[kristopher1805]

This is another unusual view looking towards the woods and plantation with Hawkcombe village in the foreground and small station to the left, the trees in the background and the return loop so sorry about the photo quality but I think it has character.

http://imgur.com/Z0FvR8u

 

[Julian2011]

I've always liked those cottage houses and they are perfectly suited to the layout theme. It's a really good idea, they set the mood so well.

Julian

 

[kristopher1805]

Thanks for the remarks, I think I need about another 3 cottages, I took away the Metcalfe barn as it looked too big in that location, another view here to enjoy looking up the road to the village of Hawkcombe across the main line from Porlock to Lynton

http://imgur.com/ZRVgGSH

 

[Graham Plowman]

Kris,

May I make a suggestion regarding those buildings ?

I have to say that I really like them. They have a perspective that goes really well with the settings you are using them in, however, the one thing that spoils them for me is that they look 'planted' on the layout. Maybe this is temporary, I don't know.

Is there a way that you could create plaster-based land around them so that they sit in 'holes' like a foundation ? ie remove the 'flat baseboard' effect and create some land contours ?
If you could do this and hide the 'bases', I think you would have a really good result.

Keep up the good work!

 

[kristopher1805]

Graham you are welcome just that i have no idea how to do this and make it look right, I have bought 3 more as I think it needs more balance should be OK but they also released some tiny ones and I have a few suitable for N gauge I think, these I guess are about TT at 1 in 100 (my guess) but are OK on this OO9 set whilst they would look too small on the big railway, I do at least get the option of moving them around to get nice angles and make it look convincing (a bit)

http://imgur.com/N8vKgGu

 

[Graham Plowman]

Kris,

No problem. Take your picture in message #223 above as an example.
The positioning is fine, but the buildings all look like they are sitting on 'raised islands' - because they are.
What I'm suggesting it that you create some raised terrain (multiple ways to do that - plaster/supported chicken wire/mod roc/polystyrene etc) and 'sink' the buildings into it by the height of their island bases. They look to have different base heights to me, so the depth you 'sink' them into a surface terrain will vary for each building.
The idea is that the ground around the buildings matches and flows into the ground level which each building is built on. Makes them look like they are part of the overall picture instead of islands plonked on it. Also creates the effect of contours which makes the whole thing look a lot more natural and not a 'flat board' layout.

Does that make sense ?

As an example, here is my station master's house which has been 'embedded' in a sloping terrain: Modelling a Station Master's House - Model Railways On-Line
It actually sits on a plank of wood and the ground around it is shaped fibre board supports with chicken wire and plaster over the top.

This image shows the effect better with the building in the right hand background:

 

[kristopher1805]

Looks very well, just a shame you are a bit far away to come round and show me how its done but I have been thinking along these lines but not sure I'll bother really sort of think about it later when it otherwise all done, I am trying to push on and get it finished as a project and it is well on now, watch for updates

 

[kristopher1805]

Another photo but I have added houses to cover the backscene gap where some 1950's cars can used to be seen, if you look carefully you can see a train on the return loop passing by behind the brown bogie wagon, besides the shed on the goods loop is the Decauville with a van train hoppers sit in the yard for the gasworks

http://imgur.com/NFklEZ8

sorry for the foggy atmosphere it must be caused by steam drifting across the track

 

[kristopher1805]

OK enthusiasts, correspondents and lurkers all, I cleaned the camera lens and what do you know, the fog has lifted. So a bit more work although its getting difficult to see where the trees can all grow up but well other things have moved on a bit more.

This area in front of the gas works will have the timber yard so a Y point is ready to get added here and then there will be two sidings and I suppose a crane will be needed, anyway at the moment it is in the layout stage

http://imgur.com/orzIHR8

 

[kristopher1805]

This corner has been prettied up by the addition of some grass and a tree and with the buildings behind it all looks nearlt reasonable.

http://imgur.com/IbVBv1Z

 

[kristopher1805]

back corner behind the gasworks and I am going to add a platform for the halt, this will Luccombe Road now Luccombe has an iron mine hear in the 1880s which closed but reopened in 1904 so although it closed in 1905 - well it might have lingered a bit longer so just wondering whether I should add a siding/loop for the iron ore trains that would work through Porlock to the Weir and thence be shipped to Wales for smelting and whatever it is they do with iron ore. A few trees have sprung up but one will need a re-position

http://imgur.com/TEgEtuM

 

[kristopher1805]

Low level approach to Luccombe Road Halt

http://imgur.com/yFlq9ro

 

[kristopher1805]

Exciting development, well I wanted very much a Bachman Woody Bay Station building but the all went very quickly, in the end I have purchased the 3D printed effort but it has to be painted and dressed up by in this case - me, so I have started this process, this is Humbrol (wine colour) for the roof and I suspect the white plastic has brought out the red, it'llk certainly need knocking down so I'll weather it later and see how that makes it more acceptable, the base has been painted light grey so this looks not bad. More to follow;

http://imgur.com/Ar7MVd0

 

[kristopher1805]

'Pic of the day is this shot of Porlock with part of the station and weed clearing going on, I quite like this one;

http://imgur.com/ffJSYyT

 

[Graham Plowman]

'Pic of the day is this shot of Porlock with part of the station and weed clearing going on, I quite like this one;

http://imgur.com/ffJSYyT

Platform a bit narrow there mate!
Platforms are required to have 6 foot minimum from the edge with no obstructions. A back to back platform such as this would need to be 12 foot wide, 48mm in 4mm scale.
Sorry to be pedantic, but a lot of people make this mistake on their layouts!

 

[kristopher1805]

This is a Col Stevens Railway and narrow gauge to boot so it'll have to do and if it don't then the railway gets closed down, true though it is narrow but space as you can see is at a premium.

OK so pic of the day today looking to wards the town gate, I quite like this one too.

http://imgur.com/qxsfU5g

 

[Graham Plowman]

This is a Col Stevens Railway and narrow gauge to boot so it'll have to do and if it don't then the railway gets closed down, true though it is narrow but space as you can see is at a premium.

OK so pic of the day today looking to wards the town gate, I quite like this one too.

http://imgur.com/qxsfU5g

I think there is a popular belief that Col Stevens railways weren't subject to any rules, but I think you'll find that some rules did still apply and that platform widths were one of them!
Have a look at the stations on the Kent and East Sussex Railway as an example.

 

[kristopher1805]

Well I did have a look to see whether I could accommodate a wider main platform and basically I do not see how, this one is approximately 6 feet wide to scale so would need to double in width to make 12 feet so whilst I agree that this would look better, the other problem here is that the curved radius track has to be 12inch/305mm so suit the Heljan locos so the goods loop being a lesser tighter radius and that then has problems further along.maybe I'll come up with something but at the moment its not going to work as a whole.

Another view of the station thanks for the comment by the way I do appreciate them even if I sound that I do not.

http://imgur.com/qxsfU5g

 

[kristopher1805]

Ah forgot to click copy!

http://imgur.com/OpxvLp1

 

[kristopher1805]

Graham I have been looking more into the platform matter so before I get stuck into that I have constructed a narrative.

Part 1.
The railway was originally built to serve Porlock Weir and that is the through line nearer the townscape, as such the platform was deemed adequate, so when the railway promoted the line to Lynton to join the L&BR the second through line was added by taking away a goods siding and loop and that was converted to become the route through to Lynton, which immediately diverge the Lynton line heading initially southwards (left) to follow the Hawkcombe valley whilst the Porlock Weir line goes north west (right) so two platform faces were deemed required so passengers can transfer between trains to make connecting services and goods loops also needed so they can get out of the way of passenger services. Complicating matters is the line to Luccombe where the iron ore workings were being exploited and this included miners trains from the thriving metropolis of Porlock. The junction for this is beyond the gas works.

Part 2 - my further exploration of this topic.

Looking at Porlock Town station from the west

http://imgur.com/IwGK8FI