Norton Brook (a mendip slow burner...)

[steve howe]

Sure I saw a Toad in a PW train at Retford in the 1980's. Olive green livery.

Most toads are... it was probably nice and damp and dark in there....

[Worzels Works]

I've just remembered that I have a back issue of Railway Bylines somewhere with an article about Kilmersdon Colliery. Would you like me to scan it and upload here for you?

Hi Martin, yes please if the offer still stands! sorry for the late reply! It's got a little busy our here of late... it seems post it taking an excruciating time to arrive too so I think I'll leave any start on construction of anything until I return home, this really is a slow burner

With regards to a toad being a dark, damp, olive place to be... surely not a product of God's Wonderful!

[Worzels Works]

Also a thank you to all for sharing stories of glory days of saving steam! It's a real shame more of the S&D couldn't be saved at the time but hearing the stories reminds me and certainly enthuses me to get back on the track gang down in Cornwall when I can get the chance to, I'd prefer the footplate but there isn't a lot of running where I volunteer in the winter!

[zebedeesknees]

Sure I saw a Toad in a PW train at Retford in the 1980's. Olive green livery.

Most toads are... it was probably nice and damp and dark in there....

That wasn't wasted Steve, made me chuckle...

Ted.

[Worzels Works]

That wasn't wasted Steve...

I'm glad you pointed that out, it was almost very wasted on me

[Worzels Works]

Adding motivation!

SO with the announcement of the Jubilee challenge I thought I'd best strike while the iron is hot so to speak, and get myself signed up before I loose all motivation. I've been thinking about how to go about construction of the layout over the last few weeks on the long and empty night shifts... I have a couple of Ideas that might well be new to baseboards but will wait until return home to do some experiments, lightweight but sturdy 'fully enclosed' boards are the name of the game, they might have to survive travel in a 40 year old truck after all!

Many thanks must go to serjt-dave for posting out to me a box full of 16T mineral wagons and plenty of track parts, all useful starting points, I feel like some retail therapy is in order to sort out some suitable chassis, as well as a small work station to build them on!

I have zero doubt there will be plenty of distractions along the way, but 2026 is going to come round soon enough!

Thanks all,

[Mark Tatlow]

Welcome to the Jubilee Challenge James!

As a piece of advice, may I suggest that you get a loco working in P4 relatively soon, even if it is only on a piece of flexi track. I see you are envisioning a class 33 or 26 and I see Hymeks in the pictures. All of these are easy conversions with either Ultrascale drop in wheelsets (beware long lead in times and that they may cease production before too long), Gibsons or Branchlines wheels.

Getting your first P4 loco chundeling along is great for motivation and I would do this even before a few wagons. Once you get the first loco or two done, you will be able to take the next few steps; wagons next and then turnouts. On the former, I find Bill Bedford sprung units the easiest but make sure you use an axle setting jig such as that from Brassmasters or even straight wheel swaps to RTR stock so long as it has a short wheelbase. On the latter, one of the kits will be the best place to start; British Finescale or Exactoscale. Do this before moving to more challenging things such as a Janus or other coupled loco.

I would also suggest you make sure that you have completely flat baseboards and take particular care to ensure that your rail joints are in line/flat with the adjacent track (a neat trick is to use n-gauge fishplates, at least whilst the glue is drying). Also make sure you get a mint gauge; an under appreciated tool for checking that your track is good - if it slips through easily great, if not time to adjust it!

I have the advantage of knowing where you will be based and that there is a good area group not far away; definitely take advantage of them!

Good luck!

[Worzels Works]

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the warm welcome! A lot of good advice to take in there too... I'm just waiting on a reply from ultrascale about a couple of their wheels before placing an order (and ordering ahead a couple of bits for the future too.) And have my ebay eyes glued on a few Heljan Hymeks...

Thankfully in the Box from dave was many more lengths of flexi track bases than I was expecting so a short photo plank might be a nice way to jump back into scenic modelling and get my eye in again.

I'll need to do some more research on a mint gauge as I'm unfamiliar with them but will absolutely be taking advantage of the local group, it would be rude not to being only a few miles away!

[Winander]

I'll need to do some more research on a mint gauge as I'm unfamiliar woth them

The mint gauge is a stores item and appears to be in stock

RSG Roger Sander's 'Mint' gauge for fine tuning pointwork

[Worzels Works]

Thanks for the pointers on the mint gauge all, it's now on the shopping list for when I get a moment when I can do some retail therapy!

I did however have a productive night shift and did a little more fleshing out of the plan, and with some careful thinking I've come to a 'V2.0' that should be achievable by 2026, even by me! (I have a track record of unfinished business with models)

As with all freelance designs getting the scenery and layout right will be the challenge in the design phase, although a lump of modellers licence can be scooped into it it still needs to look right! Searching through my notes from various books and a heavy influence from the late Mr Rice with regard to view blockers and guiding the viewers eye this is what we have:

20231005_064656.jpg

(Apologies for the folded paper and bedsheet background)

The plan has matured into two distinct scenes for me, the first 3 feet in from the right is the 'heavy industry' part, being the edge of the colliery yard. Careful disguise on where viewers eyes can see should give a good block for leering eyes into an barren fiddle yard, as well as plenty of vertical separation (as much as realistic gradients will allow). In my mind the colliery workshop/general stores dock (a skeleton steel frame by this time) provide plenty of cameo space, with the office(abandoned maybe) forcing the perspectives onto details around both. The spur to the wash plant and loading facility climbing past the back of the office and behind the engine shed gives a chance to put some natural elevation changes into the yard around also.

Beyond the bridge there is a very much forlorn wooden halt and about 5' of run round loop, not much in real terms but enough to have trains long enough to justify keeping the line open! The influence to the eyes in this scene is the incline that climbs away at the front of the layout, making the viewer look down into the former halt area or along the cutting made by the incline one side and rising hills on the other. Another great view might well be down under the height restriction bridge - a 2 fold of an interesting vantage point into the colliery yard and operationally restricting bigger locos from shunting the colliery, perhaps not prototypical (although Hetton colliery and port of par enginemen would argue) its a much needed thinking point for the operator, handy when there is limited traffic to keep you busy for a weekend long exhibition.

So a rather wordy post but hopefully gets most of the gist across, I'm sure there will be many useful pointers and 'why is x like that?' Questions from anyone brave enough to read this far!

[Worzels Works]

not an episode of Escape to the Country Pt.1

the next two posts are more of a 'mood board' for want of a better term, of buildings I want to model or capture the feel of on Norton Brook, given there is a grand total of 5, I think it's achievable.

I'll start off with our once local halt; given the origins of Norton Brook begin with the GWR it should be easy enough, even for me! Thankfully my 'home' railway (Helston Railway) was also once a GWR Branch, and our southern terminus currently is a perfect candidate for the halt on this layout:

steam-train-helston-cornwall-uk-england-the-most-southerly-train-line-in-the-uk-helston-steam-train-entering-the-most-southerly-train-station-truthallthe-passenger-steam-train-travels-the-line-for-the-first-t.jpg

(a stock image but a lovely one to demonstrate) From Kathleen White via Alamy stock photos showing Peckett 1788 Kilmersdon arriving with the first Revenue train back in 2018. (the loco that started this whole diversion into standard gauge, then into P4 and the somerset coal fields) The gang at Helston have done a lovely job with Truthal, restored to 1930's condition before the platform was shortened, it's about 140' long with a simple pagoda shelter.



Next up is a great demonstration of the reconstruction (Image from the Helston Railway website), built in almost exactly the same way as the original with side on sleepers held back by steel I section in this case but on was initially what looks like either plateway or a kind of T section steel, I'm undecided whether to just use I section yet or not. As you can see compared to the image below (again from the Helston website) we've added platform capping to step on to but will be a tamped gravel/ash up to the top edging sleeper.



That pagoda? shouldn't be too much stress as a standard 20'x8' GWR Pagoda shelter, although if anyone knows of a full kit for one in 4mm scale I'd be keen to hear, otherwise a kitbash of a pair of Wills pagoda huts should do.

Another wordy post but helping me to form a more solid idea in my mind and something to come back to once I've completely forgotten where I was at!

It is tempting to make the halt at Norton Brook much more like Praze on the Helston Branch too, but I don't think it would ever have been provided with such a grand station building for what was essentially a drop off point for the Colliery workers coming up from Radstock.

___889776_orig.jpg

___8025026_orig.jpg

(both Copyright Mike Roach, taken form Cornwall Railway Society website: http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/helston-branch.html ) two views of Praze after closure in 1965, (It's going to be a long time before trains get back to here, although the track bed is pretty clear besides needing to clear out part of an industrial estate at Nancegollan and the bungalow that has been built on the site at Praze since)

[essdee]

James,

A lovely little project! That B/W photo - the unusual iron support for the timber platform facing look to me like 'Barlow Rail', an early GWR rail form from Broad gauge days...?

(Says another 'Somerset modeller', noting that not all Somerest railways were GWR ones.......)

Have fun!

Steve D.

[Worzels Works]

James,

A lovely little project! That B/W photo - the unusual iron support for the timber platform facing look to me like 'Barlow Rail', an early GWR rail form from Broad gauge days...?

(Says another 'Somerset modeller', noting that not all Somerest railways were GWR ones.......)

Have fun!

Steve D.

Hi Steve, thanks for the encouragement! I thought it could have been from the grainier low res pic I saw on google, but seeing the full size one on the website threw me off with the angle of the view, now I wonder if anyone produces Barlow Rail in 4mm scale... (I know it's out of location for it, but then again Helston wasn't built by the GWR, and certainly was never broad gauge, prototype for everything etc)

[James Walters]

Hi James,

I can send you a 3d printed pagoda shelter, and also a little kit for the Praze platform frame cabin. I've attached a poor quality photo which I've just taken in very low light. Both of which were produced from original drawings, so you should be able to do something nice with them.
I do have doors for the shelter, I just didn't have them to hand when I took the photo just now.
Note, I think I'm right in saying that there were two door heights on the pagoda shelters. When I looked into it I could only find kits with the shorter doors. That's why I came-up with my own.

Please no-one comment upon the colours I've painted my little cabin in. I do know what they should be.

Best,

James

pagoda shelter and Praze ground frame cabin.jpg

GWR Pagoda Shelter Render.JPG

Praze Platform Frame Cabin.JPG

[Worzels Works]

Please no-one comment upon the colours I've painted my little cabin in. I do know what they should be.

First off, that cabin....

Hi James,

I can send you a 3d printed pagoda shelter, and also a little kit for the Praze platform frame cabin. I've attached a poor quality photo which I've just taken in very low light. Both of which were produced from original drawings, so you should be able to do something nice with them.
I do have doors for the shelter, I just didn't have them to hand when I took the photo just now.
Note, I think I'm right in saying that there were two door heights on the pagoda shelters. When I looked into it I could only find kits with the shorter doors. That's why I came-up with my own.

Hi James (as well), they certainly look the part! That seems to sort out 2 of the 5 buildings in one great swoop, send me a PM with your details and we'll sort something out, it'll be nice to have a couple of easy wins to build from with this I think! I suppose that means I'd best put the effort in to detail them up to the standard they're produced at!

P.S I think it was your video on youtube building P4 track that tipped the edge with joining the society, realising it all comes together like the real thing made it seem much less scary.