More British Layout Pics

[RobertInOntario]

Here are four more pics from my British layout. Most are very similar to the others except there is one that shows a good section of the layout, thus giving you more of an idea of my (very basic and simple!) track plan. You can also see a section where I haven't done as much scenery and almost no ballasting. You can also see what I hope will come across as chalk cliffs and craggy outcrops on hill tops!

Again, the locos here are a black British Railway tank engine; an 0-6-0 Great Western (GWR) loco and the 4-6-0 Frilsham Manor (the same GWR class as the Bradley Manor which is seen near the beginning of the recent Narnia movie!). The black tank loco is made by Hornby Dublo in the early-1960s and I remember my Dad and I running this loco when I was a boy in the mid-1960s. It still runs very smoothly!

I'll try to post more pics during the fall/winter as the layout progresses and include pics of my other locos such as the Flying Scotsman and Princess Elizabeth.

Thanks, Rob

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[spitfire]

Neat looking layout Robert, but those pics are a bit on the small side - is there any way you could post larger ones?

Val

 

[RobertInOntario]

Neat looking layout Robert, but those pics are a bit on the small side - is there any way you could post larger ones?

Val

Thanks, Val. Yes, I realize that they are small. Initially, I was having trouble uploading pics, generally because they were too large. So I've obviously gone too far the other way. I'll try to upload some larger ones in the next few days. Thanks again, Rob

 

[shaygetz]

I love European steam, especially British, the colors are just grand. As for your picture sizes, check out a free program called GIMP. I have it and it is a marvel for freeware, most of my photograph work is processed with it. It'll certainly help your picture sizing.

 

[ratjag]

Hello Rob, like the pics. I live in the East midlands in the UK, trees are just starting to turn now. I'll try and get some pics locally if it would be of any help. Most tend to tinge yellow then raw sienna before dropping. There are a few which go slightly paler green, tinge yellow, then golden yellow,raw sienna before dropping and then some which tinge yellow,tinge orange yellow,then reddish orange before going raw sienna before dropping. Most bright ones have usually been specially planted . Hope that is of some use!
Just a question, are you just running what trains you like, or are you depicting a certain area of the UK?
BTW ,it has been pretty grey overhead today too.(did have some blue sky first thing!) you never can tell over here !!!
Dennis

 

[60103]

Robert: I've been using IRFAN for picture processing. There may be a thread on it in the Photography forum.
I used to have problems because the only way I could find to shring the Mb sharank the picture.

 

[RobertInOntario]

I love European steam, especially British, the colors are just grand. As for your picture sizes, check out a free program called GIMP. I have it and it is a marvel for freeware, most of my photograph work is processed with it. It'll certainly help your picture sizing.

Thanks, Shaygetz. At home, I've been using something called Photo Impression, software which came with my digital camera. At work, I use Photoshop. I'll check into GIMP, though. Originally, I was just having trouble uploading my pics because they were too large so I erred on the small side. I realize that The Gauge gives you maximum sizes. At any rate, I'll try to reload a bunch again at a larger size. BTW, that's a great quote from Spurgeon! Rob

 

[RobertInOntario]

Robert: I've been using IRFAN for picture processing. There may be a thread on it in the Photography forum.
I used to have problems because the only way I could find to shring the Mb sharank the picture.

Thanks, David. That just might be the problem that I've been having with Photo Impression (i.e. in order to reduce the MB I end up shrinking the pics too much). At any rate, I'm going to try to post some larger ones. Cheers, Rob

 

[RobertInOntario]

Hello Rob, like the pics. I live in the East midlands in the UK, trees are just starting to turn now. I'll try and get some pics locally if it would be of any help. Most tend to tinge yellow then raw sienna before dropping. There are a few which go slightly paler green, tinge yellow, then golden yellow,raw sienna before dropping and then some which tinge yellow,tinge orange yellow,then reddish orange before going raw sienna before dropping. Most bright ones have usually been specially planted . Hope that is of some use!
Just a question, are you just running what trains you like, or are you depicting a certain area of the UK?
BTW ,it has been pretty grey overhead today too.(did have some blue sky first thing!) you never can tell over here !!!
Dennis

Thanks, Dennis! Sure, I'd be interested to see some of your autumn tree pics, but please don't go to any trouble.

I'm in a bit of a quandary as to which region of the UK to model. I've inherited a mixture of British trains from my Dad and I've also bought quite a few myself. Generally, I'm focussing the layout on the late-BR period and the main regions are LMR and WR. But I also have a few SR as well! So depending on what locos I'm running, my layout is either a WR/SR border region or a WR/LMR region. I also have a few 'Groupings' trains and then I run a mixture of either GWR/LMS or LMS/LNER. So the layout has to be quite generic, as long as it look British.

To complicate things even more, I also have a collection of Canadian trains that I like to run !! ... I started a thread on this topic & the general recommendations were that I might try to have some interchangeable buildings depending on what trains are running, i.e. have a set of British buildings as well as a batch of Canadian ones. This will have to do for the time being until I can build another layout!

Thanks again,
Rob

 

[RobertInOntario]

Neat looking layout Robert, but those pics are a bit on the small side - is there any way you could post larger ones?
Val

FYI, I've just posted a batch of larger pics on a new thread! Maybe I'll have to post some pix of my Canadian trains sometime as well ... I'd asked about this earlier on The Gauge, in a thread about running different regions or historical periods on the same layout. At any rate, I do hope these pics show up better. Thanks ... I've appreciated your feedback. Rob

 

[60103]

Robert, my Perth and Exeter is based on the ultimate grouping: LNER, LMS and SR banded together to fight off the GWR as an alternative to nationalization. Only problem: my British Railways labelled locos.
If you didn't have the City, you could run a sort of Somerset and Dorset line.

 

[RobertInOntario]

Robert, my Perth and Exeter is based on the ultimate grouping: LNER, LMS and SR banded together to fight off the GWR as an alternative to nationalization. Only problem: my British Railways labelled locos.
If you didn't have the City, you could run a sort of Somerset and Dorset line.

David: You've really got my curiosity!! Was that ever a possibility or are you kidding? It makes sense because the GWR was seemed so powerful. It's fascinating that there was such rivalry, epsecially between the LNER/LMS/SR vs. the GWR.

I'm also interested in the S&D -- could you please explain a bit more by what you mean by running 'a sort of S&D line' and what kind of locos & liveries would be suitable? I believe several black 2-6-4 tanks ran on the S&D in BR days. The WR/GWR locos would also fit in because the S&D cut right through GWR territory. And maybe my 0-6-0 green SR tanks wouldn't be that out of place either.

I also have a (Hornby) 4-4-0 SDJR loco in Prussian blue livery. I think it's much too early to run in the late-BR period, as I believe this loco and its blue livery date from the early-1920s ... but maybe I could fit it in somehow?

One British model railway enthusiast once commented that the S&D prototype pretty much gave you a reason to run anything you liked on your layout! A curious note: Steam Railway (I think) ran a cover story this year on the S&D and they're actually trying to restore and reopen parts of the line. I think they've now reopened a very small stretch.

At any rate, I'm really curious about this so I was wondering if you could please provide further info? Thanks!! Rob

 

[RobertInOntario]

Robert, my Perth and Exeter is based on the ultimate grouping: LNER, LMS and SR banded together to fight off the GWR as an alternative to nationalization. Only problem: my British Railways labelled locos.
If you didn't have the City, you could run a sort of Somerset and Dorset line.

Hi David: I came across a helpful website today that sheds a lot of light on the SDJR. The website is: www.sdjr.net and it has some great info on the history of the S&D, liveries, locos, rolling stock, etc. Cheers, Rob

 

[60103]

Rob: I haven't checked the website yet, so this may be redundant.
SDJR ran from Bath south. It was owned jointly by the LMS and Southern (forget which predecessors). LMS provided a lot of the early engines like the 2P and some 3F or 4F.
After nationalization it was run with locos from both Midland and Southern. I have a record of the Pines Express with a 2P and Bulleid pacific on the front. Was also a stomping grounds for the 9F 2-10-0.
For geographical reasons it was given to the Western region who, having another line in the area, promptly shut it down.

 

[RobertInOntario]

Thanks, David. I've read about the S&D off and on for 1-2 years but I've been really researching it now. Yes, the S&D became jointly owned by the Midland and LSWR, and became part of the WR in the 1950s. The SDJR basically ran between Bath and Bournemouth, with another branch going to Burnham-on-Sea. Yes, 9Fs and 8F were used on this line. I don't think the GWR Manor class ran on this line at all -- I think the Manors generally ran from Paddington to Wales, etc.

From what I've read on that website -- as well as in fairly recent issues of Steam World and Steam Railway (lots of nice, colourful pics and maps!) -- my #46 SDRJ 4-4-0 loco would be a 2P. It would have only been in the Prussian blue and yellow livery for 2-3 years after it was built in 1928. 2Ps were used right into the 1950s and '60s (right, I think?) but would probably have been black. So the livery of mine is definitely earlier but the loco was used through to the 50s/60s.

Also, from that website and these mags, I could run my 0-6-0 GWR Collett on my layout. The 2-6-4 BR black tanks DID run on this line as well, but not until 1964, apparently. And lots of 0-6-0 Jinties ran on the SDJR as well. It's interesting that West Country Pacifics also ran on this line. It seems that coaching stock in the 1950s and '60s was either BR maroon or SR green.

At any rate, the SDJR is certainly an "eclectic" line where quite a mixture of locos ran over the years. Thanks again for your feedback and help with this!

Rob

 

[60103]

Rob: I don't think anything Western ran on the line, except possibly a few panniers near the end.
The line to Burnham-on-Sea was the original line; the line to Bath was an afterthought.

 

[RobertInOntario]

Rob: I don't think anything Western ran on the line, except possibly a few panniers near the end.
The line to Burnham-on-Sea was the original line; the line to Bath was an afterthought.

Thanks, David. Interesting about the Bath line -- I would have thought it was the other way around! Also, the S&D crossed the GWR/WR lines in 4 or 5 places, so at least the S&D cut through WR territory. So GWR locos would have been seen in the same region, although not on the same line. Cheers, Rob

 

[ratjag]

Hi Rob,
You may have this pic already, came across it on my local british railway club site.
Dennis

 

[RobertInOntario]

Thanks, Dennis -- that's an awesome pic! Do you know where it was taken? On my layout, I was just running a Hornby 4-4-0 SDJR (2P) tonight that looks similar and has that nice Prussian blue livery. Thanks again for finding this pic. Cheers, Rob

 

[ratjag]

Hi Robert, Thanks for the reply, apologies for delay in responding. The loco pic was taken this year i think, on the WSR. here is their website and a copule of others
www. west-somerset-railway.co.uk.
www.WSR.org.uk.
www.bnnrs.net.
The last is my local BR model group.I have sent some pics of foliage in my local area and a pic (ret1044)with my street in the background .Typical terrace houses built in some areas.

I dont know what's going on with the text it keeps changing. this is my 4th attempt to post.and 1hr to do it!!!
Dennis