RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted November 5, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted November 5, 2019 41 minutes ago, fezza said: Look forward to reading more on this. I'm working on a 1989/90 Barnstaple branch scenario allowing Hoovers and duffs on 2 coach banger sets. I've acquired or built much of the stock now just need the time to build the layout. I'm planning a fictional extension to Westward Ho! - there were a number of real proposals to take the main line onto this coast but they never happened of course. That was the idea behind my old layout ' Appledore' but extended further than Westward Ho! It did spend a few years as a 'modern' image layout but is currently back to steam / diesel in the 60's. The layout is currently being looked after and exhibited by a friend and he should be taking it to the Bristol show. It may well be back in my care some time after that for another rebuild. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowley 47521 Posted November 16, 2019 Share Posted November 16, 2019 Evening everyone. I just wanted to post a thank you to everyone that’s contributed to this wonderful thread. I’ve recently started in N gauge (after always modelling in 00), and my current plans are for a reasonably scale version of Lapford in the 1980s/early 90s. I’m just concentrating on making the structures and buying up the stock and points that I need at the moment but hoping to make the board in the next few weeks and start actually laying track. I’ve never really scratchbuilt any buildings before (let alone in N!) and although they’re not up to the standard of some of the amazing stuff you see on here I’m quite pleased with them really and I feel like it’s improved my skills. The only things that I bought were two Kestrel kits which I cobbled together to make a version of the station buildings. This was the first thing I did though so I might redo it at some point. I roughly laid it out a couple of weeks ago to see if it felt right. The board will be about 2m x 75cm: (Sorry about the embarrassing sock embankment) We’re going to be putting a 5m x 5m cabin in the garden next year for the railway and also for my other half to do her pottery, so a long term plan would be to have this on one wall, Eggesford on the back wall, and potentially Barnstaple on the wall opposite Lapford with the bridge at the Torrington end forming a scenic break with a fiddle yard beyond and a drop in section to return back to the start. These are all dreams and imaginings at the moment of course but here’s a rough sketch: I’ve always been fascinated by the line and was taken on one of the last trains to Torrington by my parents. Obviously going on my username you’ll probably get a fair idea of where I live... Thanks again. Nick. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D826 Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 Well Nick - looks like Lapford to me, and the skew bridge and Ambrosia building really locate it. Keep up the good work. Matt 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted November 17, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 17, 2019 That looks wonderful already, the dairy buildings really do look the part and you've captured the feel of the place. Looks like you're ready to just drop everything in place when the boards are ready! The scheme for the rest of the setup should capture a lot of the character of the line. Please do post a link to your layout thread here so we can find it! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowley 47521 Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, D826 said: Well Nick - looks like Lapford to me, and the skew bridge and Ambrosia building really locate it. Keep up the good work. Matt Thanks Matt. I was wondering how you were getting on with your Barnstaple model? Earlier in this thread I saw the photos that you’d posted of it when you’d laid the track and placed the buildings etc, are there any more recent photos on here anywhere? 2 hours ago, Ramblin Rich said: That looks wonderful already, the dairy buildings really do look the part and you've captured the feel of the place. Looks like you're ready to just drop everything in place when the boards are ready! The scheme for the rest of the setup should capture a lot of the character of the line. Please do post a link to your layout thread here so we can find it! Thanks for your kind words Rich. I’m still finding my way around rmweb at the moment but when I’ve built the board and started track laying in a few weeks time I’ll start a thread on it and link it back to here. Nick Edited November 17, 2019 by Cowley 47521 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D826 Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 Nick Ambition outstripped available time - Barnstaple got binned - to be resurrected one day (still have all the stock - buildings etc). Got replaced by the less ambitious 'Tintern Compressed' - see thread in UK Prototype- Railways of Gloucestershire and the Forest of Dean. (That shows my geographic inprecision cos it should have been in Railways of Wales). Even that's now been binned and modelling time has been reduced still further by the demands of family life, logistics etc. However, Barnstaple and the North Devon line still hold a fascination for me and place in my affections. Particularly true in the period when milk and clay was coming through from Torrington, and in the Dave Vinsen speedlink era, with a mixture of air braked and vacuum braked stock - with the Ciba Geigy Tanks for South Molton Chipboard factory being a favourite. One day I'll try to Barney justice. In the meantime watching this thread with keenness and the sound of throbbing Sulzers and EE power units in my minds ear. Accompanied by rasping DMUs, twanging signal cables, and bouncing semaphore arms ! Your work looks great - please continue to share. Main thing is for you to enjoy it. Best Wishes Matt 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowley 47521 Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, D826 said: Nick Ambition outstripped available time - Barnstaple got binned - to be resurrected one day (still have all the stock - buildings etc). Got replaced by the less ambitious 'Tintern Compressed' - see thread in UK Prototype- Railways of Gloucestershire and the Forest of Dean. (That shows my geographic inprecision cos it should have been in Railways of Wales). Even that's now been binned and modelling time has been reduced still further by the demands of family life, logistics etc. However, Barnstaple and the North Devon line still hold a fascination for me and place in my affections. Particularly true in the period when milk and clay was coming through from Torrington, and in the Dave Vinsen speedlink era, with a mixture of air braked and vacuum braked stock - with the Ciba Geigy Tanks for South Molton Chipboard factory being a favourite. One day I'll try to Barney justice. In the meantime watching this thread with keenness and the sound of throbbing Sulzers and EE power units in my minds ear. Accompanied by rasping DMUs, twanging signal cables, and bouncing semaphore arms ! Your work looks great - please continue to share. Main thing is for you to enjoy it. Best Wishes Matt Ah that’s a shame Matt, hope you get to do it one day. I know what it’s like with things like family stuff taking up time. Our youngest are 16 now so we’re starting to get more time again these days. I bought a few bits and bobs to start making a couple of the Barnstaple buildings today from the model shop at Buckfastleigh, might give the goods shed a go this week... I’ve been lost in those Dave Vinsen photos this last couple of weeks. What an absolute wealth of history he captured back then. I know that he’s on here so many thanks if you’re reading this. Meanwhile if you ever get bored of looking at those buildings you’ve made Matt... Edited November 17, 2019 by Cowley 47521 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 On 30/03/2011 at 16:02, Ramblin Rich said: Hi Martyn - in fact, I was imagining a line going from Meeth to Okehampton direct, rather than over Meldon - possibly up the Okement valley & then to the east up the Hole Brook, joining the main line somewhere near Sampford Courtney station. Maybe a triangular junction, freight can go straight east to Exeter, passenger trains to serve Okehmpton with a reversal. It would need a crossing over the Torridge valley south of Meeth (no worse than the Tamar crossing at Calstock?) and some interesting gradients - but that might make for more, shorter freight trains anyway . My imaginary "Okeford" would be somewhere near Hatherleigh & Monkokehampton, on the confluence of the Okement & Torridge rivers. I like that, it would be a fairly flat river valley route without too many tight bends. The "Exbourne Link Railway"? Would it be a good excuse for all kinds of GWR and SR diversions? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted November 18, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 18, 2019 Cheers Kieth, it's a long time since I wrote that! My inspiration then was Ken Gibbons 'Sheepwash' layout where he mentioned the idea of linking to Okehampton instead of via Halwill. It seemed an interesting idea, it would probably still been a Colonel Stephens line but might have stayed open to serve Meeth and Marland clay traffic instead of going the long way round via Bideford. In fact, it might even have been renewed to allow more modern stock to use the line as it would be a shorter distance off the Okehampton route than all the way from Barnstaple. I've recently got the book 'Devon & Cornwall Railfreight' which gives a lot of info on the ball clay traffic, there's still around 500,000 tons being shipped out from Marland yearly (all by road) so it's a nice 'what if' to imagine some of that traffic going by rail in 'Clay Tigers' or vans instead with a 37 at the head, like the Heathfield line (at least until that traffic died out at the end of 2006). However, having moved on to a plan more firmly based on the North Devon line, I want to keep as much traffic going that way and not loose the clay traffic to another route! 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 (edited) How did I miss that post the first time around? The Cornwall and Devon Central and Plymouth Railway, which was backed by the Earl of Devon and Earl of Falmouth, proposed a vague route along the Okement Valley among an ambit claim for almost everything else of interest in the area. The company was taken over by LSWR while it was still on the back of the envelope. From the London Gazette of 21 November 1846. Cheers David Edited November 19, 2019 by DavidB-AU 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted November 19, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 19, 2019 I'm finally building something! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 20 hours ago, DavidB-AU said: How did I miss that post the first time around? The Cornwall and Devon Central and Plymouth Railway, which was backed by the Earl of Devon and Earl of Falmouth, proposed a vague route along the Okement Valley among an ambit claim for almost everything else of interest in the area. The company was taken over by LSWR while it was still on the back of the envelope. From the London Gazette of 21 November 1846. Cheers David My goodness, what a wonderful list of places! Was the Cornwall and Devon Central and Plymouth Railway wildly ambitious, or what? I have to confess I grew up in Devon, have lived and worked in many parts (and driven through many many more). Even so, there are place names on that list that I had never heard of and had to search for. To try and make sense of them all, I put dots on a map. A Withered Arm on steroids perhaps? Quite why Widecombe-In-The-Moor (that solitary dot right of "Dartmoor National Park") had got their attention, goodness only knows. The good folk of that fabled town (and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all) must have thought Christmas had come early. But, actually, could have been reached as an extra branch from Ashburton. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 If anyone would like to explore the map in more detail, it's here online at Carto: https://tme.carto.com/tables/cornwall_and_devon_central_and_plymouth_railway/map 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Ramblin Rich Posted November 19, 2019 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted November 19, 2019 That list just seems to be a 'we might pass through a bit of any of these parishes so we'd better mention them' kind of thing! However, looking at it like a mathematical graph, it does seem a 'best fit' line would approximately follow the eventual LSWR route, with a few 'outliers' in the data! Which place is up near Cullompton? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 1 hour ago, Ramblin Rich said: Which place is up near Cullompton? Doh! Well spotted, I chose the wrong Colebrook. And I'd missed off Cowley and Sandford. But many thanks for finding that London Gazzette for 21 Nov 1846. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/20671/page/5128 It looks like a veritable gold mine of information, loads of railway companies publishing intended routes. Like the Bristol and Exeter Railway Extension (Crediton to Launceston) Page after page after page of railway companies expanding and merging. e.g. Page 4914 = South Devon Railway extension from Plymouth to Launceston, and to Torquay and Brixham. 4916 = Cheltenham and Oxford Railway 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted December 8, 2019 Share Posted December 8, 2019 If anyone is interested in "what might have been" freight traffic from Bideford, and across Devon, here's something I stumbled on while looking at the Somerset and Gloucestershire coalfields. Quote A small area of anthracite, or culm, was worked in this area until the early 1960s. As well a being used as a fuel, this product supported a local paint works. Inclined shafts and adits in Cleave Wood, extending east for 400 to 800 metres have been recorded. Ref: https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/devon/ This anthracite is an outcrop of anthracite found in Somerset and Gloucestershire, and of course, in South Wales. Perhaps originally formed as one continuous coalfield, but then cut through by the River Severn after the end of the last Ice Age, c.11,000 years ago. But the Bideford version had something special called "Bideford Black" More here: History : https://bidefordblack.blogspot.com/p/history.html Geology : https://bidefordblack.blogspot.com/p/geology.html For anyone interested in finding coal in unusual places, please do have a look at the interactive map here: https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/ For example, the open cast lignite mine in Bovey Tracey, worked until 1945 https://www.nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/devon/boveylig/ 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithMacdonald Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but James May and Oz Clarke had rebuilt the line from Barnstaple to Bideford (with a bit of help). Ten miles - in OO gauge! In the video below, @5:50 Atlantic Coast Express feature. @9:00 ACE into Barnstaple and across bridge to Quay station @10:50 Fremington @21:20 Pendon Model Railway etc Oz Clarke turns out to not only be a wine expert, but very knowledgeable on the history of the route. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowley 47521 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 (edited) Evening everyone. Hope no-one minds me bouncing this thread back up but I’ve made a bit of progress with my N gauge model of Lapford this last few months and would appreciate any input that you have to spare. It’s certainly been a learning curve having not modelled in N gauge before. It’s not perfect but it’s getting there. Having a bit of unexpected time off due to the current situation I was able to gather up various bits of chipboard and timber from the shed and make a return circuit (with a storage loop) so I’m able to run some proper trains finally! Just ordered green 33008 ‘Eastleigh’ last week so I’m looking forward to that arriving. Here’s a few photos anyway. Some of which were taken a few weeks ago so they’re missing the odd bit of detail that I’ve added since: Edited May 25, 2020 by Cowley 47521 A couple of extra photos added. 13 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowley 47521 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 And a couple of YouTube clips: Thanks all. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium keefer Posted May 25, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 25, 2020 You might not think it's perfect ( although I realise we're seldom completely satisfied!) but I think you should be proud of what you've achieved. Excellent pics and I have to keep reminding myself it's in N. Lots of different little scenes and you haven't tried to cram too much in, so there's a sense of space. I'm not familiar with the location but it looks like a real place to me! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowley 47521 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 3 minutes ago, keefer said: You might not think it's perfect ( although I realise we're seldom completely satisfied!) but I think you should be proud of what you've achieved. Excellent pics and I have to keep reminding myself it's in N. Lots of different little scenes and you haven't tried to cram too much in, so there's a sense of space. I'm not familiar with the location but it looks like a real place to me! Thanks Keefer that’s very much appreciated. Some of the photos are a little bit gaudy because they’re taken on my old iPhone (and you’re right we aren’t ever satisfied!) but the place lends itself so well to being made into a model. I mean it’s got everything like scenic breaks etc before you’ve even started! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treggyman Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Hi Some excellent modelling that really brings the scene to life....... Although I lived in Crediton for a while I only visited Lapford a few times & it certainly looks like I remember it.....Spot on..... Any more pictures please.... Cheers Bill 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowley 47521 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 (edited) 19 minutes ago, treggyman said: Hi Some excellent modelling that really brings the scene to life....... Although I lived in Crediton for a while I only visited Lapford a few times & it certainly looks like I remember it.....Spot on..... Any more pictures please.... Cheers Bill I’ll take a few more tomorrow Bill. Unfortunately I’ve got to go out for a bit this evening so I’ll do it tomorrow after work. Thanks for your comments. Nick Edited May 25, 2020 by Cowley 47521 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernBlue80s Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Lovely N guage modeling. And I know what you mean about the camera not picking up the subtleties. Inspired me to start a N guage layout. However I am not earning like many now. So better stick with my 00. Again lovely job Cheers Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Now that’s good, and must be really satisfying modelling a real place to a high degree of fidelity 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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