Pattyndenne (Formerly Peasmarsh Road) - SECR / Light Railway Micro Layout

[Willl]

 

After leaving the hobby for several years (uni, cycling and general life got in the way!), the model railway bug bit back hard last summer. This led me to reconsider (and expand) my 8 x2 foot terminus layout (originally called Tunbridge Wells East, briefly publicised on this forum under a different username) into a frankly overwhelmingly large 16x4ft ‘dog bone’ layout called Capel Cross.

The scenery (and name) are inspired by the Hawkhurst Branch, but it is frankly rather hamstrung by 1) the central 8x2ft section retaining the track plan of the original Tunbridge Wells East layout and 2) extremely saggy, bumpy baseboards. Due to the latter, I’m currently struggling to decide whether to start over or push ahead and ignore the extremely noticeable undulations in the running lines.

 

 

 

Edited February 17 by Willl

[Willl]

As a bit of a side project, I’ve embarked on a smaller, portable layout. This is heavily inspired by James Hilton’s track plan for Peasmarsh Road, a never-realised station on the proposed Rye branch of the KESR. Funnily, before moving away from home, the southern region held relatively little interest for me - I was always more interested in the North Eastern Region. However, now being based in London, my ‘homeland’ of Kent has a real enchanting draw.

I also love the simplicity of the Peasmarsh Road plan. It’s effectively a large inglenook, but with sufficient scenics that you don’t really notice it. I’ve made some small changes to the original plan, namely moving the first set of points to closer to the station, a frankly I’ll considered move. This was intended to create more scenic space at the left hand end of the layout, but really just limits the space for the KESR-style station (to the extent that I doubt I’ll have space for a station building/hut), and also makes the two sidings so short that three wagons barely fit. We live and learn!

 

the layout is built on 4ft x 40cm boards with a roughly 60cm fiddle yard at each end. These fold under, the idea being that I could either take the layout to exhibitions (I’ve always fancied exhibiting a layout, although it remains to be seen if I enjoy it as much as I imagine), but mainly so it can eventually leave my family home and live under the bed in my flat. It’s built on 9mm ply with 44x18mm timber framing. In hindsight the baseboards are a little too flexy, but I’m hoping that the backscene/lighting unit will add sufficient stiffness once made.

 

 

Previous Page

Edited January 20 by Willl

[Willl]

Part of the rationale behind building the layout was to try out electro frog points, point motors, and bullhead track - all new territory for me. Progress so far has involved building baseboards, wiring and some basic landscaping. I’ve been particularly pleased with the Cobalt S point levers. These were something I always wanted when I was younger but it’s not until now that I’ve got a job and disposable income that I can indulge in such luxuries!

 

as hinted at before, Peasmarsh Road is currently based at my parents’ house. this will slow progress for now, but the hope is that in due time I will be able to bring it back to my house. In the mean time, I tend to use my time away from home working on buildings, rolling stock, and most recently a golden arrow o1. This, as I’m sure many people can relate to, was seemingly purchased mere moments before Rapido announced their model. It’s based on 390, one of the few o1s to retain the extended splashes after their Wainwright rebuilt. I chose this model as there’s a great picture of it at Hawkhurst in Brian Hart’s book. It doesn’t really run at the moment, but hopefully that’ll change in time!

 

 

 

[Oldddudders]

14 hours ago, Willl said:

After leaving the hobby for several years (uni, cycling and general life got in the way!), the model railway bug bit back hard last summer. This led me to reconsider (and expand) my 8 x2 foot terminus layout (originally called Tunbridge Wells East, briefly publicised on this forum under a different username) into a frankly overwhelmingly large 16x4ft ‘dog bone’ layout called Capel Cross.

The scenery (and name) are inspired by the Hawkhurst Branch, but it is frankly rather hamstrung by 1) the central 8x2ft section retaining the track plan of the original Tunbridge Wells East layout and 2) extremely saggy, bumpy baseboards. Due to the latter, I’m currently struggling to decide whether to start over or push ahead and ignore the extremely noticeable undulations in the running lines.

No-one is going to recommend undulating track, of course, but if trains run ok, then there is sort of a local precedent. After all, the major justification for closing Grove Junction to Eridge, via Tunbridge Wells West, in 1985, was that the Civils wanted more than £1m-worth of track renewals, on a route where passengers were distinctly scarce.

 

Observing the prototype is often quoted as a good modelling maxim.... 

[Willl]

Fair bit of progress this weekend. Spent hours painstakingly painting the rails and chairs and then proceeded to cover much of it up with tile grout! The grout will be where the track in the sidings is bedded into the mud/cinder ballast. The rest of the layout has been ballasted with vast quantities of woodland scenics dark brown ballast. I think the cork underlay I used may have been too thick so it was a bit of a challenge to get the ballast high enough to cover the edges of the cork. 

I’ve mocked up the layout to give a rough idea of what I’m going for. The oast definitely gives a sense of place but it may be a bit contrived. Plus it lives on my main layout so I’d have to buy another one, and I fancy having a go at making a proper Wealden hall house or something to that effect. The halt is also up for debate - in operational terms it would be useful to be able to run the odd passenger train, plus from a ‘rule of thirds’ perspective it works well - oast & trees on the left, forest in the middle, halt and sidings in the right. I’d rather not use the Peco halt if possible as I’m trying to push my abilities a bit with this one, so I may have a go at crafting something out of coffee stirrers or the like. 
 

the layout is increasingly drifting away from the James Hilton plan, and as such I’m considering a name change to Pattyndenne. This is a reference to pattenden sidings on the hawkhurst branch, which was sited near pattyndenne manor, a Wealden hall house that still stands. Oddly I really like the idea of modelling some isolated sidings with little infrastructure, even if dropping the halt and provender store would impact the composition and perhaps make it a bit boring for anyone other than myself!

[saxokid]

4 hours ago, Willl said:

Fair bit of progress this weekend. Spent hours painstakingly painting the rails and chairs and then proceeded to cover much of it up with tile grout! The grout will be where the track in the sidings is bedded into the mud/cinder ballast. The rest of the layout has been ballasted with vast quantities of woodland scenics dark brown ballast. I think the cork underlay I used may have been too thick so it was a bit of a challenge to get the ballast high enough to cover the edges of the cork. 

I’ve mocked up the layout to give a rough idea of what I’m going for. The oast definitely gives a sense of place but it may be a bit contrived. Plus it lives on my main layout so I’d have to buy another one, and I fancy having a go at making a proper Wealden hall house or something to that effect. The halt is also up for debate - in operational terms it would be useful to be able to run the odd passenger train, plus from a ‘rule of thirds’ perspective it works well - oast & trees on the left, forest in the middle, halt and sidings in the right. I’d rather not use the Peco halt if possible as I’m trying to push my abilities a bit with this one, so I may have a go at crafting something out of coffee stirrers or the like. 
 

the layout is increasingly drifting away from the James Hilton plan, and as such I’m considering a name change to Pattyndenne. This is a reference to pattenden sidings on the hawkhurst branch, which was sited near pattyndenne manor, a Wealden hall house that still stands. Oddly I really like the idea of modelling some isolated sidings with little infrastructure, even if dropping the halt and provender store would impact the composition and perhaps make it a bit boring for anyone other than myself!

Very nice progress here.

[James Hilton]

I really like this! I always wanted to build this one, even collecting some of the stock for such a project - alas, time and a myriad of different projects always meant it slipped down the list so last year I sold the stock to release me from it's shackles - even better, I find you have embraced the idea and made it your own. Great work so far - I'm glad to have played a small part at the start, but the result is very much your own and it's been an enjoyable read so far, look forward to seeing how you tell the story in the next chapter!

[Willl]

5 hours ago, James Hilton said:

I really like this! I always wanted to build this one, even collecting some of the stock for such a project - alas, time and a myriad of different projects always meant it slipped down the list so last year I sold the stock to release me from it's shackles - even better, I find you have embraced the idea and made it your own. Great work so far - I'm glad to have played a small part at the start, but the result is very much your own and it's been an enjoyable read so far, look forward to seeing how you tell the story in the next chapter!

Thanks James! I really enjoyed reading your book on small layout design and I hope I’ll be able to use some of the techniques you discussed. I previously had always made bigger  (probably overly big) tail chaser layouts but the book really prompted me to try something smaller and I feel the bug has already bit.

whilst im away from the layout for now work on rolling stock continues. I’ve got a bit of an SECR obsession and it’s got to the point now where I have 3 C Classes - no 592 from the original run (i think I paid something comical for it when it was first released, I think about £65, and it took some serious self control not to sell it when they were going for hundreds second hand), 593, which is sound fitted with a HM7000 decoder and the Hornby stay alive, and now 689. The chassis for this is actually from BR Black 31086 and I then got replacement body shells from Bachmann spares, so I suppose I actually have 3.5 C classes.

 

689 will be fitted with the same sound decoder and stay alive setup as 593. Although the Hornby 4f sound profile isn’t perfect, the price just can’t be beat. I’m gradually sound fitting some of my southern stock, including my hattons P class - that was a real pain in the backside! I’m also trying to expand my rolling stock collection and weather as much as possible. Another recent project involved repainting a Bachmann CCT into SECR colours. Although not entirely accurate, as the Bachmann model represents a later variant of the luggage van, it looks close enough (and much better in my eyes than the original olive drab)

 

[Oldddudders]

On 22/01/2024 at 23:11, Willl said:

the layout is increasingly drifting away from the James Hilton plan, and as such I’m considering a name change to Pattyndenne. This is a reference to pattenden sidings on the hawkhurst branch, which was sited near pattyndenne manor, a Wealden hall house that still stands. Oddly I really like the idea of modelling some isolated sidings with little infrastructure, even if dropping the halt and provender store would impact the composition and perhaps make it a bit boring for anyone other than myself!

My first introduction to that part of the world was a little further down Bedgebury Road at Twyssenden Manor, which in the '60s was a youth hostel. [Little did I realise that less than 20 years later I would be buying a C19 house in nearly Flishinghurst.] It is more than 30 years since I walked much of the trackbed between Goudhurst and Cranbrook, but it remains lovely countryside all around, and a Wealden mansion is a great idea. Since you obviously have a talent for structures and scenery, a few hop-poles and an orchard or two will add authenticity. 

[thecheesemiester]

deleted

 

 

 

Edited February 1 by thecheesemiester

[Willl]

A few more bits of progress. I've been weathering some stock but the gloomy lighting in my house after work doesn't lend itself to photos so that will have to wait to the weekend. I scratchbuilt a small barn / shed based on a real example near my home. Unfortunately I got the roof profiles a bit wrong, plus the paper looks pretty crude, so i'm tempted to start again, this time using plasticard throughout. 

 

I've also been painting up a MS Models coal merchant's office and staithes. This is a really amazing print - the level of detail is staggering. Having dabbled in 3D printing almost 10 years ago, back in the early days of additive PLA printers (and at a time when they cost a frankly silly amount!) this really was quite an incredible thing to see. The ModelU figures are also excellent but the quality of resin printing really hits home when you're painting brickwork and can see that the bricks all have individual textures and marks on them. 

 

I went a bit rogue with the brickwork and added some black/engineers brick patterns. This definitely isn't prototypical but it was fun to paint and makes the building a bit more interesting. 

 

This will either go on the front right corner (facing the viewer) as a coal merchant or will be up on the farm/manor area on the back left. I also liked the idea of using it as a station building, as in the original Peasmarsh Road plan, but i think it might be a bit too big for the space i've got at the end of the sidings.

 

Edited February 1 by Willl
re-ordered images

[Willl]

After checking everything still worked post-ballasting, i had a bit of a play around with different buildings layouts. As much as i like the MS models coal merchant, i think it may be a bit big for the space at the front of the layout.

on the other hand, the ramshackle barn from the previous post works very nicely at the back of the layout along with the oast. I still like the idea of making a hall house to go back here, but the space is slightly limiting - in hindsight i would make the layout about 10cm deeper as its just slightly too narrow for my liking - i'll learn for the next time! And on that note, I also like the idea of using the oast, at least as a placeholder, so I can proceed with the scenics rather than leaving the boards as they are until i've built something else to go there. I can always revise things at a later date if/when i've built something a bit grander. 

 

Progress today began by painting the tile grout on the sidings - this will need some additional coats as the grout really soaks up the paint.

 

I then used DAS clay to add some texture and variation to the ground around the sidings, as well as a crossing. I used the Chris Nevard technique for the crossing - smearing clay over ballast and then using a stiff brush to add texture. The brush-on-clay combat made a huge difference so i used it on all the clay. I only started using tile grout (and then got a bit carried away and used it all over my main layout) because i felt DAS ended up being too smooth so this is a game-changer.

 

I also built some steps for the footpath - this runs through a pre-made divot in the hill at the front of the layout, and then up the bank on the other side. I saw the steps on Paul Rhodes' Old Parrock and loved it. The whole layout is pretty heavily inspired by Old Parrock in fact. The steps are a bit uneven and probably too steep but in my experience real life footpath steps normally are!

 

I also stole some trees from my main layout to mock up the layout a bit. i'm thinking less will be more for buildings - Given the area i'm trying to replicate it would look wrong to have lots of buildings around, so my current plan is to have the Oast/house and barn be the only structures, and then use trees to frame the composition. 

 

More progress tomorrow - hopefully i'll get started with some static grass and other green things. 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2 by Willl

[Willl]

cont...

[Andrew D]

This is shaping up beautifully, and I love how you’ve done the steps 👍

[Willl]

Thanks! 

 

Now in progress: a hop field - I seem to be going back on everything I said earlier in the thread. I couldn't miss the chance to have the footpath run through the hops as this is something I've seen on a local walk. The hop poles are just BBQ skewers - a bit over scale but they were to hand and will also add some strength. 

[Oldddudders]

And, for your next challenge, you need a chap on stilts. He might simply be adjusting the wires before the season starts, or attaching the bines if you feel confident to model those. Either way, his task needs to fit with the apparent season on the rest of the layout. Not easy!

[Willl]

59 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

And, for your next challenge, you need a chap on stilts. He might simply be adjusting the wires before the season starts, or attaching the bines if you feel confident to model those. Either way, his task needs to fit with the apparent season on the rest of the layout. Not easy!

At the very least I might have some stilts abandoned somewhere in the farmyard or around the hops, but that does sound like a good challenge.

 

the hope garden is coming together nicely. It’s a slightly simplified version of the rigging, but it’s much better than the Faller hops on my main layout. It’s also surprisingly sturdy with everything rigged together, with Hornby track pins anchoring it all to the ground and some thread tying it all together. The only potential weakness is the lone pole at the back - the triangular shape of the hop garden means this pole is only connected to the others in one axis.

 

im planning on using tasma scenics hops. These also look better than the faller ones. 
 

ive also added some clay to build up the ground around the oast house and barn, and also add some texture.

I’ve also made some crossing ‘gates’. This is inspired by an image of Churn Lane crossing on the hawkhurst branch, where the gates have been replaced with a rope and a flag following a loco running straight through them! Brian hart’s book describes a number of similar incidents on the branch, so the gates can’t have had very long lifespans in any case.

The flag is just some red painted masking tape. It needs a bit of weathering and the whole thing needs a black wash. More progress tomorrow!

 

 

 

Edited February 3 by Willl

[Willl]

After another burst of progress on Sunday, the layout is looking significantly more finished. Firstly, the ground in the farmyard and around the hop garden was painted and dry brushed.

 

Then, an initial coat of woodland scenics 2mm static grass of mixed colours

Followed by some mid green grass from Squires (not sure of the exact brand name)

 

Note the cling film 'hair net' for the point levers - these Cobalt S levers are rare as hens teeth - can't be filling them with rubbish!

 

I have also been working on some trees. These are made of wire armatures covered in brown floor sealant / caulk. This has a number of benefits: 

1) it is already brown so the trees don't need such thorough painting

2) it is flexible so the arms can be bent without the filler coming off

3) it can be brushed on easily and dries in an hour or two.

 

These were then sprayed with Humbrol 27. Two of the trees use poly fibre for the bulk of the foliage. This is what i've always used in the past. However, I also had a huge roll of wool so i tried this on one tree. It definitely requires more work as you have to remove any tufts or balls of wool, and it also doesn't hold its shape as well as the poly fibre. It also has to be painted - I used brown so it took much more turf to give a good end result than the green poly fibre would. However, i think the wool would be a good option for bushes, where the structure within is less visible than with a tree.

 

This is also the first time i've used turf as the foliage. Previously i've used scatter or gaugemaster leaves. I think the turf looks much better and gives a more bushy, tree-like result. I've yet to get hairspray so the trees have been dropping turf at quite a rate.

The final bit of progress was to add some backscenes. These were hurriedly put on to protect the trees and hop garden should the layout bash into anything, as it is intended to be portable. They're just made of hardboard and painted with some old sky blue emulsion, and then dry brushed with white paint at the top to give a cloud effect. Ultimately i'd like to get some coving to smooth out the corners but that'll have to wait until I find something suitable. The backscene is just held on with M6 bolts and joined in the corners with some wooden L-section.

 

I wanted it to be removable so I can work on the layout more easily, and i'll also be painting some rolling hills to give a bit more of a sense of place - I thought i'd rather do this with the backscene off the layout. The backscene is currently taller than I think it needs to be. Although i'll be adding a pelmet (and likely a roof/lid) which will slightly restrict the viewing window, i'm planning on cutting 5-10cm off the top so the layout can be stored under my bed. Plenty more to do!

Edited February 5 by Willl

[Willl]

My most recent project has involved weathering some Hornby 4 wheelers. These are the IWC liveried ones from the Isle of Wight Terrier set. I like the livery but out of the box they have a really cheap toy-line finish.

 

It took some courage to take the plunge and weather the first coach as the set wasn't cheap. Ultimately i hope to weather and sound fit the terrier as well, but I seem to have accidentally bought another Bachmann E4 (579 - i owned this until a few years ago but then sold it in a moment of lunacy) which will be sound fitted first.

 

The Process i followed varied slightly between the three coaches as I experimented with different techniques. However, the basic process was as follows:

1. Apply a coat of Galleria Matt varnish to tone down the glossy plastic
2. Apply a wash of diluted Lifecolor Weathered Black
3. Weather the underframe and roof with Lifecolor frame dirt. For the roof, I wiped most of the paint off to simulate the effect of rain. I probably ought to add some black soot staining along the centre of the roofs too but when i tried this on the first one my airbrush went rogue and splattered the paint all over the nice white roof, so I was put off!
4. Apply Humbrol gloss varnish to the centre of the panels with a cotton bud. I did this to mimic the effect of the coach having been wiped down, but not thoroughly enough to remove the dirt from the crevices or edges of the panels.

The below image shows a comparison between the original and weathered finish. This was the first coach I weathered and it was a big grubbier than I was aiming for.

 

 

On the non-brake coach (the last one I did) I also applied a Citadel Reykland flesh shade wash (prior to step 4) to give some more depth to the colour, and then wiped it off the centres of the panels with some thinners. This had to be followed with another matt coat.

 

The pictures don't really do the coaches justice, as my room is very gloomy and the single dim lightbulb and lamp evoke a sense of working by candlelight!

 

[Willl]

My search for decent lighting for a photo of the 4 wheelers continues - here I can be seen desperately holding one next to the window in a vain effort to get some rays.

 

The 4 wheelers are all done now (except, annoyingly, for the grease / oil marks on the buffers of this one. I forgot to add the little splodge of black paint and glue to the buffer heads, and as most of my paints are at my house (and the layout / rolling stock is stored elsewhere) it'll have to make the long trip back with me just for that to be added)

 

Some more trees have been glued in place, and i've begun painting the backscene - more on that later.

 

I've also been doing some remidial work on the O1 - it was a really shocking runner to begin with, and a new motor has improved that slightly (but not much). Its flanges are too deep to be able to run on the code 75 bullhead track anyway, so it's more of a poser than a runner.

 

Something I've been wondering is what the correct position for the coal staithes would be (if I include them. I've already written off the coal merchant's hut as it is too big). Should they be adjacent to the track, for ease of unloading, or next to the farm track so the coal can be easily loaded into the customers' lorry/cart?

 

Edited February 16 by Willl

[Captain Kernow]

I would say that the coal staithes need to be in such a position that a cart or flat bed lorry can be brought close to them to load up, or perhaps for the coal to be bagged in an open area, so they could fulfil that by being to the left of the lefthand-most siding in the above photo.

 

I really like the way this layout is coming together, lovely!

 

[NHY 581]

This is lovely, Will. 

 

You've provided some much needed inspiration for me to get going on my own slice of SE&CR ness..........

 

Rob. 

[Willl]

Thank you both!

Plenty more progress to report. First of all, the backscene has had some more attention. I originally bought an ID backscenes photo backscene, but after seeing Old Parrock at the Canterbury MRC show (alongside other layouts with photo backscenes), I was struck by how much more effective some simple painted hills were for this kind of cameo thingy. I felt the photo backscenes, by virtue of being much more detailed, draw the eye away from the scene. Also, I like how the painted treelines/hills give a sense of place, whilst also leaving plenty to the imagination. 

 

Yet again copying from Old Parrock, I did an initial dark green treeline, and then some sort of bluey sections, to depict more distant lands. This is a super simple but amazingly effective trick as it give a sense of trees going off into the horizon (if i may say so myself!)

 

The tops of each treeline were then highlighted using some slightly lighter shades (a yellowy green for the 'front' treeline and an almost sky blue for the distant ones). I tried to keep this to one side of each 'tree' (or rather blob of paint) to give the impression of sunlight hitting the canopy. Whether it worked or not is debatable, especially given i got overexcited and just painted the whole treeline in some areas.

 

 

The other two jobs for the day were to 1) build up the ground around the trees and 2) add scenics to the hop garden.

1) was done with DAS clay, just smeared around the roots to bed the trees in a bit better. My early armatures all had roots as this makes them easier to bend without unravelling. However, I've started chopping them off or avoiding making roots altogether as it limits the trees height and makes them harder the blend in. 

 

2) was the more fun job. First, I put flock and static grass around the base of the hop poles. This was harder than expected as I had to hold the static grass applicator so far from the ground that the grass wasn't properly standing up, so I had to carefully use the hoover to get the grass to look a bit less flat. Some coarse turf was also used to add to the dishevelled look. I left the ground between the rows of hops as bare dirt in some spots. This probably isnt accurate, and certainly the hops down the road from me don't have this, but I had nicely textured the DAS clay so I just thought i'd show some of it off!

The hops are just Tasma scenics ones. I didn't have quite enough so they're not quite as densely packed as i'd like - i'll be buying another set soon. Some of the hops are a bit too tall (I assume they stop growing  or are cut back once they reach the top of the wire) so they'll need some hairdressing. 

 

I also popped to the Tonbridge show this morning, and bought a rapido not-quite-mink. It's shown here alongside my other new arrival - E4 579. This runs much better than my other E4, and will be sound fitted and weathered in time. 

More tomorrow!

 

 

Edited February 17 by Willl

[Captain Kernow]

This just gets better and better!

 

[NHY 581]

Wot the good Cap'in sed. 

 

R