SouthernRegionSteam

Genius! Love that idea 😆 I tell you what, if I sealed off the baseboard edge properly, I could make a tea 'tide' come in. It would suit the mudbanks, plus provide a reason for the swing bridge to need opening!

Don't worry, I have been lurking; so I know what to expect. Besides, I'm used to the SWAG thread and all the confuzzlement that ensues from there! In all seriousness (if possible for a mo!), I'm just looking forward to the next time I see a layout from the Sheep Chronicles. This scene from Ewe still sticks in my memory from the last SWAG do:

Now 'Shaun* the Sheep' makes sense! 😆 I'm ashamed that this is my first post on this thread - must try harder! *Shorn - get it? Wait. Maybe that was the pun they were going for when they named him... oh...

Thank you - I'm glad you agree. Short of handbuilding track, I think it may be about as neat and flowing as I can get it! As tea accounts for 99% of the liquid I drink, it's certainly an essential. I love the Kitkat cubby hole idea! 😄 Have you got to the point where you can now fit multiple in; since choccy bars seem to be getting smaller and smaller?! (He says, having devoured a huge bar of Dairy Milk over the Christmas period!) I'm now thinking if I can fit a small chocolate bar in one of the finished 'Beetles', or perhaps hollow out the brickworks building and hide some in there! 😆 Edit: Now that I think about it, the hards created for D-Day embarkation are chocolate bar shaped. The one at the front middle of the layout will be the same. Hmm....

Good point. It's certainly a necessity when exhibiting, though having said that... my other layout, Sandy Shores, does have a collapsible shelf on the trolley that supports it that can also be used for tea/cake - though it does move with the layout so that's a risk in itself. On the plans, I've tried to show that there is a raised edge around the tea/plate area (forgot to do the front edge, though). I may also add recesses that, certainly the cup at least, can sit into to further minimise spillage! As someone who usually has a giant cup of tea, and is around electronics, I'm always super wary of it! I have tried to keep the tallest and most damaging thing (liquid) the furthest from the delicate parts (control panel and stock). Edit: I certainly wouldn't personally risk having the cup any further away - especially if it means reaching for it past stock.

Some more work on the plan last night and a bit of tweaking this morning has seen a few changes. It's now looking a lot better, I feel. As it's probably hard to compare the plans, here's a breakdown so far: Swing bridge moved 7cm to the right to reduce the curvature of the river and provide more room for trees to hide the scenic exit. Road on the far left (and level crossing) has been moved to reduce curvature a touch. Brick kiln has been shuffled slightly to the left to make more room for the river. Nissen hut moved to the right by about the same amount, with the rear siding cut short, and quay also shortened to increase the width of the river here. Store moved to where the office was (by the gates) and is now a joint office/stores building. Derrick crane enlarged, and rotated to better fit the space, whilst also improving the usability of the crane itself (it previously only reached a small area of the hardstanding). All track relaid, with a curved point replacing the medium left point by the bridge. Most of it I think is similar to BB12, but there are changes. The loco shed has been moved to the area in front of the signal box. This does mean the loss of a good spot to park the brake van, but I think it's the better option? I've taken @Nick C's suggestion - what used to be the loco shed line has now been slightly straightened, and now ends by the slipway (though not in front of the winch shed. The removal of the loco shed from this corner means I can set the winch shed and slipway back a bit from the baseboard edge. The boatyard clutter has now moved to the more logical spot of next to the slipway. The Beetle under construction has now moved to where the clutter used to be, with a new area of hardstanding accessed via the wooden jetty. Two completed Beetles have now been added in the 'basin' by the derrick crane, awaiting the tide to come so that it can be floated for final assembly with it's 'Whale' roadway. Here's the updated siding capacities (I've also added a tank engine with 4x open wagons and a brake van to the fiddle yard) And here's an annotated version showing the points used. I've tried to add short bits of straight track on critical areas to minimise the chance of derailments (with a few exceptions): I think that's everything I changed, aside from minor things like moving the halt's wooden path so that it doesn't cross any tracks, and adding patches of grass and suchlike. I of course welcome any further comments or suggestions!

Found the place - it was Underfall Yard, Bristol. Can't find the photo still, but there's a very interesting virtual tour here - be warned - it has audio that cannot be muted once the tour starts (though you could mute the tab in your browser). You can virtually look around the entire site, including the aforementioned sleeper 'bridge' covering the chains for the slipway/winch. Alternatively, it is just visible in this Flickr photo, and here's a diagram.

Indeed, there doesn't seem to be much of a precedent for running a track in front of a winch, but this one at Sheerness had two winches with a track behind it. There does seem to be something connecting the winches to a shed behind, but I've no idea what that is; it can't be a cable for the winch. Now that I think about it, I swear I saw a photo somewhere of a winch cable in a trough with temporary railway sleepers covering it, but I've no idea where I saw it, and I don't seem to have saved the photo like I thought I had. @petethemole's (I hope you don't mind me resharing this one) photos (now gone due to the server crash, but thankfully I saved local copies) from the first entry in this blog show such a channel in the concrete: All of what you see in the photo above will be in the final layout, and, although the brick building has been moved and modified from the original, it is still on the plan (labelled 'store'). That's useful to know, thank you. It's a shame PECO haven't got a three-way in their new bullhead range, as I might otherwise be tempted. I may live to regret this, but I think I'll carry on, at least for the time being, to continue using standard PECO code 100 trackwork (with exception of the 2 crossings). The majority of the track will be infilled anyway, so hopefully it won't look too coarse once painted/weathered. Absolutely. Like I said, the river traffic 'north' (up) of the bridge would be small river boats; nothing particularly big at all. However, I will endeavour to at least widen the river slightly, if not find a way to reduce the curvature a touch. Thanks for your continued support, chaps!

Thanks for this, Nick. I'll address your suggestions in turn: I agree it is a little bit of a tight turn. One thing I will say in its defence is that it is only really meant to be used for the Ruston 48DS - there are no coaling or water facilities for steam locos, for example. I suppose you could see a class 04 diesel, but to all intents and purposes it wasn't really designed for mainline locos to use the loco shed, nor the traverser. I don't think there is room there to adjust its position, so the loco shed would have to move, as you say, to another siding - you mention the nissen hut siding, but I was also tempted to put it by the swing bridge as a sort of view blocker. An earlier plan did actually have provision for a tall shed for a steam crane in a similar spot. With regards to putting a siding across the winch shed, I'm not sure how that would work. Presumably the winch cable would need to be fed under the track in a channel? Hand-made trackwork - this is indeed something I had considered (I was instead expecting someone would comment on the fact I'll be using Code 100 - I've got a bunch of medium points and flexitrack leftover from a failed project!). The two flat crossings would indeed be 'scratchbuilt' - I've done it in 009 so I should be able to do it in OO gauge. The thought of making points however scares the daylights out of me! Yet, it is something recently that has intrigued me, I will admit. I may well be tempted, but it would be a huge undertaking; especially with a 3-way point needed! Though to be fair, you did say 'some' hand-built track... Agreed; even if it is to be used for smaller river boats, it is very narrow. My original idea was to use forced perspective; both to suggest the scene is even deeper than it is, but also to get away with modelling a narrower channel. However, having the siding near the backscene at that particular point would rather ruin that illusion I suspect. I may have to slightly shorten that siding and quay, move the nissen hut to the right, and thus widen the river. Ideally, I'd chop a bit from the left bank, but the (very interesting) kiln needs the space. Thanks again for your thoughts - that has given me something to mull over and 'play around with' on XtrkCAD. All the best, Jamie

In recent months, whatever free time I can scrape together (which isn't much!) has been spent on continuing to draw plans for Bramble's Boatyard. As usual, I got carried away... ...but believe it or not, I have finally forced myself to draw some plans... wait for it... to scale! Yes, crazy isn't it - from what has been, by this point, years of 'flights of fancy', to actual workable plans! I've always known almost all of my previous plans would be optimistic (that's the trouble with free-hand sketching), but I must admit I was still surprised by how big many of my previous layout plans would need to be in real life. Truth be told, waaaay back in April 2021 (crikey!) I had layed out some old track onto the new studio floor and made a similar realisation with my very first design for Coastguard Creek. Even this layout would've been longer than anticipated, and the photo below still uses a bit of compression compared to what the plan should've looked like: Above: The first plan for Coastguard Creek mocked up using old track from my childhood. Note that the length of the headshunt (top right) needed to shunt the boatyard (bottom left) means a lot of 'wasted' space - causing the layout to be 1ft or more longer than I would've liked. Apologies, by the way, for the terrible photo! Clearly, doodling sketches is, whilst a fun pasttime, not conducive to workable layouts - for that, CAD and physical mock-ups are an absolute necessity. I'm sure I could've saved years by going straight to CAD! Most of the time (but not always) I was having so much fun during the research and sketching phase that it became a seemingly neverending circle of doodles. So, allow me to get you up to speed with the past few months. As always, I've retrospectively added version numbers. In reality, there were more sketches (hence why this starts at no. 7 below - some of the early failed attempts were shown at the start ^). I've thus only shown the 'good' ones. Note: BB7 and BB8 below have had XtrkCAD scale plans drawn just for this blog entry - to show how big they really were; they were not done at the time of sketching, so I had no idea of their feasibility (or lack of!) until now. BB7 I mentioned in a recent RMweb status update that I had produced an unusually shaped layout plan that I thought, given my love of tea, may have therefore been a sign that I was onto something great(!). I can now reveal what I had come up with: Above: BB7 is one of those layout ideas that I thought was the 'lightbulb moment'! Suddenly, a plan that encompasses all I wanted. I actually still like it a lot, but based on more recent designs, I think this would possibly require 3m x 2m of space (edit: close; it's 3m x 1.7m - see diagram below). I thought that the clever thing about the plan is that (apart from the fact that it's shaped like a teapot!) the rear line gives more 'run' for any passenger trains, and that the sharp curves that enable a 180 degree turn are off-scene. Note how this non-scenic section forms the station run-around, but that I didn't want it to have a point as that would require wiring - so the point is near the tide mill instead. (I've just noticed that I later scribbled a pub top left to hide the scenic exit, but forgot to alter the sketch properly - sorry!) I liked this design so much that I actually did a 3D sketch: Above: Note the overcast sky - as it's the run-up to D-Day, I felt that such a backscene would perhaps be more fitting? Having spent about 7 hours learning how to use XtrkCAD (it has some quirks!), here it is in scale form (please ignore the rushed track geometry on the passing loop!): Above: Like I said, it's certainly an interesting design that could work well if you had the space. You'd have to hope nothing derails towards the back of the layout, though! I have used radius 2 and 3 curves on the passing loop, and of course, I could go even tighter and go Radius 1 and 2 respectively; however, that is a bit too tight for locos like the Q1 which may make an appearance at times. All in all, I think it's a pleasing design, with some lovely curves and scope for setting the railway in the landscape. I do love the idea of a really deep layout with a one-piece curved backscene like this, but I've got no idea how I'd split it into manageable board sizes! BB8 Here's another comparison of one of my latest designs - this is a design I came up with last week: Above: BB8 - A layout featuring just about every scene that I could've possibly wanted to fit in. Notwithstanding having a huge roundy-roundy, this would've been close to the dream layout, I reckon; with the boatyard, brickworks, station, pub, mill, and causeway. The station shown is a replacement SR precast halt, which would've been built after the original pier station was damaged beyond repair (note the stubs of the pier supports beyond the buffers). The small replacement halt screams wartime economies - that, and the only traffic it gets would be workers to the boatyard by this point in time. I feel this plan has lots going for it, personally, however... Above: ...using XtrkCAD again to draw the track to scale shows that it would be an enormous layout; roughly 2.7m long x 2.3m wide - too big to fit in the house sensibly! I did attempt to split it into boards, but the weird shapes they formed (due to trying to avoid points on the joins) made me rethink that idea - you'll have to draw your own I'm afraid. Note that there are a few differences between the two plans, including the return of the coastguard houses on the right from the very first Coastguard Creek plan. Can't say I'm a fan of the 3rd radius curve by the tidal mill; although I suppose at least it is partly masked by the mill building itself. I did add a wooden wharf in front of the mill, but felt it was a little bit overpowering, so I later removed it. So, clearly things had to be scaled-down, and ambitions slightly quashed. As much as I'd love to, I don't have a dedicated railway room, and as it's unlikely I'll be moving out to a place of my own any decade soon (!). Compromise is, therefore, the name of the game... BB9 ...I thus refocused on just the boatyard and swing bridge. My thought being that, one day, should I afford to get a place of my own, I can build an extension to the layout that includes all the bits I had to chop off (and more). Looking at the plans above made me realise that, actually, a 2.5m long layout, whilst quite large, is certainly achievable if split into two boards, and could potentially fit in the house for operating sessions. We just need to trim the width quite a bit! Thus BB9 was formed: Above: It's quite a change from the previous plans! Whilst it is clearly smaller, it still has a lot going on. The XtrkCAD version of this plan (which in itself is the 4th iteration - I made small changes to it throughout the evening) is a bit of a cheat because I did away with the angled top and settled for a straight back to give me more scenic room. This was certainly needed: Above: The scale plan of BB9 shows a bit more restraint than the previous designs, culminating in a layout that, whilst still quite wide at its widest point (1m), becomes much more manageable. Using two identical board shapes/sizes should help with transportation as they can be bolted and stacked together. As you've seen, nearly all my designs feature whacky board shapes that are determined by the shape of the railway lines. This one is much more constrained, however, don't underestimate the effect of a simple curved front in giving a more natural and easy-on-the-eye look. It doesn't need to be too pronounced (as otherwise you'll create problems in terms of photographing the layout), but a smooth gentle curve is miles better than a straight-edged board. Clearly there are some differences between the two BB9 plans shown here, but every change has a good reason; for example, the hard has been relocated to the middle front - I wanted a leading line from the river up the slipway towards the platform and beyond. I also wasn't convinced there was enough room for the brickworks, so that didn't make it to the XtrkCAD plan. Note, however, that a small platform has appeared for the boatyard workers. I'll explain more about the design philosophy of BB9, BB10, BB11, and BB12 in the next post; as they are all very similar. BB10 For BB10, much has been kept the same from version 9, however, there are important differences. I'm actually going to show the XtrkCAD version first - primarily because this time I did that before the sketch: Above: Differences from BB9 are; a smoother flow to the trackwork, removal of the siding by the swing bridge and the siding by the winch shed, the rotating of the hard at the front to allow room for two 'dolphins', relocation of the cabin to the other side of the line (and thus changing which way the bridge swings), and replacement of 2x medium points with a single three-way point. Oh, and I've also added in the brickworks, bus shelter, and redrawn the buildings to scale (they were guesstimates beforehand!). Above: Here's the same XtrkCAD plan, but with suitable rolling stock on. The program comes with very little stock, but fortunately it was sufficient - I just wish I could change the numbers to codes as it would make identification easier (see notes below). Anyway, this shows the capacities of the sidings (excluding the loco shed line), which in many respects might seem quite limited. To me though, that is not necessarily a problem as it can prevent lazy shunting! I did try moving the three-way point further up, but the track geometry was already at its limit; I'd have to move all of the track to the right to make the headshunt (bottom left) longer, which I don't believe is worth doing. A few things to note: At the platform there is a Mk1 coach, and a CCT. The loco (#47, on the headshunt) is a Standard class 2MT 2-6-2. The loco on the traverser (#46) shunting the wagon is a class 02 (closest I could get to the tiny Ruston 48DS that will shunt it). All the other wagons are either short opens or 20' vans, except for the top road in the boat workshop which is a Lowmac (#58). Clearly the Lowmac won't fit on the traverser along with the loco, so that may cause an issue as it is likely to be the sort of wagon to use it! I may have to think up some sort of pushing device that I can activate for each of the workshop lines to push the wagons onto the traverser... Above: As mentioned earlier, the XtrkCAD scale plan for BB10 was drawn before this sketch; with the latter drawn over the top of it. This means that this sketch is actually, for the first time ever, to scale; and is achievable! I was going to leave it there, however... BB11 ...I felt it was important to try and improve slightly on BB10 by enlarging the traverser to allow a Ruston 48DS and a long wheelbase wagon (such as a Warflat, and other long flat wagons) to fit on it. The nearby Eastleigh Works was a hive of activity during WWII, which also featured such a traverser. This incredible footage from the Imperial War Museums website shows the shunting of various long-wheelbase wagons with landing craft and other vessels on top. The large Wagon Shop at Eastleigh was put to use building such craft, the IWM video shows some 25ft Fast Motor Boats, with the Carriage Works being delegated to construction of landing craft; like the LCS(M), as well as LCPs - also shown in the video. This website has more information and photos (including an equally fascinating second part accessed through the menu at the top). This should provide some very unusual and interesting wagon loads! I have no idea what many of these wagons are (many, to my untrained eye, look like coach underframes/chassis), so any further information would be much appreciated if you can identify any of those shown. Anyway, onto the plan. Here's the XtrkCAD version: Above: The difference from BB10 is quite simple; as mentioned, the traverser has been extended. That however has meant an additional point and flat crossing are needed to access the loco shed, and the line onto the traverser is now further back. A minor change is that the headshunt (bottom left) has been more or less straightened - the reason for this is because there was a nasty reverse curve leading from the topmost siding that goes near the nissen hut. Above: And here it is in sketch form. Pretty self explanatory, I feel. You will however notice the inclusion of the fiddle yard. Let's look at this in a little more detail: Fiddle yard I'll admit I haven't put too much thought into this aspect of the new layout yet, but it probably is time to! I've shown a cassette fiddle yard for BB11; with separate cassettes for locos (green) and rolling stock (orange). These will have handles with some sort of simple arrangement to act as buffers on each end. The brown length next to the cassettes will be the guide to ensure they align with the scenic section properly, and I suspect I will use a system of metal sprung wipers that will make contact with copper clad strips on the cassettes - on the opposite side to the guide. This is just my early idea, though, so it may change. Elsewhere, visible are the custom flat spots (with raised edges) for placing cups of tea and plates. Any exhibitor knows this is the most important aspect; to ensure that safe and adequate storage provision has been made for refreshments! A final thing to note is that the control panel has been purposefully angled - this is to allow better line of sight from the operator to both the layout and the public; so that conversation can be maintained more effectively whilst the layout is operated. Inspired by my computer monitor stand, one thing I've actually been considering is having the control panel on a movable arm that is clamped to the board; though this may be a bit overkill! Either way, some vertical storage shelves may be required at the back for the cassettes; we'll see. Of course, there are plenty of other fiddle yard designs, and if you'd asked me what type I'd have chosen only a few years ago, I would've completely ruled out cassettes as I was a bit scared of the possibility of dropping them. However, having visited shows and other peoples' layouts where they have been used effectively, they seem very convenient - and all you need to prevent too much potential damage is to have plenty of flat space to move them around. I am however tempted to go back to my roots and make a traverser fiddle yard, but they are slightly less convenient in terms of running around trains. Future modifications? Something which crossed my mind, especially considering my desire for a tide mill, is to have swappable scenes. This would possibly be difficult to do seamlessly, but I suppose it would be doable if the scenes were on foam plinths that could be carved to fit more natural shapes to follow the contour of the scenery. Here's one idea I had: Above: An alternate plan shows a few modifications; the replacement of the brickworks building and kiln with a tide mill and pond, the addition of a bridge at the rear of the river, and the replacement of the original halt with grass. Elsewhere, an SR precast halt is added to the grass bank (although it's a little close to that crane!). One thing that may be hard to spot is that I've added a wind screen in front of the halt. I saw a photo of Melcombe Regis station in Weymouth, and loved the idea of a semi-permeable screen. OK, so this isn't likely to be quite such a windswept place as it would be on a river, but I suppose Rule 1 applies! In any case, it is certainly an interesting view blocker, and I've not come across one modelled before. I'm sure someone has, though. Food for thought, but I think this is trying to cram too much onto the layout! BUT WAIT! There's one more! BB12 Yup. With fresh eyes yesterday morning, I realised one 'slight' snag. The 2.5m long layouts BB9-BB11 would fit in my room, however, I stupidly didn't take the fiddle yard into consideration! Annoyingly, there is a chimney breast right where the layout would sit, which reduces the available width down to 89cm. As it happens, the plans would actually fit in the nook - just. However, the last 40cm of the layout would be behind the chimney breast so would be difficult to see. Ah! Then let's flip the design around and put the fiddle yard in the chimney nook! I figured so long as I had about 30cm/1ft to squeeze myself in there, I could operate the layout at home if I wanted to. Therein lies the other problem, a 2.5m layout, even accounting for the curved front, would only allow about 15cm between chimney and layout - not enough; even for someone skinny like me! Thus, I've shrunk the layout down a touch to 2.4m; resulting in two (more standard) board lengths of 1.2m/4ft. By reducing the narrowest part of both boards to about 65cm/2.1ft from the earlier 77cm/2.5ft, the required access is provided. The baseboard curve starts off sharply to provide the clearance, then eases as it meets the middle of the layout. Above: OK, so the access space to the fiddle yard is not very generous, but that is something I can live with. I have a feeling, however, that I will need to make an addition to the left side of the fiddle yard for exhibition use, as 2ft for a fiddle yard isn't particularly large. As I plan to use cassettes, that should be a really simple thing to do; as no form of wiring is needed - it essentially being just a bolt-on flat surface. Compared to previous plans, you may note that the access track is at a greater angle, with a left hand point rather than a right hand point. The angle of the bridge and the area it sits when open to boat traffic is now much better. It is still a little bit sharp for boats, but that's why the slipway is on the 'south' side - the only things to use the area 'north' of the swing bridge would be smaller river vessels. Above: A quick look at the siding capacities suggests some minor improvements; the loop can now fit in a 4th wagon, and the two sidings on the bottom left/centre are very slightly more spacious. The wooden jetty also is set back a bit from the board edge thanks to the new design of the curved front. Technically, I could get another short wheelbase wagon on the top siding, too - but that would foul the road access to the boatyard. Note a tender loco has been put into the loco shed road for clarification of its length. Above: Once again, the sketch has been drawn on top of the XtrkCAD scaled plan. This is where a movable control panel would come in handy; once ScaleModelScenery release their unique 'Modulus' system, that should help on that front - as well as being used to control the animations like the traverser, level crossing gates, and swingbridge. Perhaps in the future I'll add animations for the derrick crane, but it won't be top priority. Anyway, it's nice to have a plan that is technically feasible - and one that, actually, I think should provide plenty of interesting angles, operating maneouvres, animations, and generally convey a rural New Forest scene; albeit one set during a hive of wartime activity! The wagon loads should be quite unique, too. Final thoughts So, to finish off, I think it's worth reiterating that, whilst it's all well and good sketching to your heart's content, at some point (preferably as early as possible) you must either; use a CAD package, grab some old track, make a scale model, or find another way of making a trackplan to scale. The earlier in the process you do this, the quicker your planning will become, the less time is wasted, and any compromises will be made before you have a chance to become upset at the thought of not fitting everything in that you may want. And as always, I repeat my mantra - Design for the space available; both in terms of storage/space to put up, and transportation. If you can't fit in everything you want, try to make scope for a layout extension (should you find more space in the future) or perhaps leave it for the next layout. You can of course just build one section or module at a time - which works well so long as you plan for this from the outset! Just remember that you don't have to build the layout of your dreams straight away! A smaller project can be just as rewarding, and gets faster, more visible results. Finally, what do you think of the plans (especially the final plan, BB12)? What do you like, what do you not like, and what could you suggest might improve things? I'd love to have some feedback; especially as I'm sure there is plenty I have not thought about! I always appreciate 'likes' - and if you click 'Follow' on the Coastguard Creek main blog page, you can set notifications for when I post on the blog so that you won't miss any entries. Thanks for your support and suggestions - it really is appreciated! NB: I will be drawing a 3D sketch of BB12 ready for the next entry, which will also discuss the philosophy behind the plan in a little bit more detail. It seemed more appropriate than another wall of text here, and besides, it would be nice to have one entry dedicated to the plan; not least because I feel it has real potential, and may even be the final plan*. *subject to further refinements or future points raised by others!

Meanwhile, I always take everything but the kitchen sink, seemingly! I even have about 8 coach bolts in my tool box... even though Sandy Shores has one board and thus I'd never need them... Anyway, I don't know that I've posted any photos on this thread before, so here's a relaxing view to admire until the next time we see Bridport Town at an exhibition:

You make it sound like it's a chore to operate Bridport Town, but I know first-hand that the opposite is true! It's certainly inspired me to make some additions for my new layout; so I'm particularly grateful that I was asked if I wanted to operate your layout for an hour at the SWAG do in Taunton.

What a delightful little layout, thank you so much for sharing it with us. Despite the small size, I particularly love the feeling of spaciousness and the nicely modelled vegetation. Just the sort of 'backwater' layout I love. You've also reminded me that I am yet to run my 48DS (along with a few other small locos), so at the very least I need to set-up a test track in lieu of actually having a layout to put it on! Looking forward to seeing more photos/video as and when you next post them. All the best, Jamie

Every year it seems, Phil jingles his bells. It never fails to amuse me! 😄 An enjoyable video, thank you for taking the time to put it together and sharing your thoughts on the year from an 'insiders' perspective. I too felt there were a lot of quality layouts and practicals this year. In particular; Canada Street, Wimborne, and Ewe to name just three of my favourite layouts, and practical-wise I really enjoyed following Phil's DHAPR Wagon Works build; culminating in actually getting to see it for its debut appearance at Ally Pally. On that subject, I also didn't realise just how much I missed exhibitions, and of course the highlight of my year is the RMweb SWAG event in Taunton. If you haven't been before, go - you won't regret it! I feel honoured that a few of my articles were mentioned. I've been having a lot of fun making them; albeit spending far more time than I should on them - but it's worth it! I am yet to learn how to be more efficient with my time, so that is something to work on for 2023. Hopefully, in the process, that will make less work for the likes of Debbie; who has the unenviable task of squeezing dozens of photos and captions into one neat article. On a personal level, it's also great to hear the positive reaction from the Winchester Railway Modellers on my photoshoot of their stunning layout, Redbridge Wharf. Like you say, by the time the public see the articles we work on, we're already moving onto the next project, so we don't often get to see the reaction. Looking forward, I've already shot 4 incredible layouts in the past month or so which will be heading to the pages of BRM next year, and I feel very fortunate that the BRM team have pretty much taken me under their wings; with excellent support and guidance. The fact I get to travel around the south and see some beautiful layouts and their lovely owners is a huge bonus; and means I actually get out of the house, much to my parents delight, I'm sure! I'm excited for what 2023 brings if this trajectory carries on. Happy New Year to all at BRM/WoR, and thank you all once again for your patience and support!

This is awful news... my parents and I are completely shocked! Unfortunately, we haven't maintained contact for quite a number of years now, so we had no idea he was unwell until now. John was an incredibly kind, funny, and knowledgable chap. I believe we first chatted over on Early Risers some 12 or more years ago. Being of an engineering background, and being such a nice bloke, he drove here to the New Forest two times to show me how to neatly lay track and wire up my first 'proper' layout - Calshot MkII. At this point I was still a teen, and very much clueless on many aspects of modelling - I never belonged to any clubs, so any outside help I received was rare indeed. For that reason alone, I have a lot to thank him for, as without him I have no doubt that I would've struggled to produce a layout that worked as well as it did; and the skills he taught me then I still use to this day. Bearing in mind that I didn't know the first thing about electronics and wiring when I started; by the end of the second day I had a fully working layout with track neatly laid, a control panel installed, point motors installed, unbelievably neat runs of wiring, and had made my first ever soldered joints! You can see his skills here: His sense of humour was second to none, which could be quite a surprise based on his typical quiet nature. Fortunately, some of his quips have survived on record. He noted that the freely roaming cattle on the New Forest roads were "Two ton tin-openers"! See also his reply below the content in the earlier link for more... He went on (along with Matt Wickham) to support our small show. I believe either he or Matt also gave me a copy of the Frederick Cooper book on the Calshot NG Railway which came in handy for developing my layout at the time. Furthermore, he actually visited at least one other show to see how the layout had developed - even though it was quite a drive from him in Sussex. His support and encouragement in my early years of layout making is not to be underestimated. Thank you John, and rest well!

As Jason says, usually they are shots from a Chris Nevard layout; as he usually gets the job of photographing the models. I expect the one you're looking at is Combwich; although he also uses some of his dioramas/loose buildings to create a scene from what I can gather.

Many thanks for drawing my attention to this thread! It sounds like the OP has perhaps done a little research about Calshot beforehand, so I'll try to be brief about it's history (Edit: OK, that failed, but still...). Hopefully I can then impart some of my own research/experience which may or may not be useful! This website has a few pages of interest; including a decent map of the site. The base Opened in 1913 as "Calshot Naval Air Station", it was built as part of a defence line under Admiralty orders. During WWI, it's uses involved convoy protection and anti-submarine patrols, as well as the training of seaplane/flying boat crews. The nearby camp at Eaglehurst was built to accommodate ground staff and aircraft crews, and a huge expansion of buildings on the spit itself happened in 1917. In April 1918, the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and Royal Flying Corps were amalgamated; forming the Royal Air Force (RAF), however, I'm not sure that the base changed to reflect this. By November, the base was certainly renamed as the School of Naval Co-operation and Aerial Navigation; primarily used as a training base for maritime air and boat crews. In 1922 - the base was finally renamed RAF Calshot. Once again, it's core use was the training of crews for both seaplanes and marine craft. The Schneider Trophy Race was held just off the I.o.W in 1929 and 1931, whereby RAF Calshot was used as a base for the RAF High Speed Flight crews, and also for the Italians. It was earlier used in 1927 for training ahead of the same Race in Venice. The base remained primarily as a training base, as it had done for most of its life, certainly until 1938. 1938/39 saw preparations for WWII - anti-aircraft guns were built; I believe on top of the Tudor castle. At Eaglehurst, trenches were dug and camouflage added to the building's roofs. Surprisingly, the spit was finally bought outright from its owners (Fawley Investment Company) and was cleared of its many bathing/beach huts! Additionally, the two squadrons based at Calshot were relocated to Scotland - the vulnerability of Calshot to air attacks meant it unsuitable as a 'front line' base. 1940, and 5 seaplane tenders were sent to Dunkirk to help with evacuation efforts. Whilst 2 beached, the remaining 3 saved over 500 lives. Whilst flying boat crew training stopped in 1940, with the Marine Training School leaving in 1942, Calshot became a base for the RAF's Air Sea Rescue Unit. Throughout the rest of the war, the base was used as a maintenance base for three squadrons; with an increase in priority of marine craft servicing and training. In 1946, three units were allocated to Calshot; all of which used Short Sunderland aircraft. These flew 1000+ sorties to Berlin to bring much needed equipment, whilst also taking refugees on their way back. By 1948, most units left, with only 2 Short Sunderlands remaining. The last flying boat unit left in 1953. 1950s - Eaglehurst camp closed, but was revived in the 1960s as temporary accommodation for displaced persons from Tristan da Cunha. The base ticked over as a Maintenance Unit, until the entire site closed in 1961. The railway The railway (2ft gauge) was originally a contractors line, built to aid construction of the base expansion in 1916/1917. It must be remembered that the standard gauge Fawley Branch didn't open until 1925 - and with gravel roads on this remote corner of the Forest, the only sensible ways of transporting materials was by barge, and then using a narrow gauge railway to distribute across the site. Henry Boot & Son (Westminster), the contractors, built the narrow gauge railway - it used conventional contractors stock (i.e. predominantly tipper wagons, with engines like Hudswell Clarke and Robert Hudson well tanks, but also petrol mechanical locos like 0-4-0PM Baguleys). After construction had finished; a Kerr, Stuart 'Wren' class locomotive was being used, with 2 further locomotives joining it - Andrew Barclay 'E' class 0-4-0WTs. The 'Wren' class was scrapped by 1923. The two 'E' class locos were painted green - and were repainted by drivers as required. One was swapped with a similar loco from another railway after repairs became too expensive. Rolling stock was built by Messrs G. R. Turner Ltd somewhen before 1921. There were 22 vehicles; 11 without roofs for stores conveyance (only 2 remained by 1939), 10 with roofs for passengers (each had a large overhang to protect against rain, although only two had their sides boarded in for use by Officers), and finally, 1 covered wagon for rations. All rolling stock was grey, and unnumbered, though there were tare/gross weight details. Signage was limited to either A.M W.& B., or A.M.W.D depending on period. All were 5ft wide - much wider than typical WDLR stock - hence the custom builds. There was also a bogie ambulance wagon, but was relegated to use as a railway store behind the engine shed after it kept derailing on curves - it was scrapped along with 9 of the open wagons. A shorter line to a gravel pit near Eaglehurst was also built, and was used to transport gravel for the building of the base expansion. The two railways didn't join up, but came very close. Sleepers on the line at the time of abandonment looked to be standard gauge sleepers cut into two, though the rail weight varied - some sections were replaced with heavier rail during WWII. The lines layout changed over the years as new buildings were put up. Some of the early temporary contractor lines were actually upgraded and used as the 'main line' of the railway. Whilst there was a turning triangle, it was never used as one. The railway served 2 piers; one was the War Department Pier/North Pier, and the 2nd was the Powerhouse Pier - where coal was unloaded from barges. This siding crossed another one (that fed 'A' shed and possibly the store building); almost at right angles. There was a passing loop near to the large hangar, but was relocated closer to the shore end of the spit adjacent to the HQ due to construction commencing on some new buildings. When this new passing loop was installed (and with the rest of the mainline towards the spit relocated to the other side of the road), a new short platform was built in front of a store building. There was actually an explosives store adjacent to the 'main line', although there was no siding leading to it. From what I can tell, sidings served; the two piers, two of the hangars, the store, an incinerator, the dining hall and NAAFI, and also until 1918; the ready-issue store. At Eaglehurst Camp, sidings served; the Officer's Mess, a Cookhouse (via a long spur off a turntable) until the 1930s, a Paint Store, a Coal Pound, and the three-track engine shed. Abandonment came in 1945, after a celebratory bonfire marking the end of WWII escalated into the upturning of several wagons - with the intention of burning them for fuel for the fire. Whilst none made it to the bonfire, upon re-railing the wagons the next morning, it was discovered that they were all rotten. Closure had already been considered due to the lack of air-braked stock and rising maintenance cost - the bonfire was the final nail in the coffin! If you would like a copy of "The Calshot and Fawley Narrow Gauge Railways" by Frederick W. Cooper/Plateway Press, please let me know - over 10 years ago (when I built my first layout based on Calshot), I bought one copy, and was given a 2nd; so you'd be welcome to it. It has trackplans, tons of photos, a list of locomotives, and is also where most of this information comes from. My ideas/models Like you, I struggled to work out how to fit the essence of, what was a very long and thin site, onto a small single board layout. As an additional complexity, I also wanted to have both OO9 and OO gauge stock! As an aside, the initial plan for the Totton and Fawley Light Railway (the standard gauge Fawley Branch) did make note of a possible extension to Calshot - possibly to serve the RAF base. That's how I managed a semi-plausible plan for both gauges. Anyway, Calshot MkI was initially born as this: It was originally just a standard gauge imagineering of the line; featuring a low-relief hangar, a slipway in front of it, a little goods platform, a cafe, and a lifeboat station. As this was to be set in the 50s, there wouldn't have been the narrow gauge line. However, the more I read into the narrow gauge line, and what was shown in the book, the more I wanted to add a narrow gauge railway; so the layout soon saw a OO9 line laid in front, as shown above. The rolling stock, by the way, is all modified Parkside Dundas, I believe. The 'Tin Turtle' was scratchbuilt by a friend. A re-think in 2011 (I was now about 18) made me question the entire plan, and I wanted much more play value/operating potential from the narrow gauge line - so I came up with this: The layout was rebuilt, and a narrow gauge railway now ran around the front of the castle, and through the hangar. Operation was limited to a passing loop with one siding. It also contained a standard gauge aspect - which didn't differ much from the original layout. As you can see, I focused more on the prototype than before; with two hangars instead of one, a larger slipway, the brick-built communications building, and a radar tower atop the castle. I'll be honest, it's not the neatest bit of modelling, but that was 10+ years ago! I've often said that I'd love to revisit it, but I have to say that personally I'd like to include more of the spit itself - in particular the sea and beach. The problems with RAF Calshot as a modellable subject include the vast spread-out nature of the site, and the huge buildings that dwarf everything; so you either need a large amount of space to model it in its entirety, or you let the buildings form the backdrop themselves. The latter would certainly suit itself to a small layout; and you won't have to worry about scenic exits too much if you focus on the building placement. There were tons of interesting buildings to choose from; the castle, hangars, a powerhouse, firing range, canteen, headquarters, stores... the list goes on! Here's some incredible aerial imagery from Britain from Above - if you don't have an account, I highly recommend you create one so that you can zoom in on the images. One final thing - here's a 3D model of the Eaglehurst engine shed and stores building I made in 2011, based on one photo from the book - just in case it's of interest: If I can help in any way, let me know, and I'll see what advice or pointers I can give!

Great finds; thank you, Nick! I'm always checking the NFDC website for useful plans for other projects, but it didn't occur to me to do so on such websites for this project for some reason. That should come in very handy...

That's the one. You know what - I think that's the exact image that I mentioned; it looks very familiar indeed! It was certainly a BfA photo, anyway; I know that because I was looking for pictures of Dibles Wharf at the time!

It really is amazing, isn't it! I lost track of the number of times I was surprised by just what this little tranquil corner of the UK looked like during wartime. Having only seen it as a modern day tourist scenic area, it's incredible to know that it was such an integral part of the D-Day preparations. Looking at the quiet backwater roads now, it's hard to imagine what it was like with tanks, lorries and other military equipment lining the lanes under cover of the trees. It's even more impossible to imagine the throngs of troops embarking landing craft on the coast, with giant concrete caissons on the shore!

Thank you for that - that is really interesting. The video did pop up in my research, but it has reminded me that I forgot to mention that, as well as working on boats, women were also integral to many other areas of war; from codebreaking, to timber felling in the New Forest. Worthy of further note is that although many constructions built during the war were only supposed to last 6 months, many survive today; which is a testament to the hard work and skills of the workforce. Apologies, it seems I was wrong - it no longer exists. I must've seen an old image when I first started my research many months ago. This was the one I was thinking of (using your link to the NLS imagery): click - it's on the other side of the Itchen from the hard you pointed out. Which I believe is S4 on my drawn map. It's now a CEMEX concrete terminal. Note the 3 mooring dolphins in the water, plus a fourth in the intertidal zone. You can also clearly see the new concrete sections of roadway. Thank you, by the way, for the NLS link. I use their maps all the time, but didn't realise they have photo imagery too - that's another evenings entertainment sorted then! Shame it doesn't include Eling or the New Forest coast, but fascinating nonetheless (and you can also see Holdens Scrap & Recycling Yard on the north side of Northam bridge which has been mentioned numerous times in this project).

Thank you, Nick - that is much appreciated! I do like to launch myself into whatever project I'm working on, and I do find the research phase one of the more interesting. That said, I've realised that I forgot to properly quote one of the sources, and I've also made a few grammatical errors/typos; so I'll have to revisit this later on to make some ammendments! There are certainly plenty of remnants left; I believe there is a hard in Southampton still in existance (though I need to double-check), the old Red Funnel ferry dock (now disused) uses some of the components from the Mulberry Harbour, and there are about 78 'Beetles' along the coast near Marchwood. Plus, an abundance of other bits scattered around Lepe Country Park and elsewhere! Hopefully, once the weather warms up a bit, I'll be able to make a proper field trip and photograph some of it for reference.

In this entry, I'll be exploring the role that the New Forest played in preparations for WWII, and specifically, D-Day - since that is the period I intend to base the layout on. To begin with, I have added a fair bit of stuff that isn't specifically relevant to the coast, where the layout is set; but at the very least, it helps give some perspective. Timeline of the New Forest's role 1939 The role of the New Forest in WWII goes right back to the start; in fact, before the war had started. In January of 1939, the Verderers Court (responsible for the Crown Lands) approved construction of anti-aircraft batteries to defend Southampton Water. With the war looming ever-bigger on the horizon, the New Forest was soon earmarked to accept 5814 evacuees. Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Wardens were recruited and trained; with bombing raid exercises carried out in June of 1939. 30 000 men were camped around Burley, Beaulieu, and East Boldre. With Britain declaring war on Germany on September 3rd 1939 (after Germany had invaded Poland two days earlier), the first evacuation took place in Southampton and Portsmouth; with 2300 children sent to the New Forest. Above: My local station, Breamore, before and after restoration - the sole survivor of the Salisbury & Dorset Junction Railway. Oh the things I'd do to be able to buy this beautiful property! Anyway, I digress - I've included it here to show the wartime stripes on the canopy supports. Photos both taken by me, though they aren't of the best quality; for which I apologise! Street signs, bridge markers, place name signs, and direction signs were removed in an effort to confuse any enemy spies or parachutists. To account for blackout restrictions, street furniture and poles were painted in alternating stripes to aid visibility to drivers and pedestrians - such stripes could be found on railway station canopy supports, too. In December 1939, land acquisition had begun, with a bombing range built on the heathland at Ashley Walk, and more anti-aircraft batteries built at locations that had been identified as vulnerable; including, Lymington, Beaulieu, and Fawley. Large country houses were requisitioned for military purposes, as were airfields. 1940 April 1940 sees Germany invade Denmark and Norway - marking the start of direct conflict with British forces. A month later, German forces sweep through France, and trap British Expeditionary Forces in Dunkirk, leading to a mass rescue mission. Privately owned boats are called in to help with the evacuation; including those from the New Forest coastal regions. Above: A searchlight and crew at the Royal Hospital at Chelsea, London. Whilst obviously not in the New Forest, it is absolutely typical of those found across the UK at this time. This photo was taken in 1940. Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museums: © IWM (H 1291). Soon, German Luftwaffe attacked RAF airfields, later bombing cities and industrial areas. A planned assault on Britain by the German forces was thankfully delayed, though air raids; first during daylight, and then at night, were commonplace throughout September and into the winter months. A ground assault seemed inevitable, so preparations were made to defend the shore and rivers; this included anti-tank blocks, pillboxes, temporary gun emplacements, rocket sites, and searchlights. Meanwhile, key inland road junctions and bridges were fortified with anti-tank islands; such as in Ringwood, Brockenhurst, and Lyndhurst. Some bridges were also fitted with explosive stores, so that, in the event of invasion, these key bridges could be blown up to slow the enemy advance. Above: This heavy A-A gun was at Portland, but just like the searchlight, is typical of the era. A note on the back of this photo explains that this crew had downed 4 enemy planes by the time this photo had been taken, 26th July 1940. Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museums: © IWM (H 2538). Volunteer groups, renamed from 'Local Defence Volunteers' to the 'Home Guard', were formed, with observation posts scattered around to monitor and protect against the possibility of airborne attacks. Other defences included banks and ditches on open heathland to deter enemy gliders from landing. Meanwhile, ground radar stations were built, and helped to intercept enemy bombers. Decoy sites were put up to encourage the Germans to bomb fake targets rather than actual points of strategic importance. Such examples on the heathlands of the New Forest saw multiple enemy bombing runs, which undoubtedly saved many lives. 'Starfish' sites simulated city lights by using burning oil brasiers in a particular pattern. 6 were built around Southampton, including at least 2 in the New Forest. I'll explain other decoy sites a bit later. 1941 to 1943 Land defences continued to be built, with additional forces requiring further expanses of land to train on. By late 1941, the US involvement meant this increased substantially; they bought over not only troops, but supplies, machinery, materials, and even railway locomotives. New airfields (Beaulieu, Ibsley, Hurn, Holmsley South, and Stoney Cross) and ports (such as Marchwood) were also built in the period between 1941 to 1943, as were various rifle, tank, mortar, and bombing ranges. Lepe, and the new Marchwood Military Port, saw amphibious assault training, which was now top priority after the disastrous Dieppe Raid. Above: Churchill tanks of 33rd Army Tank Brigade near Brockenhurst in the New Forest, 13 August 1942. This was part of a parade, in triangular formation, showing off the tanks and their A-A defence guns mounted on top. Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museums: © IWM (H 22411). Many local boatyards saw a sudden resurgence. In Cracknore Hard (just north of Marchwood Military Port) in 1941, Husband's shipyard, with its expertise in wooden boat building, was tasked with building minesweepers. These were then taken to Buckler's Hard (on the Beaulieu River) for outfitting. Meanwhile, less than a mile downstream from Buckler's Hard, Clobb Copse - once an oyster bed - was dredged and then used as a top secret site for building experimental concrete dry docks and components for the Mulberry Harbour - namely the Beetles. Above: A wooden minesweeper being built at a shipyard in Brightlingsea and Saxmundham. Presumably these are similar to ones built in the New Forest at places like Cracknore Hard. Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museums: © IWM (A 13291). Elsewhere, more decoy sites were built. This time, mainly in the form of decoy landing/airfield sites; with lights that mimicked runways. These were labelled 'Q' type decoys. Temporary mock gun sites along the coast were built, and a fake training exercise designed to appear as an amphibious assault on France were also carried out. Further deception included bombing parts of Northern France to suggest an invasion was in full swing, and creating mock camps to divert attention from real allied invasion camps. Finally, more light decoys were created to mimic ports and embarkation hards at night - designed to divert enemy attention from areas like Portsmouth. These were known as 'Quartz Light' or QL sites, and were built in empty fields; examples were to be found near East Boldre, Lymington, Sowley Pond, and at Hythe. The New Forest also saw a Prisoner of War (POW) camp built at Setley Plain. Many prisoners worked in local businesses, and some would eventually settle in the area permanently after the war ended. As an aside, not every bombing run by the Germans was successful, with one particularly lucky New Forest village bombed, albeit with none of the high-powered explosives detonating. This incredible story sheds some light on what could be a remarkable case of sabotage, that, if true, undoubtedly saved the lives of hundreds of people in the village of Lyndhurst. 1943-1944 It was decided by now that an allied invasion of Europe would begin by the late spring of 1944. This decision saw the build up a huge amount of troops, ships, materials, machinery and tanks - the IoW creating an ideal bit of sheltered water to assemble the fleet. The usually tranquil New Forest became a hive of activity; once-quiet country roads rumbled first with road widening and bridge strengthening schemes, and then with the sound and vibrations of vehicles - both wheeled and tracked. Naturally, being a sea-borne invasion, the local boatyards, despite their diminutive size, were all requisitioned for the war effort. Above: A Motor Gun Boat is launched, having just been built in Hythe, along Southampton 'Waterside', February 1943. Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museums: © IWM (A 14601). Even merchant and civilian boats of all sizes were to be an integral part of proceedings. Some of them were used as patrol boats; they were either given, loaned, or hired by the government. Some owners/captains stayed at the helm, and voluntarily joined the Royal Naval Auxillary Patrol (RNAP) for the duration of the war. These patrols were on the lookout for parachute mines, enemy aircraft, or raids. Above: Boats manned by volunteers from the Royal Naval Auxillary Patrol heading along a river (location unknown). Such patrols were assembled from peacetime yachts and motor boats. Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museums: © IWM (A 4514). The New Forest sheltered thousands of troops, as well as the necessary equipment and supplies. The natural forest and forest tracks were a perfect way to hide all of this from enemy reconnaissance planes. Other areas were used for training, as well as for top secret weapon tests and experiments. The fact that it also had an accessible stretch of coast, and was within close proximity to Southampton was another huge bonus. The various troops alighting from embarkation hards along the New Forest coast and in Southampton were destined to become 'Force G'; their objective being the central beach, in Normandy - codenamed 'Gold'. This was a ten-mile stretch of coast, further divided into 4 sectors (H through to K). Despite two fairly large towns along this section, it was Arromanches that would be their main objective - selected as the chosen location for Mulberry 'B'. 5 other beaches (Codenamed; Utah, and Omaha (both served by American forces), June (served by Canadian forces), and Sword (served by British forces) were served from elsewhere along the south coast of England. Headquarters From 1942 to 1955, Exbury House was requisitioned by the military - first as HMS Mastodon, then HMS King Alfred, and finally HMS Hawke. It's role during the time around D-Day was for administration of provisions, and arming and training crews for the various landing craft. Exbury House was also where the ill-fated raid on Dieppe was planned. It was referred to by many as the central hub of the D-Day preparations; 15 miles to the east was Eisenhower, 15 miles to the west was Patton, and 15 miles to north was Montgomery! Other country houses and hotels were also requisitioned for military purposes; such as the Balmer Lawn Hotel in Brockenhurst, which was used by the Royal Marine Infantry. As wouldbe expected though, not every owner was willing to hand over their houses; one owner attempted to run away with the keys! Fortunately, I believe it was something like the offer of free alcohol that lured them back to hand over their property! Above: I've spent (far too many) hours compiling and drawing this map. It shows a significant section of the New Forest, complete with as many military sites as I could find/fit on. It certainly is not an exhaustive guide, but does give some idea as to the complexity of the events in the run-up to D-Day! Note that it may not be overly accurate in places, but I have tried to cross-reference where possible with information found online. Sites of particular interest Whilst there were quite literally hundreds of D-Day related sites in the New Forest, I'll now look at a few select sites of particular interest; either because they are close to the area that I envisioned Bramble's Boatyard would be set, or because I feel they could offer potential as small scenes to try to reproduce - at least in part! If you have a year to read it all (!), this fascinating document discusses a huge number of the sites; accounting for 175 pages out of the 311 page document! I have thus got plenty to fall back on when it comes to researching the impact of D-Day on the New Forest from this document alone. Stanswood (Stansore Point, Nr. Lepe/Stone Point) As mentioned in the last blog entry, near Lepe, 6 of the 'Phoenix' caissons were built, ready to be towed across the Channel and partially submerged to form a breakwater. These were 'B2' type Phoenix caissons, and were each some 62 metres long, 13.4 metres wide, and 10.6 metres high! For each 6000 ton caisson, a large workforce was needed to construct it. In total, it is said there were 700 men employed by Wilson Lovatt & Sons Ltd. at Stanswood, with barracks, a water tower, and other facilities built on the foreshore to accommodate them. The caissons themselves were constructed upon purpose-built brick and concrete plinths; with rails to slide them to the slipway when they were completed, for launching sideways into the sea. Two fantastic interactive, and annotated 3D models of the site can be found on this website: Wessex Archaeology - Lepe D-Day. The first shows the current remains of the site, and the latter shows a reconstruction as it would have looked in use. The site also gives additional information, for those interested. Above: I think this Phoenix caisson is being constructed somewhere in Southampton - primarily because it was tagged in an album as Southampton, even though the title and caption do not mention a location. It does show how much more convenient docks are with their tall cranes for constructing these huge structures; as opposed to the remote foreshore at sites like Stanswood, Lepe and Stokes Bay, Gosport. Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museums: © IWM (A 25808). However, even prior to the Phoenix construction site (built somewhen in late 1943), a hard (labelled 'Q2') was built at Stanswood; as it was referred to in loading orders. It was primarily used to load heavy equipment (tanks, trucks, artillery, mortars, stores etc.) onto landing craft., with the road leading to it also concreted in account of the heavy traffic; as were many roads towards Lepe. The hard was also in near constant use for training troops for landings, as well as for transferring troops to the Isle of Wight and Southampton. Vessels typically used here were Landing Craft Tank (LCT), and Landing Ship Tank (LST) varieties, though I'm sure others would have been seen. All the equipment loaded onto the landing crafts were destined for the assault on 'Gold Beach' - the resulting assault force, as noted earlier, being named 'Force G'. This equipment also included the 'Sherman Crab' flail tanks (apparently being the first to arrive on 'Gold Beach' - used to clear mines), as well as vehicles from the Army Fire Service. Above: A vehicle, travelling backwards, is loaded onto LCT 731 at an unknown hard on the south coast during exercises for the Normandy landings. This could quite easily be at Stanswood, as we know the hard was used for such exercises throughout the build-up, though there are similar photos that claim to be at Stokes Bay, Gosport. Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museums: © IWM (A 23673). In numbers: 1579 men, and 292 vehicles boarded 40 LCTs at Q2 prior to 4 weeks before D-Day 6407 men, and 2037 vehicles boarded 122 LCTs at Q2 in the 4 weeks before D-Day To put that into perspective in terms of the scale of the landings, remember: that's just 1 hard out of 68 scattered along the South Coast - 13 of which were along The Solent! Modellability? Whilst the caisson construction site would be WAY too big to model (one of the caissons alone would measure 800mm long if scaled down!), an embarkation hard would take up little space, and would make for a nice feature if combined with a 'dolphin' or two. I could even model repairs being made to the hard so that there's a solid reason as to why no boats would be using it at the time depicted; further saving space. [Information from both New Forest Knowledge, and D-Day Lepe Heritage Group.] Marchwood Military Port As I mentioned, there was a new port at Marchwood opened by 1943. It was built primarily to assist with construction of components for the Mulberry Harbours, but also to allow extra docking space for the ever-increasing flotilla of vessels waiting in Southampton Water for D-Day. It was also rail-served, with a 'long siding' connecting it to a junction just south of Marchwood Station. In terms of the Mulberry Harbour components, namely 'Whale' floating roadways, and the 'Beetle' concrete floats that supported them were constructed here. Photos show that a number of short sidings were set-up to build and/or store the 'Whales', which were accessed via a long traverser. Above: The traverser at Marchwood Military Port, showing tracks on both the left and right with completed Mulberry 'Whales' on the right awaiting their time to be launched. Note the tracked tractor, which was presumably used to tow the 'Whales' onto the traverser deck visible in the centre of the photo. This would be a very interesting scene to model, but would take up a lot of space! Note also the temporary nature of the tracks, which appear to be simply laid on top of the concrete. Photo courtesy of the Imperial War Museums: © IWM (H 36898). Modellability? Let's face it, the traverser would be awesome to have - and I imagine it to be a working feature... but that would take up an entire board by itself, so sadly I don't think it would be realistic to model it. There is a company that have a kit for both the Whales and Beetles, but the link for the Whales no longer works. Still, there's plenty at Marchwood to consider adding, such as the construction of the Beetles; and with the kits for them still able to be bought, and some very nice reference photos to work from in the IWM collection, it's something I'm keen to do! Clobb Copse Boatyard, nr Beaulieu Aside from a delightful name, this is a fascinating place that is worthy of taking into serious consideration; not just in terms of modellability, but also because of its role in the D-Day preparations. In 1941, this former oyster bed was turned into a top secret building basin for various D-Day related projects. An experimental floating dry dock was built here from concrete. Once completed, it was towed in March of 1944 to Portland, where it was used during the war; presumably for repair and maintenance of small craft, although no details are given. Meanwhile, in 1943, the boatyard was extended to create space for Mulberry 'Beetles' to be constructed. Unlike the other three sites where Beetles were built (London docks, Marchwood, and Southsea), an area was dredged, then lined with concrete to form a basin; all other sites were either in established docks (London), or directly on the shore. In this relatively small area, at least 50 of the Beetles were made, as well as 6 'Intermediate Pontoons' - which were much larger floats that connected the static 'Spud' pierheads mentioned last blog entry to the ships themselves. Modellability? There's a small set of fascinating photos by Lord Montagu (I believe, of Beaulieu Estate) that show all the components mentioned - including the same type of derrick crane I had planned to build anyway! Naturally, the floating dry dock would be far too big to model, but the rest lends itself perfectly to the small boatyard scene I had planned. Eling Yes, we're back at Eling, and I'll have to use my old sketches for this bit as I can't find any freely usable images online. Anyway, even quaint country locations like Eling were partly requisitioned by the military. At this time, Mumford's Steam Mill (now run by the company Allis-Chalmers) was still in existence. Being quite a large building in terms of the locale, and within each reach of the rail-served Eling Wharf and obviously Bartlett Water for seafaring traffic, Eling was another strategic place in which to stage certain facets of the D-Day preparations. The following information is thanks to information obtained by New Forest Knowledge - who interviewed Douglas Lancelot Stuckey - Acting Sub-Lieutenant Special Branch. Between 1943-1944, Douglas was sent to the Allis-Chalmers mill, pictured above, which had been earmarked as a Coastal Forces Supply Depot (CFMSO). Such depots were used essentially as storage for the necessary parts and equipment needed to maintain the fleets of various vessels. In this case, predominantly Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs) and motor launches. Everything except the main hull and ammunition were to be found in the mill; so that prompt and effective repairs could be done; this included everything from spare wiper blades to radars, to fuel tanks! Douglas was to stay in the nearby Anchor Inn (still extant, and in use today as a pub), where he recounted various tales and experiences, often humurous; such as the time when the pub ran out of beer, or when stores would go 'missing'... Perhaps the most remarkable story that Douglas told relates to the tide mill that I have been dying to model ever since I saw it. Being a key road link from Eling/Totton down to the various military installations along the New Forest coast, the supply depot had the unenviable task of relaying some rather... unfortunate news to the owner of the tide mill. It must be remembered that, at this time, there was a very tangible threat that the Germans would invade England. Simply put, the CFSD (supply depot) crew was to be tasked with blowing up the tide mill and causeway in the event that such an invasion should occur! Needless to say, this revelation did not go down well with the mill owner... still, the tide wasn't in use at the time, and in any case, thankfully the invasion never happened! Modellability? Clearly, the steam mill is out of the question in terms of modellability - it is bloody massive! However, with the potential exploding tide mill story coming to light, yet again, I really have the urge to model this delightfully quaint scene (without explosions, obviously!). That would obviously involve some compression; as, despite being a comparatively small mill, it's very long (and that's before we even look at the causeway). However, I think I've come up with a potential idea. More will be revealed next time...!

Nah, I suspect a bigger cause of an early retirement would be the repetitive, self-destructive process of chasing ad fixes in the relevant department(s)! Though it probably doesn't help that he has to read and respond to my lengthy, waffling, essay-like emails that he quite often receives on a Sunday night (or at some other unhelpful time)! I don't think anyone can truly grasp that magnitude of hard work that Andy puts into both RMweb and BRM. 'Thanks' doesn't seem enough in the slightest... ... who'd have thought that toy trains would create so much work!