Brick, Stone or Wood?

[Moria15]

Greetings..

 

working on my small branchline,  set GWR and South Devon,  and was wondering about the architecture and construction methods.

The station building i am planning on using was brick base and wooden built, but the bridges and tunnels on similar lines appear to be a random Ashlar stone or similar  (I can't find pictures of any on the line I am pulling the station building from).  Is it OK to mix structures like this on one line?  ie were the contractors likely to use ( or allowed) to use different materials for different types of structure on the line?

 

I just don't want it to look completely daft when it's done.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Graham

[Nick Holliday]

Not your neck of the wood, but at Fittleworth in West Sussex on the LBSCR, the station building is in timber, the adjacent road bridge is in various stonework and an accommodation bridge at the other end of the station is brickwork. So anything can go, as long as there is a source of suitable building stone.

[eastglosmog]

Bridges and tunnels were often built from what was available from the cuttings.  The station buildings could easily be built of something different.  As an example, Charlbury station on the OWW has a stone built rail bridge over the river east of the station, a brick built road bridge over the railway west of the station and the station buildings are of wood (as was the goods shed).  The signal box was brick and wood.  Also, remember that station buildings were sometimes rebuilt, Moreton in Marsh, for example  was originally wood, but was rebuilt in brick by the GWR.

As the stone available from cuttings sometimes proved not to be very durable, stone built bridges could often end up patched with brick - there are several examples on the OWW east of Charlbury.

[Rivercider]

It might also depend on what time period you are modelling. Has the line been extended or upgraded over the years?

The Teign Valley line being an example, originally built between Heathfield and Ashton, later extended through to Exeter, and then upgraded, with extra/longer loops in 1943, so there are different styles of building along the line.

 

cheers 

[Moria15]

awesome, thank you all

 

onward we go

 

Graham

[tomparryharry]

Local building conditions can dictate the material used. If the ground is deemed 'soft', you'll probably have a wooden structure.  If you need to line a tunnel, then the choice of brick, perhaps.  Local stone is usually cheaper, but if the area requires something 'up-market', then brick became the choice. Several places in the London area used wood principally, as it might be on an embankment. Forest Hill down side was a mixture of wood and brick, whilst the up side was brick.  

[Wickham Green too]

indeed, Eden Park, on an embankment near me, was a 'typical' South Eastern building in timber - seriously damaged by fire at least once and rebuilt as per ............. most people wouldn't spot the difference but it's actually clad in UPVC now !