Chris Chewter

Martin Loader has created an amazing website documenting the history of the line. Cassington can be found here: http://www.fairfordbranch.co.uk/Cassington.htm The Carterton page can be found here showing what I'm attempting to recreate. http://www.fairfordbranch.co.uk/Carterton.htm Note the coloured photos. The black and white images would suggest that station building was an austere grey, but appears to be a frame with a brick coloured infill, although looking at the size of them, they're not bricks! The most detailed historic plan showing building dimensions and locations, was recorded after the track was lifted. However the track plan is a simple loop. Freight was either thrown onto a van whilst the train was in the platform, or sent to Bampton which was a couple of miles in the Oxford direction, so should be simple to locate. The resized O/S gives dimensions of 8ft by 2ft, but that's too big for what I'm after. If I close the gap between the signal box and the overbridge, and reduce the station platforms, I should be able to compress this into a 6ft board, which will be more transportable. Hopefully the compression will not affect the appearance too much. I was going to straighten out the over bridge on the mode, but given that I'm also compressing the model, I can't help but feel that its too much of a departure from reality. Would anyone really notice?

If you live in West Oxfordshire, the Fairford Branch, a casualty of Dr Beeching’s axe, is much lamented. Before COVID, the A40 into Oxford would slow to a crawl before rush hour, and as a railway enthusiast, I would sit in the traffic and wish the railway was still in place. It probably would be profitable now. Whilst various plans are in the pipeline for it to be reconstructed, the original alignment of the line has been blocked by roads, houses, and gravel extraction turning sections of the old line into lakes, which means any reinstatement of the railway will never follow the original trackbed. Carterton is a bit of an oddity really. Whilst the 22 mile branchline was first built to Witney in 1861, and finally extended in 1873 to Fairford, before the intended connection to Cheltenham was dropped due to costs, Carterton as a station didn't exist until as late as 1944. It was built during the war to serve the adjacent RAF Brize Norton and as a result, the station didn't fit with the usual architectural style of the line. Not that there was one. The line was a jumble of dressed stone buildings at Witney, Bampton and Fairford, and timber structures at Eynsham. Cassington halt was built of pure concrete! But Carterton station stuck out with its austere wartime structure. Its certainly not pretty (But I won't mention the Portakabin at Hanborough that I passed the other day!) but I'm unaware of any other station that uses such a building. Its almost unique. Photo by Geoffrey Skelsey and used under the Wkipiedia Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. The station building still exists and is probably the last remaining major structure of the branch (Although the station masters house at Witney also still survives.) and currently in use as a riding stables. Unfortunately its mostly hidden by timber cladding and now sits on private land. Currently the station building are being laser cut, and I've started work on the signal box. Lets see whether I can bring this station back to life.

The coach is a Hornby Hawksworth composite, and very nice it is too! The handles and signs to the glazing are all standard, so it only needs weathering, some Modelu passengers and lamps. I might have to buy another...

Single coach trains at Tetbury weren't unusual. Here a 14xx has arrived with a single elderly Hawksworth coach.

Now 1664 has completed its shunt, its found some coaches for a trip down the line.

1664 is on today, and the fireman watches the photographer as they shunt the yard.

Here's another photo of 4680, but this time without a concerned driver stood nearby.

There must be something wrong with 4680. Only the other day the driver was photographed oiling the front, now its facing the other way, he's dealing with the middle driver, and the firemans brought him the oil can!

Looks like I need to repaint the figures stood on the platform! I might also repaint those doors, however in my defence, Tetbury was fairly run down in the 50s.

Now an arts and community centre, if you travelled back in time over 60 years, the inside of the goods shed at Tetbury might have looked like this. Perhaps the man sweeping is wondering what the other guys are chatting about outside in the yard? To be honest, when I look at the image, I keep on seeing things that need to be tidied up, but it seems to have gone down well on my build thread so thought I'd post it here for others to enjoy.

The fireman looks back expectantly along the train waiting for the guard, but he's nowhere to be seen! The station master checks his watch in readiness, but without a guard, the train isn't going anywhere. Lets hope the guard's checking the station approach for last minute passengers.

The photographer has made his way back down the hillside as the loco run around its train. It must be ahead of schedule, as the loco has pulled up beside the shed for the crew to have a chat and catch up with a local resident.

A quick walk up the hillside, past the sheep, reveals a small prairie on todays train.

A quick look inside the goodshed reveals one of the workers sweeping. Perhaps he's wondering what they are talking about out in the yard?

A quiet morning at Tetbury, and a view looking at the goods shed.

It must be taking a while as the guards still reading that paper!

6417 stands ready on shed raising steam. I presume they must be late off, as the guard has arrived and is reading his paper in the toad, again.

The photographer has stepped across the tracks to take another shot of 1664.

1664 is on the branch today. Its seen pulled up alongside the shed to take water from the tank.

4680 is on the branch today, and is sat next to the goods shed. The drivers caught checking whether anything needs an oil.

They are both from the Modelu3d range at www.modelu3d.co.uk They are: 1659 Man wearing flat cap 0132 Woman Shopping - 6

Whilst taking some photos of the station, I thought it needed a few more figures on the left. So this weekend, I've painted and loosely placed a couple to see how it looks. Now to take a few photos to see if that looks better or just too busy.

Another quiet Sunday morning and there appears to be a visit by the district nurse at the Bungalow.

This one seems to have gone down well with my Instagram followers, so I thought I'd share it here:

Following on from yesterday, this is a more typical train at Tetbury. Any freight would just be attached to the end of the train!