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Branchline to Swanhurst


clarkeeboy56
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The following extract was taken, and shortened somewhat, from the preamble in the programme/guide, at the Kingswood Model Group (Near Sutton Valence/Leeds Castle in Kent) club open weekend in May this year....I managed to get the track down and started to add some ballast on that weekend and  I even managed to get some trains running!!

 

This will be a long project as the Group only meets once a fortnight...progress will be slow - but I will add up-dates and photo's as I go along.

 

This is my first ever proper layout - my last layout when I was a lad, was in all actually my Dad's!! But he let me play with my trains occassionally!!

 

“Swanhurst is very much a working title, that name may well change when the running-In boards are installed. In the meantime the current title may hopefully suffice in helping to describe my aims here."

 

"This layout has been in the planning stage for a good couple of decades. Inspired by the Middleton Press “Branchline to Hawkhurst” book, purchased when fairly new I the early 1990’s , I had originally planned to build my layout as…Hawkhurst. It had all the operational ‘play’ potential I needed and it encapsulated a small piece of Southern Eastern England, captured so well by H.E.Bates ‘Darling Buds of May’ books and TV series.  However……a couple of visits to Swanage on family holidays, themselves bringing back memories of a two-week field trip to the area in June 1967 – by train – and in the last few weeks of steam (I wish I remembered the number of the Light Pacific – bereft of its nameplate that hauled us back to Waterloo…) helped to sway my ambitions somewhat."

 

"The track layout plan down in Dorset offered perhaps even greater play (I mean operating) potential.  The 20 year plan had to be amended.

So what you will see unfold over the next few years will hopefully encapsulate the essence of a Col Stevens railway, planted firmly in the Kent /East Sussex borders, with buildings and topography hopefully typical of the area, with a recognisable layout (very much amnded to fit of course!)."

 

"Now reading up on the Hawkhurst Branch Line history,  I discovered that there were plans for this line to extend  its meadering way to meet up with the Hastings to Rye line. So that got me thinking..In Bill’s parallel universe the lind did indeed wind its bucolic way further south east from Hawkhurst, but came to an abrupt end…well somewhere short of where it was intended to go…. near Sandhurst or Benenden, or Wittersham……..or SWANHURST!"

 

"The baseboards were laid in October 2013. Standard construction of 2’x1’ and 9mm ply. Two main boards are a whopping 5’ x 2’6” and the third fiddle yard is 5’ x 2’."

 

"Track is a mixture of Peco and Hornby (probably mistake no 1?) – and is DC."

 

"I’ve yet to decide on how to operate the points – I may motorise them, or I may use levers and rodding under the boards. Buildings will be either plastic kit or scratchbuilt. I’ve already started the main station building. (Version three actually!!! I’ll get there!). Stock used will by ‘typical’ of anywhere on the Southern Region. So not for the purist maybe. (I may even add a third rail, and motorise an EFE tube set……….I may also run a B17, or Manor, or Jubilee down here when no-one’s looking!!).  Scenery is/will be polystyrene and paper towels glued down with PVA."

 

"This is my first ever REAL layout, so there’s a lot to learn. I expect to make a few mistakes as I learn new skills."

 

"ALL ABOARD!!!!"

 

PHOTO's to follow.....

 

This was taken at the open day in May. Yours truly helping No 3 Bodiam run around the 'Hayling Billy" - well I did say it may not be a layout for the purist!!

 

 

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Edited by clarkeeboy56
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Purism has its place - but it need not be yours. I lived in that part of Kent (Cranbrook) for 21 years, so the attraction of the location is not lost on me. I spent a dozen years working for the then-South Eastern Division, so the railways aren't unfamiliar, either, albeit in post-steam days, sadly. A chap called Nestor on here is doing something not dissimilar, called Sandhurst, and you might find you can feed off each other's ideas to the benefit of both.

 

Plenty of scope for a great model here.

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Purism has its place - but it need not be yours. I lived in that part of Kent (Cranbrook) for 21 years, so the attraction of the location is not lost on me. I spent a dozen years working for the then-South Eastern Division, so the railways aren't unfamiliar, either, albeit in post-steam days, sadly. A chap called Nestor on here is doing something not dissimilar, called Sandhurst, and you might find you can feed off each other's ideas to the benefit of both.

 

Plenty of scope for a great model here.

Hi Ian,

 

Yes indeed, I've been following Nestor's thread  - and it's very interesting. Cranbrook is only 10 minutes from me here in Biddenden, so I won't have an excuse for not getting the scenery right!

 

I really think Benenden should have had a station.....maybe thats where my line will end. There's the school and hospital so additional scope there, to the already thriving hop trade, though I really fancy my layout will, like Nestor's, be set in Autumn....lots of potential for some colourful scenery....but a bit late for the hop picking trains...we shall see!!

 

Cheers

 

Bill 

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Hi Ian,

 

Yes indeed, I've been following Nestor's thread  - and it's very interesting. Cranbrook is only 10 minutes from me here in Biddenden, so I won't have an excuse for not getting the scenery right!

 

I really think Benenden should have had a station.....maybe thats where my line will end. There's the school and hospital so additional scope there, to the already thriving hop trade, though I really fancy my layout will, like Nestor's, be set in Autumn....lots of potential for some colourful scenery....but a bit late for the hop picking trains...we shall see!!

 

Cheers

 

Bill 

The hop-pickers, and their friends, do offer a chance to run stupidly-long trains, potentially double-headed, on such a branchline. I have a friend who has hoppers' huts in one of his fields. They were primitive, believe me. The huts, that is.

 

As for Benenden, ISTR HRH Princess Royal was a boarder there. My only experience of seriously-expensive girls' schools involves Cobham Ladies' College. Saturday lunchtime, and a group of young ladies arrive at Sole Street station, intent on a trip to London. One offered us a cheque, but had no cheque card (this was 40 years ago) which should have caused us to decline - politely, of course. However, comma, scrutiny of the cheque showed it was drawn on Coutts Bank - and the account holder was a Miss Money-Coutts. We concluded the risk was minimal, and were not disappointed....

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The hop-pickers, and their friends, do offer a chance to run stupidly-long trains, potentially double-headed, on such a branchline. I have a friend who has hoppers' huts in one of his fields. They were primitive, believe me. The huts, that is.

 

As for Benenden, ISTR HRH Princess Royal was a boarder there. My only experience of seriously-expensive girls' schools involves Cobham Ladies' College. Saturday lunchtime, and a group of young ladies arrive at Sole Street station, intent on a trip to London. One offered us a cheque, but had no cheque card (this was 40 years ago) which should have caused us to decline - politely, of course. However, comma, scrutiny of the cheque showed it was drawn on Coutts Bank - and the account holder was a Miss Money-Coutts. We concluded the risk was minimal, and were not disappointed....

A small world Ian, my wife was one of the school nurses at Cobham....25 years or so ago though..

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I managed to get a couple of photo's on Saturday. You can probably make out the track layout a bit better from these.

I'll need to tidy the ballast up a bit, I will be spraying it all a uniform grey/brown shade of muck, once all of the track is laid. I managed to get the goods yard spur link in this weekend.

 

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Edited by clarkeeboy56
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Hello there!

 

Good that you got your own thread going. will be following with interest as, as you pointed out, it's a pretty similar subject to mine. However, mine is set in Summer rather Autumn :)

Going to enjoy this one...

 

Nestor

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Hello there!

 

Good that you got your own thread going. will be following with interest as, as you pointed out, it's a pretty similar subject to mine. However, mine is set in Summer rather Autumn :)

Going to enjoy this one...

 

Nestor

Thanks Nestor, this will be a long haul type of thread, but I should be able to post some shots of buildings being built in between layout construction...

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Hello from Westerham and Brasted, you are modelling a lovely part of Kent, and I am looking forward to following your progress, and it will be a big help having Ian and Nestor following your progress. All the best Adrian.

Thanks for that Adrian, as Westerham and Brasted aren't a million miles from 'Swanhurst' I'll be peeking over the fence for some inspiration from there as well...

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Please mind the M25 at Brasted when you peek over the fence.All the best Adrian

The M25? It'll never happen, I mean who would want to rip up all of that beautiful countyside and fill it with concrete!!! It'll be 'The Highway to Hell", mark my words.............oh wait a minute.....

 

..right BEFORE they start the cement mixers working and start to lay this motorway thingey........I reckon if I get the 11:19 from Swanhurst, that should arrive at Paddock Wood at 12:14. I can then jump on the Ramsgate to London Bridge (via Canterbury West) stopping service, from Paddock Wood to Dunton Green (dep 12:16, arr: 12:44) just in time for the 12:50 'Westerham Flyer'....should be there by......ohhh..........1961 I reckon!!

Edited by clarkeeboy56
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While the layout is tucked away until the weekend, I've been working on version three of the station. Now the original (you can see that in primer grey in the first photo) was okay-ish, well for a 1st attempt, I was unhappy with it for a number of reasons...1. I had built it using plastic card Uhu'ed ( a new verb no less!!) to 3mm foamboard. Now that worked okay BUT the foamboard soon warped. It seems I should have used solvent free UHU!  2. The station at Swanhurst, will be , like the others on the line, fabricated from corrugated iron. The real stations looked quite ramshackled, and I tried to replicate that in plastic card. Problem was it looked like 1/1 ramshackled station reproduced in 1/76th! 3. The stations were build on 4-5 courses of brick. I used a simple bonded brick - and I didn't like it. 4. The external outside gent's was not very prototypical from what I can ascertain.  Problem was that I didn't really want to do a google search on the the inside of gent's loos ca. 1958!!!

 

So, version two!  I decided to build that on top of  Slater's plastic brick stock. This pattern is better..BUT unforgiveably thick! I also managed to bu88er up the windows...again, not paying attention to detail. Still both versions gave me some experience of scatch-building, which I hope will improve version three......

 

The core of the building this time is 1mm plastiicard. A fairly standard approach it seems. I measured out the four exterior walls, marked out the door and window apertures, measured carefully, and cut them out....

 

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Its fairly easy to cut them out. First I pencilled around the windows I would use (Dornaplas - and very good they are too!). Carefully scribed around the line using a steel rule and sharp scalpel blade. Scribed diagonal lines in. Drilled a hole in the middle and carefully pushed the plastic out. The apertures were then cleaned up with a file.

 

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..with the windows cut out, I could then cement the corrugated iron (its plasticard really..... shhh!!!) on the the front.

 

IMG_7513_zpsb0215407.jpg

 

When firmly in place - and 'Mr Hobby's Mr Cement' does exactly what it says it does on the bottle - I could turn the piece over and think about chopping out the window appertures in the corrugated plastic.  

 

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With the windows in place, I could then add window frames from plastic strip. 

 

IMG_7517_zpsea31ef1f.jpg

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...and finally for this evening, with the front of the station finished, I could then think about adding it to  the rear shell that I'd already built.....

 

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And thats more or less where I'm at currently.  I have added the gent's loo on the end though....

 

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This is of course open air, so has corrugated interior...plumbing to follow!!

 

Once I've got my hands on some South East Finecast Flemish(or English?) bond brickwork sheets, I can then add the 'foundations'.  Then I need to start thinking about the roof and canopy.....

 

IMG_7523_zps3df0fefc.jpg

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Managed to get a bit more done today.....First of all I tackled the underside of the canopy. The real thing appears to have planks below, so I've added these with thin strips of plastic card on the 1mm roof/floor........bit above!

 

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Then it was on to the sides...here are the gable ends added 

 

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Certainly starting to take shape......

 

IMG_7529_zpsc3007103.jpg

 

Chimney stacks next...these were formed with plastic card sections measuring roughly 15mm x 10mm and built as a box reinforced by thick sections of plastic strip

 

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A lengthwise "T"-shaped beam was added down the centre to help alignment of the two stacks. I then added interior 'gables'. These will help support the roof.

 

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I've added the supporting beam under the canopy. The uprights will be stuck to this.

 

IMG_7533_zpsfdfda003.jpg

 

...and thats where we are today. I'm working on the layout tomorrow, so I'll see if the station fits!!

 

Thanks for looking, any comments/tips? Then please feel free!! 

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Hi, that's going to be a lovely building when it's all done and painted. It's looking a very neat and tidy construction. all the best Adrian

Thanks for that Adrian. Having seen your building work that comes as some great encouragement!

 

Anyway, I managed to do some more work on the layout yesterday. We normally only meet every fortnight, but had to bring next weeks meeting forward to this week, due to half term I suspect..but it was a good opportunity to see  how well the station building fitted into the hole vacated by my previous attempt!!

 

Sorry that this pic is a bit over-exposed...it didn't look to bright on i-photo, so I messed about with the settings -a bit too much ! Anyway this is looking at it from the station carpark/goods yard side side

 

IMG_7535_zps1c0e96de.jpg

 

Here it is from the front...

 

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...and sides..

 

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I will of course need to trim the station's lower 'foundations' for it to fit in the recess.

 

IMG_7539_zps64d152b3.jpg

 

The station platform, incidentally, was built up with 4mm & 3mm foam-board laminated to a depth of about 10mm I think? The front has been faced with plastic card brick, though I think I may change that to "wooden" sleepers, or concrete. The top of the platforms was/is plastic card glued directly onto the foamboard. I then used sections of different grade wet'n'dry paper to simulate the base of the tarmac top surface. Unfortunately some sections of plastic card warped, over the summer so I had to rip it up. I'll take the whole top off I think and replace the main surface with 1.5mm plywood, and then add the wet'n'dry paper.  

 

Thanks for looking...any thoughts, comments, advice for me? Please feel free!!

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One thing I have noticed while looking at photo's of Hawkhurst station is the size of the corrugated iron sheets...well the corrugated bits that is. The sheets I'm using are listed as 4mm sheets, so one would assume that these are correct for 4mm scale...I also have a sheet with larger corrugations (maybe for 7mm?). Photo's of Hawkhurst suggest that the actual stuff used was nearer in size to the latter. So, I've started to count the ripples in the corrugated sheet !! That must surely be sadder than counting rivets?

 

...and I'm not changing it now. With weathering it'll look more restrained than using the larger stuff...thats my excuse anyway!

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As the station is waiting a delivery of bricks, for the foundations and chimneys, I've re-started my build on the Wainwright H class, from SE Finecast. Photo's to follow. The main body is more or less built. I replaced the chimney and dome with Branchline brass items and have added sprung loaded buffers. At first I couldn't work out how these worked...until I noticed that there were indeed springs included. These are tiny! And that's an understatement! I haven't summoned up the courage to start the chassis yet, but when I buy the motor and gearbox I'll give it a go. The main body will be painted soon. I need to prime it and then get the airbrush out. It will be in BR black, of course, though the new brass dome looks rather nice polished up!

I purchased an M7 yesterday, off of that there e-bay. Not a bad price £50.00 or there abouts, no box, but my Maunsell push-pull set can now operate - while I get the H ready. Like on Adrians Westerham, the M7 may be a bit out of place geographically but it does look nice! Other loco's that will appear at Swanhurst...well I have 2 x Terriers, 2x N class, a Schools, a few 'standards' , a 3MT 2-6-2T, a 4MT 4-6-0 & a 5MT 4-6-0, an Ivatt 2-6-2T, a T9', an LMS 2P 4-4-0 I am planning on converting that to an E1 or D1. A Jinty...and a few GER types! Now some of these loco's may be a bit out of place , but I can run them when no-ones looking can't I?

There are a few loco's I still need to get...a Q1', a C class of course, and maybe a Lord Nelson, King Arthur and Light Pacific or two......

Edited by clarkeeboy56
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The building is already looking great so am looking forward to seeing it painted...fancy doing mine?... :no:

 

Nestor

Thanks Nestor......I'm really looking forward to the painting part, hopefully I can start that at the weekend. As for painting yours? Well.....I may let you borrow some of my paints, now I can't say fairer than that.....  ;)

Edited by clarkeeboy56
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Thanks Nestor......I'm really looking forward to the painting part, hopefully I can start that at the weekend. As for painting yours? Well.....I may let you borrow some of my paints, now I can't say fairer than that.....  ;)

Painting?!? how about building................ :jester:

 

 

 

I'll leave quietly...

 

Nestor

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