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Stourbridge Town 1950's


N. Rudge

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I hate to think what shape the underframe was.

 

Bridge buttress shape?

 

 

Found a few photos of the last time a train tried to cross Foster street, linky If I am right, there was a similar event a few years latter, but did not quite make it of the end. After these events the line was cut back and a sand drag put in place.

 

Gary

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Ahh, the crash that left the Class 121 hanging over the bridge butress, my grandad was telling me about this only a few days ago! In fact, he was telling me that his grandmother used to run the Vauxhall pub (now the Rock Station pub/restaurant/thing). As TheSignalEngineer pointed out, it was on the day of the Grand National, and because of this there was hardly anyone about on the streets, so it didn't injure any passers by, thought I'm not too sure about the driver and the passengers.

 

Anyway, onto the main reason for this post. Today, I've basically built the baseboard and have started to position things to represet what the layout is going to look like. I've attached some piccies of what the current progress is looking like.

 

By the way, the layout in the background is a work in progress but has halted at the moment due to the construction of this one. When Stourbridge Town is built, I shall hopefull get cracking with that one. Oh, and excuse the mess in the garage, it's at my grandparents house and they have a tendancy to keep anything in there that wont fit in the house, so there's a bit of everything in there!

 

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As can be seen in the first photo and subseque ones, I've decided to put the layout on these platic folding sawhorses as they are lightweight, strong and eliminates the tricky task of building legs for the layout, something which my grandad and I found to be quite a labourious task on the layout un the background.The main construction of the board is approx 1/2'' thick plywood (which may be a bit thick, but at least it's strong) cut to 2' x 5', with 11/16'' by 1 3/4'' timber framing around the outside and widthways down the middle. This took a morning to make, and if I keep up this sort of pace, I'll have the whole thing finished by Tuesday!

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Here we have the track plan that Alistair kindly made for me, printed off and positioned on the board to see where the track will go. also, I have included some placeholders for the platform, station building, footbridge & rolling stock, all of which will of course be different once the layout progresses on a bit. I cut a piece of wood, as can be seen in the photo, to an approximate length of the platform, and it makes you realise jut how long the platform was at stourridge town, considering it only had 1 coach autotrains or bubble cars.

 

After having a quick flick through one of the Clive Butcher books that I have, I noticed that the Foster Street end of the station looked like it could do with a bit of modification, so I positioned some points on there, slid everything to the left a bit and took these photos:

 

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By the way, the blue tracksetta is representing where the Foster Street bridge goes, approximately. I think it's a touch too close to the station building.

 

I'm not overly sure at the moment about what I should stick to exactly. What do you guys think? Any feedback would be gratefully apreciated.

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Righty-ho chaps, I'm in need of a wee bit of assitance. I'm starting to gather resources for the station building of Stourbrdge Town, and I've drawn up a little shopping list of things to get when I go to my local model shop, but there's a few things I'd really appreciate a bit of assitance with.

 

1 - The station building itself is a mixture of red and tan coloured bricks. What would be the best bet in getting the colours right on brick platicard? Would I be best getting cream brick-embossed platicard and use either red paint or artists pencil crayons (as described in the August issue of Hornby Magazine) or getting red platicard and painting the other bricks tan? Also, what would be best for colouring the mortar?

 

2 - The station is set in the BR(W) era, in the 1950's (about '56 or '57 most probably), so what colour should the station canopy and the doors be painted? A bloke at the model railway club I go to reckons that I should paint the doors in GWR dark and light stone colours, but from the images I've seen, it looks like Western Region brown and cream, so I'm a tad unsure which colours to go for. Also, if I do go for brown and cream, which paints would be best recommended to get the right, or an approximate, shade?

 

I'm sorry to basically make a post of loads of questions, but they're the main things that I require for the project to progress. I would be extremely grateful if anyone would be able to lend a hand with a question or two.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Having only just joined the forum I was fascinated to read about N.Rudge's project on Stourbridge Town Station. I lived in Stourbridge until 1955 and therefore knew the old station very well, frequently travelling from it.

I am myself currently building a large (G-scale) model of the old station, and it will be exhibited with a similarly scaled Great Western push-pull unit that I bought some years ago. I shall also model the old signal box that I remember being in use as a bicycle shed and storeroom long after signalling on the branch was discontinued (in 1935).

I will gladly post some pictures of the station model as it develops.

There are, incidentally, some excellent coloured photographs of the old station (from both sides) to be found on the web, and I have used these as a guide in modelling. What I would like to know is who the 1879 architect was. The twin towers with decorative fences on top remind one very much of the (new) Kidderminster Station on the Severn Valley Railway.

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Hi Graham,

 

A G-scale version of Stourbridge Town souns amazing and I would be only too grateful if you were to post some pictures of it as it progresses, then we can compare, contrast and gain ideas off each other as we go along!

 

Currently, not much has progressed on Stourbridge Town ('00' scale!) since the last post, apart from I've purchased the brick sheets and the acrylic paints that shall be used to build and paint the main building itself. I'm going to measure up windows and doors at Stourbridge Town on Friday, all being well, to get some rough dimensions to work off for the doors and windows so that I can try to come up with a length of the building, as I am assuming that the doors and windows will be of a similar size, though the two stations probably had different architects. I'm assuming a Great Western doorway and/or window was quite standard accross the board. In fact, as Graham correctly pointed out, Kidderminster bears a striking resemblance to Stourbridge Town, despite it being based on Ross-On-Wye, and being made of red and black brick, so I may measure that up as well for a comparison whilst I'm in a train journey's reach from it. The dimensions of the features of either station may not be precise to those of Stourbridge Town, but so long as it looks right, it doesn't really matter if it's not down to the millionth of a millimetre!

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I was delighted to hear from you about your preparations to build Stourbridge Town in OO scale. I agree that one needn't be absolutely precise, provided the result looks right; there were so many windows in the station that I had to buy some produced commercially, and they were not exactly right but now that they are fitted with surrounding stonework they look fine. My roof guttering too, wouldn't stand up to microscopic examination, but it looks fine when you look at the model as a whole.

I am basing the model on the situation around 1947, just before the Transport Act came into force, so things were still GWR-style (and the Transport Act will be announced in a poster on the platform, just as it was in reality. If my memory serves me aright, the GWR paintwork was fairly simple during the war years, so the doors are just chocolate brown, but I shall probably replace that with two-tone GWR colours in due course.

I used commercially produced slightly profiled brick-pattern paper for the walls. The "English firebrick" paper was a little too grey, but with a dilute yellow watercolour wash applied it was acceptable.For the red brick lining I also used profiled brick-pattern paper (dark red) cut into single-brick courses and glued onto the yellow wall -it looks completely convincing. The stone surrounds of the windows and doors are made of coarse sandpaper.

I only have one photograph at present, but I will send you more as I go along. We'll keep in touch!

Graham

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Graham

 

Wow! That looks remarkable! Thank you very much for sharing that. I know what to aim for in terms of looks at leas now, so thanks once again.

 

Progress has been very minimal on Stroubridge Town (00 scale!) due to me being on holiday for the past week, but I'm aiming to get the progress back up to speed shortly.

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NR: Thanks for the Wow! Whether I deserve it or not will depend on how well I manage the fiddly bits: the root and guttering are both fine, but I have to make the chimneys. I have very little tIme, but I manage several short sessions a week.

 

In view of your study project I am wondering whether you have tried to identify the architect of the 1879 Station and find any press reports of its opening (I believe the County Express already existed, and the files are in Stourbridge Public Library, I think on microfiilm.) As regards the architect and the original drawings, I will gladly have a go myself; the GWR archives have largely been preserved. Very old photographs would also be interesting, though the station hardly seems to have changed over a hundred years, except for some evidence of neglect and decay towards the end.

 

Graham Dukes

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Hi Graham, (please, call me Nyall!!!)

 

Next time I'm in Stourbridge, I'll venture over there and ask about it. 1879 County Express you say? I'll make a note of that. Thank you for the information.

 

Your model is looking really nice, and I see what you mean about the chimneys. I'm not looking forward to building mine either to be honest, nor the fiddly little fence thing on top of the roof. But anyway, keep up the good work as it is certainly appreciated here!

 

Right, I've been progressing a bit on the station building, concentrating on the back section that leads to the forecourt mainly, almost as a sort of test bed to practice my modelling on, being rather an amateur Seeing. As it's on the back, it won't be so noticeable if I cock it up. Basically, I bought some sheets of beige Slater's plasticard Flemish bond brick sheets (the wrong type of bond as it happens, but oh well!) and some Revell beige and reddish brown acrylic paints, painted the lines of differing coloured bricks onto the sheets of plastic, glued thinly cut strips of the brick sheets onto areas which stand out slightly, measured some dimensions of the building features at Kidderminster Town station due to it's resemblance to Stourbridge Town, did some cutting work with a craft knife, and came up with what can be seen in the following attachment:

 

(Work remaining on that particular bit: making window sills and the stone arch things above the windows from plasticard, painting them and sticking them on, making windows and doors, painting them and sticking them in, then that side will be finished)

 

Here is a pic in case anyone is wondering which bit I'm working on: http://www.flickr.co...ing/5345931424/ (the middle inbetween the two sections that protrude sligtly from the rest of the building. The image I'm working from in one of the Oakwood Press books I own has a better view of it, but I'm not sure if you're allowed to share scanned images on this forum)

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Hi Graham, (please, call me Nyall!!!)

 

Next time I'm in Stourbridge, I'll venture over there and ask about it. 1879 County Express you say? I'll make a note of that. Thank you for the information.

 

Your model is looking really nice, and I see what you mean about the chimneys. I'm not looking forward to building mine either to be honest, nor the fiddly little fence thing on top of the roof. But anyway, keep up the good work as it is certainly appreciated here!

 

Right, I've been progressing a bit on the station building, concentrating on the back section that leads to the forecourt mainly, almost as a sort of test bed to practice my modelling on, being rather an amateur Seeing. As it's on the back, it won't be so noticeable if I cock it up. Basically, I bought some sheets of beige Slater's plasticard Flemish bond brick sheets (the wrong type of bond as it happens, but oh well!) and some Revell beige and reddish brown acrylic paints, painted the lines of differing coloured bricks onto the sheets of plastic, glued thinly cut strips of the brick sheets onto areas which stand out slightly, measured some dimensions of the building features at Kidderminster Town station due to it's resemblance to Stourbridge Town, did some cutting work with a craft knife, and came up with what can be seen in the following attachment:

 

(Work remaining on that particular bit: making window sills and the stone arch things above the windows from plasticard, painting them and sticking them on, making windows and doors, painting them and sticking them in, then that side will be finished)

 

Here is a pic in case anyone is wondering which bit I'm working on: http://www.flickr.co...ing/5345931424/ (the middle inbetween the two sections that protrude sligtly from the rest of the building. The image I'm working from in one of the Oakwood Press books I own has a better view of it, but I'm not sure if you're allowed to share scanned images on this forum)

 

Hi Niall!

 

Thanks for the update and the picture of your work on the town side of the Station. Working on my own model I found it made quite a difference when I added what you call the two sections that protrude slightly from the rest of the building - just below the towers. I have now erected one chimney - the tall one on the platform side of the roof - so I have four more to go before I can start on the "fences" on top of the towers.

Working in G-scale is of course a blessing because you can manage all sorts of details without longing for a microscope. The only trouble is that you find yourself going further and further into detail and not knowing where to stop. I already have G.W.R. posters and timetables ready for the noticeboards, as well as several drainpipes...where does it end - taps, chocolate machines, curtains and pigeons on the roof?

I'll get some updated pictures to you within the next few days.

If you manage to get to the County Express archives for 1879, I'll try and access some of the sources of GWR records listed in the books on railway architecture. I suspect the GWR simply used a staff architect, possibly the same man who designed Ross-on-Wye.

Unfortunately I shall be out of action for five weeks from September 20th as far as Stourbridge Town goes - I have some work in Africa -but I'll be on e-mail.

Graham

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Hi Graham

 

I'm glad to hear that you are progressing well with your building. As for the detailing, I'm sure you could go as far as the hinges on the door hinges with G scale at least!!! Jokes aside, I'm sure whatever detailing you do to your model will only enhance it further. Thanks for the update!

 

I enquired in the Stourbridge Library about information regarding the station, but the person who normally deals with that sort of thing was away so I think they're going to sort it out tomorrow, so I'll pop in to see what information they have. I'll keep you posted on my findings!

 

Since the last picture, I've dressed the windows externally with the stone trimmings et al, plus added the bits that protrude slightly (unsure what they should be called, but the bits that protrude will suffice!) and am painting those bits up currently. I'll upload a pic or two once I've finished that bit.

 

Nyall

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Hi Graham

 

I'm glad to hear that you are progressing well with your building. As for the detailing, I'm sure you could go as far as the hinges on the door hinges with G scale at least!!! Jokes aside, I'm sure whatever detailing you do to your model will only enhance it further. Thanks for the update!

 

I enquired in the Stourbridge Library about information regarding the station, but the person who normally deals with that sort of thing was away so I think they're going to sort it out tomorrow, so I'll pop in to see what information they have. I'll keep you posted on my findings!

 

Since the last picture, I've dressed the windows externally with the stone trimmings et al, plus added the bits that protrude slightly (unsure what they should be called, but the bits that protrude will suffice!) and am painting those bits up currently. I'll upload a pic or two once I've finished that bit.

 

Nyall

 

Hi Nyall

 

Before I rush off to my job in Africa for a month or more, I am sending yoiu (by separate e-mail) three rough pictures of "Stourbridge Town 1947 in G-Scale" as it currently stands, and will remain until I get back. I posed a train at the platform and a car model in the forecourt to give an idea of dimensions. Lots of details to be filled in yet (four more chimneys, posters, platform signs) and various faults to be corrected (slips of the knife, blobs of glue dropped in the wrong places) but that's a job for November.

Incidentally, the lead lining around the towers was very characteristic of the old buildibg - the late colour photos on the web suggest that it had all been stolen long before the station was demolished, and I wondered how to imitate it. The solution is simply to use thin lead sheeting; that costs nothing, it's easily cut with scissors and shaped in a vice.

Your forecourt frontage looks very promising!

I am getting letters off today to a couple of places where the early GWR archives may be.

All the best,

Graham

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Here are the three pictures of "Stourbridge Town 1947" that I promised earlier today, and a couple more.

Actually, those with the push-pull train at the platform are not historically correct, since a that time the station canopy was still in place. I am making that later, but it will have to be detachable since it obscures the view of the platform.

 

Graham

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Hi, Graham

 

Wow, that looks great! Really captures the essence of the real thing there, plus being large scale, it looks like it has a great physical presence to it! Well done and that you for posting those pictures!

 

I'm progressing quite well with my own model, and have almost completed the rear of the building, as I will show you in the below attachment.

 

Cheers

 

Nyall

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Hi, Graham

 

Wow, that looks great! Really captures the essence of the real thing there, plus being large scale, it looks like it has a great physical presence to it! Well done and that you for posting those pictures!

 

I'm progressing quite well with my own model, and have almost completed the rear of the building, as I will show you in the below attachment.

 

Cheers

 

Nyall

 

Nyall: I really admire your work - you are managing some wonderful detail, and the profile of the station on the forecourt side looks just right. Do try some posters - they were very characteristic of the period and there are plenty of old railway posters on the internet that you can scale down on a colour printer. I am also tempted to make one advertising cheap day excursions (Birmingham 1/11d, Worcester 3/-. Malvern 3/6d).

One problem with G-scale is that it is not well defined - there is about a 30% variation in sizes, which explains why my bricks are really a bit too large and the locomotive is just a little too small for the coach. Not that I take any credit for the rolling stock - the engine is a live steam loco from Aster (made in Japan) and the coach is a splendid piece of work by an amateur in Britain, which I bought on the internet a few years ago. Both are however very typical of what was running on the Stourbridge Town branch at the time. My own efforts are confined to the station, including the platform items and the forecourt (with a Midland Red bus, and perhaps a large and tasteless advertisement for Marsh and Baxter sausages, also found on the internet and very typical of the period).

Success with your model!

Graham

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Hi Graham

 

Thanks for the words of kindness they are very much appreciated. To be honest, you may say it's detailed, but it's just a bit of plasticard, some painted lines and some holes cut out really! It doesn't look quite as pretty when observed up close, especially the left hand door, which i stuck in place a bit wonky...

 

I really do admire your work, despite the size variations and such, as it shows that even though it may not look identical to the original, it still has a nice air about it that make you think "ooh, that's Stourbridge Town Station" when you look at it. Besides, if you're happy with it, that's all that matters, it doesn'treally matter whether it matches millimetre for millimetre. Mine certainly has it's inaccuracies which you don't notice when you're actually making it but show up when you stand back and look at it!

 

In regards posters, I may create one or two cutom ones just for the layout, and use some of the excellent pre-made ones from the Station Signs website ( http://www.stationsi...o.uk/index.html ). Actually, whilst on the subject, I had bought some of their signs to place on Stourbridge, but the totems and running in boards and things like that, but i don't think they had much BR signage, I think it was more GWR signage, but I can always track some down at a leter date.

 

Good luck with the rest of your layout, and well done on what you've already done!

 

Nyall

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Hi Graham

 

Thanks for the words of kindness they are very much appreciated. To be honest, you may say it's detailed, but it's just a bit of plasticard, some painted lines and some holes cut out really! It doesn't look quite as pretty when observed up close, especially the left hand door, which i stuck in place a bit wonky...

 

I really do admire your work, despite the size variations and such, as it shows that even though it may not look identical to the original, it still has a nice air about it that make you think "ooh, that's Stourbridge Town Station" when you look at it. Besides, if you're happy with it, that's all that matters, it doesn'treally matter whether it matches millimetre for millimetre. Mine certainly has it's inaccuracies which you don't notice when you're actually making it but show up when you stand back and look at it!

 

In regards posters, I may create one or two cutom ones just for the layout, and use some of the excellent pre-made ones from the Station Signs website ( http://www.stationsi...o.uk/index.html ). Actually, whilst on the subject, I had bought some of their signs to place on Stourbridge, but the totems and running in boards and things like that, but i don't think they had much BR signage, I think it was more GWR signage, but I can always track some down at a leter date.

 

Good luck with the rest of your layout, and well done on what you've already done!

 

Nyall

Hi Nyall,

 

Just a word from Nairobi where I just read your message from Monday.

 

I agree with what you say about aiming for atmosphere rather than absolute perfection - since I remember so well my numerous journeys from the old Stourbridge Town station I want to recreate the way it felt and looked before it was allowed to fall to bits in the seventies. Had it been preserved it could have been an excellent "travel centre" for train and bus passengers, with an information office, a small buffet with a waiting room, toilets and so on - it was big enough for that. And above all it was symbolic of the rise of Stourbridge as an industrial centre in the 19th century. I always suspect that the Town Planners of 1979, who wanted to make Stourbridge look like any other town, pulled it down in a hurry in case any people with a sense of history might come running up to point out that the old station was about to celebrate its centenary!

All the best,

Graham

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Hi Nyall,

 

Just a word from Nairobi where I just read your message from Monday.

 

I agree with what you say about aiming for atmosphere rather than absolute perfection - since I remember so well my numerous journeys from the old Stourbridge Town station I want to recreate the way it felt and looked before it was allowed to fall to bits in the seventies. Had it been preserved it could have been an excellent "travel centre" for train and bus passengers, with an information office, a small buffet with a waiting room, toilets and so on - it was big enough for that. And above all it was symbolic of the rise of Stourbridge as an industrial centre in the 19th century. I always suspect that the Town Planners of 1979, who wanted to make Stourbridge look like any other town, pulled it down in a hurry in case any people with a sense of history might come running up to point out that the old station was about to celebrate its centenary!

All the best,

Graham

 

Hi Graham,

 

I agree, the old station would have been just the ticket, even if they were only to keep half of the building and shorten it or somehing, it would have been a great transport hub for Stourbridge, but that's just typical of people recently, not thinking before knocking stuff down.

 

I've not got much else to report about Stourbridge Town, but I'm hoping to get a good shift on next week. I hav completed all of the windows on the rear of the building now, so the rear section is now oficially complete, save for the little canopy over the entrance!

 

Oh, and have a nice time away, Graham!!

 

Cheers,

 

Nyall

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  • 1 year later...

Nyall:

You won't  believe it, but after being away from my Stourbridge Town G-scale model for the better part of two years (I have a lot of work abroad, and plenty of other hobbies as well) I sat down to it again last week and it is approaching completion, right down to the "fences" on top of the towers and the tourist posters  and notices on the walls.  Three days work more, when I can find the time, and it will be done! Then I'll photograph the finished product....

How have you proceeded?

Best wishes,

Graham Dukes

Oslo

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  • 2 weeks later...

It has taken a long time because of my work commitments abroad, but here is my virtually complete Scale G model of Stourbridge Town Station around 1948; I attach a series of photos.  It is still very much a GWR station, though one of the posters is of British Railways origin, so the period portrayed is around 1948-9, when I knew the station well.  The only serious  anachronism is that the station canopy is missing - this was removed only in the 1960's, but I have omitted it here because it would mask a lot of detail on the pictures. I am now working on the canopy but making it removable. The bricks are also too large, but at the time I worked on the walls no G-scale yellowbrick paper seemed to be available.

Comments and proposals for improvement will be welcome!

Graham Dukes

Oslo, Norway

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