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Branwell

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Posts posted by Branwell

  1. On 15/03/2021 at 16:51, 2mm Andy said:

    I've sent David Varley an email (using the email address I had for him from buying the original etches) advising him of the updates to this thread and asking if he still has any in stock.

     

    regards,

     

    Andy

     

    Thanks for the heads up on the updates on the thread Andy.

     

    Nick's done a wonderful job - hope to see his model in the flesh sometime!

     

    I've dropped PMs to John and Will, but if there's anybody who wants a set of etches, I've got a few left, so if they drop me a PM and we can sort something out - not had much time or enthusiasm for modelling recently but hoping I might get my mojo back in the not too distant future.

     

    Regards,

     

    David

    • Like 2
    • Friendly/supportive 1
  2. Good idea for a thread, Nigel.

     

    If I can mention that I still have a few of the reduced London Road Models Coal Tank etches left - both Nigel Hunt and Nick Mitchell have produced lovely looking locos using them, with Nick's appearing in the latest magazine.

     

    £15 a set (chassis and body) plus £3 p&p per order.

     

    Thanks,

     

    David Varley

  3. Holes have now been hacked in the other tube and it wrapped in the pre-cut brick plasticard. And both glued in to position on the card frame:

     

    attachicon.gifDSC_4966.JPG

     

    Here's how it looks with windows sills added and the front wall held in place:

     

    attachicon.gifDSC_4967.JPG

     

    Time to consider the conical witches hat roofs for the towers - which I suspect will be tricky.

     

    G.

     

    How about using a funnel for the roofs?

  4. Liking this a lot. It's a neat prototype for a small yet credible layout. It's tempted me from time to time but it would mean a diversion away from my main interests.

     

    British Railway Journal issue 40 covered the location in detail, with some very good photos.  The article was by Roger Carpenter, so he may well have copies of photos in his stock.

     

    Mark

     

    Thanks Mark,

     

    BRJ 40 is at my elbow, as is the Wild Swan book on Midland Engine Sheds and Black Dwarf Lightmoor's most recent colour volume on the railways of Gloucestershire which has got a few photos of the shed in it (the first ones I've seen in colour) - all very helpful - but I'll give Roger a try and see if he's got anything else available (I can't find a website/e-mail address for him, but I see he's at Scalefour North at Wakefield in April).

     

    There are some decent photos on the internet as well, including a couple by HC Casserly which show detail that other's dont, plus Historical England have a number of aerial photos which cover the branch, and whilst they're a bit fuzzy very close in, they've already been a great help in working out what's what.

     

    Regards,

     

    David

  5. In 1840, the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway opened a single track branch from Aschurch to Tewkesbury. Running for just over two miles the branch initially terminated at a very compact station close to the centre of Tewkesbury, but in 1844 the line was extended westwards to a quay on the River Avon.

     

    Use of the line for passenger services was reasonably short lived, as in 1864 the Tewkesbury and Malvern Railway opened it's line between those two towns (which connected with the Brimingham and Gloucester's line about half a mile east of the station at what became known as Tewkesbury Junction) and provided Tewkesbury with a new through station on the outskirts of the town - the Birmingham and Gloucester's station was then closed to passenger traffic and the whole line became goods only.

     

    On leaving Tewkesbury Junction, the Quay Branch curved around the main goods yard and then passed across Chance Street, the first of three level crossings between the junction and the quay. Having run between Dowings Maltings and some allotments, the branch then entered into a small, cramped yard, bordered on one side by Station Street and on the other by the window-less backs of a number of terraced houses.

     

    Immediately on entering into the yard, the line passed a small single road engine shed and there was also a dead-end siding which was used for coaling locos, though when the shed was built there was also a small coaling stage immediately adjoining it.

     

    The branch then became double track before crossing over Oldbury Road and running into the fromer terminus station which only had a single platform but had an overall roof over both tracks, the second line acting as a run-round loop.

     

    Immediately to the west of the station, the line crossed Tewkesbury High Street and then ran along Quay Street (with a loop serving Tewkesbury Brewery) before crossing the Avon, passing through the Borough Mills compex and then terminating at the quay side.

     

    I lived in Tewkesbury for a few years in the 1990s and became fascinated with the Quay Branch and have often thought about modelling it - various plans have been produced and ideas bounced around - but never got anywhere with it. Then the DJLC was announced and it immediately occured to me that various bits of the branch would lend themselves to the permitted dimensions without too many changes having to be made.

     

    The thought also occurred to me that it would be possible to do two or three separate layouts but build them in modular fashion so that they could ultimately be joined together to form one larger layout. But where to start?

     

    Out with the old plans and the maps ... a bit of head scratching regarding dimensions and compressions ... and a decision was made - the engine shed area would fit lengthwise with only minimal compression and there wouldn't be any compession required width wise with the whole yard area and Station Street fitting in the area allowed and possibly even room for part of the cattle yard on the other side of the road.

     

    So, boards were made - kept very simple for the moment and constructed out of PVC foamboard (rigid but light) and a plan produced ... and a start has been made on the terraced houses which will form the back drop to the layout.

     

    The very basic baseboard (I intend using cassettes for fiddle yards).

     

    IMG_2461.jpg

     

    Baseboard with plan, backboard and terraced houses losely placed.

     

    IMG_2464.jpg

     

    IMG_2465.jpg

     

    IMG_2467.jpg

     

    And a couple of close-ups of the smaller of the two terraces - just about ready for painting.

     

    IMG_2442.jpg

     

    IMG_2441.jpg

     

    Regards,

     

    David V.

    • Like 11
  6. Construction work on the next batch of buildings for Lightcliffe is now almost complete - on with the paint and then it's just a case of tiling the roofs and adding the final details.

     

    The platform side of the warehouse building on the Bradford bound platform ...

     

    IMG_2445.jpg

     

     ... the reverse side of the same building ...

     

    IMG_2443.jpg

     

     ... and the end with the steps up from ground level to platform level ...

     

    IMG_2448.jpg

     

     ... the gentlemens toilet on the Halifax bound platform ...

     

    IMG_2450.jpg

     

    IMG_2451.jpg

     

     ... and the weighbridge hut from the goods yard ...

     

    IMG_2455.jpg

     

    IMG_2454.jpg

     

     In addition, I've also now fitted the vents and roof lights for the WCs on the main station building (I knew the vents were there, but didn't know about the roof lights until I acquired an aerial photograph of the station) - the ridge tiles need tidying up, but I'm pleased with how these alterations I've worked out. If was doing if from scratch, I'd have built the rooflights into the roof and glazed them, but that would have been difficult with the already constructed building so I've cut away the tiling to fit the individual lights.

     

    IMG_2458.jpg

     

    And then there are some terraced houses, though these aren't for Lightcliffe - they're for my DJLC entry which I'll be starting a thread for shortly.

     

    IMG_2442.jpg

     

    IMG_2441.jpg

     

    Regards,

     

    David V.

    • Like 4
  7.  

    attachicon.gifWW1 tank.jpg

     

    I think this scheme is the most likely and will be visually stunning (I think anyway!).

     

    The question of the four colours did niggle as I could only detect three colours in most of the photos of the airship sheds.

    A couple of times I almost convinced myself there was four but came to the conclusion this was wishful thinking.

     

    I then printed the last photo above in black and white.

     

    attachicon.gifWW1 tank black and white.png

     

    I realise this in no way replicates the colour sensitivity of the photographic film in use during WW1 but it clearly shows how different colours "disappear" in black and white, the brown and green being virtually indistinguishable.

     

    So I have my four colours, unless any can convince me otherwise?

     

    Incidentally  I can find no evidence for the black dividing line between the colours as seems to be in use on the vehicles above.

     

     

    I appreciate this post is a long way from railways in a model railway forum, hopefully some of you will find it interesting and it will explain my, at first glance, strange painting of the airship shed.

    To my eye there are four distinct colours in the last of your colour photographs - biege, brown, grey-blue and grey-green.

  8. Evergreen do 15 cm by 30 cm sheets in 0.13 mm (ref 9009), 0.25 mm (ref 9010) and 0.38 mm (ref 9011); 28 cm by 35 cm sheets in 0.25 mm (ref 9210) and 0.38 mm (ref 9215); and 30 cm by 60 cm sheets in 0.13 mm (ref 19009), 0.25 mm (ref 19010) and 0.38 mm (ref 19015), as well as 0.5 mm sheets in all three sizes (ref 9020, 9220 and 19020).

     

    It can be a bit difficult to source the larger sheets in the UK though.

  9. It may be worth looking at joining some of the line associations/societies and then there are publications like Midland Record and Railway Archive (neither of which, sadly, are being produced any more).

     

    Given your interest in the railways of Kent and Sussex, Railway Archive will probably be of more interest - see http://lightmoor.co.uk/category.php?section=Railway%20Archive for an index of articles.

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