Douglas G

As I have had a few mishaps with landscaping products not working very well, I have been doing a lot of experimenting on test pieces before I take the risk of doing the grass for Dulverton. One of the issues I showed earlier was the grass on the Carnarvon Arms Hotel lawn not sticking using Woodlands Scenics Scenic cement. To be extra sure, this time I stuck down some thin light green card down on to the lawn with impact adhesive, to provide a porous surface. The ground in this area was made from black styrene sheet painted with enamels, and I think this was part of the reason the grass didn't stick the first time as it was not porous. Once the card was stuck, I used a darker green marker pen to darken the card and to give some variation in colour that I hope will show through the grass. Here it is with the borders, paths and hotel base masked off ready to apply the glue: After a lot of experimenting with different brands, I have settled on Polak 1mm and 2mm static grass as my choice for most of the grass. I like the fact that the fibres are very matt, and also the fact that they are one colour, not a mixture. Looking at real grass, unless it is in the autumn or winter or in a drought, the colour is pretty uniform on mown grass, especially in the West Country. I don't like the mix of colours in brand such as Noch and WW Scenics fibres - I don't think it looks right, at least not in 2mm scale. By varying the colour of the material underneath, I hope I can get a realistic variation in the final appearance. So for the lawn I decided to use 1mm Polak fibres in the lightest colour they do in this length, Meadow Green: This is quite a light green that matches the colour of the real lawn in photographs, and I also want to use lighter colours in areas towards the back of the layout such as this, to give the impression of distance. While I have a tea strainer type applicator for small areas, I have gone for a WW Scenics Pro Grass Micro for large areas. One issue with this applicator is that the mesh is quite large - too large for 2mm or shorter fibres, and they all fall out too quick. The manufacturers told me they could produce a finer mesh head before I decided to buy it, but this has not been forthcoming. So what I have done is to use soft iron florists wire to double the number of strands in one direction to reduce the size of the aperture, with one strand across the middle in the other direction weaved in and out to keep the extra strands in place.. This seems to work well so far: It will be interesting to see how the lawn looks once the glue has dried and the loose fibres have been vacuumed off. Fingers crossed...

I've been pottering about on little thing recently. I have finished the two water cranes. After a lot of experimenting, I made the funnels by filing and grinding a Phillips head screw. The real thing (in later days when it wasn't so well kept) https://www.flickr.com/photos/30937/15947776978/in/photolist-qifwu3-fbU2D8-rdB5SM-aKAvTT-Hpt1DP-bVygpp-dBd2xT-devafZ-BxCfqR-FTqebe-dxKof5-orEdSN-cHUAjJ-RSTXjW-fARriZ-mWtoAr-E8L86K-mWziUb-mWthk2-S7rWER-mWxac6-deYFEV-ouSukq-S3Ra1S-mWtvhc-mWtxJ6-QSsmxF-QSs3pr-mWzggA-S3QQjy-aaUjgb-RVuUMD-EF2yWp-GC41qU-RwRymo-R9QRg2-c8hYZd-FeRu5S-RVvb7g-QQ165w-QQ1c9f-RVuRbk-RP9M97-QSsk1c-RSU1a5-S3RjUj-RVv6hM-h5Adep-RSTSAh-RVv3UF I have also finished the second, raised water tank. This seems to have been a pretty much standard GWR tank but was on brick pillars rather than metal pillars as it was raised up on a bank: Finally, a feature of Dulverton in the 60s was the circular flower beds with white stones around and bright yellow and red flowers:

This is worth a look: http://www.igg.org.uk/gansg/11-kitba/011-index.htm Edited - there seems to be an issue with the URL. Try following links from the home page under lineside industries: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/gansg/

I wonder how many people collect Oxford's 1:148 vehicles as opposed to sue them on an N gauge layout. While the less mainstream choices made for the larger scales probably meet the wants of collectors, is there the same market in N scale.

I wonder if there is scope for a simple, ready-to-plant signal operating unit for under-board mounting based on servos, as they are so cheap now. I am thinking something to simply screw in place and that can operate any available signal with a rod. I don't think there is a need for lights to be included, as this can be done separately as the user sees fit (and oil lamps were not that visible in daylight anyway). I know there are controller modules about, but it stills needs a bit of work setting up the servos.

Personally I would prefer to see the previously announced Churchward 43xx mogul produced first, as it has never been available ready to run, unlike the King. Is it a question of the mogul being part of the main DJM production plan, and so reliant on funds from sales of previously produced DJM models, whereas the King being crowd-funded would not be reliant on previous sales? But then why not do the mogul by crowd-funding as well?

Ah yes, it shows!

I think this more than crosses the line from modelling skill to artistry!

Another area I have been working on is my waterworks, so to speak... I know quite a lot about the water supply at Dulverton because the main plan is a 1930s GWR plan of the water supply. There was a well next to the road bridge and another in the turntable. A pump in the distinctive building with its edge cut off, to allow clearance for the sidings used for Exe Valley trains, pumped the water up to two tanks on the embankment above next to the road. The original tank was a brick lined sunken tank that was later supplemented by a typical GWR rectangular tank supported on brick pillars (rather than the more usual girders). Here is the plan of the tanks: When I first visited the site and when I visited in the autumn this year, there was no sign of the sunken tank because of the trees and shrubs: But fortunately I visits two years ago just after the land owner had cut back the bushes, allowing me to find out what the tank looked like: I have now got the water tank finished (apart from weathering) and have made the low embankment that surrounded it with a socket for the tank to fit into: Actually even when the station was open, this area was surrounded by trees, so it won't be very visible. It was hard to judge how high the embankment show in the plan around the tank was - it is hardly apparent in the pictures of the real thing above, but I am guessing there has been in fill and changes due to the tree roots. I have one good picture of the raised water tank and am working on this at the moment: The real thing It must have been removed for scrap after the station shut.

Over the last few weeks I have been working on getting the final bits of the landscape shaped ready for the grass and other landscaping materials. A lot of shaping, sanding, and redoing until I have got things to my satisfaction and as close to the real thing as possible. I think there is more work and trial and error in modelling a prototype location, so progress is slow. The main area I have been working on is the fields behind the station. Based on my trip to Dulverton a few weeks ago and the photos I took, I think I have now got this as close as I am going to get it. The main issue was I had the stream beds too far back and had to bring them forward towards the embankment so that everything else was in proportion. At present this is a separate piece that will be glued in place on the framework later but is easier to work on detached. These views are similar to the views I took at the real location a few weeks ago, looking north along the line of the embankment to the station itself: This is a closer view of the streams and drainage ditches - am not sure exactly what is going on in this area as it is not accessible and is hidden by trees, but it is my best stab and a lot will be hidden by hedges in any case: Finally an overview from the front of the layout with this section in place behind the embankment. Not that much will be visible. Ditch and line of hedge at the back has been brought forward to the line of the backscene and will disguise it, but the distances will be foreshortened in any case when viewing from the front.

That has to be the most impressive painted backscene I have seen!

Some obvious gaps: Maroon Hawksworth coaches (long overdue) Hawksworth brake composite coaches (often used on branch lines in later days) Churchward 43xx mogul GWR 51xx Large prairie Late diagram LMS horse box Late diagram LMS/BR cattle wagons Late diagram Southern cattle wagons "French" style 16t mineral (with cupboard doors) Vanwide pallet van

Just got my copy of part 1 of Freddie Huxtable's book on the Taunton to Barnstaple Line/Devon & Somerset Railway ( see http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/114437-the-devon-and-somerset-railway ) Fantastic - lots of previously unpublished photos of Dulverton, and two Aerofilms aerial photos from the 1960s that otherwise cost over £30 for a scan. I can't wait for part 2, with details of the stock and the stations on the line.

I got my copy of this book yesterday and I am really impressed by the amount of research that has gone into it. It is also really well written. Congratulations, Freddie! There are lots of useful photos of Dulverton that I have not seen before and the two aerial photos of the station from the Aerofilms collection are a godsend for me - they save me having to pay for some more scans from the National Collection of Aerial Photography (the saving has more than paid for the book in fact). I am also pleased to have played a small part in terms of some of the photos of Dulverton after closure. A box of prints and negatives turned up years ago on a stand at Scaleforum, and I and another Dulverton modeller clubbed together to buy them and get prints made. We then donated the negatives to the Dulverton Heritage Centre. It is nice to see them published and made more widely available. I think the photos must have been taken for a modeller, as they include all the features of the station, many in plan view. They include the only photo I know of showing the back of the signal box. Roll on part 2.

I think I've now worked out the lie of the land in the fields behind the embankment and have trimmed and stuck down some roughly carved pink styrene foam with No More Nails adhesive. I find this takes two or three days to set with the non-porous foam, so will have to be patient while it dries thoroughly, before I can begin to carve and sand it to the final shape. I've put bricks on top to hold it firmly in place.

Just put in my order with the publishers for volume 1 - I've been waiting for this book for a long time, and hope it will have some new pictures of Dulverton I've not seen before. Up to now the only books specifically about the Devon and Somerset are Middleton Press's "Taunton to Barnstaple: Country Railway Routes" by Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, and Colin Maggs's book "The Taunton to Barnstaple Line", Locomotion Papers 126 from Oakwood Press (long out of print). The book's website says that it is now published, but I think what it means is that Part 1 is published. I couldn't see any indication of when Part 2 is due.

Hi, Many thanks that. Yes, I have seen them and unfortunately they don't show the station. Dulverton station was actually in Brushford, a village some 2 miles from Dulverton. However, Aerofilms did take some aerial photos in 1963 and 1965 (I think ) of Brushford village and the Carnarvon Arms Hotel, and I have obtained (at considerable expense!) copies of these images from English Heritage, who now have the negatives. Frustratingly the pictures seem to be cut off just where there is a feature I want to see, including the fields behind the station I was investigating when I visited the other week. The Aerofilms pictures are also quite taken from quite high up, so some of the details are hard to make out. But they have helped me with the main station layout and the garden at the rear of the hotel. Cheers, Douglas

Thanks very much for the comment, Edwardian - much appreciated. I took the "n gauge" out of the title of the thread last night as I wondered if some people might not be looking as a result. I myself do tend to look more at N gauge and 2mm topics and tend not to look at 7mm in particular, but I am definitely interested in GWR/WR and models of prototypical models, regardless of scale.

I have been considering what I found out on my field trip down to the site of Dulverton Station the other week. Some questions are now answered, but others aren’t because things have grown up and hidden some details, and some areas are now inaccessible private property. The area I am interested in currently is at the centre of this satellite view—the fields behind the embankment to the south-east of the station: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.0183915,-3.5296403,367m/data=!3m1!1e3 I also have a copy of an RAF WWII aerial photo, and on Google Earth there are several views from different years that help distinguish features, but it is still hard to judge exactly what is happening using such overhead plan views. I can see what appear to be stream beds and a stream in a ditch leading off to the east to the River Barle (behind the layout in my model), but it is difficult to determine the degree of relief and to distinguish where the embankments start and finish. All that is shown on OS maps is the field boundaries and the ditch leading to the weir and the river, as in this example—there is a strange curved area between where the map says “cattle pens” (subsequently moved) and the “S.P” for signal post: http://www.exevalleyrailway.com/images/dulverton1905.jpg Otherwise there are tantalising glimpses of this area and the hedges at the boundaries in photos of the station taken from the road over bridge: https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/8578750110 On visiting the site, I discovered that the fields concerned, which were for a while a polo club grounds and were once a golf course, are accessible to the public and many locals were walking their dogs there. As I suspected, the darker green circles visible in the aerial photos are rushes growing amongst the grasses. First off I determined that the stream running parallel to the embankment is a dry bed that must only fill with water in wet weather. It was shallower than I thought, and I realise I had modelled it too far from the embankment, so I have filled it in and repositioned it on my model. View northwards towards station, railway embankment on left View southwards, railway embankment on right Next to this stream bed is a distinctive tree (an oak I think) with some dead branches. This tree was present when the station was open, so will feature in my model; it appears in several photos such as this one: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ChtMWK7WUAA9spc.jpg The other trees on the embankment, though large, have grown up since the railway was closed. I also confirmed that there was indeed a stream flowing eastwards from this area towards the river, but I couldn’t see its source near the embankment as it is private land and is surrounded by dense hedges and trees. Either the source is a spring or there is a culvert for a stream that runs under the embankment. The line of this stream once emerged seems to form the distinctive curve of the boundary at this point. The hedge has an earth or stone embankment at the base, and I wonder if this was built to channel water into the stream and stop it flooding the fields. But I couldn’t see what was going on in the area behind – it has been planted up with coppice by the current land owner. View westwards towards stream source and embankment View northwards towards station and stream source View of stream ditch eastwards away from embankment towards River barle Stream emerging from boundary hedge eastwards towards river The other thing I have learned is that westwards from the dry stream bed the land sloped up towards the railway embankment, and the land went up particularly high to the north towards the station (see first lot of photos above). So as well as moving the dry stream bed in my model, I am raising the land between the embankment and the dry stream, with styrene foam carved to shape. North of this area, east of the station buildings and running parallel to the railway line is the hedge forming the boundary between the grounds of the former Carnarvon Arms Hotel and the fields behind. In my model this hedge will be moved in towards the station slightly and will disguise the join with the planned photographic back scene. Once I have got this area of fields behind the station are right, the basic landscape will be finished ready for adding the grass and vegetation.

Beautiful modelling - really inspiring!

Off down today to Dulverton (actually Brushford) to take a few photos of certain features at the old station. In particular I want to work out exactly what was happening in the fields behind the station to the right in my model, where satellite photos suggest there were ditches/streams. I've already carved these out but I am not clear how deep and wide they were. I am not sure if it will be accessible to the public or not. The land behind was the polo club in recent years, but was sold last year. We'll see... The last couple of weeks I have ben finishing off the baseboard, including the front facia and the rear parts of the board behind the planned backscene. A lot of fiddly cutting with jigsaw and hacksaw and sanding smooth to get the curves right to support and shape the backscene (which will be 3mm MDF). There is also provision for a return track behind the backscen to us eif I ever decide to exhibit.

Here are some pics of latest progress - in some ways back to where I was but I am more confident that I now have a sound surface for the scenic glue to stick to. Before - in the progress of sanding back the shiny green acrylic paint: After - sanding finished, brown emulsion painted on: It's hard in with this lighting to see that at the right hand end the track is actually on an embankment, with the fields behind and in front at a lower level. You can also see the start of my cunning plan to disguise the exit and entry of the tacks at either end, and in particular to hide the sharp curves at the far ends (which I dislike on a model as it immediately shouts out this is not the real thing). I am working on a theatre style proscenium arch today.

Phew. Landscape sanded and repainted with brown emulsion, right arm aching from all that sanding...

A very inspiring layout. It shows just what can be achieved in N gauge in terms of space and modeling the wider landscape.

Many thanks for the feedback - it's very encouraging, especially coming form two such outstanding N gauge modellers on the forum. I have decided to paint the whole landscape with Wilco "java bean" brown emulsion point bought for a quid - a bargain. One pot has already done about half the area-the fields behind the station-and I'll need to get another pot to paint the rest, once I have finished sanding it. I wish I'd done this to begin with, instead of using the cheap, shiny acrylic paint I used first time round...The emulsion is drying nice and matt and should be porous to aid the sticking of the scenic adhesive. Last week I bought a bottle of Woodland Scenics earth undercoat paint. I have been trying it today and have to say it doesn't seem to have much covering power - it is more like a dye or ink, and has not really covered the surfaces on my model. I think the Wilco emulsion is far better and at a fraction of the price.