crompton

I am loving this virtual railway modelling.  It lends itself perfectly to collaboration. 

Is the engine shed and turntable pit  the same one that was rediscovered when they were doing the Cross Rail works?

https://www.thisispaddington.com/article/brunels-great-western-railway-revealed

Cheers

I like the idea of categorising by theme, but as this thread highlights we all have our own preference or interpretation as to how this could be achieved. Maybe that's why many authors settle on class or a specific designer?  

For what it's worth, I think categorising by purpose may be the most practical. I.E. Evolution of the express engine, shunter, etc. This would allow you to include modern traction too if you wanted. There would also be scope for a book on experimental designs.

Good luck with your research and writing.

Thank you for sharing, a brave and bold thing to do (speaking as someone who has experienced a messy divorce myself). Sounds like you have been able to work through this difficult period and have rediscovered your mojo. Look forward to reading further developments on your layout. I have been planning various schemes but have yet to pin any track to a board. Your post has inspired me to get started! Take care and all the best.

9 hours ago, 7802 said:

I also can’t think of many other rivers/estuaries that were served by the GWR on both banks. 

The river Avon in Bristol is another and a few of the Valleys in South Wales.

Congrats on finishing Freshwater. Will hopefully make it to Aldershot to see it in its completed glory. I have enjoyed following your progress on this. It would be great if you could do a blog including a series of photos of the whole layout. 

Hi Mike, I agree with all the sentiments above. Keep the great blogs coming! Did they ever change wheel sets on wagons to transfer from broad to standard gauge, or were goods always manually moved from one wagon to another? Cheers. Meurig

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.” Sherlock Holmes

The yellow curtains bring back fond memories of heading West on holiday in the 80s. EMU to Portsmouth. Doubled headed Cl33 to Salisbury, then my favourite Cl50 (domino trains!) to Exeter. If the second train was running late, the guard would ring ahead to Salisbury and ask them to hold the Exeter train just for us!

A brilliant project. Looking forward to watching how this progresses. Will you be bold and try and replicate the means of propulsion too!? I imagine it could be achievable in a model.

Did they have freight on the Atmospheric railway too? The fact Brunel managed to persuade the powers that be to endorse this scheme shows what a great politician he must have been, as well as a tremendous innovator. I wonder what other treats are hidden away in the archives!

That is an impressive loco wishlist you have there! What stock will you be getting?

Looking good. Especially like that photo taken through the station door. Will you taking it on exhibitions soon?

On 14/02/2022 at 20:16, Mikkel said:

Thanks very much, that's certainly first hand evidence!  I had read about the recent developments but couldn't find any recent photos (Google Streetview is not current).

 

I assume that the structure on the left is the new multi-storey car park. Not easy to tell that there was once a bay platform area there! There are currently various photos on ebay showing the derelict track in the Lambourn bay, although the dates seem to be a bit mixed up:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=lambourn+bay&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_odkw=lambourne+bay&_osacat=0

 

Many thanks for the offer of measuring things. The GWR outline drawing of Newbury does not come with measurements, so I am counting bricks - which seems to fit reasonably well with length measurements on Google Earth. But if you happen to pass by it would be interesting to know what the height of 1 brick + mortar is. 

 

I look forward to following your own model of Newbury in due course. It is really a very modellable station, I think.

 

 

Alas modelling Newbury must remain a pipe dream for now, but I am planning to take on Welford Park station and military exchange sidings soon - just up the tracks on the old Lambourn Branch. More on that story later!

The height of one brick and one line of mortar is 76mm (brick 69mm and mortar 7mm).

Your request prompted me to examine the station building in more detail - simple elegance. I have uploaded some photos below to whet your appetite!   The large building is indeed the new multi-storey car park, soon to be overshadowed by some even newer flats on the old car park and bus station. Newbury managed to retain its country town feel until electrification, but it is great to see some serious money has been invested in its development. There some interesting documents and maps on the West Berks website.

Hi Mikkel,

I live next to Newbury station and have had the pleasure of commuting to Paddington for the last 14 years. It has been interesting seeing the station, line and rail traffic evolve. I had the privilege of bumping into the Chief Engineer in charge of the 1970s resignalling, while waiting for the last HST 125 to pass through. He had a great tale about 'discovering' the old water main that supplied the water columns, resulting in a 100 foot jet of water and his team getting a soaking. Hopefully your build will be less dramatic!

If you need any specific measurements or photos of the station do send me a PM. I hope to model Newbury one day, so look forward to seeing how this project evolves.

The bay at Farthing is a long distant memory though... but I guess that is progress for you! 

(For those who don't know Newbury - the Lambourn Bay on which Mikkel based his bay model was behind the EMU)  

Hi Paul, its looking good. Impressive progress! Modern roads are hard to model IMHO, I think you have done a great job. I shall borrow your tips for lining out and road markings. Hope you don't mind me saying, but the cliffs seem quite close to the railway and road? I wonder if the cliff bases would look better with a concrete skirt and metal crash barriers? I am sure I have seen that somewhere. Or they could be covered with netting to prevent rock fall, as per Clifton Gorge in Bristol. Anyways, you have inspired me to put some track down on a board and start doing some modelling too!

Looking good. Having grown up on the South Coast it is good to see third rail scenarios being catered for. I bet you are relishing track painting and ballasting! Looking forward to following progress on this one. Out of interest, do you pre-bend the third rail on curves before positioning? Did you use a gauge for alignment or just eye. 

The photo of the 33s you posted last week looked great. Definitely a novel idea for a layout. Is the ferry intended to be removable, like a cassette? If so, that's neat! Look forward to following your progress. You will have it finished by Christmas at this rate!

Hi Mikkel. Great stuff as always. Worth checking out the Railway Studies Collection on Newton Abbot if you ever make it to Devon. http://www.railwaystudies.org.uk/

Great looking model! Worth trying the Isle of Wight steam railway for photos and local insight. They have extensive archives and very helpful.

Always enjoy reading your posts. It seems a shame to box in the station end of the layout, when the station will be such a feature. How about supporting the corner of the facia with a clear perspex rod to open out the whole end. You could then have a letter box on the end and side to create a box within a box! If feeling ultra ambitious you could turn rows of roof tiles into luvres so you can open and close the roof!

Hi. Looks great to me. Would love to see more photos. I am thinking of building a layout in the loft myself. How do you get on with temperature variation between winter and summer? Did you have to work around roof supports? Cheers,

Meurig