Saint Apolline.... a new life

[le petit Français]

The adventure began one spring day under a beautiful sun, where I was walking around Sainte-Apolline, a small, quiet village perched on the hills of the south of France. I let myself dream of the songs of the birds and the sound of the small stream near the path when suddenly my gaze was stopped by what might look like a steam locomotive buried in the vegetation. Approaching closer, I discovered a tender locomotive and a Pullman car near the old Sainte-Apolline station, abandoned in a pitiful state. Very interested in my discovery, I did some research on the history of Sainte Apolline station. I learned that the line was opened in 1870 with freight and passenger trains. In the village, there is a thermal center and at the beginning of the 20th century, the Compagnie du Midi chartered a special train made up of pullmans for wealthy spa guests coming to take a cure in the thermal baths. It is a shame to see this station in this state and the idea came to me to create a tourist train to revive the station in the days of the Belle Epoque, with steam locomotives, ex-Prussian side door carriages. , freight wagons for local producers and a restaurant train made up of 2 Pullman Arrow of Gold cars. It is now that the adventure of the new life of Sainte-Apolline station begins.

 

 

[le petit Français]

My network is made up of several wooden modules. The modules are connected with "male" and "female" plugs. A feelder under each module allows you to weld electrical wires for rails, lighting, etc.... Here are the modules in photos:

Edited September 12 by le petit Français

[le petit Français]

I had an old little brick station called “Galanchat” and a shed for railway workers. For the “Sainte Apolline” network I transformed it into a little English cottage that I like. What do you think?

 

[le petit Français]

Sainte Apolline station under construction. The facade isn't glued down because I'm going to add furniture and lighting inside.... The little shed next to the station is a toilet for men and women... water closed ^^

[kingmender]

Dovetail joints on baseboards is a first for me. Lovely.

[MrWolf]

Very neat and precise modelling here. The English cottage conversion is very much like the "Arts and crafts"* era buildings from the late 1800s, I like that a lot.

 

*I think we borrowed the best bits of everyone else's architecture and strangely, it worked!

[le petit Français]

Hello
My station layout is 2.20 m long and 34 cm wide. The extension is 1m60 by 60 wide.  My network is installed in the laundry room, which I did myself. There are two worktops facing each other, and I've made a fold-down table to hold the network extension. The extension is called the Sainte Apolline Valley.
There's a curve that takes the trains to the station and to the track.
Here's a picture of the laundry room and the layout.

 

 

 

[MrWolf]

That's a clever use of the space and I like the way the modules pack onto that big shelf.

 

Also, that's a much nicer laundry room than ours! 👍

[Fat Controller]

The buildings remind me of those on the CfD Blanc-Argent around Salbris and Romaratin- Lanthenay. Nice modelling.

[le petit Français]

Bonjour
Pour mon dernier jour de congé, j'ai terminé l'extension. Les rails sont posés, soudés aux fils électriques et j'ai posé le ballast. Je vous montre une photo de l'extension qui ressemble à Little Muddle, ce qui m'a donné l'inspiration. Je ne pouvais pas mettre de viaduc car je n'avais pas de profondeur. J'ai donc opté pour un pont à caisson. Il y a le chalet, une grange qui sera aménagée et la laiterie. Il est possible que je mette une chapelle... Sur les photos vous verrez les modules séparés, qui seront rangés sur des étagères. Il m'est facile de travailler sur un module pour la décoration et aussi pour le dépoussiérage.

Traduit avec DeepL.com (version gratuite)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 15 by le petit Français

[checkrail]

1 hour ago, le petit Français said:

Hello
On my last day off, I finished the extension.

Quick work, nicely done. I like the bridge.

[KNP]

Shaping up nicely

 

Did you realise that if you add a picture and then press return twice you can get a gap between pictures?

 

 

[le petit Français]

15 minutes ago, KNP said:

Did you realise that if you add a picture and then press return twice you can get a gap between pictures?

 

 

Thanks Kevin for the tip... I didn't know how to do it... Formatting done.

 

Edited September 15 by le petit Français

[le petit Français]

Here's a map of the network with the station and its extension.

 

 

 

Edited September 15 by le petit Français

[NHY 581]

There is some very neat modelling here coupled with a clever use of space. 

 

Rob. 

[Neil]

On 12/09/2024 at 20:21, le petit Français said:

I had an old little brick station called “Galanchat” and a shed for railway workers. For the “Sainte Apolline” network I transformed it into a little English cottage that I like. What do you think?

 

 

That's lovely, in a British context that would make a brilliant lodge to a stately home or manor house especially if teamed with an ornate gate.

[Fishplate]

Lovely layout. Looking forward to seeing more 👍

[le petit Français]

I'm a fan of the colour of GWR's passenger cars. Creamy brown....
I have two golden arrow PULLMAN passenger cars. In my collection, I have some 1900s passenger cars that I'm going to paint creamy brown. Here are the photos of the passenger cars.
I bought them second-hand and they are currently being renovated....
I'll keep you posted on the progress of my work.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 22 by le petit Français

[le petit Français]

To complete my collection of passenger coaches, here are 2 flèche d'or pullmans that used to run between Paris and London. The lamps on the tables were awful, they looked like lampshades placed on the table....and I changed them for nicer ones with brass feet....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 24 by le petit Français

[checkrail]

13 hours ago, le petit Français said:

To complete my collection of passenger coaches, here are 2 flèche d'or pullmans that used to run between Paris and London. The lamps on the tables were awful, they looked like lampshades placed on the table....and I changed them for nicer ones with brass feet....

Nice.

[MrWolf]

With that level of attention to detail, this is destined to be an excellent layout.

[gwr517]

Excelent modelling. I feel a trip coming on again. My wife (French descent) and I would love to go back for a 4th tour. I am always impressed by the fine modelling that I have seen over the years in French magazines. Unfortunately I can't read them !!

[le petit Français]

Today I took apart some old second-hand passenger cars to give them a makeover. I chose TAMYIA paint in different colours: black, brown and grey. The chassis and roof are already painted. In the near future, I'm going to apply patinas to bring out the relief.  I had a silver colour in stock, which I used on the interiors. I don't know yet whether I'm going to install lights in the passenger cars... Normally tomorrow I will receive my parcel with the brown and pearl white paints to do the bodywork with the same delivery as GWR.
See you soon for the continuation of Sainte Apolline's adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 27 by le petit Français

[le petit Français]

I've painted the passenger cars in creamy brown. However, I'm disappointed with the cream colour, which looks grey....
I can't seem to find the right colour for the outline of the windows. It's not easy to choose the right paint on the web because the images are always different from reality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What reference of yellow could I use for my passenger cars?
Thank you for your help and see you soon for the continuation of Sainte Apolline's adventure.

 

 

Edited September 28 by le petit Français

[le petit Français]

That's it! I've found the colour I like. I bought a creamy white spray paint in a DIY shop. It's exactly what I wanted for my cars. 
See you soon for the next part of Sainte Apolline's adventure.

 

 

 

Edited September 28 by le petit Français