HillsideDepot

Perhaps its my age, but weren't class 50s and Large Logo livery made for each other? Oh, the memories of the Western in the 80's...

Lunch is over, Jimmy Young has said "TTFN" and the final notes of his Town Talk signature tune have faded from the radio in the Cabin, it can mean only one thing for the crew of the No.2 Pilot: time to sort the yard, before the sidings start filling with wagons returning from the various terminals in the docks area. With a long raft of wagons drawn right down to the far end of the head shunt this unobstructed view across to Mortimore's coal yard is briefly possible before wagon sorting commences and blocks the view once again. Sunny seventies summer days, would they ever end?

A few more photos from the archives... As has already been mentioned, Mortimore's Yard draws heavily on childhood memories and locations around Chippenham for its structures and settings, albeit mixed together in a different order. The walk to town, or to my maternal grandparents included a footpath alongside the GWML between Unity Street and Lowden where, if I was lucky, I would see a train run along the high embankment. A little further on another path, known locally as the "Cinder Track", linked Sheldon Road with Goldney Avenue. This second path was further away from the railway, but offered views into the rear of Kingham's frozen food depot, before continuing between Castle Combe & Chippenham Dairies delivery depot and Downing Rudman & Bents joinery factory. So whilst not replicating either of the actual footpaths, the influence for this path besides the railway at Mortimore's Yard is clear. Looking from the very end of the layout a partial view is possible of the shunters' "cabin", the prototype for which was illustrated in a poor quality print from 110 film (remember that?) Finally for now, with only a morning shift on Saturdays at Mortimore's Yard this blackbird is left to sing on the aerial undisturbed by the clanking and banging of wagon shunting.

As it is a Bank Holiday weekend there is nothing happening in the sidings at Mortimore's Yard, but if the weather is kind perhaps it'll be a chance to relax in the garden. First some of the gardens behind the terraced houses in Langley Road: Might have to cut the grass and feed the rabbit first though Other's will have the vegetable plot, as seen from the back bedroom window, to tend before they can relax Minimal maintenance with a large area of concrete, but a bench to relax on once the veg has been checked Now the gardens behind the bigger houses in Tugela Road: All very neat at number 7 Next door at number 5 there is an alternative type of garden produce And finally, the garden behind the Scout HQ in Audley Road. Space for games, a camp fire circle, flag pole and the green hut which is used by the Venture Scout unit. Have a relaxing weekend!

This looks like an interesting project, and even more interesting that you are using it as part of your DofE Award. As a DofE assessor myself, it'd be great if one of my Explorer Scouts decided to do railway modelling as their skill - I can but hope. I'll certainly be following your progress.

Another typical railway structure is the small arch bridge carrying the line over urban roads, although these may have been nothing more rural tracks when the railway was built. In Chippenham the arches at Lowden and Sheldon Road provided the inspiration for the bridge which is almost at the centre of the layout. Many hours was spent with lengths of flexi-track laid out on wallpaper on the floor, adjusting curves, tweaking angles, pondering the plan. Time spent at this stage certainly paid off as the resulting plan has stood the test of time. Much of the railway west of Chippenham station is on an embankment, and that too was an influence in the design of Mortimore's Yard, and open top baseboards were used. Even at this stage there was further tweaking of the plan, paper stapled to the woodwork to simulate the landscape while the rest of the scenery was "imagined". Gradually, bit by bit, the plan became reality, and since then the model has almost become a real place.

It rather reminds me of the "wrong" green which one of the GWR150 47s was initially painted (47484, possibly).

Thanks Rob. Not sure if the roof leaks, it's always warm and sunny whenever I visit Mortimore's Yard The model has slightly warped over the years, so it is more representative of the real one than when it left my work bench. I think I used every style of Wills planking available and hand scribed some parts too. That's the beauty of basing a model on a real structure, you get textures and contrasts which I for one couldn't imagine or invent without seeing the real thing.

Thanks for your comments and "likes". Sadly the layout isn't named after Clive, although there may be a family connection somewhere back in history. Mortimore & Son was the coal merchant formerly based at Chippenham station. Their old offices still stand and are now a listed building. Hopefully the model captures the feel of the original. It was quite a challenge as the building appears to have had many alterations over the years, each one in a different style of planking! The "cabin" (in Western terminology) at the far end of Mortimore's Yard No.3 Road is based on this delightful hut which once stood in Chippenham's Up Yard. Part of the Westinghouse Brake & Signal Company's factory is just visible in the background. These little memories from my childhood (and teenage years) all sparked models, gave me ideas and inspiration.

Welcome to Mortimore's Yard! I've finally decided I should share some of my layouts with RMWeb, so here are some pictures of the first one, Mortimore's Yard. Like all my layouts Mortimore's is set in the Bristol Channel coastal city of Westonmouth and serves what freight traffic remains on the once busy city docks. Following a landslide on the main route to the docks Mortimore's Yard has a renewed significance in the area as all traffic has to be reversed here, and many wagons are shunted either for delivery or for onward transit outward. The yard takes it's name from Mortimore's coal merchants who have a private siding opposite the yard. So much for the fiction, Mortimore's Yard is inspired by various locations in Bristol, especially Wapping Wharf and Ashton Meadows, and many of the buildings are based on examples in my home town of Chippenham. The layout has been exhibited locally, but is primarily now for my entertainment at home. An on-going project at the moment is to construct a working timetable of trains and traffic flows, along with continuing detailing and weathering of locos and stock. Rather like the sleepy nature of the layout, nothing happens quickly on my work bench, especially as modelling is just one of my spare-time activities, in the mix with leading an Explorer Unit and running a Young Leaders Unit in Scouting, helping out in various ways at my Church, and getting out in the countryside kayaking, cycling and hiking. The layout has 3 boards each 3'6" x 2' as that is the best size to fit my car. Mortimore's coal yard. Having run round 6V42 the Fawley to Blaise Sidings Esso train a class 33 sets back into Mortimore's Yard to detach a defective wagon. A Hymek accelerates away past the war-time signal box as it leads a trip freight to Queensland Yard from where the wagons will be dispersed around the country. A quite moment at the stop blocks. Some general views of the area around the sidings. Bristol Division Tunnel Inspection Coach DW150144 basks in the sunshine.

When 03121 and 382 aren't shunting Peafore Yard they also cover Pilot duties at Mortimore's Yard and into the Westonmouth Docks, especially over the restricted quayside branch. Or put it another way, here are my interpretation of the pair on my Mortimore's Yard layout. (Sorry for diverting your thread, Rob)

As owner of a pair (yes, the Bath Road duo, the same as Rob) I'd say go for it. They are a nice model, and run well. I'm umming and ahhing about a 3rd to join the stock for an earlier period project - maybe I should follow my own advice!

Interestingly, when I saw this photo this morning before I knew about the proposed extension, I thought "doesn't that look like it should continue, with a few lines of vacuum braked goods wagons where the brake van is". That photo really leads me in to the picture, almost putting the extension there in my mind's eye where nothing currently exists. I'll certainly be interested to watch the extension develop.

Good to see Westbridge on here Alex, I spent some time admiring it at Bishop's Cleeve last autumn. Very nice.

The Swindon Panel Preservation Facebook page has a photo of some mast piles which have appeared at Hay Lane (betwixt Swindon and Wootton Bassett) in the last few days - it's spreading west!

I'm not (yet) too familiar with the designs of OHLE being used on the GWML, but when I passed the former Park & Ride site near Penhill in Swindon on the weekend (on the top deck of a bus) I noticed that the car park there was full of lorry semi-trailers with what looked like masts, and "arms" for the project. I might be wrong, but whatever it is, there is a lot of it!

There is a lot of bridge work going on west of Wootton Bassett. On the South Wales line Callow Hill bridge (the first one west of the M4) is closed at the moment and the bridge at School Lane in Brinkworth has recently been rebuild. I was out in the Badminton & Alderton area yesterday and all the bridges I saw had been rebuilt. On the Bath line Dauntsey bridge was done last year, as was one at Thingley. There is currently a bridge being rebuilt west of Thingley and the public footbridge at Chippenham Station is currently out and being rebuilt (more complicated this one as it will have lifts to the platform). Work is scheduled for "Skew Bridges" just west of Wootton Bassett Junction this summer, and NR will be building a temporary road over the fields along side the stone terminal to avoid traffic chaos (not helped by a planning restriction on the works at the former RAF Lyneham which specifies the route to be taken by HGVs), then the same temporary road will be used while the Marlborough Road bridge is rebuilt. Box Tunnel has a long closure this summer as does Sydney Gardens. No masts yet, but lots of preparation. I understand the transfer of signalling from Swindon (SN) to Thames Valley has been delayed again, but lots of new signals are in evidence next to the current gantries.

Bedwyn has always struck me as an odd one. Sure it is the place with the turn-back siding, yes it is the edge of the cheap Network SouthEast style fares, but it's the middle of nowhere! Undoubtedly it's busy and the overflow of the car parking provision causes lots of problems in Great Bedwyn, but is it not actually diluting the market at Pewsey? Yes there are also the intermediate stations, but compare station-less Wantage and Shrivenham on the mainline to Hungerford on the B&H. What is the historic reason for the London suburban network straggling out to Bedwyn? The local campaign group seems to think that a battery EMU is the answer, and eventually it might be, but is there capacity in the fleet and how long before that in turn will be superseded a Newbury - Taunton - Exeter electrification? I don't want to see anything cut, but it rather looks like Bedwyn is turning out to be the anomaly I've long see it to be.

A bit like this one? The prototype for this once existed in Chippenham up yard. It's seen here minus it's chimney as I couldn't tell from a photo I took on it back in 1985 whether the chimney was within the building footprint, or added on the rear. A chance look at a very large scale OS map at work, and the hut is still shown, with the chimney within the building outline. I've since added the chimney to the model, but as the layout is set up at home it's impossible to photograph.

As promised a few more photos from Corsham, although the NR video shows things very well. First a close up of the 500 ton crane, working on the foundations on the far side of the line. The Project Engineer said that the calculations suggested that a 250 ton crane would do the job, but the reach needed put it close to the limits, so the decided to use "the next size up". Incidentally the bridge weighs in at 20 tons. Roughly 12 hours after the old bridge had been lifted out the new structure takes to the air in front of a large crowd. Nearly there, the bridge is lowered into its home for the forthcoming decades. Whilst the old bridge was certainly showing its age, it was the fact that it was 90mm too low to provide clearance for the OHLE which sealed its fate. And a view along the Main Line The operation brought out a good number of interested people of all ages, finding it an unusual way to spend a glorious spring afternoon. Of course many of the audience had questions for members of the Orange Army as they entered and left the site. Many of these people were contractors rather than NR employees and most were specialists in specific tasks, yet without fail all of them engaged with the public and answered what questions they could, even if all they could do was explain their particular part of the job. The Project Engineer said that the most common question was "when is Corsham getting its station" as there has been a long running campaign for the reopening. The answer from the engineer was, "if my bosses give me the plans, I'll build it for you" as its not his decision. But it was a great answer. The negativity we sometimes hear about the GWML project was certainly nowhere to be heard yesterday, the crew actually out there delivering the infrastructure are a real credit to the both the rail and construction industries.

Here is Network Rail's video of the Corsham work: https://youtu.be/UANlslRRqvs I have a few more photos to add, but haven't yet had time to select the best.

Managed to get out early and take a few pictures. The crane, resting between lifts. Half of the bridge, looking rather rusty and showing the cables mentioned by Ben. Out with the old... ...in with the new. I'll have another look at lunch time, but I suspect they might be dismantling the crane by then. There was a TV camera on site, and I had heard that the BBC were recording it. I also saw several people with Lobster Pictures on their Hi-Viz, so it seems the work was recorded.

I've just got back from Corsham (between Chippenham & Bath) where this weekend there is a possession to replace a footbridge. The bridge in question is next to the old goods shed (which still stands), and whilst important to the locals is pretty insignificant in the whole project. But there is a two-day road closure in place so that they can use an enormous crane to lift the bridge out. The stabiliser legs of the crane reach across the width of the road, and the plates it's feet stand on filled an extra-long artic truck. Several more over-size artics carry the crane's counter balance weights to and from site. The road closure is in a residential area, and about a dozen houses are now within the work site, access to and from being controlled by NR's contractors and 8 foot high fencing. The residents in the two houses nearest the footbridge have been moved out for the weekend to a hotel as the bridge will be lifted right over the building! As the chap on the gate said, "everything has been meticulously planned and checked, but if we do drop it we won't just be the cracking the plaster on the ceiling". The road closure has been applied for this weekend and next, so I had assumed that it was old bridge out this weekend, new one in next, but the gateman said they take possession of the line at 0100 and plan to lift the bridge out overnight. The new bridge, which is coming from Ireland and isn't yet on site, is then going in tomorrow evening/night leaving the day light hours to prepare the site at accept the new structure. Trains tomorrow are being diverted via a reversal at Bradford Junction, as they are next Sunday (on Real-Time Trains), so I'm wondering if next weekend (road closure and train diversion) is a contingency plan. I'll go back in day light tomorrow (fitting it around church, which is in the opposite direction) and see if I can get any photos; none were possible tonight as parts of the crane were against a background of flood lights, while the top half was in darkness against the night sky and all behind the 8 foot high mesh fences. In many ways this is "just a footbridge", but to see the amount and size of the equipment on site (not forgetting the visit from a pizza delivery van!) for this one job really brings the size of the whole GWML project into sharp focus.

No sooner do they finally demolish the eye-sore that the real conveyor was, than it reappears in model form! Seriously, looking great Rob, and the thought that Cheltenham is only 3 weekends away is as exciting for me as it probably is terrifying for you.

Comparisons are always going to be difficult, especially when we don't yet know what the actual price the trailer will be, but, lets take Hattons price for a 64xx which is a few pence under £70. Add the trailer, say £70, although that seems to be list price rather than discount. So, lets say, £140 for a two vehicle train. However, also on Hattons website you can have a 2 car Derby Lightweight DMU for £123.21, or a 2 car Sprinter for £135.95. Perhaps a single car DMU is operationally more comparable to the auto-train, but given we're looking at two models to form the auto train I'd say a 2 car DMU is a valid comparison (£129.00 is list price for a Heljan class 128 single parcels car, apparently). OK the DMUs have working head and tail lights, but I suspect they have far fewer separately applied detail parts than the auto train. Not wishing to fan flames, but just a thought. Ultimately each modeller will have to decide what is reasonable or not. Whether it is the modeller's shelf or the warehouse rack which ends up groaning under the weight of blue boxes remains to be seen.