Recycling the backscene

The backscene that hides the fiddleyard has been recycled from an earlier 1:45 layout, it needs some TLC but it works well.

 The trackwork in the foreground will be the local creamery that sends dairy products to London.

The milk train at Seton Junction.

 

The end of the beginning

Upgrades to the track plan are finally completed.😀

The vast white space is the foamboard raised area, there are just two sidings - storage and a goods store (the tin box shows its location) The recent change was to increase the length of the passing loop and move the entrance to the sidings by 50cm. The result is a less cramped goods yard. 

Testing to ensure smooth running will commence followed by  ballasting and dummy turnout control runs.

Peco buffer stops

Peco buffer stops are excellent, the wooden beam is two layers of a coffee stir stick that has been stained with ink.

Drummond's final fling

The D15s -They were Drummond's last design, a return to 4-4-0s after his disastrous 4-6-0s. These successful locomotives worked, in the main, out of Waterloo, after the Direct Portsmouth electrification they worked semi-fasts to Waterloo, empty fish vans from Bournemouth to Brentford and Portsmouth-Salisbury/GWR trains. Eastleigh D15s worked through to Brighton after Ford bridge was strengthened in 1941. Then an Eastleigh engine went down in the afternoon, spent the night on Brighton shed and returned next morning.

The Salisbury trains were taken over by BR4mt 2-6-0s in 1953 and some D15s were scrapped. The survivors worked various main line trains including but not exclusively, the Saturday Waterloo-Lymington boat trains and were replaced by Maunsell Schools.

30465 on an all stations Soton-B'Mouth in April '53 near Ashurst. The stock is mostly exLSWR 58' Maunsell rebuilds

 Down Lymington boat train near Byfleet-New Haw

photo from Ben-Brooksbank

A rebuilt Drummond D15 from OO Works is inbound.

  
OO Works D15

Milk for the milk train

Railway Modeller December 2012 featured 'Milk by Rail' presumably a staple traffic from the West of England and through Beaminster Road.

On the opposite side of the workshop, there is a short spur to a loop - ideal for a milk depot siding?

Something a bit like this?

Or Geoff Forster's Penhydd

Steam era links

Beaminster Road isn't just about building a layout, occasionally something crops up that really should be shared.

This website has some interesting info on BR steam era wagons (like the one above, exAir Ministry 14t)

https://www.lynxmodels.net/freight-connect

 My knowledge of BR steam era wagons is woeful, I rely on the various release notes in the media when a new wagon is announced but the above website has lots of info. Plus this guy, Paul Bartlett, a link to his excellent website.

https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/paulbartlettsrailwaywagons

Finally, John Isherwood at Cambridge Custom Transfers.

https://www.cctrans.org.uk/index.htm

Lost ballast wagons - their return

Thanks to John H. Edge some old photos have returned home, no guessing the subject. Martin Jones might find a couple to be of interest?

With the exception of the Tunney and Dogfish, the wagons are still part of the Beaminster Road stocklist.

Links to Southern details

For the past few years both Hornby and Bachmann have produced some excellent stock for those of the Southern persuasion, what is missing is the infrastructure of Southern Railway buildings. However not is all lost, there are a few excellent books that provide plans and views of buildings, whilst amongst the archives of Railway Modeller and Model Railway Constructor there are a few gems to be found- John Charman and Frank Crudass were prolific contributors to both magazines, the latter featuring his layout Wadebridge.

Frank Crudass

RM 11/68 Building a super-detail tank wagon, pages 336, 337.
RM 08/69 N Class Locomotive 2-6-0 SE&CR Maunsell Design
RM 06/70 LSWR Rail Built Buffer Stop
MRC 06/65 SR Platform barrows
MRC 03/66 Building 30200 - building the Wills 4mm scale kit
MRC 07/66 SR Platform seats
MRC 04-5/67 Modelling the Beattie Well Tank
MRC 07/66 SR Platform seats
MRC 1980 Annual Wadebridge Island Platform

John Charman

MRC 08/71 LSWR Loading Gauge - John Charman describes the prototype and the model

Beaminster and its bus

The Southern National Omnibus Company had a North Devon and Cornwall area centred on Bude, Bideford, Barnstaple and Ilfracombe and a Somerset and Dorset area centred on Seaton, Yeovil and Weymouth. 
Along the coast from Weymouth and inland to Axminster via Bridport, route 42, served Bridport, Lyme Regis and Axminster, plus everything along the route. 
In the 50s, the road conditions would have restricted the choice of vehicle to single deck Bristols.

Notably the Bristol LS5G from the 40s

Unfortunately, not available as a 4mm model in Southern National livery, it is available from Corgi as a similar green Bath Services vehicle that will need modification.

Freaky Friday

In an odd corner of the station forecourt.

Beaminster Road has very few road vehicles - but this is one.

The eponymous Ford Thames E83W Royal Mail van.

Push + Pull Set from a Blacksmith Kit

These were built from a Blacksmith kit sold by Cove Models,  unfortunately, the shop, was excellent but long gone.

The dull and weathered finish was entirely intentional.

Tatty buildings for Beaminster Road

A small selection of mundane buildings for Beaminster Road

The goods lockup inspired by Ringwood.

 The yard office inspired by Axminster

The 'eyesore' found in most villages

A legacy of WW2

Coaches for Beaminster Road - 3

The Maunsell rebuilt 58 foot non-corridors were exLSWR coaches and were mostly on the South Western division.

By 1934, the Southern Railway recognised that the short 48’ ex-LSWR stock was in need of some major attention as it was nearing the end of its working life. Much of it was built on wooden underframes, whilst some was still gas lit and so a programme of refurbishment was proposed and undertaken under Works Order (HOO No.) L801 of March 1934 and Works Order (HOO No.) L852A of March 1935.
The 58’ stock to diagrams 99 and 418 were created in 1935/1936 at Lancing Works, by taking the 48’ Composite body, cutting it and fitting to a 58’ Maunsell underframe. In the case of the Brakes, a 10’ guards van was grafted to one end, these were steel panelled, which didn’t quite match the finish of the rest of the wooden panelled bodywork. The composites (to diagram 31) differ, in that the original 48’ body was cut into two sections and mounted at each end of the underframe, with a 10’ section being inserted comprising a single compartment, with two lavatories (side by side). The defining feature of all these ‘new’ vehicles was the triangular section weatherboard that ran the length of the body, disguising the join (the 48’ body being narrower than the 58’ underframe).

The coaches are similar to those used in the Lyme Regis set from Hornby.

Coaches for Beaminster Road - 2

The Maunsell set of coaches is the Hornby lo-window three-car set consisting of two four compartment brake thirds and a composite corridor.

They were introduced, in 1926, to serve the West of England (WoE) services, with extra luggage space in anticipation of the needs of the passengers, however, they proved unpopular due to lack seating and were transferred to the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway for local services between Bath & Bournemouth.

 On Masbury Summit S&DJR

Coaches for Beaminster Road - 1

Assuming that Beaminster Road was not on a mainline, the passenger traffic would have somewhat sparse and supplied with rather superannuated stock or at least not the latest coaches. However an occasional train would have routed through Beaminster Road, albeit without stopping.

Bulleid coaches 

The original Bachmann range comprised of four coach types:-

1. BSK Corridor/Open Brake Second
2. SK Corridor Second
3. CK Corridor Composite
4. SO Second Open

BSK

Waterloo - West of England & Waterloo - Bournemouth - Weymouth  coach sets, introduced in 1950, these originally worked as 3 coach sets in winter, strengthened to 5 Coach sets for the summer by the addition of the two Corridor Seconds.  After June 1953 only Sets 830 to 833 operated as seasonal 3 coach sets the rest staying as 5 Coach sets all year round.  Livery from new was Crimson and Cream followed by SR green.

Originally comprising in Winter:-
BSK
SK
BTK
These were strengthened for Summer:-
BSK
SK
CK
SK
BSK

Station buildings for Beaminster Road - 2

This was Chandlers Ford on the Romsey-Eastleigh cut-off

This is my version, using two Wills SS67 wayside station and and some valance.

Nowhere near perfect but it is unique.

These acrylics work well as faded Southern Railway building colours.

Humbrol 78 RAF Interior Green

Citadel Bleached Bone

 

Proposed stocklist

Based on the supposed route restriction of the D&E Coastal Extension and the traffic levels, only six trains are planned. 



It is presumed that most passenger services would have been allocated to 71C Dorchester shed whilst the heavier goods traffic to 72A Exmouth Junction shed.   Two N Class are employed, with straight sided and sloping sided tenders.

exSR S15  Bulleid 5-coach set + Van B

The S15 class was regarded by locomotive crews as an excellent goods engine best known for working heavy night express goods trains between Exeter, Southampton and Nine Elms. The S15s were also very capable passenger engines, being able to deputise in situations where there was a shortage of passenger locomotives during peak holiday periods^. Both Urie and Maunsell S15s spent most of their working lives on the Southern Railway's Western section, although they were sometimes used on inter-regional goods workings.


exSECR N Three car Maunsell 3-coach set + PMV.

 

The N class was designed in 1914 by Richard Maunsell for mixed-traffic duties on the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR). They worked over most of the Southern Railway (SR) network.

Class members based at Exmouth Junction shed were withdrawn in 1964, whilst the last operational members of the class were Nos. 31405 and 31408; both were withdrawn in June 1966.

 exLSWR O2 exLSWR rebuilt 58' 3-coach set + Van

The O2 class was distributed throughout the LSWR system, being of particular use on restricted branch lines in the West of England due to their relatively low weight and short wheelbase. Despite the early withdrawals, a number of O2s lasted well into BR days, working various branch lines until closure began in the late 1950s.  The last mainland O2s to be withdrawn was number 30225 in 1962

exLSWR T9  Milk, newspaper, mail.

Intended for express passenger work, 66 T9s were eventually built. They proved of great use west of Salisbury where their light axle loadings and short frame lengths were better suited to the tight curves of the Southern's Western Section.  The class operated until 1963 when the last example, No 30120, was withdrawn.

exLSWR 700 Miscellaneous pick-up goods

The 700 class was a class of 30 0-6-0 goods  locomotives, the class was designed by Dugald Drummond in 1897 and built by Dübs of Glasgow. The last years were spent working goods on the few remaining secondary lines of the exLSWR.

Station buildings for Beaminster Road - 1

The L.S.W.R. was rather partial to the use of prefabricated wooden buildings that could be simply and cheaply constructed, Chandler's Ford, Sutton Bingham and Wool were examples of many dotted around the system.

Chandler's Ford

By re-working commercial offerings, passable models can be obtained.

The paint scheme used is RAF interior cockpit green and bleached bone (ivory), these represent faded Southern colours. All paints used are acrylic.