david51

I hate predictive txt. past should be Oast and Tobin should be Tovil! sorry!

Past houses were common all over Kent ,many have been converted to homes . There are many around Faversham and Canterbury , Faversham being the home of Shepherds Neame who still have their brewery there . There were oasts near Sutton Valence which is in the area served by your railway . My old layout’Loose Road’ had much the same background as yours( I had a thread with some photos on RMWeb). There was a quarry near Sutton Valence which could be an extra scource of traffic. In my scenario the proposed tunnel near Tobin has collapsed leaving a truncated branch from Headcorn . My new vision of Loose Road is now in the planning stage. good luck.

Since posting last Sunday I have installed the goods shed and altered and widened the entrance to the goods yard

Just a few more pictures of North Street

Hi Welcome to North Street. This is my other layout( Bucklers Hard see my other thread) Some of you may recognise this layout from its previous incarnation as Loose Road which has appeared on this site and which I exhibited at Folkestone a couple of years ago. North Street represents part of an imagined extension Rye Harbour to wards Battle. The South Eastern originally intended the Ashfordto Hastings line to run up the Valley of the river Brede towards Battle. The line has been truncated at North Street on the outskirts of Rye. Although it is meant to be on the Kent/Sussex border I have tried to keep the scenery neutral so that I can run my other southern region stock . The photos show a a passenger train arriving,the loco going to take water before running round and the morning goods hauled by a Drewery 04 and shunting a few wagons . my inspiration is taken from the K&ESR and the East Kent railway both close to where I live and Faringdon o the old Meon Valley which I knew as a boy

Thankyou Johnster for your kind words. There are only two signals on Bucklers Hard , both non working colour lights. I’m afraid electrics are not my sting point and as the layout is intended only for me and the odd visitor I am not worried. I am afraid that I learned from previous larger layouts that complicated electronics are not my strong point. I like running trains not trying to find that latest short circuit or replacing a burnt out switch.The trees disguise the staging road/fiddle track. For many years I modelled US railroads and open staging is very popular there . In the photo the trees hide the staging track which has some buildings in front plus two carriage sidings to provide some digitise . For home use I find it effective and it means I’m not trying to place stock on the rails peering over a back scene . italso allows the full length of the layout to be seen , important with only 7’ available

It’s been a while since I posted any thing here . My previous layouts have been adapted as time has passed and I now show my latest manifestation’ Bucklers Hard.’ To be frank it doesn’t look anything like the real place in Hampshire but in my world the river is behind the operator and the area has see a small industrial park grow up providing a reason for continued freight . The branch runs from a junction near Lymington and is electrified. This provides a roundabout route to Southampton via Brockenhurst. The layout is only 7’ long so trains are limited to two coaches or two or three wagons . It sits on top of a bookcase in my spare room . It is not portable . I don’t have a fiddle yard but use American style open staging albeit slightly disguised by buildings in the foreground. All points are hand operated and I have no sophisticated electronics. The time span is from 1970 timid 80s but the period is very elastic and I run a variety of Southern based stock I hope the attached photos come out . i will post some more in due course

HHi Chris I was just catching up on your thread when I noticed the comments about Class33/2 perhaps I could just add a few comments. whilst it's true that 33/2s were largely found on the South east division by the late 60s the number of freight turns on that section were substantially reduced and as a result 33/2s ventured further afield certainly down the Southwestern main line and could be found regularly in Reading. Also in 1970 a number were sent to Eastleigh to have slow control equipment added so they could be found in Hampshire on test runs .They also worked to Lavant and Botley from time to time so you could certainly find an excuse to run one Anyway rule one applies -it's your railway. Hope this helps

Well I for one hope you will keep on posting here my wife's cousin lives in Concord and we know the area well I enjoyed your posts keep up the good work

More of NorthStreet

Photos of Loose Road

Photos of North Street

Once again thankyou for the kind comments. The signs were printed for me from a source no longer available but I now use Sankey Senics( no connection). Both layouts have undergone change,the original Loose Road has now metamorphosed into 'North Street',one siding has been removed and the platform is now in the middle of the layout. Although inspired by the K& ESR and the Hayling Island branch it is not set in any particular area so I can run any of my Southern Region stock. what is now Loose Road has had some track alterations but is still based on the Maidstone Headcorn might have been . Iwill try to post some photos in due course Thanks again

I also have had periods when the mojo has gone. I switched to modelling US railroads and sold most but significantly not all of my British outline stock. After 20 years my enthusiasm for modelling railroads waned but I found my old British stock packed away and began to model BR again . However instead of one large layout I now have two smaller layouts, one set in kent and the other set in Dorset .they are both small and I frequently change things which helps keep my interest alive. I am now retired and on a limited budget. Keeping the layouts small keeps the cost down and installs some discipline in relation to stock that I can run. I run steam and diesels . Both layouts are 7'long but I run class 37s ad 47s with no problems More power to your elbow and always remember rule 1 ,it's your Railway . Run what makes you happy

I agree. Best layout at the show . My only criticism not enough grime! Excellent layout runs beautifully always plenty of interest.

If you need help I would love to give you a hand on Sunday

Over the years I have had a variety of environments for a model railway from portable layouts,layouts in the bedroom,I railway room (as now) and in loft. Aloft properly converted and equipped can be a great place for a layout. I have found that the biggest disadvantage is that of access. Often getting in the loft means opening the hatch,pulling down the ladder and clambering up into the loft. That can inhibit spontanaety because one cannot simply go and run a train quickly. My wife who is very tolerant of my hobby used to get annoyed if I just 'disappeared' especially when the children were younger. Access can be a problem to either with advancing age or young children. Climbing a loft ladder with arthritic limbs becomes less and less inviting and with small children one has to be careful about access and making sure that they don't fall out of the loft hatch,or even worse ,through the ceiling. I don't wish to be negative because I have built several successful layouts in the loft ,but there is no doubt in my mind that a railway in a spare room as I have now is the best option. The layout is always available at short notice,it is easily accessible by children of all ages .my reference material is kept under the layout and I am in the house and always available for example to answer the phone or the door ,or for meals or to help with the washing up!

I probably should have started a separate thread but here are some photos of what is now Loose Road. There is no run round but that was deliberate to increase shunting potential even if not very prototypical,but it is my layout and I built it to please me,no one else.

Those of you who read my earlier post about my layout Loose Road will recall that I mentioned that I had another layout,Derriford(Kings Road). . Like John Flann I like my railway to have a good believable back story even if it is only in my imagination. It gives the railway purpose in my view and I feel the trains are going and coming from somewhere even if in reality they are only traveling( in my case) a couple of feet. I was always happy with the explanation for Loose Road but Derriford never felt right so both layouts have now been transposed. Furthermore I have for many years been fascinated by the Swanage branch. I knew it before it closed and have watched its rebuilding with admiration for what has been achieved and although I live too far away to be actively involved regular visits have kept me in touch with progress. Over the years I have built several layouts based on the Purbeck area and I wanted to return to that theme.The result is that Loose Road has now become Lulwind Bay and Derriford has been partially rebuilt and has now become Loose Road . In 1912 the Kent and East Sussex Railway obtained powers to extend from Headcorn to Maidstone. Only the goods branch to Tovil across the River Medway was built, a tunnel being required under the North Downs to Loose .WW1 intervened and the extention was never built except in my world it was. In 1947 the tunnel collapsed and service was cut back to Loose Road and the stub was electrified in 1962 as part of the Kent Coast phase 2 and service runs from Ashford to Loose Road via Headcorn. as for Lulwind Bay there is a similar basis in fact in that in 1898 powers were obtained to build a light railway from near Worgret Junction to Osmington near Weymouth via East And West Lulworth. In the end problems with the military and a failure to raise the necessary finance spelt the end of the scheme and after WW1 buses linked Wool with Lulworth Cove ,except that in the mind of this modeller the railway did get built and was leased to the LSWR. Lulworth to Osmington closed in 1931 but thanks to tourism and the military presence in the area the line soldiered on until closure of the Swanage branch in 1972. I run trains that could have appeared between 1962 and closure . There is no military traffic(dealt with further back down the branch) but ball clay coal and fertiliser provide the staples which kept the branch going. I will provide some photos but those I originally posted of Loose Road are now Lulwind Bay. I hope that's not too confusing ,but I hear you ask if it is meant to be Lulworth why have you named the layout Lulwind Bay. Students of Thomas Hardy as I was many years ago will know that in his Wessex novels Lulworth became Lulwind and instead of Cove I decided Bay hence Lulwind Bay

It may be ugly but at least there is a railway at Snow Hill. It's not so long since there wasn't ! For my money I would rather use Snow Hill than New Street even in its 'rebuilt'state

It's very sad to see two members con grading that their interest has waned. Is it because large projects can become depressing in that they always seem a long way from completion. (I know that a model railway is never finished). Many years ago I started to build a large model railway based on the line from Plymouth to Okehampton. I never finished it and other things intervened . Since then I have tended to build smaller layouts which I am forever modifying but it keeps my interest fresh plus I just like 'playing trains'. David keep going . Your model is brilliant . I travel the Dover Folkestone line regularly and tomorrow as I change trains at Dover Priory I shall look at your photos and marvel at how well you have reproduced that section of line.

Finally , for any member who is interested,there is a very informative article about the proposed railway between Headcorn and Maidstone on the Col Stephens Museum websiteWhether a Q1 would have appeared on the line had it been built we shall never know ,but in my imagination......

A few more photos :-the old and the new. The R1 has escaped fromFolkestone Harbour and is substututing for a failed loco and is collecting a van full of pot plants( see Hawkhurst). The Class 73 is on trial. The class C is the usual branch freight loco

The Tovil branch opened in early 1900s and crossed the Medway by a very substantial girder bridge( now demolished). The branch was always goods only and served a number of paper mills on the eastern side of the river. As the mills closed the branch fell into disuse and was closed officially in 1977 though I don't think it had seen much use for a year or to before that . There was a station at Tovil on the west side of the Medway which closed in 1943 . It was just south ofthe junction with the Tovil branch. Just recently there was a local campaign to reopen the station. In likely but given the awful traffic in Maidstone ,who knows