Chewton Mendip

[Karhedron]

Well I have finally bitten the bullet and made a start. After careful negotiations with Mrs Karhedron I have been allowed to build a modest N gauge layout provided it is small enough to fit under the sofa when not in use. The picture below shows the 4'x1' scenic section with the woodkwork nearly complete. I have a matching section for the fiddle yard.

 

 

Chewton Mendip is a fictional town south of Bristol, I have imagined that the real villages of Chew Magna and Chew Stoke grew substantially in the 19th century and merged to form a single larger town. This town was served by a branch line which ran up the Chew valley from a junction with the GWR at Pensford. There are regular services to Temple Meads as well as some longer distance through trains. An auto-train works the shuttle from Chewton to Pensford. There is also a large creamery which dispatches regular tankers to London.

 

The track plan below is freelance but is basically an amalgam of Marlow and Uxbridge Vine Street so is fairly prototypical. The saw mills at Marlow have been replaced by a Dairy and the engine shed moved to opposite the signal box but most of the rest is pretty close.

 

 

My main concern is whether I will have enough width for the plans as drawn with a dairy, run around loop, 2 platforms, goods shed and mileage siding. I have been playing with some templates to try and get a feel for it. I may have to drop the mileage siding which means that the goods shed and one siding would have to handle all the general goods traffic.

 

I am waiting for the parts for the dairy before I make a final decision.

[Karhedron]

I have made some progress on the half-relief dairy creamery and loading platform which will form the main focal point on the backscene. Doing scenic work like this may seem like putting the cart before the horses but there is a good reason for this. Because of the fairly narrow width, the position of the dairy and its siding will dictate the laying of the rest of the trackwork so it is important I get this right.

 

Here is the dairy with the platform and basic shell finished. There is a lot of detailing to add including roof vents, windows, canopy and a chimney on the boiler house but I am pleased with the way it is taking shape.

 

 

 

The dairy is made from the Walthers cornerstone modular range. The platform is made from Ratio paving sheets with peco platform edges. The platform edges are designed to be used with track that has been laid on foam ballast. I don't plan to use this so I have trimmed them down about the right height with a razor saw. The bottom edge is not quite straight but any wobbles will be hidden by the ballast.

 

The dairy is loosely based on the handsome example at Moreton-in-Marsh station which can be seen here.

 

http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrmm991.htm

[buffalo]

This looks like an interesting fictional variation on a real 'might-have-been'. Are you aware of the 1905 proposal for the Blagdon and Pensford Light Railway? It was intended to extend the Wrington Vale LR from its terminus at Blagdon via Ubley, Compton Martin, Chew Stoke, Chew Magna and Stanton Drew to meet the Bristol & North Somerset at the south end of Pensford viaduct. The original plan and proposed route are described in some detail in Mike Vincent's 'Through Countryside and Coalfield'. The attraction of your fiction is that it suggests that only half of this was built when in reality none ever was (more's the pity).

 

But, why change the name? If Chew Stoke and Chew Magna had merged, surely at least one of the names would have survived. After all, the real Chewton Mendip is but a few miles to the south in the heart of the Mendips.

 

Nick

[Karhedron]

I did not know about the proposals to extend the WVLR to Pensford. Looking at the geography the Chew valley is an obvious route but I never knew there had been real proposals for a line there. Thanks for the info, that is really fascinating.

 

On a similar note I did not know that there was a real Chewton Mendip. I have looked on multimap but been unable to find it. I do not have a concrete reason for the name change, I just came up with something that sounded good to my ear. I guess the name is the easiest part of the layout to change.

[buffalo]

...On a similar note I did not know that there was a real Chewton Mendip. I have looked on multimap but been unable to find it. I do not have a concrete reason for the name change, I just came up with something that sounded good to my ear. I guess the name is the easiest part of the layout to change.

 

Well, you certainly seem to have acquired a feel for North Somerset placenames Try here for maps.

 

Nick

[Karhedron]

Are you aware of the 1905 proposal for the Blagdon and Pensford Light Railway? It was intended to extend the Wrington Vale LR from its terminus at Blagdon via Ubley, Compton Martin, Chew Stoke, Chew Magna and Stanton Drew to meet the Bristol & North Somerset at the south end of Pensford viaduct. The original plan and proposed route are described in some detail in Mike Vincent's 'Through Countryside and Coalfield'.

Thanks again for this info, I have just ordered a copy of the book. Looks like it should provide plenty of interesting info on both the real Bristol-Frome line and my "nearly might have been".

 

Shame I don't really have space to represent the coal traffic of the area. No matter how big your layout, it is never big enough.

[Karhedron]

I have now got the dairy pretty much finished and painted. I have added the United Dairies transfers from a Fox sheet to give a sense of identity. I am quite pleased with the way this has turned out. The only thing missing is the chimney on the boiler house. I plan to use the Ratio one for that although it will have to be detachable as it is actually higher than my backscene. I hope that does not spoil the illusion. I will try it out and I can always cut it down if needed. As with the real Creamery at Moreton-in-Marsh, the boiler house is the bit on the far right with the pitched roof.

 

Now I can start thinking about the track.

 

[westerner]

Interesting that you should use a Walthers kit for the dairy, I did the same on Wencombe.

 

 

 

[Karhedron]

Interesting that you should use a Walthers kit for the dairy, I did the same on Wencombe.

And made a very nice job of it too. Have you converted yours or did you use a specific kit as the basis? I have to say it really looks the part (certainly more so than mine).

[westerner]

It was a kit for a small flour mill (I can't remember what it was called). Basically I have cut it in half (vertically) so what was a 4 storey building is now 2 storey. and the small bits ie boiler house on the side of the main building has been moved and it has been detailed with pipes and ventilators etc. i think you do yourself an injustice. yours looks pretty good. As far as the chimney goes I was lucky, mine came with the original kit.

[Karhedron]

Ahah, found it.

 

http://www.kato-unitrack.co.uk/walthers-cornerstone-933-3212-red-wing-milling-co-22610-0.html

 

Red Wing Milling and annoyingly enough it is also available in N gauge. I should have done a bit more research before I started. You are very kind in your assessment of my build, thanks. I think one of the big things your Creamery has going for it is the correct style of windows. I accepted the compromise on mine without realising the correct pattern were available on a different kit.

 

Ah well, at least I can put my mind at rest. Thanks for the info. I have popped over to have a look at Wencombe and it is superb. If my first effort is even half as good as that I will be well pleased.

[westerner]

Thanks for your kind comments and you are correct about the kit. I must say that the walthers kits are a joy to put together compared to Ratio and Wills.

[Karhedron]

After a bit of consideration I have renamed the layout Chew Magna. Thanks to Buffalo for the excellent book reference on the Bristol and north sommerset line.

 

I bit more progress, I have now finished the goods shed. I am not quite certain if the 2-colour choc and cream doors are right for a goods shed but I have certainly seen some engine sheds from the period with doors painted this way and I feel they look the part.

 

I may give the platform an acrylic wash to dirty it a bit as it does look suspicously clean at the moment.

 

 

It may seem as if I am doing this layout backwards by doing the structures before the track laying but there is a method in my madness. Since the board space is a bit small, doing the structures will allow me to lay the track acurately and ensure the sidings are in the proper place without taking up more room than they need to.

[Wheeltapper]

Well as you are now going to call the station Chew Magna you could always use the excuse to do the buildings first that the railway buildings as well as part of the village disapeared when the reservoir was built and only appear from beneath the surface of Chew Valley Lake very rarely so you need to make the most of the time available .

 

Its not impossible, that had they existed , they could have survived as I believe there is still part of a church and several farms and cottages on the lake bottom and I certainly remember seeing pack horse bridges appearing when levels were low when the lake was first built.

[chris_irl]

 

My main concern is whether I will have enough width for the plans as drawn with a dairy, run around loop, 2 platforms, goods shed and mileage siding. I have been playing with some templates to try and get a feel for it. I may have to drop the mileage siding which means that the goods shed and one siding would have to handle all the general goods traffic.

 

Can I ask what the story with the line from the engine shed to goods shed. looks like it doesn't connect to any of the rest of it. Or am I just looking at it wrong?

 

The dairy looks great by the way

[Karhedron]

Can I ask what the story with the line from the engine shed to goods shed. looks like it doesn't connect to any of the rest of it. Or am I just looking at it wrong?

That was a double slip so the loco could get out on to the rest of the layout. In any case I have changed it slightly and swapped the engine shed and signal box over. This means the engine shed now leads off the run-around loop which seems a more sensible position I think (a double slip again).

 

The dairy looks great by the way

Thanks, I was quite pleased with the way it has turned out. I have added a Ratio chimney to the boiler room and glazed the windows too so I will try and get a few more photos of it along with the modified track plan.

[Karhedron]

Well as you are now going to call the station Chew Magna you could always use the excuse to do the buildings first that the railway buildings as well as part of the village disapeared when the reservoir was built and only appear from beneath the surface of Chew Valley Lake very rarely so you need to make the most of the time available .

 

Its not impossible, that had they existed , they could have survived as I believe there is still part of a church and several farms and cottages on the lake bottom and I certainly remember seeing pack horse bridges appearing when levels were low when the lake was first built.

I think I may have to tweak history slightly so that the reservoir was either not built or built elsewhere so as not to flood the railway. After the branchline would date from just before WW1 so would predate the reservoir by a fair margin.

 

THen again if I had more space the reservoir could be an interesting mdoelling challenge.

[Karhedron]

As promised here is a picture of the dairy with the chimney now in place.

 

 

And here is the revised track plan with the engine shed and signal box swapped over. The track plan is now quite a close match for Marlow in buckinghamshire which will make signalling a lot easier.

 

[37114]

Looks interesting project and the name attracted my attention as I was brought up in nearby Compton Martin so drove through chewton mendip a lot. There actually was a dairy in Chewton Mendip although it was run by local company Pulleyn's who used to deliver into the local area.

 

There is a 3mm layout West Harptree on the circuit which was built on a similar pretence of a line from Blagdon to Pensford. I look forward to seeing this develope.

[cromptonnut]

There is a 3mm layout West Harptree on the circuit which was built on a similar pretence of a line from Blagdon to Pensford.

 

Found it http://www.3mmsociety.org.uk/MemberLayouts/westharptree/westharptree.htm

[Karhedron]

The next structure for the layout is the signal box. After looking at the options I settled on the Ratio model as being the easiest and most suitable for my needs. The signal box is now nearly finished so here is the result. I had to trim the base a bit as the one supplied with the kit is far toochunky and makes it look as though the signal box is standing on its own private hill. The base is still a bit chunky but it is now small enough to bury in the scenery without causing too much trouble.

 

 

I have glazed the box using Micro Kristal clear rather than the glazing sheet provided and I am rather pleased with the effect it gives. I will be using this stuff a lot in future I think. There is still some finishing off to do such as weathering and etched details but overall I am very pleased with the way this kit has turned out.

 

The box has been painted in WR choc'n'cream as appropriate for the BR-era rather than in GWR light and dark stone.

[westerner]

It's coming along nicely. A decent signal box is on the agenda for Wencombe (unfortunately Ratio do not do that particular box in OO, only a smaller box which I feel is too small for Wencombe).

[Karhedron]

After a bit of a lull over the summer I have finally decided that I cannot continue calling it a layout unless I actually start to get some track down. I am using Peco code 55 as a compromise between appearance and ease of use. I am interested in the 2mm society easitrack but with modelling time at a premium I decided it would be better to get something down and running.

 

The photos below show the track in place on the boards. It has not yet been fitted or cut to size, this is just to check that everything fits roughly where I expected it to go.

 

 

 

Overall I am fairly happy with the layout. The engine shed is still flat-packed and has been layed out just to check there is sufficient room for it (which there is ). The station and platforms are not built yet so a couple of Ratio platform sections have been placed to give a feel for the correct spacing. The Ratio platforms are expensive but look good (much better than card and much easier than making from wood) so I will use them. With only one platform the cost is not too bad although I would hesitiate to use them for a larger project. :shock:

 

The station building position is marked by the orange tape measure and seems to fit well.

 

although there are some small changes and problems.

 

1) The Y-point giving access to the goods yard (far left on the 2nd picture) does not give the correct alignment so I will need to replace this with a RH point instead. Fortunately my local model shop is very friendly and have aggreed to exchange any points I need provided I return then in original condition and packaging.

 

2) The double slip on the plan has been replaced by a single slip. This will prevent the loco from running straight from the shed to the dairy (a movment I am sure would not have been allowed in real life). This means the engine shed can now only be accessed from the run-around loop which is much more prototypical.

 

3) The run around loop is a little shorter than I had hoped. I had thought I might be able to squeeze a 4-coach train into the loop but it looks like 3 will be the limit. I could try to stretch it a bit in 2 directions. Firstly I could move the station throat an inch or 2 closer to the end of the board. Secondly I could move the cross-over further towards the other end. Currently there is enough room to run around a 9F (my largest loco) but this might be overkill. The largest loco I am planning to use regularly is my Ixion Manor on the milk trains.

 

I cannot decide whether to try and squeeze 4 coaches into the loop or whather to accept 3 without a squeeze and allow the layout room to "breathe".

 

4) Lastly it looks like the width is not quite enough for the mileage siding to extend beyond the goods shed. I will have to cut it short or there would not be room for road vehicles to drive up the goods shed. This is a slight shame as it means I may have to chose between a coal merchant or the cattle dock (really a station like this would probably have had both).

 

The other alternative is to try and rejig the location of the Dairy to the opposite end of the layout (where there is plenty of space) in order to give me more width at the station end. This is not unfeasible but will require some careful thought.

[Kris]

Shame you didn't go down the easitrack route, but I can understand the time pressures and the wish to get something running. When it's well finished (and I'm sure your's will be) code 55 looks good.

[LufbraDan]

Will be watching this topic closely for some ideas for my planned N gauge GWR layout. As others, I really like the dairy and its current position.

 

Signal box has come out really good too, must have taken a steady hand to get all the interior positioned correctly though!