Chuffnell Regis

[Graham T]

26 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

Seriously though, it is going to depend on the era modelled and how well used the station is as to how much in the way of unkempt weeds is present. 

The railway companies were a bit more generous with the weedkiller in prewar days.

 

I've been a bit flexible on era (well, when I say flexible, I suppose I mean undecided).  But probably pre-war, I think, and so I imagine things would generally have been quite well looked after.

 

My thoughts with this area though, are that there is open countryside just off the front of the baseboard, and so there wouldn't have been any traffic (vehicle or pedestrian) passing through this patch.  So just footpaths to the water tank and around the shed.  Also, it's pretty much out of sight from the running line, so a bit of rough grass wouldn't offend the passengers!  It looks a bit bare to me as it is...

 

Undecided of Chuffnell Regis.

[MrWolf]

30 minutes ago, 5BarVT said:

Don’t think that the right quote.

”The roar of Moses Triumph was heard throughout the land.” was the quote I was given.

Which isn’t right either!

Paul.

 

Well it definitely wasn't a Francis-Barnett or a Dunkley Whippet....

[longchap]

1 hour ago, MrWolf said:

Seriously though, it is going to depend on the era modelled and how well used the station is as to how much in the way of unkempt weeds is present. 

The railway companies were a bit more generous with the weedkiller in prewar days.

 

. . . . and the acidic ash from the locos, used to pave paths, tracks, etc, also helped kill plant life!

[MrWolf]

I remember my grandfather spreading ash from the house fires around the backyard and garden path, having carefully sieved out the nails and other junk. It certainly kept the weeds down.

[Graham T]

So - I am now...

 

Still firmly undecided!

[BroadLeaves]

7 hours ago, Graham T said:

probably pre-war

Which one? I'm assuming you mean the second world war, but there are sadly a great number to choose from, even  just in the age of steam.

Anyway, moving on to modelling, I'll start things off with this as an idea:
 

7 hours ago, Graham T said:

So just footpaths to the water tank and around the shed.

The red is the proper path built by the railway. The green is grass that is maybe mown every so often, but is a bit unkempt - it most definitely isn't "lawn". The purple is undergrowth that is a bit more wild; a bramble root that has come from the next field, some self set thistles blown in on the wind, that sort of thing. The blue circle is the trunk of a medium-sized tree. The brown is a "demand path". You get (or more accurately try to avoid) these in landscape design as they are where people take the direct route from A to B and do not follow the "official" route. If someone wants to go from the water tower to the front of the engine that, that's the path they'll take - straight over the grass. The "long way round" is too far. However, the railway would not have built the path along the brown route as it's more work and materials and so more money. This location is, quite literally, "round the back of the depot", so I can't see there being a huge budget for groundworks.

[Graham T]

1 hour ago, BroadLeaves said:

Which one? I'm assuming you mean the second world war, but there are sadly a great number to choose from, even  just in the age of steam.
 

 

Yes, I did mean pre-WW2.  But you're right, sadly.  We humans do seem to have a knack for self-destruction, don't we?

 

1 hour ago, BroadLeaves said:

The red is the proper path built by the railway. The green is grass that is maybe mown every so often, but is a bit unkempt - it most definitely isn't "lawn". The purple is undergrowth that is a bit more wild; a bramble root that has come from the next field, some self set thistles blown in on the wind, that sort of thing. The blue circle is the trunk of a medium-sized tree. The brown is a "demand path". You get (or more accurately try to avoid) these in landscape design as they are where people take the direct route from A to B and do not follow the "official" route. If someone wants to go from the water tower to the front of the engine that, that's the path they'll take - straight over the grass. The "long way round" is too far. However, the railway would not have built the path along the brown route as it's more work and materials and so more money. This location is, quite literally, "round the back of the depot", so I can't see there being a huge budget for groundworks.

 

Thanks, that's actually the sort of thing I had in mind.  Although I'm still not quite sure, in light of the other recent replies here.  I hadn't heard of a "demand path" before, although of course I was aware of the idea.  I spent 30 years in the Navy, and when we were shore-based you never walked on the grass!

[5BarVT]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

and when we were shore-based you never walked on the grass!

at least, not after the first time!

Paul.

[5BarVT]

Grr . . .

Edited March 19, 2022 by 5BarVT
Duplicated post

[Graham T]

I've added a little bit of grass to the area, just around the buffer stop.  Not making a decision about the rest yet

 

I also fixed the ladder to the water tank, and a small cabinet - I think it was for control gear or something like that?  There's a similar little cabinet next to the water crane now, based on what I've seen in a few photos.  They probably both need a touch of bedding in to the ground as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Graham T

[5BarVT]

1 hour ago, Graham T said:

a small cabinet - I think it was for control gear

Try “tap”!  Incoming to the tower would be a relatively small pipe.  By the crane, not so, hence the large valve.

Paul.

[Graham T]

Well, of course I knew that (not!)

 

Thanks Paul.

[Fishplate]

5 hours ago, Graham T said:

I've added a little bit of grass to the area, just around the buffer stop. 

 

I think that is all you need. As @MrWolf says, the ash would pretty much kill everything off.

 

I can't think of a photo of a similar area with a medium size tree in it (cue links to lots put on by others!). Maybe outside the railway boundary, if it was close by.

 

(Other than on preserved railways, where vegetation management may not be prototypical, a Google search for "British railway turntables" and "railway motive power depots" seems to confirm that these areas are a grey desert in black and white photos).

 

Does that help (or not) ?  

[BroadLeaves]

So what's the control box near the water crane for? I thought the "tap" was the thing I've arrowed here:



I'm basing that on the diagram here:

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/misc/misc_equip193.htm#watercrane

[BroadLeaves]

4 hours ago, 5BarVT said:

Try “tap”!  Incoming to the tower would be a relatively small pipe

I get that you'd need so be able to shut off the water supply to the tower, if only for maintenance, but given that you have a whole building going spare underneath the tank, why put the control gear outside, where it can freeze? Wouldn't it be better inside the building?

[chuffinghell]

28 minutes ago, BroadLeaves said:

So what's the control box near the water crane for?…..

 

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/misc/misc_equip193.htm#watercrane

I thought it housed a separate standpipe….maybe?

A very useful link, I based my hopper on those drawings

 

 

[MrWolf]

The mains shut-off valve for the water crane is the device that looks like a goods brake van standard. The slim wooden box is the frost protection around a standpipe and tap (generally 3/4-1" BSP pipe)  for connecting a hosepipe to. It would be stuffed with lagging inside, hessian, hemp or similar.

[Graham T]

2 hours ago, Fishplate said:

 

I think that is all you need. As @MrWolf says, the ash would pretty much kill everything off.

 

I can't think of a photo of a similar area with a medium size tree in it (cue links to lots put on by others!). Maybe outside the railway boundary, if it was close by.

 

(Other than on preserved railways, where vegetation management may not be prototypical, a Google search for "British railway turntables" and "railway motive power depots" seems to confirm that these areas are a grey desert in black and white photos).

 

Does that help (or not) ?  

 

That does indeed help, thanks.  I'm going to leave that area as it is for now.

[Graham T]

2 hours ago, BroadLeaves said:

I get that you'd need so be able to shut off the water supply to the tower, if only for maintenance, but given that you have a whole building going spare underneath the tank, why put the control gear outside, where it can freeze? Wouldn't it be better inside the building?

 

You may well be right, but I've modelled it based on the box seen outside the tank at Witney.

[Graham T]

32 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

The mains shut-off valve for the water crane is the device that looks like a goods brake van standard. The slim wooden box is the frost protection around a standpipe and tap (generally 3/4-1" BSP pipe)  for connecting a hosepipe to. It would be stuffed with lagging inside, hessian, hemp or similar.

 

Thanks for that Rob.  Again, this was based on something seen in a photo.  Can't remember which station now, but I think it was probably in one of the Paul Karau books.  They are great for finding all the little details to add into a scene.

[MrWolf]

35 minutes ago, Graham T said:

 

Thanks for that Rob.  Again, this was based on something seen in a photo.  Can't remember which station now, but I think it was probably in one of the Paul Karau books.  They are great for finding all the little details to add into a scene.

 

You often see similar things fixed to the walls of station buildings, usually outside the 'gents', (nearest mains supply) with the little roof sloping forward away from the wall of course, as a means of hosing down the platform, filling kettles etc.

[Graham T]

I've also been working on the ground cover in the goods yard.  I tried something a bit different, and put down a very thin skim of polyfilla, followed by a thin layer of chinchilla dust on diluted PVA.  Once dry, that was sanded down, and then painted with a suitably grotty mix of black, white, and brown acrylics.  Here it is before the painting.

 

 

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Graham T

[MrWolf]

The chinchilla dust tends to break down a little when wet and makes quite a nice surface, I used it for the station yard at Aston.

 

 

It now needs the high spots knocking off and several colour washes.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2022 by MrWolf
Upload aggro

[Graham T]

I must admit that I'm becoming quite a fan of the stuff.  Looks good when sanded and painted, and is nicely textured and non-uniform.  I may have to buy a small, furry rodent to justify buying more!

[Graham T]

7 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

The chinchilla dust tends to break down a little when wet and makes quite a nice surface, I used it for the station yard at Aston.

 

 

 

 

I see that pesky Ju-87 is still in residence