Coombe Viaduct, Saltash and the Royal Albert Bridge

[alexross42]

How far to the west do you plan to extend in the future? The carriage sidings at Wearde which were on Brunel's original route before the 1908 inland deviation was opened have always intrigued/interested me although this may be a little far from the viaduct....however the goods loop before this could certainly be done and perhaps in the reality of your model Defiance Halt never closed? Such potential is what makes the creative possibilities of modelling great!

[Kris]

How far to the west do you plan to extend in the future? The carriage sidings at Wearde which were on Brunel's original route before the 1908 inland deviation was opened have always intrigued/interested me although this may be a little far from the viaduct....however the goods loop before this could certainly be done and perhaps in the reality of your model Defiance Halt never closed? Such potential is what makes the creative possibilities of modelling great!

 

Can't say that I have considered extending west much, but if I did I think that I would be unlikely to go beyond the first over bridge, just to the east of Wearde. The first extension that I intend to do (one day - just don't know which one yet) will be to include the goods yard to Culver rd bridge. Extensions however require time and space.

Can't say that there is much progress is always show from the last few weeks. Outside of holiday time I am lucky to get to spend more than a few minutes a week on modelling of any kind.

[wiggoforgold]

I don't think the surface of the water in Coombe Crrek is ever completely smooth.

It's like a millpond at the moment...

[Kris]

It's like a millpond at the moment...

 

Bet its not now.

[royaloak]

Shameless plug from my photostream of an IET crossing Coombe Viaduct-

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/46912176@N06/37804574384/in/datetaken-public/

[OnTheBranchline]

Viaducts are an underused feature/basis for layouts, kudos to you for trying something different.

[Kris]

It's been a long time since there was any progress on Coombe viaduct. Today however was a red letter day. Having spent a lot of time recently I decided that I should take a few minutes to do something to Coombe. I spent a few minutes grassing up the west end. The flash really does not do it any favours! The wagons are only there to give a sense of scale, and are all works in progress.

 

[Siberian Snooper]

Good to see a bit of progress on this project.

 

 

[Kris]

Having been away for a few days I returned home last night wanting to get on with some modelling. This morning was full of all those essential jobs that seem to crop up after being away (mowing the lawn etc), but this afternoon saw a couple of free hours, so further "grass" was added to Coombe. Longer bits by the water, with shorter bits further up. Looking at photos of the area from the mid 1950's there are more trees about than I was expecting, so hopefully I will be able to start planting some of these soon. I have also ballasted another 18 inches of the track and painted bits of several wagons. It's nice to be doing things again. 

 

[andy stroud]

That is a  lovely scene.

[Kris]

Well the Easter holidays have drawn to a close and following months of no progress we have seen some real scenic advances. All of the board is now grassed, and there are bushes appearing. I have also placed a few cheap Chinese made trees to start to get a better feel of the scenic side (and it makes me feel I have done more than I really have). 

 

 

 

 

[bcnPete]

That’s looking fabulous Kris...

[Kris]

A few weeks have passed since the last post but things have not stood still, quite! Over the past few weeks I have been looking hard at the viaduct. There is was a fence on the seaward side of the viaducts parapet. I've no idea what it was there for, however I guess that it may have been to give a place of refuge for those working trackside. I've made a best fit option of this using slightly modified Peco field fencing (really it should have 4 rails, but life is too busy to do this at the moment). I have place the fencing in place at the moment but will be gluing it down later, this will remove the bumps and wobbles that are present. 

The photos that I have seen of this fence in the early to mid 1950's seem to suggest that the fence was painted white. I would assume that this would soon weather to grey. I have tried to achieve this through a light coat of white over a grey primer. 

 

 

 

 

 

[bcnPete]

Before you glue it in place have you seen this product Kris which has 4 rails or perhaps there is a metal etch product which might be a tad finer? Feel free to ignore...

 

https://www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk/lx006-n-laser-cut-4ft-post--rail-lineside-fencing-n2mm1148-384-p.asp

 

 

[Kris]

Thanks for the suggestion Pete, I'd not seen that, I'll have a closer look later. There is an option for an etched product but cost was prohibitive 

[royaloak]

The 'fencing' is very fine on the viaduct, it is virtually invisible in real life so it might be an idea just to plant (very fine) posts and leave the horizontal wires off as they would be invisible in 2mm scale.

 

Edit-

Oops, you are modelling it in the 50s not the present day so ignore the above.

Edited May 17, 2019 by royaloak

[chuffinghell]

Superb! 

[Kris]

11 hours ago, royaloak said:

The 'fencing' is very fine on the viaduct, it is virtually invisible in real life so it might be an idea just to plant (very fine) posts and leave the horizontal wires off as they would be invisible in 2mm scale.

 

Edit-

Oops, you are modelling it in the 50s not the present day so ignore the above.

 

I didn't realise that there was fencing on there today, shows just how fine it is! Looking at historical photos it's possible to see the fencing from quite some distance so it must have been quite chunky. 

[alexross42]

This is really starting to take shape,  looks great!

At first I thought the fencing was the footpath that once ran along the outside of the viaduct but then realised this was on the West side, not the seaward side. I'm not sure if that path existed in the 50s?

Edited May 17, 2019 by alexross42
Typos/clarity

[Kris]

The footpath was still there in the 50's, it's next on the list for creating (unless I get distracted and do something else instead!).

[Kris]

Having just looked a little further at the fencing I think that for the time being I will keep the fence I have as a "representation". At some point in the future I will look to improve it. Looking at the photo (some way down this page) http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/st-germans-excl-to-plymouth.html of the DMU crossing the viaduct it appears that the fence was possibly a metal construction with slim metal rails between the posts. To get this right it looks like I may need to create some form of home made fencing unless there is a sensibly priced commercial version that looks the part.

 

edit - How quickly things change. I just googled n gauge fence and found that someone was selling a 3d printed version that looks reasonable, so lets see what it is like. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/323658378848?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&fromMakeTrack=true

 

Edited May 18, 2019 by Kris

[Kris]

A damp morning has seen some progress on the footpath that appears to have been "tacked on" to the side of the viaduct. I have only attached it with bluetac at the moment to see how it looks. Once painted in black I think that it will look the part. 

 

 

[Mikkel]

Very effective, Kris. I almost got a bit of vertigo from looking at the photos 

[royaloak]

I went over Coombe viaduct yesterday and there isnt any fencing on either side of it now, I was thinking of another viaduct, sorry.

[Kris]

I've done a little more work on the path across the viaduct. Unfortunately in fitting it a couple of the pieces of fencing have come adrift (something to fix later). Now it is on the fencing does feel a little heavier than it appears in photos (

)

 

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2019 by Kris