David C

Nice looking layout with lots of interesting detail. I like the backstory, too. David C

A good "back story" for what could be an interesting light railway layout. I have thought of doing something similar using the MSLR as inspiration, either a fictional branch as you have chosen to do or alternatively modelling a prototype station, but I am too heavily involved with existing two projects (both ex GWR and Deutsches Bundesbahn BLTs!). There have been at least three layouts based on real stations on the MSLR, all being Scalefour. Two were built by someone whose name escapes me, but they were beautiful 4mm scale copies of Laxfield and Kenton, both layouts being featured at various times in MRJ. The third was constructed by a club (I think it may have been Leamington), but I can't recall which stations were reproduced. It did the rounds of the exhibitions in the 1980s, as did Laxfield, although Kenton (which was a continuous layout unlike Laxfield and the other one) appeared later. What period are you planning to set your layout in? The BR one would be easiest with J15s and 4 or 6 wheel generic coaches being available from Hornby. I assume you've got the Oakwood history of the line. Best of luck with your layout. David C

The problem with infilled track is that the chairs or whatever rail fastenings you're using remain visible and it is there which makes views such as the one of the Beattie tank crossing the crossing (!) not terribly realistic. I avoided a similar problem on my Bavarian layout by making up short lengths of track consisting of Peco code 75 FB rail soldered to PCB sleepers, thus eliminating chairs altogether. Appearance wise, It looks a lot better than using ordinary Peco track, but I still ran into a problem. Fleischmann H0 locos have deep flanges and whilst 2 of the 3 I have don't have a problem negotiating the PCB track, the newest (a big brute of a 2-8-2T) invariably stalls as it moves onto it. Probably the infill needs a little trimming. In your case, I suspect you wont think it is worth ripping up the track and scenic work, particularly if the end on view is difficult to see. Whatever, it is a very nice layout. David C

Very nice scenic work. The transition of the road into the backscene using photography is very effective. I've long thought the location there (which I've only ever seen photos of) would be an attractive and effective way of masking the exit of track into a fiddle yard with the two buildings on either side, both of which are rather more interesting than usual. I look forward to seeing the rest of the layout. David C

Looks like an interesting backstory for a fictional light railway. I look forward to seeing the project develop. David C

A few years ago, I got talking to an elderly couple at a party in rural Suffolk. It transpired that the husband had been the economic attache at the East Berlin embassy. On being posted there, he and his wife were told that their flat was almost certainly bugged, so they should not say anything that might give the East German authorities the idea that their relationship was rocky. Either or both of them might then be assumed to be susceptible to "honey traps" and then potentially be subject to blackmail. Whenever the couple needed to have a row, they had to get in their car and go for a drive into the countryside. By the time they got there, tempers had usually cooled and so they went and had a drink in a pub instead. There you are: not only do you get to read of interesting life stories on RMWeb, but you also get tips for keeping your marriage together! I.e., go and live in a totalitarian state where the Secret Police are bugging your accommodation..... David C

What I was given is rather hard, so maybe less graphite is gets onto the rails and thence onto the wheels ....... I am of course speaking (writing) from my usual position of complete ignorance ...

There was a similar, but rather smaller line in York Minster circa 1968-70. I was a student at the time and visited York one weekend as I'd never been there before. Imagine my amazement on entering the Minster to find a short length of prefabricated narrow gauge track with a solitary flat wagon parked on it. The place was being renovated at the time and large chunks of the floor had been taken up, so I assume the railway was used to carry lumps of stone. David C

It would have been another vote for isopropyl alcohol and cotton buds from me until March 2022. What happened then? I was exhibiting one of my layouts at Ally Pally and chatting to the guy who was showing the neighbouring layout. He recommended graphite, gave me a stick and then rubbed it on to the exit from my fiddle yard. Weidenstein has since been to the Tolworth show and operated on numerous occasions at home at least weekly. The wheels and the track have never been cleaned in the previous 15 months and operation has been perfect. .... I don't know what grade of graphite it is that I was given or where you can buy it. Whether the graphite pencils you can buy from art shops are suitable or not, again I have no idea. I also can't remember the name of my neighbour at Ally Pally (but then, these days, I can't even remember my own!) or that of his layout, which was a small-ish but very attractive 0:16.5 American prototype model. Nevertheless, I owe him many thanks for relieving me of the chore of cleaning track and wheels and also of replacing lineside details which inevitably get damaged in the process. David C

Its unfortunate that you had to break up Bacup. I rarely find urban layouts terribly convincing but Bacup captured perfectly the atmosphere of a Lancashire mill town in the 1960s with its characteristic, but run down houses and mills. I'd rank it alongside Buckingham, Copenhagen Fields, the late Iain Rice's creations and the other greats of the model railway world. I'm very glad you've restored some of the photos of it. Thanks David C

I'm looking forward to seeing how Sandside progresses, largely because I visited the area on several occasions when I was a lad. Although born and (mostly) bred in London, my mother's family came from Blackburn. On visiting my grandparents, there were usually day trips to various places around the North, one of the destinations being Sandside. I don't remember much of the railway apart from seeing trains crossing the bridge over the Kent in the far distance and also wagons glimpsed as we drove past the quarry. My uncles also bought a caravan site somewhere in the area. Although my parents stayed there on on a few occasions, by this time, I was a spotty adolescent and was certainly not going on holiday with them. Now, I rather regret not doing so as I would have seen more of the last days of steam at the time. I remember Bacup which seemed to capture the atmosphere of the North perfectly. All the best for your current project. David C

I agree that the advance models look remarkably well detailed and realistic. One quick question (not intended as a criticism): how easy will it be to remove the corridor connections? Almost all of the vehicles my eagerly awaited Siphon will be coupled to are compartment coaches (my layout is - guess what- a branchline!), so prototypically the connections would be compressed. I appreciate that manufacturers can't cater for extended/compressed connections, so have replaced the ones on the few corridor vehicles I've got .... Ideally, I'd like to do the same on my Siphon, but might decide to live with the connections for fear of damaging it. David C

Try Dart Castings. www.dartcastings.co.uk. Sorry, can't attach link for some reason. From memory, the posts are made of whitemetal with glass casings made of a clear plastic. I wasn't impressed with them (too easily bent) and didn't use them on Woodstowe (my BR (W) layout). David C

Fatadder is also quite right re: the Cheddar Valley. The area it served was a major producer of fruit, which definitely got transported away in siphons of various kinds. I think the GWR and probably BR (W) even ran special trains of the vehicles, but presumably, only in season. Whether they appeared on branchlines or not obviously depended on the traffic on offer, so all the BLT modellers have to do is invent a traffic to justify them like The Johnster has. There was also Kingsbridge. According to the Oakwood history of the branch, siphon Gs were used to carry up to 25 tons a week of crabs and lobsters to Billingsgate, Birmingham and Southampton leaving the terminus attached to either the 4.15pm or the 5.30pm passenger departures. Siphons were also employed carrying rabbits (once a food staple up to the 1950s when myxomatosis wiped out most of population) to Birmingham and Sheffield. This traffic departed on the 2.05pm service. The return workings carried live pigeons to Kingsbridge apparently. Looking at photos of Kingsbridge in BR days, there are usually a few NPCS vehicles either parked in the goods yard or attached to trains en route to the junction. SR utility vans of several different types were particularly common, as were ex GWR LWB 4 wheel vans (bloaters?) I haven't seen any photos featuring a siphon G, but a 4 wheel panelled ex LNER van sometimes appears as does what is possibly an LMS bogie van in the distance in one shot. Incidentally, does anyone know what the siphon G on the Cardigan branch carried? Nothing is specified either in the Oakwood history or in the exhaustive and detailed article in MRJ many years ago. David C PS: I've ordered and paid for my model of the siphon G already!

The Stationmaster is right: I can't recall seeing any Siphon Gs in photos of branchlines except one and that was Cardigan. One was attached to the morning mixed train with a single brake 2nd coach plus whatever wagons were on offer. David C

You can prevent all of the above Corona symptoms by using sanitizer regularly, wearing a mask in public places and only going out to exercise for an hour a day maximum. Dr Chris Witty P S: you can watch all of my Corona related broadcasts on BBC i Player, ITVX etc. Unfortunately, Boris also appears .... David C

Please do keep updating! You have at least one member of RMWeb who is interested. The photo above is also quite interesting. Apart from the BR89, there is an electric steeple cab on the left - it looks a bit like the old Triang steeple cab that was around in the 1950s or 60s. The wagons behind the the 89 look as though they are loaded with coal or some version of it as it is quite matt. (Brown coal? Briquettes?) The wagons are loaded above the top of the sides, so it looks as though I may have to make my H0 scale removeable loads higher. All the best. David C

Interesting to read your comments about Roco locos. I only have one, their BR64, bought new not so very long ago. Apart from losing odd bits, the main problem I have with it is the method of removing and then replacing the body. This is actually in two parts: the boiler and the cab. Between the two are several bits of straight wire and a number of plastic ones attached to some very fine mouldings of valves and connectors. In order to fit the boiler and cab back together, all of these have to be put back together. Its not a problem unless you have only the usual complement of fingers as supplied by one's parents. The first time I tried to get the body/cab back onto the chassis after oiling the loco as per the instructions, it took me a mere 90 minutes. The second time I tried it (after its running became somewhat lumpy due to dirty wheels and wipers), during the ensuing hour plus, I broke some of the mouldings. Roco kindly sent me a replacement at a cost of about 10 euros plus postage. If I break the same mouldings each time I attempt to service the damn thing, I'll probably have to sell a kidney! My 64 is a beautiful model, but only to look at. As a working loco, it's pretty much useless. I didn't buy their recently introduced BR 86 as a result even though I was very tempted. I envy you your acquisition of the 98.8xx. I have one and it's one of my favourites, albeit rather noisy. Apparently, they have a reputation in this respect, but I quietened mine down by using some Carr's microgrease (which I don't think is available anymore) rather than the recommended Fleischmann oil. I wonder if Roco will re-introduce it as they have done the BR70. If they do, I really hope they wont re-design it! Looking forward to seeing progress on Pottendorf. Regards David C

You mentioned somewhere (I can't quite remember where!) that you were looking for a suitable water column for your new epic. Don't bother! Apparently, the Bavarians built their loco sheds with water tanks in the roof space but didn't provide traditional type columns. Locos had to move into the sheds themselves to take on water. I only discovered this having bought a water column for my layout and then was puzzled when I couldn't find any photos of any on the internet or in magazines or books on Bavarian nebenbahnen. It seems also to have puzzled German modellers until someone posted photos of a loco taking on water inside the shed at Tegernsee on one or other of the forums (fora?) a while back. All the best David C

The major problem with Woodstowe is it’s weight: it is simply too heavy. I am now knocking on a bit and it is getting increasingly difficult to lift the baseboards up onto their trestles and to take them down again when I want swop over to playing with Weidenstein. I think it was the late Cyril Freezer who suggested than 4’ x 2’ was the largest size of board that the average person could handle. That may have been true when I was younger, but it is increasingly less so now I’m in my 70s! This means that exhibiting is becoming rather more problematic. Apart from the weight of the boards, most of the mates who used to operate Woodstowe are in the same age bracket and are getting frailer. Not all of them are, but it may not be too far in the future before I have stop exhibiting. This, I would regret – I like to show off and natter to punters just as much as the next man! I did contemplate removing all the track and infrastructure as I could without damaging them too much and reinstalling them on shorter and lighter ply boards from Tim Horn, Grainge and Hodder & co., but couldn’t raise very much enthusiasm for the project. Although rebuilding would enable me to get rid of all the little things about the layout that I felt I had got wrong, doing almost the same thing again just didn’t appeal. Here are a couple more pics of the layout.

Woodstowe was started as long ago as 1998. I can’t recall exactly when it was completed, but it must have been in about 2011. The layout appeared in RM in 2012 and was first exhibited about a year later. For a relatively small BLT (11’6” x 2’) with only 8 turnouts, 13 years is a pretty lengthy build time! With previous layouts, I’d always sold them on in order to fund the next one. This usually resulted in some feelings of regret. Admittedly, these varied depending on how good or bad I felt the layout was! When I started toying with constructing a German prototype layout, I held off flogging Woodstowe for some reason. Having erected the layout again after neglecting it for a couple of years or so, I’m rather glad I did. BLTs are supposed to be boring to operate (and some are, of course), but operating it to prototype timetables (see earlier posts in this thread) is, I find, still interesting. I’ve also tackled a couple of plastic wagon kits that have been lurking in a cupboard for years, which I was surprised to find I rather enjoyed. (The UK is one of the very few countries whose modellers have so many small scale industries providing such kits. European modellers have a lot of firms which sell kits for buildings, but hardly any for rolling stock.) Finally, the layout itself was in quite good nick. In the 20 plus years of Woodstowe’s existence, I haven’t had to repair and/or replace very much at all. It has had a little refreshing of the scenics, a new Dapol signal and the odd re-solder of a joint or two, but that’s it. The result of all this woffle is that I’m keeping it. So what else is there to do? Stay tuned for next week’s exciting episode of what to do with a geriatric model of a common or garden ex GWR branch line terminus! David C

As promised (or rather threatened!), a few photos of the other half of the scenic section of Woodstowe.

Alas, I've run out of time, but I'll cover the rest of the scenic section tomorrow or this evening, plus updates on the layout itself. David C

As almost all of the photos in this thread have disappeared and, I suspect, will never be seen again, I thought I'd reinstate those I have saved on my laptop. Alas, I couldn't recall which ones I'd posted before or even where on the thread, so I've just tried to give an overall view of the layout. As the scenic section is only 8' x 2' anyway, it shouldn't be too difficult! These images are of one of the two baseboards.

B***** hell! I'm impressed ... David C