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

Colin

As a guitar player for many years, I have always had a ready supply of phosphor bronze wire and very handy it is too for all sorts of things from fencing to control wire.  The wounds strings are not so good in tubes given their abrasive outer winding but worth getting a few more lighter ("unwound") strings if available.

If all else fails, Ernie Ball Earthwood strings are not half bad so you could always take up the guitar  

Barry

Another Change of Tack


  School holidays are here and young C (of the Playground design) was sleeping over with us. After a review of progress on Westown it was agreed we might try painting some characters. This proved quite demanding for her so we moved on to cows.
   
  My stock is mostly Peco (5100) and some Hornby (R7121), supposedly Friesians, shown here are not the best items I’ve ever bought. Just a few token circular blobs of black on the identical Hornby lot, while the Peco all have large horns, surplus moulding waste and brown orange muzzles and udders, again more paint just dabbed on! None of this anything like realistic.
   
  We set about fixing this. After some snipping off of horns, C set to work with some internet photos as guidance to complete the repainting I’d started. The job’s not finished yet but this morning’s work is shown here at the bottom.   
   

 

Nice work Colin and little C.

Some years ago there was an article in the Railway Modeller about modelling the right colour cows for the right part of the country (November 1974 if anyone is interested).

I'm certainly no farmer but horns AND udders - really??

Barry 

Thanks Barry,

I did rely solely on my recall of the area from the 60s when starting work on the (model!) farm so it was with relief that a check back confirmed that Friesian cattle were farmed there but my sheep will need some work to become black faced.

An upside of my research was that I found 2 wonderful photos of Norman Churches from the region as a reference for my own. They both have a quite unusual and distinct style with 4 turrets, one much larger than the others so differ from my generic Metcalfe version! If anyone's interested, see:

 https://www.quantockonline.co.uk/quantocks/gallery02/index.html

(scroll down towards bottom of gallery)



 

Back to the GWR Beetle
Two sets of HMRS transfers were part of my goodies that arrived from H&A Models while we were away.

After some research about insignia and lettering a mid 1930 Beetle I learnt from GWR.org.uk that "shirtbutton" logos came in on them from 1934. Most of the model photos I could find were bearing "G W" but I followed their guidance and applied the Roundel. Then I moved on to learning how to apply Pressfix Transfers which was a good investment of time before setting off.



The end result was after only one rework of a wonky "Tare" and was quite satisfying to finish.
 
At present it's notable for all the fragile bits that I've knocked off during the finishing but at least painting and lettering is now done. I found Pressfix to be very good to use, even the very fine single digits went on just fine. There was one minor moment of stress when a deep breath sent an "0" off into the ether. It turned up later stuck to something.

Colin

[user=2006]Barry Miltenburg[/user] wrote:

I'm certainly no farmer but horns AND udders - really??

Barry 

Yes, they do. Usually removed at the bud stage. Not all breeds.


Nigel

Hi Colin. That usually happens when the Foreman has a day off . Best wishes Kevin 

[user=1632]BCDR[/user] wrote:

[user=2006]Barry Miltenburg[/user] wrote:

I'm certainly no farmer but horns AND udders - really??

Barry 

Yes, they do. Usually removed at the bud stage. Not all breeds.


Nigel

The horns or the udders are removed ?  :pedal

Just Googled "British breeds of cow".

Its amazing what you don't know…….

This is the sort of detail that adds to the atmosphere of a layout with the correct "beyond the fence" stuff.  Thanks Colin

Barry

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

[user=1632]BCDR[/user] wrote:

[user=2006]Barry Miltenburg[/user] wrote:

I'm certainly no farmer but horns AND udders - really??

Barry 

Yes, they do. Usually removed at the bud stage. Not all breeds.


Nigel

The horns or the udders are removed ?  :pedal

 

A tough job in my farming days.  Local anaesthetic then a hot iron to burn them out - only little "buds" not the big horns ………………………. An essential job that prevented eye damage when they were either at the trough or in the milking sheds and, in the case of males, prevented serious damage if they ever tried to "lock horns" ………….

Frog Lane farm
From Post #1, a reminder that this was the setting I'd envisioned at the outset:
 
Westown – A Somerset town located on a spur off the GWR mainline
 
Heathfield –very loosely based on the villages in the Quantocks where I wanted to capture three elements
·          the hills
·          a village with its tiny branch-line station
·          a small nearby farm.

My “mission Impossible”, to fit this into the available space without it looking like an implausible mess.

I wanted to capture the sense of place and settings of my home county Somerset and, unsaid at the time, build in some links to our own family history which brings us conveniently to the back story for Frog Lane Farm.

My Father's family lived and worked as labourers on a very similar farm in S. Gloucestershire and from all the data were fortunate with their lot. The life expectancy of your average Victorian was barely above 40 until the 1870s then slowly crept up. In contrast, the 3 Victorian generations of Wilshires all lived more than 4 decades longer. The merits of hard work, fresh air and food indeed! I visited the real Frog Lane Farm on a recent trip, and it would not be out of place in my setting.

Heathfield and the Hills use up a precious 1.1m of my  2.4m available space so the farm is tucked in snugly nearby. We imagine  Farmer John Hardwick has arable land extending beyond the tracks and  only a modest section of his 100 Acres is visible. It is rumoured that he is keenly awaiting the arrival of a Prize Cattle truck on the local service so he can exhibit at the upcoming Bath and West Show. Photos will follow once the current projects are completed.

  

Hi Colin.  Well done with your ever expanding plans . One of your destinations reminds me of rural Essex, to be precise “ Frog Island “ at Creek Way, Rainham RM13 8EN. But your Layout I am certain will be much better than a boggy corner of rural Essex.  Best wishes Kevin 

Great storyline Colin - looking forward to hearing how he gets on at the Bath and West ................ :thumbs

[user=2170]Colin W[/user] wrote:

Back to the GWR Beetle
Two sets of HMRS transfers were part of my goodies that arrived from H&A Models while we were away.

After some research about insignia and lettering a mid 1930 Beetle I learnt from GWR.org.uk that "shirtbutton" logos came in on them from 1934. Most of the model photos I could find were bearing "G W" but I followed their guidance and applied the Roundel. Then I moved on to learning how to apply Pressfix Transfers which was a good investment of time before setting off.



The end result was after only one rework of a wonky "Tare" and was quite satisfying to finish.
 
At present it's notable for all the fragile bits that I've knocked off during the finishing but at least painting and lettering is now done. I found Pressfix to be very good to use, even the very fine single digits went on just fine. There was one minor moment of stress when a deep breath sent an "0" off into the ether. It turned up later stuck to something.

Colin

My apologies…….I missed this.

It looks a brilliant model…….. well done :thumbs. Perfect for your prize cattle.

I have built a few of these Parkside "Brown" vehicles in the past, although not the Beetle. I know exactly what you mean about fragile bits I always had great difficulty with the steps. Unlike you I didnt do my livery homework and my models have the large GW……quite out of place for 1948…..keep meaning to change them.

You must be deservedly very pleased with your model

Best wishes

John
 

More at Frog Lane Farm

Week two of School Hols has allowed for some more collaborative work on the farm. The latest focus has been to add some farm buildings consistent with our limited space. The obvious choices were a Cow Shed and Barn given the cold winters in the Somerset hills.

Research:
Vintage photos have quite some value these days on the Net and hence are scarce, but a most surprising source presented itself, Barn conversions! Real Estate and Short Stay holiday promo photos provided me a rich source of “after” material and with some imagination the original building could be pictured. Also, I've photos of the original Barn and cowshed on the S Glos. namesake farm which provided a useful further linkage.

The Plan:
A Two storey Cow shed with loft used for Hay storage. This was a common design and, on this Farm, a convenient space saver.

Progress:
 A simple box structure was quickly pulled together to the grandchildrens’ amazement, especially when overnight it acquired its stone exterior. Young C wanted me to complete all the interior details, roof trusses, stalls, ladder to upstairs but was fortunately quick to grasp than none would be visible! With hindsight this is a shame as some of the barn conversion interiors show wonderful beam structures that have been preserved and would have been lovely to model






 

Very nice Colin…..no wonder the Grandchildren were impressed!
How did you do the near Front/Side corner …..I can see any join …..it looks great. I assume that is Scalescene Ashlar?

Regards

John

Very nice indeed.

When I read "two storey cowshed" I had visions of cows going upstairs to bed.

Doh!!

Hi Barry.  If you can teach a cow how to her place in a modern milking parlour? I am certain that if the need was there they would go upstairs to bed. Best wishes Kevin 

Thanks for the feedback everyone. The stone is Scalescenes "TX47-OO Coursed Rubble" which has a coarse, more rustic feel than the Ashlar (very Costswolds!). From the photos I've got to work from it is a very good fit to the local stones of the region. I get my papers professionally printed on 200GSM paper for all of $0.84 per sheet.

Seams are a challenge as the A4 sheet was just enough for two sides but the rough nature of the stone helps hide the edges. Biggest issue is the white strip from the cut edges but I've found that rubbing a soft lead pencil edge along to varying degrees makes this disappear to the eye (but not completely to the camera!)


GWR Cows - an amusing diversion

As a sequel to our earlier cow painting job, I had a look at the other 5 cows in my Hornby pack, I'm guessing maybe Herefords? Clearly someone was told - these are Brown and white, find some suitable paint around the factory and lo! out came GWR Chocolate and Cream cows, with shocking pink udders! The most unlikely cows you've ever seen bar none.

A blend of Red Oxide with Leather Brown and then Vallejo "Off White" brought these up to scratch, soon to make an appearance around the patch. 

Ooh!  Doncaster Green herds on my new layout then!!!

No stop it  :off topic

Barry