Lynton & Barnstaple - Woody Bay Station

[Chris Chewter]

Growing up in Devon, I had always heard of this mysterious narrow gauge railway up near Barnstaple that closed in the 1930's. I found it strangely fascinating, and obtained copies of the Catchpole and Prideaux books of the line.  However I never thought about modelling it because of the level of scratchbuilding that was involved.  

 

Wind forward to the present day, and with wagons and coaching stock being produced by Peco, a pastiche of Woody Bay station being produced by Bachmann, and hopefully those distinctive Manning Wardle locomotives being produced by Heljan, it seems like all the hurdles holding me up from making a model of the L&B have been removed (Other than the fact that the Heljan locomotives have yet to be released.)

 

One thing that concerns me is whether as soon as the Heljan locos appear, with Woody Bay become the modern Ashburton?  Will there be a flurry of people modelling the same place? Especially as the Bachmann Collectors Club have run an article about modelling Woody Bay (Although i'm unaware of a mass influx of Highleys after their last article!)

 

I'm only aware of two Woody Bay models, the first has already been mentioned.  The second appears to have been modelled by Bob Barnard: 

 

http://www.009.cd2.com/lynton_and_barnstaple_modelling/woody_bay.htm

 

I have also thought of modelling a slightly different section of line.  Parracombe halt looks particularly picturesque, with a perfect scenic break being provided by the bridge at one end.  Another alternative is to adjust the Bachmann model to make Blackmoor Gate.  However there are only a limited number of stations on the L+B, so an element of duplication is inevitable really.

 

Is anyone else aware of any other examples of Woody Bay? Would you model something different on the L+B, like Parracombe or Blackmoor Gate?

[Chris Chewter]

Following Mondays post, I thought I'd outline the plan I came up with for Woody Bay:

 

 

In case you don't know anything about the history of the station, I could start with the fact that it was originally named Wooda Bay until 1901.  That the station building was designed by Jones of Lynton and constructed by local contractor Nuttalls.  Perhaps I could tell you that it was constructed in a Swiss Chalet architectural style to reflect that this part of Exmoor was frequently referred to as the Switzerland of Devon, or the amazing fact that it sits 980ft above sea level, and three miles from the location in proports to serve.  I could also bring the history up to date by explaining that the site now serves as the headquarters for the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway trust, who seek to preserve and reinstate the Lynton and Barnstaple railway.  However, these facts have been published in books by JCDA Prideaux (1) and LT Catchpole (2). So I'll explain more about the concept of the model and its design.

 

 

To give a bit of background, currently I'm working on a model of Tetbury.  This is designed to replicate a real location close to 1:76 scale as I can, and used an ordnance survey plan to plot running lines and building locations as close to scale as possible. This has easily demonstrates that a modest branchline terminus actually takes up a ton of space, and scenic compression is often a necessary tool for the modeller.  I have a vague recollection of an experienced modeller being interviewed on video.  He explained that when viewing a layout, your eyes perceive scale differently.  He explained that you are in fact viewing a layout at a height of 200m with your eyes a scale 18m apart.  As a result, if you model a small railway station accurately to scale, it looks massive as a model.  (I also recall that this modeller was interviewed showing off a number of his layouts, one of which was Woody Bay, but I cannot find the video!)

 

Taking some crude dimensions from Google earth, from the end of the headshunt up to the bridge is 980ft, which scales to 3.92m in 1/76 scale.  I simply don't have that space!  The layout needs to be able to be split and stored on its end when not in use.  Anyway, the Bachmann model of Woody Bay has already been compressed.  Reading one review, I understand that the model has been reduced in length by 10 scale feet (3).  Whilst some modellers would find this unacceptable, for this project, I think thats a compromise I'm willing to make.

 

After my last attempt at carpentry, this time I'm thinking of using pre-cut baseboards. From reading Chris Nevards blog (4), he used some baseboards by Tim Horn which come complete with a built in overhead pelmet (5).  Two of these together should hopefully do, giving two boards providing a scenic area of 2.4m  To test that out, the computer was fired up, and Anyrail loaded.  Here's what I came up with:

 

 

I managed to pay a visit to the now preserved Woody Bay back in 2015.  My wife had gone horseriding along with Daughter No.1, so Son 2 and Daughter 3 came for a trip on the trains. As you can see, it was a wet day, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

 

 

I decided to rotate the model to view it from the opposite side to Bob Barnards version of woody Bay(6). There are various gradients to the site.  Firstly, the running line from Parracombe runs upwards into Woody Bay station.  Also, the main road that runs alongside the railway is at a higher level.  This allows the model to run upwards away from the viewer so that it forms a natural backscene.  John De Frayssinet of County Gate fame was interviewed for BRM advising that to make a model railway look realistic, track should not be parallel with the baseboard edge (7).  Whilst this logic holds true for a railway winding through hills and valleys, to my eye at least, it seems that you can depart from this logic with station platforms.  I assume that this is because the the parallels of the platforms seem to work with the baseboard edge, rather than against it.  

 

My idea therefore is that you view the station from Platform 2, with the line to Lynton running away from you to the left, and the line from Parracombe rising from the right.  Although you are in fact viewing the railway as if you've climbed one of the massive scots pines that currently grow along the edge of the site.  Heading towards Lynton, there is the road overbridge that forms a nice natural scenic break.  Unfortunately the rise from Parracombe needs to be hidden behind the pelmet! Whilst I dislike trains disappearing through plywood holes, I cannot think of another solution here.  I suppose the layout could be rotated 180 degrees so the veiwer is looking towards the station from the road, however trees and the station building get in the way of what the layout is all about, watching the trains come and go.

 

So when do I get building?  Well, my current layout of Tetbury is currently keeping me busy which is taking up my railway funds and stopping me from getting started on this project.  Tetbury is already too far progressed to argue ripping it up and starting yet again.  The other problem is that I'm aware of at least three iterations of Woody Bay as a model already: Bob Barnard, Bachmann, and the mysterious video I mentioned earlier.  An alternative would be to model Parracombe Halt.  No ones model that location!  Its curved platform looks interesting, and road bridge and cuttings providing a natural scenic breaks would work nicely.  Catchpole has some lovely photo of this location in his book, and the waiting shelter shouldn't be too hard to scratch build.  However its only a halt, making operating a bit...boring.

 

So, will Heljans Manning Wardles, together with Bachmanns "Woody Bay" station result in a plethora of Woody Bays being built?  I guess only time will tell!

 

 

 

All photographs above are my own.

 

References:

 

1: The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway JCDA Prideaux

2:The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway 1895-1935 LT Catchpole

3: http://lyntonstation.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/woody-bay-model-by-Bachmann.html

4: http://www.nevard.com/

5: http://www.timhorn.co.uk/1ft-6ins457mm-wide-baseboard-modules/

6: http://www.009.cd2.com/lynton_and_barnstaple_modelling/woody_bay.htm

7:

 

[Corbs]

Great idea, such a picturesque Devon station!

[Chris Chewter]

In the never ending quest for the other mysterious Woody Bay model, I was watching a few videos of Lyd at Woody bay, and I've realised that the track work shown on my original track plan needed adjustment.  Where I originally used a Y, it appears to be a right hand point.

 

The video still is here:

 

 

And the revised track plan here:

 

 

I understand that the extra siding to the left in the video still is a modern addition used for unloading locos from the car park, and therefore has not been replicated.

 

I've been looking through the photographs, and there are two areas that seem rarely photographed.  

 

The first is the curve at the Lynton end.  Looking through RMweb, it would appear that bertiedog has done a bit of research on his thread here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/112410-lb-layout-in-narrow-gauge-009/

 

Thankfully the following image shows the curve and the bridge in the background.  

 

 

I've already picked up the L&B resin bridge kit from eBay in preparation, although the retaining walls will need to be omitted, and a bit of alteration required to the parapet walls.

 

 

The other area is the building adjacent to the siding shown on the OS plans as "Auction mart". Now that building is causing me real troubles!  Unfortunatly I've only found the elevation from the trackside on p36 of Prideaux book.  If anyone else knows of any different angles, please let me know!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BG John]

Have you tried the Exmoor-NG Yahoo Group? There are lots of knowledgeable people on there. It's not an official L&B group, but is run by members, and there are members and volunteers on there.

 

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/exmoor-ng/info

 

I'm an ex member and volunteer, but still follow it to see what's going on.

[Chris Chewter]

I had thought that i had all  the books on the Lynton and Barnstaple, but in fact there are more than I first appreciated!

 

 

But the real gem is this one!

 

 

Yes I splashed out on a mega expensive book.  A bit of a gamble but it got good reviews so i decided to take a punt.  The gamble has paid off because its yielded some very important information for this project!  

 

First it gives a set of elevations for the building next to the Auctionmart.

Secondly, it gives a set of architectural drawings for the road bridge. Fantastic!

Thirdly, it confirms the quantity and locations of all the lamp huts. There's more than you first realise! 

 

Mysteries solved! Well kind of...

 

I now need to inspect the photos to see how the station would have looked between the station building and the main road, so a bit of studying is needed before I get this project off the ground.