[cardmodeller]

Welcome to my small Southern Railway terminus set somewhere in rural South-East England. Built to 00 Gauge with C&L code 75 Bullhead track and Peco code 75 flat-bottom points. The baseboards are fourteen inches wide with a scenic section of six feet in length. A thirty inch long fiddle yard is attached on the right-hand end.

All buildings are constructed from card. The station building, bridge and platform are Scalescenes' downloadable kits. The goods shed and signal box are scratchbuilt. I can enlarge on the methods used if there is any interest.

Operation is via a Gaugemaster DC controller and points are operated via Seep point motors. If anyone is interested I will add more details of the construction of the scenery and buildings.

Here are a few photos to whet the appetite.

Terry

​

 

[hoonsou]

Very nice. Any chance of an overall photo?

 

[kristopher1805]

nice cameo and Iove the hose and cart, would you mind saying where it came from please, like the guy leaning on the wall too, also n ice to see some different kits as well, so good effort thanks for sharing.

 

[Dogspike]

Hi cardmodeller
Very neat it’s good to see a white signal panel on the bridge something that’s not always modelled.

 

[cardmodeller]

Thank you all for your kind comments. I don't have an overall photo as such, but I'll post two photos facing in both directions. This should give an idea of the layout plan. The layout is based on the article 'The Art of Compromise' by Roy Link, published in the October, 1978 copy of the Railway Modeller. The horse and coal merchant's cart come from the Dart Castings' range, as are all of the human figures on the layout. Link to the horse-drawn vehicles and horses here...

Dart Castings - Dart Castings Range

The signal sighting panel (is that the correct term?) is simply some Scalescenes' white brickwork pasted over the original red brick surface.

Terry

​

Here is a picture of the signal box taken just after completion. The building is based on that which stood at Adversane Crossing (between Billingshurst and Pulborough). Both it and the nearby privvy are shown in Plate 143 of 'A Pictorial Record of Southern Signals' by G. Pryer (Published by OPC). Made from card. The finials are wooden toothpicks, turned in a mini-drill and shaped with swiss files. Unfortunately, the front view is never seen on the layout.

​

As seen on the layout ...

​

 

[34C]

I'd like to sit on that bench on a summer day, listening to the bird song and perhaps enjoying the smell of the grass being cut for hay; while in the distance the little tankie can be heard chuffing its way toward me. My bike is ready for the guard's van, and the train will take me to a convenient station to access the next youth hostel on my planned Southern counties tour.

 

[cardmodeller]

Thank you 34C. Perchance this is not you sitting on the bench, is it?

​

Terry

​

 

[cardmodeller]

This rather nice Private Owner wagon started life as a bog-standard £10 Dapol wagon. I thought that it could be improved with a few enhancements so dismantled it into its component parts. I started by giving the bright red interior a wash of cream coloured Humbrol enamel paint. When dry this also received a wash of very thinned down black paint, which was also applied by brush to the rather clean exterior body work. The underframe and couplings were given a blast of Humbrol dark brown enamel from a spray can. After re-assembly, the plastic coal load was binned and a false floor was fitted and real coal glued in place. A transformation from the bright red 'plasticky' origional.

​

Terry

 

[cardmodeller]

Some of the locomotives which are available for duties on the branch. All are awaiting weathering. See if you can identify the class of each loco. Sorry about the poor quality of some of the photos.

Terry

 

[34C]

O2, Adams Radial, Terrier, H, P, E4; neat selection of two from each Southern constituent! (Thus the location is most likely a picturesque backwater somewhere in a band of country between Guildford and Croydon?)

Tempted by the very pretty Wainwright C class? That's the most petite Southern 0-6-0 currently available, until 'someone' produces an Adams 0395...

 

[cardmodeller]

Well done, full marks! Although the layout is supposed to be based somewhere on the old LBSCR system, I'm very relaxed about the locomotive fleet and tend to buy anything which catches my eye in Southern livery. If I could pick-up the C class cheaply I would be tempted. I forgot to show my recently acquired Drummond 700 class 0-6-0, bought at a bargain price at an exhibition.

Terry

 

[cardmodeller]

All rolling stock will eventually be fitted with the Kirby Coupling, devised by Brian Kirby, which allows for automatic uncoupling. Basically, this is the Bachmann small hook and bar coupling with a length of wire (staple) either glued or soldered to the vertical part of the hook. I tend to favour soldering, as often the superglued staple breaks off. Here is a picture of a wagon with modified couplings. As yet, the staples are unpainted. Note the bend in the staples. Nowadays I also form the ends of the staples into small circles to create a larger area to be attracted by the magnets, which are buried beneath the track sleepers.

​

I bury two bar magnets, connected lengthwise, under the sleepers. The magnets need to have a total length long enough to cover the distance between both of the staples on two adjoining wagons to ensure that both couplings lift at the same time. As here...

​

Terry

 

[cardmodeller]

I use code 75 C&L track which has very thin sleepers and doesn't interfere with the pull of the magnets on the staples. I usually decide on the magnet positions before laying the track and cut a suitable hole in the baseboard. A scrap piece of ply or mdf is glued beneath the hole, which is then packed with thick card on which the magnets will sit. Extra card packing is added to raise the magnets, or removed to lower them until the top surface of each magnet is level with the baseboard surface. Sometimes, of course, I realise that magnets are required in a postion where the track has already been laid. It is possible (although not desireable) to retrospectively fit the magnets. This involves cutting through the sleepers just inside the chairs, carefully removing the centres of the sleepers and cutting a rectangular hole through the baseboard, long enough to accept the magnets. The scrap piece of ply or mdf is then glued under the board, as mentioned above, and the packing card and magnets are added. The sleeper centres are then superglued onto the magnets and ballast is added. I usually flood the ballast with superglue which gives instant hard ballast - IMPORTANT NOTE: YOU MUST VENTILATE THE ROOM WHILST DOING THIS. THE FUMES GIVEN OFF BY SUPERGLUE ARE HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH. This retrospective procedure was carried out beside the yard crane when I realised that it would be very useful to deposit a wagon at this location.

​

Terry

​

 

[34C]

...I bury two bar magnets, connected lengthwise, under the sleepers. The magnets need to have a total length long enough to cover the distance between both of the staples on two adjoining wagons to ensure that both couplings lift at the same time...

And for anyone using the Kadee coupler, the Kadee permanent magnet and electromagnet will also operate Kirby modified couplers. (I use Kadee on the ends of coach sets, Kirby modified couplers on unfitted wagons for the excellent loose coupled effect; so the same uncoupler for both is handy.)

 

[cardmodeller]

Whilst on the subject of couplings, have you noticed that they are often at differring heights, even on products from the same manufacturer? In order to get some standardisation on Farleigh, I made a small coupling height gauge from some strips of styrene. I used a coupling fitted to one of my locos as the standard, and made the gauge to this specification. Basically, the top of the bar of every coupling must be at the same height as the gauge. In the example shown below, the bar needs to be raised slightly.

​

Terry

 

[hoonsou]

Very nice Terry,
I'm doing a very loose representation of Wadebridge. I've got some Southern loco's along with LBSC. If I can make it half as good as yours. I'll be happy.

 

[kiwionrails]

Whilst on the subject of couplings, have you noticed that they are often at differring heights, even on products from the same manufacturer? In order to get some standardisation on Farleigh, I made a small coupling height gauge from some strips of styrene. I used a coupling fitted to one of my locos as the standard, and made the gauge to this specification. Basically, the top of the bar of every coupling must be at the same height as the gauge. In the example shown below, the bar needs to be raised slightly.

View attachment 22857
​

Terry

Agreed, is probably one of the most important factors for ensuring consistent coupling/uncoupling. It is amazing how much variability there is.....

 

[34C]

The NEM coupler pocket has specified dimensions for both itself, and position on the model; which ideally should be used.
NEM Coupling Pockets - The Double O Gauge Association

And yes, OO product often needs correction.

 

[cardmodeller]

Very nice Terry,
I'm doing a very loose representation of Wadebridge. I've got some Southern loco's along with LBSC. If I can make it half as good as yours. I'll be happy.

Thank you Peter, very kind of you to say so, but I'm only an 'average modeller' (as it used to say on the cover of the Railway Modeller). I think that attention to detail is something that lifts any layout above the ordinary. We have all seen examples of gaps under buildings, shiny clothes being worn by the little people, or people frozen mid-action, or runaway locos with no crew on board (something which is on my to do list). To my mind too many layouts are over-populated, with people shoved into every conceivable space. Take churches. In real life they sit empty and unused for most of the time. But put one on a model railway layout and, of course, it usually comes with the wedding party outside, or a funeral at the back, or sometimes both at the same time! Total lack of realism.
The seven people on Farleigh are probably all it is going to get, although having just retrieved a beat Bobby and his bicycle from another layout, they just might end up on the bridge.

Terry

 

[cardmodeller]

A few words regarding the goods shed. This is based on drawings by Edward Beale from his book 'Modelling the Old-Time Railways', published in 1955.
I enjoy modelling buildings from card, so out came my sheet of white mount board once again. All surfaces are from the Scalescenes' range, cream clapboard for the walls, plain clapboard for the flooring and red brick for the lower walls. After printing the Scalescenes' sheets I always cover them with Testors' Dullcote varnish to waterproof them. This means that I can paint over them with other colours or add weathering where appropriate, without causing the ink to run. Here is the building in its early stage. The top is not fitted to the base yet.

​

There should be six individual doors on the rail side, two to each doorway. The next photo shows how I 'cheated' to create two doors with one piece of card...

​

Windows are simply made by drawing the frames and window bars onto a self-adhesive label, which is then stuck to some clear plastic packaging. I retrieve suitable 'window glass' from the mountain of clear packaging in which goods are packed these days. All of the bars are simply cut through with a scalpel and straight edge, but only through the paper label, not through the clear plastic. Simply peel away the label to reveal the clear panes, leaving the bars intact. Any residual adhesive can be gently wiped away with a cotton bud dipped in a spirit.

​

The card roof is added, remembering to colour the edges with a felt-tipped pen...