The Diddington project

[wiggoforgold]

Thanks for the kind comments re the grass. I should say that some of the foreground grass is the work of John Farmer (RE6/6) and I learnt a bit from him.

As for the tramway traffic, I haven't made a final decision as to what it is yet. I was inspired to some degree by Wissington, which is sugar beet, but the nearest would be the Wisbech and Upwell, which is fruit, and would fit in with the Kettering-Cambridge line.

Edited October 24, 2015 by wiggoforgold

[wiggoforgold]

I was hoping that by yesterday I would be able to post details of  the latest completed project for Diddington. I wanted to make a loco men’s rest house, based on the building that stood next to the signal  box by the down platform at Godmanchester.

I used to feel  I couldn’t start a model until I had a full set of drawings of the original. The boat house and the porters hut on the station are examples of that approach. These days I feel less constrained. In reality buildings are designed to fit their location, and this must be true of a model railway set in an imaginary location. Thus there is no compelling need to exactly copy an actual building from the same locality, only to parachute it in to a location where it didn’t actually exist.  It’s just as good to create a building in a similar style to that of the modelled area, suitable for its location on the model. That is not so say that a lot of satisfaction cannot be obtained by modelling an actual building as accurately as possible; It’s  just I realised I don’t need to do that for my own model.

I try and start model  buildings with the part I find most difficult – the windows.  I find a set of windows suitable for the model under construction, and use that for the starting point of working out the proportions of the building.

I count brick courses: Not religiously, but enough to give an idea of the size of the building.  I then count out a similar number of courses on my chosen media for the building – these days I use Scalescenes papers, but the technique can be applied to any material.  Suitable points for the apertures for the chosen windows can then be set out.

I have found this approach liberating, as I am no longer hamstrung by the need to find suitable drawings before starting work. A photograph in a magazine or on the internet (the stables at Diddington were drawn from a Pathe news reel)is sufficient.

Which brings me to the state of play with the rest  house.  I marked it out, cut out the window apertures, assembled the main shell and started the brick covering. Throughout these stages I had a growing feeling that all was not what I wished. At every stage I seemed to be tweaking it to get it right and there came a point when I realised that however much I fiddled with it, I was not going to be satisfied, so I stopped,  and am currently thinking about starting again. The windows are salvageable though!

[wiggoforgold]

I've been taking a few pictures round Diddington while deciding what areas to tackle next (watch this space).

First, here's a picture of a Brush type 2 hauling an excursion into Diddington. The coaches are on my "to do" list. They are Bachmann straight out of the box, and would benefit from a bit of weathering on the roofs.

Next, a couple of Diddington regulars - typical 1960's East Anglian motive power. A Craven's DMU is on the passenger service, and a Brush type 2 on freight duty pauses on the loco release. The water crane is a reminder of an earlier era. Anyone know where I can source a GE water crane?

A well known railway photographer has been driving round the area. Here's his Bentley in the goods yard. He's missing the Brush type 2 collecting a Prestwin silo wagon (a Dapol kit)

Finally, a view of wagons in the coal yard.

Edited November 11, 2015 by wiggoforgold

[mullie]

GE water crane. Mikes models as sold by Holt models. I think they are still available, at least I hope so.

[class"66"]

Some nice pictures!!!

 

 

 

cheers neil.

[westerner]

when weathering the coaches wiggo, don't forget  everything below the carriage sides, the solebar and below.

Edited November 12, 2015 by westerner

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Cracking layout.

 

How did I miss this thread?

[wiggoforgold]

I've spent a couple of evenings this weeks working up the ground cover between the tracks in Diddington station. The area treated is next to the loco release opposite the platform end. The untreated area can be seen in post 178 above. I built up the grass area between the tracks with static grass - first applying pva followed by a light dusting of fine ash (not covering all the pva) covered with an application of static grass which was immediately vacuumed off in an attempt to get the effect of patchy grass growing through the surface - not too successful on this occasion, but I liked the finished effect anyway, so I left it. Further texture was built up by over spraying areas of static grass with hairspray, and applying further layers of grass. Bushes were added from teased out theatrical hair, stuck in place with hair spray and sprinkled with Carr's leaves. The water Crane (A Mikes models Midland type, wrong for the area I know) had been damaged when the boards were being moved, so the column was restored by drilling the column and base with a 1.5mm drill, and inserting a length of brass rod, before supergluing the parts together.  The discharge bag was cut down as in the period modelled the column would be out of use.

I've reinstated enough of the electrics to run trains, so here's a couple of pics of trains in Diddington station, by the newly treated area.

 

[wiggoforgold]

The Adventures of Jonty Chambers, Part 1

Jonty had a win on the pools last week. To celebrate, he decided to spend his winnings by having a few days away, photographing trains. He found a room in a pub near St Ives. Last night, he sampled a few pints of Greene King’s finest in the Axe and Compass, and next morning decided to take a trip to Diddington to see what was there.  Walking up the lane he heard a sound unfamiliar to Diddington regulars. He pushed through a hole in the hedge by the headshunt, and found this.

A photograph was called for. It appeared that March depot, in their quest to find appropriate motive power for the Diddington branch, were experimenting with a diesel shunter.  From the external appearance of the locomotive, Jonty concluded that March had not rushed to provide one of their newest examples. Anyway, it appeared to work, and rumbled away quite happily while Jonty took a picture.

 

 

The model:

The model is a Bachman 08. It’s one of the first examples, which has the wrong combination of cab door, window and bodyside hinges. I started modifying it many years ago, and it sat on a shelf for many years while I was busy with other activities. I always liked Tim Shackleton’s 08 in the Model Railways Illustrated preview issue, and started to modify an old Hornby Dublo 08 to look like his. When the Bachmann model came out I studied the review in MRJ124, and made a few small modifications to my model. I replaced the lifting eyes on the roof, with etched eyes from the PC models screw coupling etch. I made up new, more substantial air cylinders under the front bufferbeam from brass tube, leaving a cut out in the base to give access to the front body fixing screws. I replaced the couplings with my usual etched couplings. Finally, I modified the handrails round the front steps.

Most of the work was in the painting and finishing.  Because I wanted to get the effect of engrained dirt in the bodyside panels, and because I wanted to portray a fairly grubby locomotive, I first sprayed it with an overall mix of Humbrol Gunmetal, matt black and dark earth, which was allowed to dry thoroughly. The body was then sprayed with Railmatch Green and transfers applied. It was then given a coat of matt varnish. When the varnish was dry, a very thin mix (lots of thinners) of Tamiya NATO black, dark grey and dark brown was painted over the body, particularly into the gaps between the bodyside panels. This was immediately wiped off the centre of the panels, when dry, the relatively clean panels gave the impression of a locomotive which had been ineffectually cleaned by wiping the middle of the panels with an oily rag. The effect was enhanced by working over the centre of the panels with T-cut on a cotton bud.  More weathering was built up by spraying. Looking at pictures of the prototype, there appears to be a build up of oil and grime round the cooling grilles on the body sides. After spraying, a small amount of Tamiya semi-gloss black was dry brushed on the give the impression of fresh oil.  The roof was oversprayed with various shades of brown/grey and black, building up the black round the engine exhaust.

The chassis was painted separately. I toyed with the idea of removing the plastic frame for painting, but as this would have involved dismantling the brake rigging, I left well alone, and just masked off the motor and coupling rods. The frames were initially sprayed with the gunmetal/black/earth mix, before being overcoated with a black/grey/earth mix. Additional  weathering was applied from weathering powder mixed with thinned matt varnish, and brushed on. The coupling rods were repainted with Tamiya red, let down with a little white, and then drybrushed with a gunmetal/black/earth mix.

 

 

The crew came from the spares box. The driver was a civilianised driver from the Airfix RAF emergency set, and the shunter was a figure from their trackside workers set.

 

Having photographed the shunter, Jonty returned to his lodgings, intent on returning the next day to see what else he would find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ivatt46403]

Great work - I've always been very fond of the 08. I had a swallow livery one as a child. I have an 09 in Mainline as I've driven the real thing at the RMWeb day, but I should come with a reason for one on Buckden.

Marcus.

[wiggoforgold]

The adventures of Jonty Chambers – Part 2

When Jonty left us yesterday, he was making his way back to his lodgings from Diddington, having decided to visit the station again the following day.  He drove there, and parked his car by the crossing at Cow Lane. As he got out of his car he heard what he thought was a familiar sound, but not in a place he expected to find it. Pushing through the gap in the hedge he came  face to face (or, more precisely, nose to coupling rod) with Juniper Hill’s J94 Cranford, which had just brought a freight along the tramway from Juniper Hill, and was now resting in the Diddington headshunt. Jonty got busy with his camera.

 

 

This unexpected appearance of an old friend caused him to think about what other delights he might find in the area, and he resolved to make the line one of his regular haunts.

 

 

“Cranford” is a J94, built by 46444 of this parish from the Hornby/Dapol model. More details of how it was done can be found in his blog.

What will Jonty find next?

[46444]

Great set of photos all round Alex.

 

Very atmospheric and good to see Diddington back up and running.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

 

Is there a Sentinel called Islip somewhere?  

[wiggoforgold]

46444 visited yesterday, so we took a few photographs of Diddington back in the 1950,s.

First up a picture of a B17 on a passenger train preparing to leave Diddington.

The formation  is supposed to be typical of March/St Ives/Cambridge trains in the 1950’s.

Moving into the yard gave the opportunity of another shot of the B17, this time from the rear.

The locomotive, by 46444, is a detailed Hornby model, and more about it can be found in his blog.  The horse box is from Parkside, and the Gresley coaches are from Ian Kirk.

Diddington in the 1950’s was a bit of a haunt for Ivatt class 2s, often having a day off from duties on the Kettering – Cambridge line.  Today, 46444 was shunting in Diddington yard, where she was briefly joined by another Ivatt. An unusually busy day!

 

After the Ivatts had finished shunting, a glimpse of the future was afforded by the sight of a 350hp diesel shunter, pushing some wagons into place for onward travel on the agricultural tramway crossing the fens from Diddington.

 

The trains having all departed gave an opportunity for an overall shot of Diddington yard.

  Although the space for the station model is relatively large, I’ve tried to keep the track plan simple, and the buildings small, to give an impression of space. I replaced the original brick goods shed with a couple of smaller sheds, a goods shed from Wills, and a Ratio provender store.  The station building behind is a model of Thaxted, and the open bicycle shed stood at St Ives.  The porters hut is typical GE, built from plans published in Railway Modeller in about 1968 or so.  The grounded van body is from Ian Kirk.

[46444]

Hi Alex,

 

I've arrived back in GoC. 

 

Good to catch up yesterday.  

 

I must say the work you've done on Diddington recently has lifted it to another level.  Some lovely details and the static grass looks great.

 

Thanks for posting the shots of 61333 and 46444.

 

My favourites are the 08 with the GPV and the one of the wagons in the siding.

 

I'll post the shot of 46444 I took yesterday shortly.

 

Great stuff and keep the updates coming,

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[46444]

As promised here's 46444 with a brake van in Diddington yard:

 

[wiggoforgold]

Thanks for posting the picture. It gives another take on the scenes a Diddington. I really like seeing other people's interpretation of the layout, such as the different pictures taken at last year's RM web members day. It's always exciting to see what others see in the layout, sometime things I miss through familiarity.

It's always nice to see a small horde of the same class too. Next time we must do some J15 pics.

Edited December 20, 2015 by wiggoforgold

[46444]

Thanks for posting the picture. It gives another take on the scenes a Diddington. I really like seeing other people's interpretation of the layout, such as the different pictures taken at last year's RM web members day. It's always exciting to see what others see in the layout, sometime things I miss through familiarity.

It's always nice to see a small horde of the same class too. Next time we must do some J15 pics.

 

Hi Alex,

 

Totally agree with you on the J15 meet up.  Hopefully I should have mine renumbered by then at Cambridge specimens.

 

Any ideas which ones would be appropriate for both of the Hornby models?

 

Also you may have a D16 as well to contend with no doubt.

 

I gather JH's Sentinel Islip has been brought back into service as well!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[wiggoforgold]

Cambridge allocated J15's regularly used on the Cambridge-Kettering Line included:

65390; 65451; 65474;  65475.

65474 and 65451 definitely had the Westinghouse brake. I'm not sure about the other two. I suspect 65390 did.

 

Alex

[wiggoforgold]

Happy Christmas everyone.  I trust Santa will be good to you all. The picture's an old one, but worth another outing I hope.

 

 

Alex

Edited December 24, 2015 by wiggoforgold

[wiggoforgold]

I've been having some problems uploading from the camera, so I haven't been able to post any pictures for a few days. While experimenting with camera settings, I took a few pictures of the K1 shunting, inspired by a picture of a K1 shunting at Chatteris in EH Sawford's book "The last days of Steam in Cambridgeshire".

The K1 model is  from a Replica B1 body on a Bachmann K3 chassis. The brake van started out as a Parkside kit, and has scratchbuilt sides with duckets from a Dapol BR 16t brake van kit.

Edited January 24, 2016 by wiggoforgold

[wiggoforgold]

Good morning all!

Its been a while since I posted her - its the time of year when other activities start to intervene. There has been some modelling going on though, and I've got some ideas for developments, more of which will follow in a later post.

In the meantime I've been experimenting with my layout photography to try and improve the depth of field in some atf the pictures. Here, a recent effort, which shows the 350hp shunter (08 to the younger generation) shunting some wagons in Diddington yard. It gives an overall clear view of the station which I have been trying to set up for a while.

[46444]

That's a lovely shot Alex showing Diddington off nicely.

 

Think we need a J15 at some point as well? How about a shed scene?

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[wiggoforgold]

Its been a while since I updated this thread, I,ve been off cycling round the countryside, but is getting a bit cold for that now. I have been doing some modelling though,and some pictures of the latest bits will follow when the camera is up and running, and i get round to taking some photographs.

The next job (not a photogenic one) is to replace some of the wiring at the base board connectors to the Middle Fen section, where there has been a breakdown of electrical continuity. I'm hoping to resume normal service there by the end of the week.

I'm planning an extension to Diddington. The storage section would be replaced by  a curved scenic section with the line coming on scene under a bridge. passing  along an embankment before exiting the scene under another bridge. I want to keep the scenery fairly simple, with little more than a single line of track passing along a grassy embankment. There may be a few bushes, but not a lot in the way of trees, as I want to keep the open nature of the existing scenery. I may put yet another river bridge at one end. I like river bridges, and i can justify several on the basis that there is a myriad of backwaters running in to the main river.  This time I'm thinking of a plate girder, and where the line exits the scenic section for the storage sidings, I'm thinking of running it across a shortened Dapol box girder bridge, so the bridge itself acts as a scenic break. The line will then enter a fan of storage sidings. In front of the storage sidings there will be a a small yard along the lines of Welney depot in this month's Railway Modeller, possibly serving a mill (an excuse to run some grain hoppers) or a fen drainage engine like the one at Stretham. I've sketched out some ideas which I'll put on here a couple of days.

[westerner]

Good to see this again. I like the idea of your extension. I know you will make the new curved entry as gentle as possible to keep that wide open Fenland atmosphere that you have captured so well.

[wiggoforgold]

I can just about get a 4' radius curve on the curved section. I could make it tighter at the ends, and ease it in the middle, or vice versa. .I'm not sure which would look better. What ever I do, the intention would be to make a "less is more" approach to the scenery, to keep the open nature of the layout.