Jason Pape

Rio says the type of bus is from 1915 but it looks a lot older. I would like to see your bus when it’s repainted, I hope to keep the livery the same but I’m going to add freelance crests and writing on the side of mine I may paint the roof white though. Do you know where I can get a spare horn for my bus? I’m hoping to make the bus part of my freelance O9 scale railway, it’s meant to be set in a fictional valley in between Cirencester and Tetbury called the Cowslip valley.

I’ve just brought a Rio bus which is complete and in excellent condition except for the little brass (plastic) horn on the drivers side which is missing on my model. I’m wondering if anyone has a left over horn (or more) from a Rio bus conversation or spares as I’d be very interested if you have. On a different note do you know where I could find a O scale coachmen and horn for a horse drawn mail coach?

That’s really cool! I didn’t know that Bilteezi was still available, I’m interested in the huts and groundframes too. I’m hoping to draw some plans of real and freelance buildings for my O9 railway, they will mostly be Cotswold buildings but I may draw a few West Country ones too.

Unfortunately I didn’t win the book but I may design some buildings in his style for my O9 railway

Thank you, his models were amazing and beautifully detailed too!

Hopefully one will turn up soon I found some Downesplans books though. I’m sorry for the late reply.

I am new to railway modelling but I have an interest in art and design. I’m hoping to make a freelance minimum gauge model railway and I’ve recently found a few pictures of the amazing models which g iliffe stokes made. They’re similar to my artwork and ideas but unfortunately the book he wrote and was published by Peco Publications is long out of print and highly priced on Amazon. I hope to find a copy one day but any help will be greatly appreciated, I designed a model railway 10 years ago called Horsecombe but if I actually built it it would be very different.

I love the Paget engine, I’m biased towards everything Midland Railway though. Some people think the real engine was possibly sabotaged by Richard Deeley because Paget wasn’t from an engineering background (he worked in the carriage and wagon department at Derby under Johnson) Paget designed other engines too which were based on Kirtley and Johnson designs but combined together. Only the Paget engine was built in the end but his other designs were interesting too. The only way anyone will know if the rumours about the Paget engine being sabotaged Are true or not would have to build a replica but built to 21st century standards, it could also be improved upon in service like Tornado too. Thank you for an interesting poll and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I have started my research for all of the buildings in Deercombe, Badgersbrook, Foxwood and Haresfield. Badgersbrook will have a brewery and Haresfield may have a Roman villa like Chedworth. I hope to start drawing the plans soon!

This is the complete map of my layout Horsecombe, it had a pub, the White Horse, a church based on Slaughterford, Dove farm which is based on one of my folk art paintings (the dots near Dove farm are cows being herded) there is even a harvest scene with 2 of my round horses!, a manor house and gatehouse, the Fat Fox alehouse and lots of thatched and Cotswold stone roofed houses too. The manor had its own halt based on Haresfield on the midland railway. Unusually this layout has a short 5 arch viaduct and 2 tunnel mouths which gave a continuous run under the Cotswold hills. In reality I would have positioned the station nearer the front of the baseboard because it was meant to be a mainline and the curves in the tunnel are too tight on the plan. When I drew Horsecombe I lived in Bath and it’s influenced by Castlecombe, Slaughterford and the surrounding area. It could probably have worked as a fictional station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway or a fictional narrow gauge railway too. I hope it’s ok for a first effort.

As promised here are the plans I drew for Horsecombe in 2006, the first plans show just the station site with a small sketch of the station building, I built a model from the Dornaplas L.M.S station kit but with the two windows at the front of the model to resemble a Midland Railway station and no dripmoulds above the windows. I built the Crossing keepers cottage and the waiting shelter from the kits as planned though. I was going to ultimately replace the model with a scratchbuilt station and waiting shelter when I was skilled enough. The replacement is drawn on the sketch with a different waiting shelter too. I sold the models in 2011, I wonder if my Dornaplas station is out there somewhere I was rather proud of it!

Thank you Dava the Evesham Light Railway looks great. The Foxwood and Deercombe would look similar I think. I would love to see more of your photos!

Thank you JeffP I‘m hoping to draw the plans for Foxwood and Deercombe over the next few months. I hope to post a plan of Horsecombe soon too!

I’m hoping to begin designing my first ever 09 layout. It will be based in the Cotswolds in the Cirencester/ Stowe on the Wold area but completely fictional. At the moment it’s called The Foxwood and Deercombe valley and has 2-3 villages and a market town. The village of Foxwood is based on Castlecombe, Owlpen and Bibury. Haresfield is based on Upper and Lower Slaughter, Slaughterford and Ford near Castlecombe. Deercombe is the market town and it’s based on Tetbury, Burford and Stowe on the Wold. There may be a 3rd village called Badgersbrook but it depends if I can fit it in. There will be rivers, inns, pubs, manor houses and farms too! The layout will have buildings and structures based on real Cotswold examples. I hope to feature my round animals from my sculptures and paintings with widened horse drawn vehicles too. my animals look usual because they’re all based on spheres or ovals. Any ideas would be most helpful because I’m a near beginner, I designed a freelance 00 Cotswold based layout called Horsecombe but unfortunately a house move cancelled the project, it was based on the midland railway on a fictional branch similar to the Nailsworth line. I still have the plans and with hindsight it may have worked better as a narrow gauge line instead.

I hope to buy at least one of your Heywood locomotives when I start my layout. Maybe the 009 Thomas range will have some useful chassis for 09 locomotives too. I would definitely send photos of my layout when it’s modelled with all the locomotives.

Thank you Dava Irton Road was a great model, I’d love to model a locomotive based on Synolda but I’m not very skilled at making locomotives. I’m amazed that there isn’t a N gauge atlantic yet as they’re available in 00. I love Heywood locomotives and hopefully I’ll have a few on my layout and maybe a Synolda and Colossus one day too.

This model is gorgeous I wish I could make a model based on Synolda but with a smokebox door based on Count Louis. I would paint the locomotive sky blue with white and yellow lining which is the livery of my 09 railway the Foxwood estate railway.

I can’t wait to see your photos.

I like the Heywood carriage kits from Minimum Gauge Models but I don’t know where I can find 09 tank wagons, open wagons, flat wagons and vans. Also I don’t know if 00 coaches can be adapted to 09 like locomotives can, does anyone know of suitable models? I’d also like a saddle tank locomotive, a tram loco and maybe a petrol/diesel locomotive too. I also would like a model of Dot from the narrow gauge museum on the Talyllyn railway but I don’t know if a model is available. If there are any available models please could you post some photos below, Thank you.

I love your designs they’re amazing!!! Maybe a class 30 like Synolda would be better than a little giant I prefer Synolda too but with door handles and door hinges like Count Louis. I love your Shelagh model and a Katie and Effie would be great too if possible, I’m wondering since a replica of Colossus is being built would a model of this engine be possible too? She would make a great companion to the class 30 too.

I’d love to see your 7mm scale shire horse and donkey my animals are a lot bigger and rounder than real animals!

Thank you Dungrange thank you for your ideas. I didn’t think of Christmas tree ornaments, maybe I’ll make some based on my animals too! I would probably make the horsedrawn vehicles wider on my layout so that they don’t look odd next to a round horse or my other animals, If I made a two horse vehicle such as a brewery dray scene at an inn I would widen the archways so that the horses and wider dray could pass through. I like scale animals too one day I’m hoping to make a 0 scale model of the Midland Railway and MSWJR in Cheltenham in 1891-1911, I’ve got all the books ready and I know how everything looked in the period I’m going to model but unfortunately I don’t have the space, building plans or funds available yet.

Thank you Thunderforge That would be a wonderful idea and bring a new meaning to the term shunting horse! Heavy horses are very large in my style around the size of a tennis ball or slightly larger I’d love to make a layout with my round animals there would be a deer park with fallow deer and farms with horses, cows, goats, pigs, sheep and birds too. There will also be horses and ponies on the roads and wild animals such as foxes too. My dogs, cats, foxes and badgers would look unusual as they stand upright and are completely round with round tails too! If I do start the layout it would be an 09 estate railway set in the Cotswolds which also serves two villages and a small town, at the moment it will be called the Foxwood, Haresfield and Deercombe. This is what one of my fallow deer stags would look like they’re oval like watermelons and a doe looks identical but without the antlers, I may make fawns too. I’m sorry about the late reply your ideas are wonderful!!

I would love to model Synolda or Colossus in 09 but I don’t know if there are kits available. Synolda would make a great model and Colossus would be interesting too because she was Englands second 4-6-2 and a replica is being built too! I have always been a fan of early minimum gauge locomotives as they look very simple and uncluttered. If possible I’d also like a model of Katie, Ursula and Effie as I really like Arthur Haywood's designs.