GWR OO Gauge - 1930's rural Somerset - Winter 1937

My science/physics teaching is in the past Claus - a long time back so I'm lost !!

I'm pleased someone knows what they're doing.  I usually know I've got it wrong when the LEDs cease to emit light …..

Getting back to current activities on the desk, Ketley Hall and its crew have been installed and complete my cab detailing job. Seen in good light I'm very happy with what I thought was a bit of a rough paint job of the cab features.  Given their low unit cost I'm also more than happy with the Dapol crew figures since from standard viewing distance they more than past muster.







It is a pity it's so much work to add firebox glow on these tender locos, requiring extra wiring from back to front and the internal surgery. Also I doubt my ability to make the LED inconspicuous in what is now a nicely detailed cab. It's much easier proposition in the confined spaces of smaller tank engines.

Dusting off the DeLorean - Back to the Future

Weston-Heathfield might appear to be a very small sleepy layout where the biggest thing happening is the seasons changing.

In the story so far, W-H mostly has been in an idyllic Winter 1936-7, but now something totally out of the blue has come to pass. Suddenly we find ourselves projected forward in time some 20+ years with Late BR era steam, Mark 1 Coaches and a flurry of modern vehicles in the tiny village streets. Farmer James Hardwick, son of John now proudly drives his Jensen around the narrow lanes of the Quantocks. Best of all, the long suffering villagers can cross the busy lines by bridge:



In this brief time warp event several other shots were captured.






And finally King George I - 6006, resplendent with its late era double chimney races by, while a very grubby Class 8750 -4680 pulls a short local freight.



This all too short period of time warp was followed by the gradual reversal of the various changes. In reality due to being packed up for transfer to a new home with Grandson J in the West. 

I'd always planned to run some 1960s era action on W-H but the sudden outbreak of Delta strain down here sent the WA visitors off in a frantic attempt to avoid being trapped. So a few brief hours were all we could manage in Era 5, until I get that DeLorean for Christmas :hmm.




 

It's all looking very atmospheric, Colin, and the loco interior (which somehow I seemed to miss) looks superb.  It will definitely add to future photos of the train in action.
Michael

Looks great. Lets do the time warp again….
Even with the change of era, it all fits very nicely. 

That's more my era Colin - even if it's not my region …………….. :roll: :roll:

I was searching your village for a glimpse of the DeLorean - is in someone's garage ?  

There's not been much to report of late but with the Small Prairie back from a 5 month rest on the workbench, waiting replacement DCC Sound I can now show it at work with the recently delivered non-corridor set of matched Brake thirds.



Here they are captured on yet another of those sunny late winter's days in the Quantocks.

The coaches are the latest release Hornby Collett 57ft bow ended non-corridor stock, very close in style to some of the B-Sets except for the lack of First Compartment. I was fortunate to pick up the matched pair on "special" at about 30% off regular pricing which made them good value as well.


Colin

 

…. and from the Quantocks end of the layout a shot of the rear of the Collett Brake Third pair. These have been close coupled using the alternative couplings supplied by Hornby, bringing them a little closer to their "B-Set" cousins.




I've never taken a shot of the layout from here and aside from showing how "compact" the whole setting is, the farm and village appear to occupy virtually all the available space. In reality the engine shed in the blurry distance marks the beginning of about 600mm devoted to Westown station and yards, virtually invisible from here.

Winter and the first snow had arrived in the Quantocks when our local walkers caught this scene high up above Heathfield in early evening. A fleeting last moment of sunshine catching the snow and running water while the scene beyond looks rather gloomy.

Could do with some snow here in South Australia to lower the temperature - currently 39.6c

That's excellent Colin - you must hail from Somerset or have excellent reference photos.

I remember picking wild bilberries up on the Quantocks with friends who lived near Bicknoller.

Keep up the good work.   :thumbs

[user=606]Sol[/user] wrote:

Could do with some snow here in South Australia to lower the temperature - currently 39.6c

We're similar here Sol - but we're in fahrenheit  ……………

[user=6]Petermac[/user] wrote:

That's excellent Colin - you must hail from Somerset or have excellent reference photos.

I remember picking wild bilberries up on the Quantocks with friends who lived near Bicknoller.

Keep up the good work.   :thumbs

Thanks Peter,


"…you must hail from Somerset YES or and have excellent reference photos YES".
 

Westown Photos

Family visitors in from Perth, long time no see, have been here and Westown got a brisk clean up for some running sessions. Young J, always handy with a borrowed iPhone had a busy day.

The most interesting photos came from our night running session. He seems to have an eye for atmospheric viewpoints so excuse if I post a few.













All these around a deserted Westown on a rather chilly evening. I'm looking through some videos but these will take longer as he favours long single takes. In need of a trim for Youtube.

A Final Curtain Call for Westown-Heathfield (W-H)

All good things come to an end and so, as the title change suggests, W-H is facing its last times in the limelight. When I first joined YMRC, W-H was already well advanced, so the full story was never told; perhaps all the better, now when I look back at those early primitive efforts.

  However, this project has been a huge learning experience for me, leading eventually to a complete change in direction, viz starting my first “proper” layout (Upper Hembury). To say "au revoir" to W-H it seemed worthwhile to cut thru the many detours of my rambling Topic (nearly all of my own doing) and tell the full story of W-H in concise “Benjamin Button” mode.

  I’d encourage any newcomers not to go back to the first project page yet but let me unwrap the package to my plan. I promise all will be revealed in the end, one amongst you knows what I mean!
  
Let me start with some of my favourite photos and a very brief scene-setting info.
   
  W-H is at its core is a small rectangular board with an extension added (600mm) to accommodate Westown and its Yards.  In early posts I got some very positive feedback, this snippet from Barry M remains among my favourites…
   
  â€œGRRR!  Just when I convince myself and all other interested parties (Mrs M in particular) that I need a shed half the size of the county in which to build a proper model railway, someone comes along and builds a beautiful looking specimen in 8ft x 4ft !!!!”
   
  â€¦ encouragement enough for me to raise the bar and make as much as I could of the available space in hand.




Late afternoon sunlight allows for some pleasing natural lit photos such as this first.
 These views look towards Heathfield, a small Quantock village nestled under the hills. In the foreground Frog Lane Farm.



The majority of the available space covers the farm, at least that small part near the village, the station end of the village with the church and finally the hills - around 1700mm worth in all.

My intention was to have as complete as possible a separation of Town and country while modelling them both to a visually satisfying level.

What is the plan Colin? Always sad to see the end of a great layout. 

[user=2057]TeaselBay[/user] wrote:

What is the plan Colin? Always sad to see the end of a great layout.

Thanks Chris,

To tell more would spoil my planned sequence but there is a tiny hint lurking in my post #335  :twisted:. Some of the ex pats might get it.

Colin

A Final Curtain Call for Westown-Heathfield (W-H) - part 2

Moving nearer to the Village, this photo shows the heart of the Heathfield setting.



Four Metcalfe Kits, the front two houses, Norman Church and Manor Farm House are complemented by my first two scratch built buildings, a Barn partly visible top Left and the Grand Mansion in front of the Village cross.

The two Metcalfe houses have been heavily modified by adding replacement Scalescenes walling and tiled roofing.

The level crossing was a mark 2 effort built almost entirely out of filled PVC (surplus venetian blind slats).  The Lineside worker's hut is an Ancorton kit and a very satisfying addition to the scene.

Dry stone walls are more Scalescenes for the sides and air drying DAS Clay for individual stones for the capping.

One challenge on such a small layout is getting suitable depth of field. Calling on help from my daughter and her girls I was guided towards hand painting / drawing the back-scenes and managing the issue of perspective when the range of front view positions inevitably builds in distortions. I'll come back to the back-scene in some later photos.

In this photo we can see along to 1700mm from the right of the layout area yet little hint is visible that the Westown setting sits even further to the left.
 

More Photos of the Farm

The gnarled old tree behind the Barn with its dead and damaged limbs (from a lavender pruning) is a favourite of mine.



fine sprigs have been randomly glued onto the raw skeleton to give the detail. In my book nothing beats going to nature for your tree superstructures.

This view of the farm catches a worker bring some prunings back to the sheds



While in the background dairy cattle return at dusk to the barn for the evening milking

Bright Sunny Days

Today is a particularly fine Winter's afternoon and the village is bathed in bright sunshine, a little too much to permit decent photos. A few locals are out and about making the most of the lovely weather for which Heathfield is famed.

Perhaps overlooked in earlier posts, Heathfield's Norman Church sits imposingly in the village. Here we can also see the Village Cross and the local playground



And from the farm we have a rarely viewed angle which shows the Quantock Hills in the distance.




The Church kit is a fine Metcalfe offering which is quite challenging but very satisfying to complete. Built early on, the finish of the boundary walls leaves room for improvement (when viewed from here!).