TEESDALE

[ArthurK]

I also ran Teesdale for years without the station master's house but it was added when I eventually finished it. It tool a long time. I am osting photos of the original buildings after the site became a caravan park.

 

Arthur K

[ArthurK]

MIDDLETON STATION BUILDINGS

 

First a view oh the house from the Platform end. The edge of the platform has been replaced by a grass bank. Why is there always something to odstruct the view? The castellated porch has been removed. Not sure if this was done before or after the station was closed.

 

 

 

A full frontal view of the house. Plenty of detail in this picture.

 

 

The booking hall appears this time. Pity about all those d****** caravans.

 

 

The "approach view of the house. This approach was quite steep but it did enable the coal depots to be at the same level as the rest of the yard.

 

 

 

 

A close up 5he the bay window with it ornate top. Plenty of work in that one!

 

Edited February 8, 2012 by ArthurK

[ArthurK]

MIDDLETON STATION BUILDINGS

 

We move along to the booking hall in the next shots. We have a blank wall this side but we note the office window. This connects the booking hall with the station house. The style of stonework is the same as the house, all dressed(?) random stone. That is why the model had to be hand scribed throughout. The other walls of the hall (platform and entrance) were cement rendered.

 

 

Viewed from a little further away we have a better view of the booking hall facing the platform . Note how far this projects onto the platform itself. The exit to the platform has been bricked up (see next shot) but it directed passengers to the waiting rooms. It appears that pasengers were discouraged from straying to the house and its little garden.

 

 

The booking hall from the eastern end. The indow is all that remains of the entrance. The arched shape of the entrance can be made out. I believe that there was sliding door but was rarely closed.

 

 

Two views of the glazed waiting rooms. There was once a clock at the mid point with its owvn little gable. I do not know when it was removed.

 

 

 

Last for this lot is the interior of the glazed waiting area. Note that unlike the house and booking hall this is built entirely in brick. The gables onto the platform were cement rendered. In the station's heyday it was renowned for its station gardens. The large planters are still there and climbing roses once covered both gables.

Edited February 8, 2012 by ArthurK

[ArthurK]

Now back to the model. I have attempted to include all the features of the real thing including cement rendering on the gables of the waitingrooms and the booking hall. I did this by thoroughly soaking the outer layer of plastiard with solvent and dusting it with blown sand (easy to find around here!) I took a few goes but the result was pretty good. Then all it needed was a coat of paint when dry. It was easier than I expected but don't try it on a thin sheet. The walls on this are more tham 3-4mm thick although they are hollow. The interior of the glazed area is fully detailed with doors to the various rooms. Separate ladies waiting room with 'facilities'. The gents was outside in the cold! Hows that for being sexist! The brickwork is shown in the interior shot above. This also provided details of the roof structure. The glazing is 20thou Slater's clear plasticard. The glazing bars are plastic rod (pobably 20thou). These bars were painted (with difficulty) and the glazing toned down with a light spray of dirt.

 

 

At the rear all of the brickwork was exposed. I used brick red for this (I think it was Humbrol 70). Typical of me I never did get around to adding the mortar to the area between the gables and it needs weathering. As it is not visible by the spectators it was left until time was available but it never was!

 

Edited February 9, 2012 by ArthurK

[ArthurK]

MIDDLETON STATION BUILDINGS

 

Time to post a few more photos of the buildings. This time the engine shed and water tower.

 

First the shed, entirely from plasticard. The outer layer is slaters "rubble". Not to far from the actual stone used. As usual this was my hollow construction to get the desired wall thickness. There was raised dressed stone around the windows and the door. The roof louvres were again from plasticard. Tiling was the normal scribed plasticard strips. No doors on this one. There should be but I never got around to it. After I had completed this I found a photo of the rear of the shed. It appears that a loco has demolished the rear wall as it has evidence of an engine size repair! Yhat would have made a nice talking point. It is showing signs of wear and tear but then it has been around a long time.

 

 

 

ArthutK

[ArthurK]

MIDDLETON STATION BUILDINGS

 

Now its the turn of the water tower. Two models as shown. One, the larger of the two, is modelled on that at Goathland. This was built long before I had gathered enough data to do the job properly but served on the layout for many years. It was cast in Plaster of Paris between an inner and outer dam of balsa wood. The outer layer was removed when hard, but the other was left inside. All stonework was scribed (or should that be carved?) by hand. The tank is plasticard with all the detail added. All those little circular quadrants were rolled and heated then cut one at a time to fit in the corners. The whole was sanded to a uniform depth. Unforntunately plaster is prone to chipping and it shows.

 

The other tank is taken from a drawing in Ken Hoole's book and is that at Middleton. This time it is entirely fromn Plasticard. This one is inset into the griound which accounts for the doorstep being in the air. Random coursed stone was used for this. The tank was much simpler this time. No doubt some not knowing its history will be curious as to why a chimney emerges from the tank. The answer is simple, a new much larger watertank was built on the other side of the shed line. This was on a wooden base. I had started on this and sourced square section plastic for the truss structure but other plans got in the way. It was never built. The original tank was converted into a plate layer's hut which explains the chimney.

 

 

 

ArthurK

[micklner]

Excellent thanks for posting . Hope you are better soon.

[desktop]

Found this article when Googling 'Middleton in Teesdale railway' with a view to modelling it in 00.

 

What a fine layout, Is it still around?

[ArthurK]

Found this article when Googling 'Middleton in Teesdale railway' with a view to modelling it in 00.

 

What a fine layout, Is it still around?

No! It had been lying dismantled in the shed for a long time. I had ideas to rebuild completely in P4 and drew it out full scale with the Ord & Maddison sidings and the Tarmacadam plant. It also would have included the water driven sawmill. But other things got in the way. When I decided to design loco kits (that was initially to fill gaps in my range of scratch-built NER locos)that project took up more and more of my time.

 

The layout was eventually dismantled though the two station boards remain in the shed devoid of all electrics and point motors. The buildings are safely stored.

 

ArthurK

[Steve O.]

Great layout Arthur.

We did a field trip to Middleton in Teesdale when I was 8 or 9, my project for the week was on the old railway! Brings back a lot of memories - thank you.

Cheers, Steve.

[desktop]

No! It had been lying dismantled in the shed for a long time. I had ideas to rebuild completely in P4 and drew it out full scale with the Ord & Maddison sidings and the Tarmacadam plant. It also would have included the water driven sawmill. But other things got in the way. When I decided to design loco kits (that was initially to fill gaps in my range of scratch-built NER locos)that project took up more and more of my time.

 

The layout was eventually dismantled though the two station boards remain in the shed devoid of all electrics and point motors. The buildings are safely stored.

 

ArthurK

 

Thank you Arthur for your response. It's a great shame such a fine looking layout isn't around and unlucky for me not to have seen it. It's a great inspiration for me looking to get back into modelling after too many years away. Have you considered selling the remaining sections?

[alancaster149]

I like both sets of buildings, Arthur K's and Rumblestripe's. It'd be hard to choose between them in a competition as they've got their own character and style. Arthur K's use of brick, and slate roofs, and Rumblestripe's use of Wills' Coarse Stone both deserve a 'First'