Blackmoor, Lynton & Barnstaple Railway in 009 (c 1930) -East Grinstead done , next show is Taunton

[Michael Bishop]

17 hours ago, roundhouse said:

Michael thanks for that info.

 

 

Another picture of the back and a few of the rest of August 1966 at a time when the restaurant was only an extension onto the platform.   Just above the roof in the fourth picture can be seen the top of the Blackmoor Gate Hotel,  owned by Mr Broom who bought the station in 1938.    This property burnt down in December 1970 with fatal consequences for a young lady.   It has been a vacant site since then,  and I believe is planned as a car park when the station re-opens.   At that time there was a petrol station where the toilets are now.   In the last picture is my green 1937 Talbot Sports Saloon DYO 427 of revered memory.  According to the DVLA website it still exists !

 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2022 by Michael Bishop

[roundhouse]

Michael

 

Thanks for posting those photos. I took some similar ones in 1982 although there were further changes by then especially the extension of the pub onto the old platform area.

 

I never knowingly saw the hotel. My parents used ot take us on holiday in the area so may well have been past the hotel when it existed.

 

I have only recently seen a couple of old photos of the garage so the plan is to build a model of it then photo the model and add to the backscene. The hotel will be built first to photo and add to the backscene. I have till end of June to get them done.

[roundhouse]

16 hours ago, Michael Bishop said:

I live in Bristol  -  but I will speak to my chauffeurse (I don't drive any more) and hope I can persuade her that going to a model railway exhibition is really exciting.    Sussex is a possibility as the Mrs doesn't need persuading to have a visit to the Bluebell Railway.

We are at the Bristol show in Thornbury this weekend with my N scale layout of Banbury.

[Michael Bishop]

9 hours ago, roundhouse said:

I have only recently seen a couple of old photos of the garage so the plan is to build a model of it then photo the model and add to the backscene. The hotel will be built first to photo and add to the backscene. I have till end of June to get them done.

When I was researching the hotel site I concluded that there were TWO livestock auction sites here,  the one that still exists on the Lynton side, and another on the Challacombe side of the hotel.   Prior to that one of the auctions seems to have been on the north side.   I will try and come to Thornbury tomorrow and have a brief chat if you can spare a moment from train operating  -  today too much Bank Holiday traffic on the M5 for my driver's peace of mind.

Edited April 30, 2022 by Michael Bishop

[roundhouse]

Michael

It was great to see you at the Bristol show whilst we were there with Banbury. Thank you very much for the information and that has certainly given me motivation to get on with the hotel and hopefully the garage.

 

I have just received the confirmation that the layouts first show is the Bluebell model railway weekend at the beginning of July and we will be in the carriage shed at Horsted Keynes.

 

 

[roundhouse]

After perusing the info provided by Michael at the Bristol show I have finally started up my Silhouette cutter. I had to remember how to load the cutting sheet as it's two years since I last used it.

 

I am using sheets of card to work out how big the hotel should be in 4mm scale. Its bigger than I thought after sizing the doors. The side elevation as currently cut is slightly too short soo will split the side up as there is a natural break according to the photos. The box of fake Lego had come in handy to temporarily support the card sides.

 

Once I am happy with the front and sides I will use styrene sheet. The back will remain blank till I find suitable photos.

[roundhouse]

I was up early this morning in the shed adding the window cills before assambling the elevations after using the silhouette cutter to score the openings then using a new blade to cut them out.

 

After reviewing all of the photos and information I realised that the long side elevation in some photos show we the extension to the hotel some time in the early 1930's. This has made construction easier.

 

The ground floor reassessed section has been added this morning. This was filled in flush with the rest of the building in later years.

The building has had various bits of strengthening on the I side but has Bern left to set before adding plenty more.

[phil_sutters]

At the opposite end of the country ..... west - eastwise! If it spoils your narrative  - I can hide it, but having only just been there, I thought that the similarity of style was remarkable.

Edited May 12, 2022 by phil_sutters

[roundhouse]

3 hours ago, phil_sutters said:

At the opposite end of the country ..... west - eastwise! If it spoils your narrative  - I can hide it, but having only just been there, I thought that the similarity of style was remarkable.

My other half loves art deco style. It's a while since we have been to Dover. I think the last time we were in Dover it was the one in New England!

I am hoping that she will like the hotel whrn it's complete. Shame that it will only be a photo of it on the backscene but the model will sit ontop of the fiddleyard at shows.

[PaulRhB]

30 minutes ago, roundhouse said:

Shame that it will only be a photo of it on the backscene but the model will sit ontop of the fiddleyard at shows.

You could always mount it on a small base and display it in perspective on a separate stand a couple of feet behind 😝

[roundhouse]

The hotel structure along with chimneys in place was ready for priming last night.

 

[roundhouse]

Since the last photo the hotel has been in grey primer then last night had its first coat of white.

At 4 am this morning it had its second coat when I noticed that I hadn't add the cills to the two recessed windows. These have just been added before it gets its third coat of white.

 

I have also printed out a mock Nameboard. It's not quite the right font but after trying numerous online font matching software that didn't get anywhere close enough I have used one in Windows office. The O's aren't quite correct but for now it will have to do. I have just printed out a larger one to that photographed on the model along with a smaller '&' as per the 1930's photo, so will have to collect that from the printer next time I go back in to the house. If it is the right size then it will be printed on decal sheet.

 

Windows will now be drawn up on the silhouette cutter software.

Edited May 27, 2022 by roundhouse

[roundhouse]

All windows on the front elevation are now in place. Just the three doors and one small side window to draw up in the Silhouette cutter software..

 

The frames were fiddly with the outer frame being very thin and airbrushed black before assembly.

Edited May 17, 2022 by roundhouse

[David Bell]

6 hours ago, roundhouse said:

All windows on the front elevation are now in place. Just the three doors and one small side window to draw up in the Silhouette cutter software..

 

The frames were fiddly with the outer frame being very thin and airbrushed black before assembly.

That is coming together well.

[roundhouse]

As of this morning all front elevation windows and doors are in place. The mockup name is in place and now needs to be printed on decal sheet. The updated font was provided by  Westerham station. Thank you Adrian.

 

The entrance steps will be added once the sloping forecourt has been created.

[roundhouse]

After a week away in Belgium, our first trip abroad in three years, work has recommenced on the hotel.

 

The name has been printed out on white decal sheet but the white sheet doesn't quite match that on the model so I am now awaiting clear decal sheet to arrive.

 

In the mean time the steps in the ressessed area that I believe is the restaurant area, have been added and painted plus the two balustrades have been formed and temporarily placed in position. They will require a bit more filing once fully set and painted.

 

 

[roundhouse]

Yesterday the clear decal paper arrived and the name printed out then sealed and left to dry overnight.

So this morning it was added to the building. I thrn noticed that the printer left thin lines on the letters so I added a second decal over the top. This has generally worked out better as the letters are now a much deeper black. The only downside is that the last few letters didnt line up perfectly but I think that I can live with that.

 

The hotel sign has also been added above the main door. I now need to print the restaurant sing that goes between the recessed window and door. Also curtains will be needed.

Hopefully tomorrow I can start the forecourt base which is on a slope. This will allow me to construct the steps to the building.

 

I will get a coat of varnish on the decals before heading out for beer with friends.

[roundhouse]

Yesterday I started building the forecourt area for the hotel. I used various offcuts of timber left over from baseboard and backscene construction.

Everywhere under the shed canopy is now covered in polystyrene. Good job that I did the filing it down outside.

The forecourt has been condensed a bit as this will have to fit ontop of the fiddleyard at one end of the layout and bolt onto the fiddleyard for transport.

Another coat of filler wil be required prior to adding the steps planted areas and signage.

 

I have five weeks before the layout has its first show. Still plenty to do though.

[westerhamstation]

Hi Ian, It's coming on very well, the wall is setting the hotel off nicely. All the best Adrian,

[roundhouse]

20 hours ago, westerhamstation said:

Hi Ian, It's coming on very well, the wall is setting the hotel off nicely. All the best Adrian,

Adrian

 

Thanks. I am not looking forward to soldering up the railings ontop of the wall but hopefully I will get mojo to do so this week.

More filler early tomorrow morning hopefully.

Edited May 31, 2022 by roundhouse

[roundhouse]

Its curtains for the hotel.

 

I used thin grey card rubbed over a small piece of styrene shiplap to form the creases in the curtains which were then glued into place with canopy glue.

 

Today I picked up half round styrene strip to form the capping ontop of the low walls forming the boundary walls but this is yet to be fixed in place as beer was calling.

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by roundhouse

[roundhouse]

After a gap due to the long Jubilee weekend and my Mums 90th birthday do I have now recommenced work on the hotel. The railings have been soldered together using brass wire thrn bent to shape and fitted into holes drilled into the stone wall capping.

There are a few signboards to build once the building is screwed to the base.

However there will be another break whilst I get the first signal connected to the servo and Megapoints server board.

[PaulRhB]

Just need LT Catchpole striding down to the station with his camera 👍

[roundhouse]

21 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Just need LT Catchpole striding down to the station with his camera 👍

I could have picked up a figure holding a camera last weekend when I visited Alton Model Centre. I will have to see if Modelu do a suitable one and position where obe of the photos would have been taken from.

 

This morning I had the Barnstaple bound platform signal working although the bounce of the signal arm isn't quite right but I knew that was likely to be the case as I don't have the faster servos to achieve that at present. At least it's working with three more to hook up.

Edited June 9, 2022 by roundhouse

[roundhouse]

After a weekend playing trains USA style I am now in the process of installing the signals.

 

As of this evening two of the four signals have been fitted to the layout and connected up to the servos. The Megapoints servo module is now set up and powering the twi servos. The DCC decoder board is in place but yet to be programmed and connected to the servo module.

 

Hopefully tomorrow the last two signals will be fitted.