hold it almost flat and stroke the ballast), it also tamps the ballast flat to remove annoying lumps and throughs, finally, I push-in the edges of the ballast with the brush.

 

Should I record the process and put it on YouTube?

 

Tim

 

Thanks for making all crystal clear, Tim.

 

You Tube sounds a great idea........if you have time to put one together!!!

 

Best wishes,

 

Jonte

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Hi Tim,

 

Great topic. I haven't been on RMWeb for a very long, but have been interested in building a Southern layout of my own, possibly based on the Calstock - Gunnislake - Callington branch. Your topic and what other members have replied has given me a lot of 'food for thought', with building/infrastructure types and placements, textures and colour, also what is available in kit form and ready to plant from numerous suppliers. Looking foward to see more progress of your layout soon.

 

Cheers, Gary.

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Not really anything to do with the project but I came across this lovely photo of a container being hoisted above a Ford Thames Trader with a Conflat at one side.

 

A rather nice cameo and easily modelled.

 

Yard+Crane.jpg

 

It must be sometime after '62 when the Trader Mk2 was introduced, I haven't a clue as to where or when except it is something that we have lost.

 

Tim

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Guest oldlugger

Hello Tim,

 

This is going to be a fine looking layout upon completion, and large too! I've been following your progress from an early stage and it's nice to see the track beginning to take shape with the ballasting. With regards to your blog (I follow it as Rustyrail by the way), I used to live in Broadwindsor and went to Beaminster comprehensive school in the 1970's so your layout has a special significance for me. I know this part of Dorset so well and miss it a great deal.

 

All the best

Simon

Edited by oldlugger
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