RMweb Premium Popular Post stfgroxb Posted July 28, 2015 RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted July 28, 2015 This is my first attempt to post a layout summary, having been working on 'Buntingford' on and off for about 5 years. It is my first 'proper' layout, having abandoned the only previous attempt at my parents' house when I left home in the early 1980s! The layout is located in a loft, which was insulated and lined as a 'railway room'. Now living in East Hertfordshire, Buntingford was an obvious choice for a branch line terminus layout, with inspiration kindled by Peter Paye's excellent book on the branch line and its evocative photos of DMUs and Type 1 diesels working the line before its closure in 1965. The modelled track plan is as accurate to the location as possible given space constraints, but with the additional conceit of a maltings as an additional traffic source, inspired by 1970s childhood memories of watching branch freights consisting of unfitted grain and coal wagons trundling to and from North Elmham and Great Ryburgh from a relatives' house in mid-Norfolk. 'Buntingford' is set in the late 1960s, with modellers' licence allowing the branch to linger beyond its actual post-Beeching closure date on the presumption of an upturn in commuter traffic and the prospect of additional freight traffic from the Sainsbury's distribution centre that was opened at Buntingford at around that time. The layout was constructed to be DCC operated, which despite a steep learning curve in terms of electronics and soldering was definitely the right decision for me. Most locomotives are now fitted with DCC sound. Locomotive haulage as modelled is more varied than the reality, as I have assumed that bridge strengthening has allowed the use of Type 2s in addition to the Class 15s and Class 16s that latterly dominated freight haulage on the branch. Buildings are mostly scratch-built or kit-bashed from photographs, although the former station building still exists as a private residence surrounded by a sea of modern housing built on the goods yards. I have really enjoyed learning to use modern scenic materials and techniques, and have based the layout in Autumn as an additional challenge and on the presumption that coal and grain traffic would be heavier then. Extensive weathering of track, buildings and stock has been undertaken to hopefully create an atmosphere representing a rural branch line in its final years of decline. The layout is far from finished, but hopefully the photos below capture the existing state of the layout! 52 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
js1975 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Wow. First class work here. Excellent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 A wonderfully detailed and weathered model oozing the atmosphere of the prototype and very evocative. More pictures please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northroader Posted July 28, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 28, 2015 Really good looking layout. it all takes time, but you've stuck in and made a masterpiece. well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Extreme;y well done. I especially like the backscene, how did you make it? Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sp1 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 For a first 'proper' layout this is, quite simply, stunning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Clive Mortimore Posted July 28, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 28, 2015 One can never have too many GER based diesel layouts. It looks really good. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Stunning layout. Great photos's. More please. Does your modellers licence cover the running of DMU's and Class 31's Paul R 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Clive Mortimore Posted July 28, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 28, 2015 Stunning layout. Great photos's. More please. Does your modellers licence cover the running of DMU's and Class 31's Paul R Hi Paul Derby orange star 3 car suburbans (Class 125) were used on the Buntingford branch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spannerman Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Loving the malting building. This has a feel of Tivetshall with the maltings by the line. Do you have a track plan? Atb Nik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Hudson Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 10:10 another classic layout on RMweb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium stfgroxb Posted July 29, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 29, 2015 Thank you everyone for the very kind and generous responses. To answer some of the queries: The back scene is a Gaugemaster photographic one which came out at just the right time, and portrayed the right season as well. They are not exactly straight-forward to mount as the backing surface needs to be very flat and smooth - even staples will show through as a bump! There are therefore a number of stretigically located trees! The other trick was blending the foreground colours and contours to disguise the join between the two. Yes, modellers licence allows DMUs and a Class 31. As noted, the branch used suburban 3 car Class 125s, and converting something to one of these is beyond my capability. Therefore Cambridge depot must have taken over DMU provision and passengers have to make do with rattle Craven units and the occasional Derby Lightweight. I could not resist buying a W&M Railbus on the premise that these are used on occasional trips to the branch by Cambridge University Rail Enthusiasts group, having been rendered redundant and stored following closure of the nearby Saffron Walden branch. Class 31s sometimes operate the freight, as they did in mid-Norfolk. I will post some more pictures showing these later. I do not have a track plan to publish but will post an aerial shot later too. Thanks again for the encouraging comments. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamwig Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Looking good, more inspiration for me to start my Widford layout! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post stfgroxb Posted July 29, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted July 29, 2015 Widford would be a wonderful layout! As promised, a few more pictures. These are mostly of a slightly older vintage! The overhead shot is an attempt to show the track layout but also shows the limits of the scenic work and the backscene pre-trees! 27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted July 29, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 29, 2015 Super layout! I have always had an interest in Buntingford as I once nearly bought a house there (1984). So many new houses have been built since the branch closed that a passenger service would probably be justified again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted July 29, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 29, 2015 I may be wrong but weren't the Wickham trolleys given a run along the Buntingford branch or is that beer glass talk I've heard ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium stfgroxb Posted July 29, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 29, 2015 I may be wrong but weren't the Wickham trolleys given a run along the Buntingford branch or is that beer glass talk I've heard ? I think that Wickhams did use the branch to test products - the Paye book has pictures of rail cars for Peru being tested there. I am hoping that Heljan will produce a Wickham Railbus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted July 29, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 29, 2015 I think that Wickhams did use the branch to test products - the Paye book has pictures of rail cars for Peru being tested there. I am hoping that Heljan will produce a Wickham Railbus! I might be wrong but haven't Bachmann already done one ? if not there's possibly a kit out there somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium stfgroxb Posted July 29, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 29, 2015 I can't yet find a way to copy links into RM Web, but if anyone is interested there are three short video clips of Buntingford 'in action' with sound on Vimeo - just search for 'Buntingford' on the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wamwig Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I Believe Heljan said they were going to do ALL the Railbuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimbus Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I may be wrong but weren't the Wickham trolleys given a run along the Buntingford branch or is that beer glass talk I've heard ? Even more than that - various Wickham exotica, often destined for export, were permitted onto the branch for testing. The Nim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Trevellan Posted July 29, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 29, 2015 Super layout! I have always had an interest in Buntingford as I once nearly bought a house there (1984). So many new houses have been built since the branch closed that a passenger service would probably be justified again. Back in the early 1990s I was talking regularly to people at the local TOC (WAGN) and there was general agreement that if the Buntingford branch had been able to soldier on for a few more years it would have been electrified, a la the Braintree branch. This would have included the possibility of direct peak-hour services to Liverpool Street. Some stations would have had to close and another problem would have been the level crossing over the A120 at Standon, the latter now carrying heavy traffic. As with many rail closures, the local road network has never really kept up with residential development along the former alignment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Popular Post stfgroxb Posted July 29, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Popular Post Share Posted July 29, 2015 For 'PWR', just to show that modellers licence is alive and well. The Cravens 2 Car DMU aits in front of the station building for its next departure for St Margarets (although the destination blind reads Manningtree!) having displaced Class 125s on the branch. The established 'Bunt' practice of carrying a tail light at each end of the unit has been maintained! The W&M railbus looks lost having arrived carrying its cargo of student enthusiasts from Cambridge. They are about to retire to the station hostelry! The Stratford Class 31 with a new full yellow warning panel is waiting to depart with a train of empty vans, which brought a load of bagged fertiliser to a local merchant whose lorry is in the distance having just unloaded the last van. I was brought up overlooking Market Rasen station in Lincolnshire, and have vivid memories of a local haulage contractor (just two brothers) who had ordered a similar trainload having to work through the night to unload a whole train to avoid BR's demurrage charges if the vans stayed for too long! 21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted July 30, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 30, 2015 I saw this on another thread and thought of this layout http://www.Bachmann.co.uk/details.php?id=368 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium stfgroxb Posted July 30, 2015 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted July 30, 2015 I saw this on another thread and thought of this layout http://www.Bachmann.co.uk/details.php?id=368 I have one on order but am concerned that it can't be DCC fitted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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