Traeth Mawr -Painting Season, (mostly)

[ChrisN]

The legacy of the original station left Reading with the long platform 4 (has the recent remodelling changed that?). One example of crossovers in the mid platform area was Exeter Central which facilitated breaking the expresses from London into Portions typically Plymouth and Ilfracombe and removing the dining cars. 

To answer Chris' questions the Dolgelly train would have terminated at Barmouth so may have either gone into the up platform if signalling permitted ready to form a departure or moved quickly out of the way to allow the other train to follow. A train advised as Passenger and goods would be a bit variable on timing as it would depend on the shunting required.

Similarly with the second case the Dolgelley would probably run in first as there may be through vehicles or passengers going forward. Unless I suppose any such exchange was done at Barmouth Junction. I suspect it was done at Barmouth.

Have you checked timings at Barmouth Junction Chris?

 

Don

 

Don,

Thank you for all your posts, I am not ignoring them just did not want a massive 'multi-post' filler at the start.  What you said about Barmouth confirms what I thought.  I have read things but cannot always remember where, and if it was in the C. C. Green album it could be anywhere.

 

In the working timetable previous to the October 1894 one which was in force until June 1895, it said, and I am paraphrasing, first to the Junction gets on the bridge first, but don't fuss if the passenger goods is late. I get the impression the Dolgelley train had to wait for the other before it could leave, partly because the line would be full, and partly so there was a timely connection to Dolgelley.  I have wondered whether they joined trains at Barmouth and I think the timings allow for that but the timetable always seemed to show them as different trains.

 

The second pair had the train from Machynlleth arriving first and waiting for the Dolgelley train.  Both trains had through coaches and both trains had coaches for Barmouth and Pwllheli.  It would in this case for me be quite useful if the Pwheli train stayed in the down platform as it is longer, although it probably does not matter as anyone wishing to board will already have done so and anyone not for Pwllheli will have alighted when the train arrived.

[ChrisN]

John, Simon, Jonathan and Don,

Thank you all.  I ought to know Reading station although I cannot place which is platform 4, unless it is the one with the Waterloo trains at one end and Basingstoke trains at the other.  I think I saw a scissors at Birmingham New Street, which was interesting but even if they did not it is quite interesting to note that trains from one platform can leave in either direction.

 

Colchester is the same but different.  It has two up lines arriving in the station and both have platforms.  The line on the extreme left has its platform first and as the train leaves this platform it joins the line next to it and so runs past the second platform.  The advantage of this is that you can have a train starting from Colchester in the extreme left which can sit there for half an hour, well it feels like it although maybe only 15 minutes, or it can be used so that the expresses from Norwich, which have real engines, well class 90s, on the front can overtake the slower stopping trains.

[BG John]

John, Simon, Jonathan and Don,

Thank you all.  I ought to know Reading station although I cannot place which is platform 4, unless it is the one with the Waterloo trains at one end and Basingstoke trains at the other.

It was, but I've no idea whether it's still there after whatever they've done to the station recently. The existing/recent station building was a relatively modern (in broad gauge terms) construction on one of the original single sided platforms.

[ChrisN]

Chris, can I echo Jock's comment above, and also say that this cameo (which I must have missed earlier) is such a brilliantly executed and very touching idea. I like the creativity you've used to compose the scene, with figures selected from different manufacturers, etc.

 

Now that we are beginning to see a new generation of figures coming out, a new modelling opportunity is opening up: Ie representing actual scenes and situations from photos and historical documents, just like we do with trains, track and buildings. You cameo (and research) here shows how interesting that can be, I think.

 

Mikkel,

Thank you.  I may have said it before but whenever I was looking for figures I would come across your blog and it encouraged me to modify some of my own.  Two of these are modified but the basic pose was there, it was just a question of talking to them nicely and asking them to move their arms.  When I saw the photo the Dart figure sprung to mind so it was just a case of finding the girl.

 

You have been a little braver with the Stadden figures than I have but yes we could recreate scenes.  I think it might get frustrating as not all figures are easily workable.  I still value the older Langley figures and some of Model Railway Developments and I am forever looking through wargaming sites for civilians.  There are lots at 28mm which is frustrating really.

[ChrisN]

It was, but I've no idea whether it's still there after whatever they've done to the station recently. The existing/recent station building was a relatively modern (in broad gauge terms) construction on one of the original single sided platforms.

 

John,

The original station building is still there but it is not the station building anymore, and has not been since I have known it, 10 years perhaps?  It has some shop or restaurant or something.  The new station building is on the right as you face the old one.  The massive development has still left that platform more or less untouched, I think although the last time I was there they were still working on it although it looks quite impressive.

[BG John]

I moved away about 18 years ago, and rarely visited Reading anyway, so all this vandalism happened after my time!

[Donw]

Platform 4 was the main down platform originally the Waterloo electrics were over in the southern station and there was a short bay. I saw a loco there about 1961 which still had GWR on the tender may have been the station pilot. The Basingstoke trains were at the west end. I did some spotting there as a lad.

 

Don

[BG John]

I did some spotting there as a lad.

 

Don

Me too. Until I got bored with collecting diseasal numbers, and got interested in the architecture and 19th/early 20th century history instead.

[aberdare]

Hi Chris

 

Having just spent a bit of time catching up I can only echo what has been said about your little cameo, it looks great and I like the way you managed to recreate that photograph using different figures.

 

You may think your progress is slow at times but you are producing some fine work and of course providing us with loads of useful info on this thread.

 

Keep it up and I'll look forward to catching up again some time.

 

Jim

[ChrisN]

Hi Chris

 

Having just spent a bit of time catching up I can only echo what has been said about your little cameo, it looks great and I like the way you managed to recreate that photograph using different figures.

 

You may think your progress is slow at times but you are producing some fine work and of course providing us with loads of useful info on this thread.

 

Keep it up and I'll look forward to catching up again some time.

 

Jim

 

Thank you Jim,

Thank you for your comments and it is always good to see you posting. 

 

All the best,

[ChrisN]

My hopes of doing anything this week on the track have almost completely disappeared and modelling does not seem much better so why not talk about something that is not quite next on the list, the station building, again.

 

Jonathan has very kindly taken pictures of Newtown station building which looks like a 'Coast Line' building, we think, or I think, because it was built at around the same time as the Coast Line as a replacement.  This is the picture of the front.

 

 

You may remember when I saw it I shouted, 'I want some of those' at the two front extensions.  This is Aberdovey Station which I am basing my building on.

 

 

You will see that it does not really lend itself to extensions so I thought I would have a play around with it and see if I could make each end a mirror of the other and this is what I eventually obtained.

 

 

You can see that although now I could have the extensions it leaves the Station Master's Office without a window.  I could remove the gents and have it separate and that would give another large room, but really too big for the Station Master and I am not sure what I have gained in the functionality of the building.  The extensions would be added to the Refreshment rooms.  So unless someone has some bright ideas as to why the second plan would work I will stick with the first one and keep it simple.

 

If you have been, thanks for looking.

[Penlan]

ChrisN - Have you seen the Barmouth prints, via the download on post 33 (Scroll to bottom of the post) at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/103227-upgrading-a-k-kits-gwr-6-wheeler-diagramme-u27/page-2

[ChrisN]

Penlan,

No I have not, so thank you.  Well thank you anyway even if I had seen them.  Very interesting.  The train on Barmouth Bridge is a tender engine running tender first so is likely to be a Volunteer Class running to Dolgelley.  Also, Tan-y,Bwlch on the Ffestiniog has mountainsides that are completely bare.  The last time I was there it was covered in coniferous forest.  Now I must control myself and not look at lots of places I know to see how they have changed over time, like Bude Lock.

[ChrisN]

 

Hello, I am Mostyn Price, the Traeth Mawr Station Master.  I was very proud to become Station Master at such a prestigious station, especially as we have taken over from Barmouth as the station where not only the Dolgelley train terminates but also where the through carriages not bound for Pwhelli will terminate as well.  I am the Cambrian Station Master and so it irks me that I am now stood outside the narrow gauge station building.  (Still needs a roof though.)  The reason for this is that, much to my annoyance my station has not been built yet! 

 

I am told that there were plans to cut the wood for the platforms, but 'the wife' is not well and did not go to work on Friday so this may hinder it.  I was also told that the track for the fiddleyard has all been cut and was ready to be laid but 'she' came home.  This is all very interesting but I have no idea what a 'Fiddley Yard' is.  Never mind, come over here with me.

 

 

Umm, yes.  Well, a little embarrassing but it is better than nothing.  Built of paper it is, he said it was a 'mock up', I think those were his words.  This will be the shelter on the Down platform.  Quite nice I think.  There is nothing like it on the whole of the Cambrian!  (Well of course not, nothing else is built of paper.)  You see at this end the front wall is six feet long, with a window, 2ft 6" off the ground, 2ft 6" high and 3ft wide.  I know you usually can see through a window but this is a 'mock up' so is just coloured in.  The height at the back is 7ft and at the front is 8ft.

 

 

Moving on the middle open section is 25ft long and will have four posts 5ft apart.  The posts will be six inches square, although he mumbled something about 2mm Plastistrut.  No, I have no idea either.  Wood we want, proper stuff.  He has written to a Mr Butler, must be a carpenter or something like that, about some seats.

 

 

Coming to the end we have another 6ft wall, same as the other end but with a door in it.  He says he is going to sort out the top of the door because it looks wrong but, yes you guessed, it only a 'mock up'.  The depth of the shelter is 6ft  and the canopy extends 3ft.  I quite like it but if you think it looks wrong or is too big or small please tell him, because I want him to hurry up and get on with it.

 

Now, as I stand here flesh and bone I have told him I want it made out of proper brick and wood, good Welsh wood at that.  I was not quite sure of his reply but he mumbled, (he always mumbles), something about mounting card, English Bond plasticard, and coffee stirrers, although I have no idea what he meant.  Now here are some pictures of one that someone else has built.

 

 

 

 

I looked at these and saw the brackets that held the supports for the roof.  'Look at those' I said to him, 'one foot by 9" by the look of them and so delicate, they are really lovely,  I am sure you can do that quite easily.  Yes, and do not forget, when you make my desk, I will want an ink well and a proper pen'.  It is sad to see a grown man cry.

 

As he says, if you have been, thanks for looking.

Edited October 23, 2015 by ChrisN

[corneliuslundie]

Brilliant!

 

I may at some stage get to measure up that shelter but I think by then it will be too late (or at least Mostyn Price hopes so), and in any case if it is too big you are going to have to adjust the dimensions anyway.

 

I have a feeling that the paint scheme in the photos may not be quite correct for 1895!

 

Jonathan

[ChrisN]

Brilliant!

 

I may at some stage get to measure up that shelter but I think by then it will be too late (or at least Mostyn Price hopes so), and in any case if it is too big you are going to have to adjust the dimensions anyway.

 

I have a feeling that the paint scheme in the photos may not be quite correct for 1895!

 

Jonathan

 

Jonathan,

Thank you.  I looked at the pictures of the shelter with Mr Price and thought to myself, 'That looks wrong'.  The shelter ends seemed too small.  Then I realised that the shelter has an inbuilt measuring system.  It is made of wooden planks!  Looking at the doorway I guesstimated it was 2ft 6" wide which gives a plank width of 4".  This will give a shelter length of 46ft with end sections of 6ft, which is nearly what I have made.  The width is probably nearer 7ft but I really do not have the space for that but the canopy is 3ft.  The window needs to be higher I think.  I am quite chuffed that my guesses, and measurings with a ruler have probably been vindicated once I spotted the obvious.  Any more comments will still be gratefully received.

 

I did manage to cut the wood for the platform yesterday but more of that anon.

[ChrisN]

Jonathan,

I realised I only half replied.  I am very grateful that you took the pictures and knowing how busy you are I was not really expecting you to take measurements, but thank you for the thought anyway.

 

As to the colour scheme, Cambrian had white and BRS Green as the colour scheme on its stations.  I wonder if the new company is trying to revive the old colour scheme, at least in essence.  I will have to look at other shelters to see how they are painted.  I think it is more likely on the saller ones an all over green.

[aberdare]

Brilliant little tale describing progress at Traeth Mawr Chris, I was going to do something similar last year but as you know very little (if anything) has happened.

 

I look forward to more progress and keep an eye open for further updates.

 

Don't be bullied by the little fella, you can always lock him in the cupboard under the stairs.

 

All the best

 

Jim

[ChrisN]

Brilliant little tale describing progress at Traeth Mawr Chris, I was going to do something similar last year but as you know very little (if anything) has happened.

 

I look forward to more progress and keep an eye open for further updates.

 

Don't be bullied by the little fella, you can always lock him in the cupboard under the stairs.

 

All the best

 

Jim

 

Jim,

Thank you.  It is ok as I have already put him back in the box with everyone else.  I am actually quite keen to get on with this shelter, partly because it is the first building related to the layout, (the cottage is a long term project that may or may not go on this layout), secondly because where the shelter is on the platform there will be paving slabs so I cannot make the platform until I have done the shelter and know exactly how it all fits together, and last, but certainly not least, I think it is a cracking little building.  On the Penlan scale of having something that no one else has I think it scores very highly.  It is not like any shelter I have ever seen so I think it is worth having, and I think it is attractive, plus it is built of bricks and wood and if you look at the picture of it from the back it might have stone as well, although that just could be the wall behind it.  Hopefully, well under way by this time next week.

 

Hope all is going as well as it can with you,

 

All the best.

[MikeOxon]

 It is ok as I have already put him back in the box with everyone else. .................................

I think it's good to have these characters keeping us up to scratch with our modelling.  In my own case, young Blanche Wilcote keeps reminding me to get on with various things

Edited October 25, 2015 by MikeOxon

[Mikkel]

Dear Mr Price, pleased to meet you. I understand your impatience, but don't be too hard on Chris. He is only a railway modeller, they can't help it.

 

And count your blessings: That is  a very nice shelter, it has much character. Also, if I may say so your uniform is very appealing. Finally, if you have a son you may want to introduce her to the young Blanche Wilcote. Her father is a very wealthy man you see.

[MikeOxon]

.............................. Finally, if you have a son you may want to introduce her to the young Blanche Wilcote. Her father is a very wealthy man you see.

I should warn Mr Price that Blanche has a taste for the high life, so nothing less than an Earl is likely to do for her.  On the other hand, her sister, Amy, is an artist and much more likely to do the unexpected!

 

ps I don't know anything about the Danish language but, in English, sons are 'him' - political correctness has not yet reached so far.

[ChrisN]

Mr Price is considering how he should reply but in the meantime I found this photo which although on the goggle images was down as Aberffrwd is obviously the shelter at Newtown.  I eventually tracked it back to a Flickr collection of Ian Nolan.  There is also this one.  As you see I am going to have fun with the windows which did not used to be open and bare.  I found another postcard on eBay that showed the original goods shed had two doors and not a sliding door and an ordinary one.  All very interesting. 

 

I got the card out to cut the back wall on Sunday but realised I did not know the final length as I need to wait for my English bond plasticard  to see how thick the end wall should be.  So the first job will be cutting up coffee stirrers.

[corneliuslundie]

Nice photos and both definitely Y Drenewydd/Newtown. I had wondered if the eastern end was originally a small ticket office with the sales window facing the stairs but I can find no evidence to support the idea.

 

Looking through those photos, the waiting shelter at Llanbrynmair seems to be of the same general style as Newtown, but without the enclosed end sections and shorter.

 

One odd fact I gleaned talking to Peter is that he thinks there was originally a small turntable alongside the up platform at the up end. His reason for thinking this is that there is a curved boundary wall at this point, and that there was once a well very close by (where the modern steps are). Not sure that is any use to the builder of Traeth Mawr though.

 

When it comes to linking families there is another big issue of course. Are they Whigs or Tories? That nice Mr Davies was a Whig but a rather non-conforming one. He was MP for the Aberystwyth area when  he wasn't building railways and digging coal mines. The Tories hated him. I can't imagine that a Tory would let his daughter marry a Whig family son.

 

Jonathan

Edited October 27, 2015 by corneliuslundie

[Penlan]

One odd fact I gleaned talking to Peter is that he thinks there was originally a small turntable alongside the up platform at the up end. His reason for thinking this is that there is a curved boundary wall at this point, and that there was once a well very close by (where the modern steps are).

 

There was a turntable to the east of the bridge - ref 'Old Maps' 1885 Edition - 1:500 scale.

This may work >>>>> https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/311500/291500/13/100924

But you have to zoom out/in to see it.