Forward!

The lamp iron mounted on the corner post is definitely something you see on MSLR and GCR wagons.

Thanks both for responding. Excellent photograph! Shame you can't see the carriage end behind the Metro's cab as I think the suburban sets were numbered and named according to their region- "Birmingham Division No x". When was 1st class abolished in London as the date of this photograph is pre-war (just!). There is a reference in the Jenkins book to stock being worked up the Fairford branch simply to clear the Oxford carriage sidings, but I don't know how plausible that sounds. It only makes sense if it was done to strengthen the usual set, otherwise there would be no net gain in siding capacity. And assuming they are standard D98/ E131 carriages, I can do an accurate Fairford branch train using ready-to-run carriages! Will

Thanks Paul, that's incredibly useful. I rather like the idea of being able to justify a 70ft carriage on the layout. I suppose in 1944 the traffic to Carterton (for RAF Brize Norton) would be quite considerable. Will

That's the equivalent of £5,000 today!

Just another random question- did GWR use carriage destination boards for through services like this?

Paul that's incredibly useful, and correlates really well to the small number of photos from this period (when the branch was worked by Metro tanks). It also gives me a ballpark terminus post quem for the introduction of the B-set which appears in photos as strengthened with a Churchward corridor toplight. I now guess that could be the through coach to Paddington? Now all I need is to find a way of building a 'Large' Metro tank as all the kits available today are for the small variety! Will

This was pretty much my plan until I decided to do something more prototypical. I imagined a Minories-style layout based somewhere in West London, which would be an imagined suburban terminus extension south from Marylebone. Perhaps it was a legacy of an aborted attempt at Watkin's envisaged North-South 'continental connection' that got stopped due to WWI? I imagined Suburban trains would run through to it a bit like the services using the GNR's 'Widened lines'. Basically, an excuse to build 'Marylebone light' in a cutting amid the grand architecture of Kensington or Belgravia. I still think as a layout idea it has some merit. Will

Sorry, I was being rather jocular. I've done the "full monty" on these too, as I suspect, has pretty much everyone modelling GCR since Peter Denny's time! I wonder how long it will be before some innovative chap comes along and gives the Hattons carriages similar treatment. They're eminently affordable for a bit of old-fashioned cutting and shutting.

I agree that a GCR "teak" would have been a more versatile choice, but it's a moot point regarding the GCR 9N. They were built for heavy suburban trains out of Marylebone. By the time they came along the 4-carriage suburban sets were made up of 50ft panelled bogie carriages, or after about 1911, the newer matchboarded bogie non-corridor sets. If you wanted a generic train to run behind the 9N, you'd be better off with a rake of Triang's with the clerestories lopped off! Will

Thanks for the responses everyone. Some good leads there. I remember looking at the Middleton book when I built the layout years ago, but being a skinflint I borrowed it from the local library in Witney! I was modelling the 1950s at the time so I barely noticed earlier period pictures, less so the rolling stock on the line. Will

Hi all, I have been modelling Bampton, on the GWR Fairford branch for a few years. Nothing very spectacular, but keeps me out of trouble. I have been running it using mainly rtr stock, which inevitably puts me firmly in the 1950s or 60s (because that's when 57xx Panniers and cascaded Collet/Hawksworth carriage designs of the 30s/40s were the order of the day). But recently, and after a few years of doing a bit of "real" modelling (with an actual soldering iron, no less!) my mind turned to backdating the layout to the 1930s. (I figured the Edwardian period was probably beyond me because whilst I am fairly certain I could build an etched brass carriage kit, I doubt I could paint and line it to the standard of modern rtr!) So, apologies for the convoluted post, but could anyone suggest a likely carriage formation for a Fairford branch train in the 1930s? I'm guessing we're talking cascaded stock from earlier times? Was the GWR the sort of railway that would form a set for a specific branch and just work it back and forth for years, if not decades? And the obvious follow on to that- are there any suitable kits out there that are still easily available in 2021? Thanks guys! Will

Mallard wore BR Express blue from September 1949 to July 1952. But it's worth noting that in 1950, the LNER's primary East Coast Main Line express trains were using Thompson steel-sided stock. I'm not best placed to comment further, but depending on how interested your friend is in depicting an accurate 1950 'The Capitals Limited' or 'Flying Scotsman' train formation, I'm sure someone on here would help him select the right stock. There's a good photograph of the 1949 Capitals Limited on Steve Banks website here- https://www.steve-banks.org/prototype-and-traffic/390-lner-thompson-gangwayed-1. The train is still wearing imitation teak finish and the loco is wearing BR express blue. So I would advise your friend that if he's only looking for a general representation- a Hornby Mallard in Express blue hauling a rake of Bachmann 'teak' Thompson carriages would be generally quite appropriate. Will

I assumed the same- two portions of the same train being juggled around to let passengers disembark at Witney's short platform. The photograph is from Martin Loader's Fairford Branch website, which is very well researched, so I have no reason to question the 1908 date, although I cannot make a more accurate terminus ante quem for the photo as the building was extended much later, in the early 1920s, and the OS map editions offer no way of narrowing it down. It was in it's original form in 1921. I have no reason to doubt 1908. The passenger's dress certainly looks more like the first decade of the 20th century, and I wouldn't peg the fashions as anything later than the 1910s. The thought of building, painting and lining a rake of concertina carriages fills me with a sense of dread! Will

Hi Chris, Just read through your blog. I found it because I'm planning to model my home village station at Bampton (albeit in the Edwardian/early post grouping period). You've certainly successfully evoked the quite open, gentle West Oxfordshire countryside that the Fairford branch runs through. Never thought I'd see someone pick the ugliest station building on the whole line for their layout though! Will

Hi all, This picture depicts an excursion leaving Witney (Oxfordshire) station in circa 1908. Can anyone identify the general type of carriages on the right with the triple row of ventilators? I'm starting to backdate my Fairford Branch layout to the Edwardian period, and I'm still getting my head around Churchward era rolling stock! http://www.fairfordbranch.co.uk/Witney_Station_Edwardian.jpg Will

Exactly my thoughts! I have the Kernahan book, and a few of the excellent CRA books on operations and rolling stock. I think Maxwell Park is my pick.

Sorry I have nothing constructive to say, I just wanted to note that I spent a happy couple of hours reading through your blog from the beginning. Thanks for posting your really impressive pre-group modelling. I only stumbled on it as I have always had an interest in Glasgow's railways and when Hornby/Hattons announced their four wheel carriages I suddenly thought "h'mmm, is there a Cathcart Circle line layout in my future....?" Will

I have been known to dabble in a bit of scratchbuilding, but you've got to admit, pre-group modellers are a distinct minority in the hobby. So in that sense, yes, we are abnormal! It's not a bad thing as every hobby has niche interests, but the advent in 2021 of being able to make up a generally quite plausible early C20 train using modern rtr products can only help broaden participation in modelling this fascinating period of British railway history. And ultimately, that's the only way our hobby survives and indeed grows. Will

I think this is welcome news. 1) Anything that 'normalises' pre-group modelling is a good thing. As the period moves into time beyond memory, modelling it has been dying a death and is now almost exclusively the preserve of finescale modellers working their way through stashes of long-discontinued kits or worse, building stock completely from scratch. Several key types of vehicles built in their thousands in the early C20 are simply no longer available in kit form as those manufacturers interested in the period retire. And we're not talking the esoteric stuff, but the basic furniture of C20 railways- like earlier types of GWR minks or even an Open A wagon. 2) I can build an etched brass carriage kit, but I COULDN'T paint and line it in a pre-group livery to anything like the standard of a modern printed rtr product. It is a significant barrier for those who want to model the pre-group era with minimal effort, and I suspect I am not alone in being willing to sacrifice prototype fidelity for something that looks as crisply finished as the loco that is hauling it. 3) It has also just occurred to me that with a bit of T-cut to the existing markings and replacement decals, those NBR carriages could just about pass as GWR 1912-1922 crimson lake.... They're generic anyway, so what would be the harm?

That's guys, that's got me going! Will

Hi all, I would like to know more about Field Marshall Haig's command train- formed I think of LNWR stock (I'm going by the panelling). I'm particularly interested in appropriate diagram numbers, kits that might be a basis for a decently accurate conversion. I am not sure whether these are converted passenger stock or built specifically by Wolverton (I know some companies designed specific diagrams for ambulance trains) Can anyone help? Cheers! Will

Don't know about US practice, but leaving the ends of sleepers (ties) exposed is a no-no in the UK. Perhaps just build up a little more of a ballast shoulder to bury the ends of the sleepers? In terms of colour and tonal variation, I think the overall effect of the weathering is looking great by the way!

200 quid would buy you a serious quantity of lime strip wood. Why not build it from scratch? Will

I toyed with an 1850s era layout a few years back- did plenty of research, but never really managed to do much in the way of an actual layout. My big idea was to build a representation of the Long Island Railroad terminus on Atlantic Avenue in New York. I managed to build an experimental stub switch. If anything I was a bit too accurate with it- the switch always locked solid whenever the railway room got too hot! I remember the early rail Yahoo group was very helpful. My only real achievement was to 'cut and shut' two Bachmann 4-2-0 "Lafayette/ Pegasus" trainset locos into a passable 1850s 'haystack' boiler Baldwin 4-4-0. Not all that difficult actually. I used White, John H., Jr. (1968). A history of the American locomotive; its development: 1830-1880 as a reference. I gave up trying to use the ubiquitous Bachmann 'old time' 4-4-0 loco- representative of the 1870s, they were just too big to represent the rather delicate, predominantly outside-frame locos of the 1850s. Good luck with the project! Will

Forget us lot clamouring for nice photographs! How often in your life have you spent a late afternoon squinting through the sun's glare in order to see the unmistakeable silhouette of an A3 passing through? Your photos capture the effect perfectly in my opinion. Cheers for posting developments on this railway. I don't have anything constructive to add, but I really enjoy watching this come along. Will