The Oak Hill Branch - LBSCR / SECR 1905ish - New layout starts on page 129

[Londontram]

Gary as you know I've had to run the gauntlet of negative comments on here as well all this coming to a head in the last half of last year but i also found a great bunch of genuine people who got me through this low patch when I for all intense and purposes stopped posting about my work for a few months I now like to think that I can look on this group as good friends now.

 

You might not know it Gary but you were one of those friends who saw me through it and for you and all the others I'll be forever grateful. Don't ever give up yours is one of the threads I look forward to most on here and your modeling is my type of modeling.

 

    I too chop coaches around making both 6 wheel and bogie coaches for the Caledonian from mainly Triang clerestory's and I've got to be honest with the 45ft bogies I've built/am building only one of the six or so coaches is actually a scale 45ft all the others are a mm or two either side of that and one a full third is actually a scale 48ft and I'm just lucky the Caley made them in 48ft as well. I make no apologies I'm an old school modeler and think if it looks right then it will do for me. Gary your modeling for your own enjoyment were just lucky that you chose to share it with us for which were all grateful please don't stop this forum would be much poorer with out the input from modelers like you.

 

                                     Steve

[BlueLightning]

Thanks Steve,

 

Knowing the issues you went through, and seeing you stop posting for the same reasons as I was considering it, that really means a lot coming from you.

 

All the support I have had from everyone on here in both comments and ratings over the last couple of days has put a smile back on my face, and although it wasn't much I did do a bit of modelling last night!!

 

Cheers everyone,

 

Gary

[ChrisN]

Gary,

Late to the party but I think everything has been said, except, what amazes me about your modelling is how you look at an R-T-R, or even a non working model and is it as something else.  I have tried that and not succeeded.  Maybe the Cambrian wheelbases were just a little odd.  Having seen the final model in the original you produce it, which is a skill in itself.

 

  I am highly self critical, but have come to realise that I can always find fault in what I do which is why my other layout as yet unbuilt is the Traeth Mawr and Twll ddu.  (You have to say it with an English accent and apologises to any Welsh reading this.)  I take great heart from the people who 'rate' my models, as I think they are all excellent modellers and if it pleases them then it must be alright.  You are one of those who rate my work, and I am pleased that you think it is good enough to rate it, as I know what you are capable of..

[BlueLightning]

Thanks Chris,

 

I still don't think I could make carriages as good as the ones you have just done!!

 

Gary

[Ian Simpson]

It all looks great to me, Gary! I'm amazed at the quality, the ingenuity and the output of your modelling (not to mention you writing all the posts!)

 

I'm glad there's room in the hobby for draughtsmen and model engineers who are concerned with accuracy and detail ... and I'm even more glad there is plenty of room for the rest of us who aim at an overall effect and the creation of a believeable layout.

 

All the best,

 

Ian

Edited February 10, 2017 by Ian Simpson

[BlueLightning]

Thanks Ian, your right about the room in the hobby fror people that can do the whole range of realism. I always enjoy looking at the work of people who can do things that I can't.

 

Gary

 

PS Hope the job is going well!

[Pelham Street]

The layout has really come on since you first aquired it in GWR guise. It's nice to see a pre grouiping layout made from commercial components. It keeps the costs down and can be a challenge to find what can be turned into the required model. It all looks great. Keep it up!

[BlueLightning]

Why thank you Sir. We should get you setup with a thread on here to share what you do. After all Oak Hill would never have got anywhere near as far as it has without your input and advice!!

 

Gary

[BlueLightning]

Well I managed enough for an update! and possibly went insane at the same time.

 

I knew what I wanted next on the layout and decided I needed something to distract from everything so step one of what I did was to make some picket fences. From Scratch:

 

Which were to form the pens on my new cattle dock:

 

It has come out a lot better than I expected:

 

It even stands up quite well to close up images (although not one for the purists):

 

So for this I have used 10thou (I think) plasticard for the pickets and 15thou (I think) for the uprights and cross braces, some plastic rod of the same thickness for the catch, and paper for the hinges. The bas was made out of 20thou plasticard coated with SE Finecast brick sheet with the top covered in an unknown make for the tiles (possibly SE Finecast again).

 

When building this I used pictures of the cattle dock at Kingscote and drawings prepared by my friend Ian Hopkins. I still have a couple of jobs to do such as a fence along side the ramp but I don't know how much time I will get to add these week. So an update to the cattle dock will follow when time allows.

 

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed,

 

Gary

[Edwardian]

Well I managed enough for an update! and possibly went insane at the same time.

 

I knew what I wanted next on the layout and decided I needed something to distract from everything so step one of what I did was to make some picket fences. From Scratch:

pickets.jpg

 

Which were to form the pens on my new cattle dock:

cattleDock1.jpg

 

It has come out a lot better than I expected:

cattleDock2.jpg

 

It even stands up quite well to close up images (although not one for the purists):

cattleDock3.jpg

 

So for this I have used 10thou (I think) plasticard for the pickets and 15thou (I think) for the uprights and cross braces, some plastic rod of the same thickness for the catch, and paper for the hinges. The bas was made out of 20thou plasticard coated with SE Finecast brick sheet with the top covered in an unknown make for the tiles (possibly SE Finecast again).

 

When building this I used pictures of the cattle dock at Kingscote and drawings prepared by my friend Ian Hopkins. I still have a couple of jobs to do such as a fence along side the ramp but I don't know how much time I will get to add these week. So an update to the cattle dock will follow when time allows.

 

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed,

 

Gary

 

An attractive and original design for a cattle dock - a Brighton design?

[GreenGiraffe22]

Love that!

 

Meanwhile a railway worker looks over and thinks "What the Dickens does 'LMS' stand for?"

[Guest Midland Mole]

I like it, I like it a lot. Lovely work again Gary.

Alex

[BlueLightning]

Thanks Guys!!

 

James,

 

Yes it is a Brighton design. Ian went to a lot of work researching Brighton cattle docks and I don't believe his research got used for it's original purpose so I got a copy of what he made so that I could use it!

 

 

Love that!

 

Meanwhile a railway worker looks over and thinks "What the Dickens does 'LMS' stand for?"

 

I forgot about the LMS bit I was going to make my own joke about that!!!! On a more serious note it is a Mainline Cattle Van which is remarkably similar to LB&SCR designed ones so I am going to get quite a few of them and all that is going to happen to them will be a repaint into LB&SCR livery.

 

Gary

[GreenGiraffe22]

I keep getting tempted to buy the LBSC E4, there was one on ebay for £50 the other day, but I really am trying not to buy things I don't need... yet.

[BlueLightning]

You'll just have to backdate your layout to WW1!!!!!!!!!!

 

I saw the £50 E4 as well, it was tempting but if I had one I would never get around to repainting the one have!!

 

Gary

[jamesg]

Hi Gary,

 

Excellent work on the fence for the cattle dock -  I might borrow the idea for a small roadside fence needed on my layout.

 

I have a couple of Mainline cattle vans that I was about to put on Ebay, let me know if you're interested and I'll send some more details.

 

James.

[BlueLightning]

Hi James,

 

Thanks. If they are in good condition then yes I will definitely be interested. PM me with details.

 

Gary

[clarkeeboy56]

Ah!! It all becomes clear! Re., Ratio Midland coaches!  I have just spent a good few hours catching up with this thread, and a very enjoyable time was had by all!!

 

Now, modelling and modelling 'snobbery'.  I would imagine that every single modeller on here has a modelling "mantra" (for want of a better term!). This mantra is largely dependent or reliant on a few factors....... I would consider these as ( amongst many others) : Ability - our own individual skills as modeller's; resources: finances, tools, references; Ambition: What do we want to achieve; Compromise: There has to be a line drawn somewhere, when it's time too say "enough is enough'. I expect there are plenty of other factors and each one of us will have our own. 

 

Each one of us will have an aim, and these will be different from each other, thankfully. Our "Mantra's" will differ, thankfully!

So who has the right to say to anyone that their modelling is wrong? 

 

Accuracy is important, but accuracy will mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Personally I like to know as much about a subject as I can, I love the research part, like you I daresay. I love the historical aspect of modelling too. Once I have all of these facts I can then work out the best way of achieving my aims....I can decide for myself on all of the above factors. This is where compromise comes in!  I like my models to look as accurate as I can make them, bearing in mind the track they run on is too narrow, they are made of plastic (mostly), there aren't real people on the foot-plate, or passengers with their arms dangling out through windows so they can open the door........and there isn't a real fire in the belly, so no real smoke, steam or smell!!!! The clouds on the backscene never move, and it never rains!  We have hulking great big hooks on the front and rear of our loco's and rolling stock, that look nothing like the real thing!  We can of course use prototypically correct hooks and chains, but would my eyesight, or dexterity be able to operate them?

Compromise....tension hooks are just that.

 

We need our imagination to help us out here.....a suspension of reality.  A glimpse of what it may have been like ...back in the day,

 

My rake of BR Mk 1's would look better with separate handrails, with windows that are opened etc., .......but is it worth all of the effort? Not for the purposes of my layout it isn't...No.

 

Regarding Ratio Midland coaches or Tri-ang Clerestories suitability as "Southern" stock. It's good to know where the discrepancies/inaccuracies are. I have no problem with that. We as individual's can then decide  if we want to, or can do something about them. My comments on the other thread about the Ratio coaches was written before I had read this thread and was born out of the need to find space - in the thin waist panelling - to put the coaches serial numbers. The space in Tri-ang's is thinner. So that would be one of my compromises. I can live with the fact that the paneling may (or may not) be wrong...BUT at least the serial's may be in a more prototypical spot! A converted Ratio Midland coach would look better or worse than a converted Tri-ang coach? Who decides?

 

I used to build a lot of Model Aircraft. I got to the stage where I was as good as I could get, but I wasn't as good as some of my mates. No matter how careful I was, how much advice they gave, I could never attain THAT level. That in itself leads to frustration and ultimately made me consign a hobby I'd enjoyed all of my life, to the back burner. They call it AMS - Advanced Modelling Syndrome.  You can't achieve something; so you don't bother trying. I'm determined that this won't happen with my railway modelling. My compromises will be there for all to see, and I'm determined not to let modelling snobbery get me down.

 

So Gary, Please don't let modelling snobbery get you down! Carry on - and enjoy your hobby. Don't forget , it's your hobby too.......!

 

(Sorry! I have prattled on a bit there haven't  I?")  

[BlueLightning]

Bill,

 

Glad you enjoyed reading the thread. I'm sure it is quite an effort at this point.

 

I agree with all your comments about the carriages, and I still think the Ratio Midlands are good for the LB&SCR stock, and I assume other Southern continuants as well. To make it seem more acceptable I feel I should point out that the place that reminded me of using them as it mentioned using them was the LB&SCR Modellers Digest!! put together by Burgundy of this forum (Eric Gates, Modelling Steward of the Brighton Circle), a wonderful publication that will feature Oak Hill in it's next instalment!!

 

Gary

[BlueLightning]

So we have reached that point where I post an update about what I have been up to. It has been a rather good week modelling wise, helped by the fact I took last week off work. I didn't realise quite how much I had got done until I started sorting out the pictures for the update. A day-by-day update may have been better!!

 

We will start with some new arrivals, these came courtesy of Jamesg of this parish, 2 new Mainline cattle vans ready to be converted into LB&SCR stock:

 

and next to the cattle dock:

 

And a new toy that arrived at the office yesterday, I don't have any jobs for it just yet but I'm sure it won't be long:

 

SO the first thing for this week technically isn't mine. My Stepson came home from school with homework for the half term break to make something relating to "Transport".

 

So out came the "kids modelling kit v1.0":

 

And there was only one thing it could become, so after day 1 it looked like this:

 

And by the end of the day it could sit next to my 0 gauge Terrier and look like this:

 

 

It did get painted but I forgot to get more pictures before it went to school. I'm not sure that the teachers believe he made it himself though!!!!

 

So onto Oak Hill! Firstly one of those kits from the misses, The new Goods store for Oak Hill. This is the Wills Kit (SS63), I have added some crates to the interior so that I can have the door at the front of the layout open:

 

 

I also didn't think the roof looked right being tiled so I soaked some tissue in cyno and placed it on top to give a look more like roofing felt. I painted this dark grey and think it looks much better:

 

And then still having plenty of modelling time left, I decided to continue on the goods yard and finally do something with the stable.

 

For starters it needed doors windows and a basic interior:

 

It also needed a roof, so I drew up some tiles and started cutting. If I keep going to this level of detail then I am going to ruin my eyes so much I won't be able to see it!!!

 

They do however look good once they are stuck onto some plasticard with a slight overlap!

 

And even better once painted and on the roof

 

The stable is now mostly complete with just a few details to add, such as a chimney, windows sills, etc.

 

This now gives me a rather good looking yard!

 

And from the other side

 

I am hoping to get detailing done on the stable and possibly a a ground surface over the next week, but I won't have quite so much time!!

 

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed,

 

Gary

[Guest Midland Mole]

Great update! The buildings look excellent, and really add to the layout. I'm looking forward to seeing the cattle wagons when they are done.

The cardboard Terrier is brilliant, I love it! I bet it looked fantastic finished.

Alex

[BlueLightning]

Thanks Alex,

 

Hopefully at some point the Terrier will come back from the school in one piece. If it does I will get some pictures and upload them then. It was good fun to make, got my Stepson really excited doing it. I will make a modeller of him yet!!!!

 

Gary

[ChrisN]

That terrier looks fantastic!  He certainly does seem to have an eye and an understanding for modelling, it is just how you capture that enthusiasm.

 

I like the stables, interiors are always good if you can do them.  There is much scope as well for straw, hay and er other stuff, and a man mucking out.  I like the tiles as well, so much better than plastic ones, and yes the roofing felt.  All clever stuff.

[BlueLightning]

Thanks Chris,

 

The modelling eye is (mostly) mine as I did all the measuring and marking out for him. He did the cutting and stuck it with my help, but he is only 5 so he did a lot better than I expected!!

 

For the time being I have no plans to add any more of an interior to the stable. purely because I have no immediate plans to add any lighting to the buildings although that may change down the line and everything is being planned with the ability to add it if I later choose too. You can only just make out the walls inside with the roof on so any extra detail I add would be lost for the time being, but if I ever add lighting then I will go back and do more.

 

Gary

[TJC05]

Great update. That terrier looks amazing!