Andoversford Junction
 

Over the last 3 years I have finally "bitten the bullet" and constructed a model railway layout (00 Gauge) at home (albeit in the garage loft which is not ideal). I am aware that I have probably done things the hard way by going for a prototypical layout theme but it was always going to be a bit of a compromise anyway as the actual length covered would be about 30 feet to scale and the garage is 16 feet wide, so I have had to be a little accommodating. I wanted something from my home area but not just another GWR country line; the junction with the M&SWJR giving a Midland flavour until after the grouping and then a Southern after Nationalisation when SR U Class locos were a common sight. There was also a tunnel at one end which was ideal for a break into a fiddle yard. The main problem (for me) is that the bulk of the station and junction is on an embankment so quite a lot of extra woodworking and bodging was needed to make it look "right". There were 2 signal boxes, one built before the M&SWJR connection and the second built at the M&SWJR's expense to control the Jct. In fact there were 3 as the original station box was replaced by a GWR "Standard" wooden box in Nov 1935, so I have modelled that as well so as to cover the period between both WWI and WWII (the line was busy during both wars with traffic from Salisbury Plain etc going north and vice versa). I soon found of course that it was impossible to replicate exactly the layout in minature as it was in the 1st 40 years of the 20th century as I don't have a 30 foot garage! I also found that some things work out really well whilst others, like ballasting etc, are a real pain - but that's the fun of railway modelling I guess. I'm no good at kit building locos or coaches really so the 72xx in the photo was built for me from a kit professionally back in the 1980s. Lots still to do like the backdrop (should have done that first I guess!) and the station cattle dock but its a great deal of fun nevertheless. I'm a keen supporter of GWR loco 2807 so one does feature on the layout. Several 28xxs have been logged on the line including some involved on demolition trains after the line closed in 1962, but no firm evidence yet that 2807 ran over this line, but I'm sure it did. I do have photographic evidence that 72xxs did and the lovely M&SWJR 4-4-0s. Regarding the latter, I believe a whitemetal kit is available so I'll have to save up to get one made - unfortunately patience and excellent eyesight not so much in abundance these days! I'd welcome any comments and will try and post a few more updated images maybe.

Nice looking layout Ted. You must be really pleased with what you've achieved. I look forward to seing some more photos.

Well Ted, congratulations on all your hard work. I am not good at giving advice on layouts because although I have one myself I am a relative novice so it is usually me that wants advice. I never had time to do a layout when I was at work on the railway, but when I retired I started putting together all the "bits" I had collected over the years and now have what I think is a "fair" layout, but it does give me pleasure because since I retired my health has gone downhill rapidly, so I enjoy my layout and there is a certain member on here who has helped me a lot and I appreciate that.
So nice one Ted, keep "at it " mate.

48111

As I see it unless your layout is for exhibition purposes it becomes a personal thing for you to enjoy. Maybe you will want to expand later or model some place to the most minute detail but it is personal so enjoy it however you make it.
If that makes sense.
John (G)
Need to weed mine and fit Worm Catchers to the front of locos.

Thanks for your responses folks. Although the layout is built in 4 feet sections, they are not designed to fit together quickly and so I won't be exhibiting it. The layout is designed as a square "C" with the provision of extending it right round to the fiddle yard using the M&SWR line as the extension. So, I might just do that one day! I have a busy week at work this week but I'll try and get some more recent photos uploaded together with comparisons of the "actual" location (not as it is today as its a small housing estate!) but here's another few to be going on with. Two photos show the Sandywell Tunnel mouth and Sandywell Park bridge being built and then the almost finished result (the 2 structures were further apart than this but space dictates as ever). I must get another lamp post as the Station entrance had one between the pedestrian and vehicle gates. The MSWJR embankment can be seen in the distance.

The area of the bridge and tunnel mouth makes for a particularly nice looking scene Ted. I know that it's not always possible when modelling an actual location but I tend to think of a layout as a series of interesting scenes joined together.
I assume that you will be weathering the track at some stage?

I like the station area Ted, only hope I can do as well when I start my layout. Any chance of a track plan, even if it is just a sketch drawing?

Andoversford Jct
 

I will try and upload a trackplan soon. Hopefully I can provide some more recent shots too. I would appreciate any hints on how to weather the track, especially the ballast, which is all too fresh for my liking!

Hi Ted,
Many modellers use an airbrush but I prefer to do it by hand and concentrate initially on the sides of the rails. I then go over the ballast and sleepers with a very dry brush to give the effect of rust and brake dust staining whilst still allowing some of the original ballast colour to show through.
The colour I use is Humbrol Enamel no.98 which is the closest I can find to the now discontinued "Track Colour" I find that most of the paints sold as "rust colour" are far too red for trackwork.

Attachment 804

John, thanks for the tip regarding the weathering; the layout represents the steam era and no doubt the ballast would be quite grubby so that is something for me to be getting on with this autumn and winter. I attach a few more recent photos. The Stn entrance is beginning to look more like the prototype now but I will need to invest in many more Scots Pine trees! I will also need to plant 2 very large telegraph poles (which carried the lines over the railway line) and replace the bridge cappings as I'm not happy with these. The post 1935 signal box is quite new and took me quite a while to do (not long enough really as I'm impatient and didn't detail the inside!) and it now awaits its nameboard. the 2 GWR "brown era" coaches need their roofs weathering too. GWR 5322 (a Mainline model) was a regular performer over the line in both GWR and BR days so is ideal for this layout. In fact 53xxs also commonly pulled the "Ports to Ports Express" from Newcastle to Swansea (only over this section!) until replaced by "Manors". I still have a lot to do and there's much I've done that I need to improve but that's the great thing about railway modelling I guess!

Andoversford Track Plan
 

Here are some images of the track plan. I was not able to replicate it exactly, especially at the eastern end where the MSWJR exchange sidings were, but I tried to keep to the original as much as I could. The caption to the photo shown in the 1st image is wrong; it should read 1957 not 1967. By 1967 much of the site had long gone! The plan which includes the tunnel shows that Sandywell bridge and tunnel mouth were at least 3 times further away than as represented on my layout but I don't have the room to replicate it exactly - unfortunately! The other 2 shots show 5555 arriving with a Kingham train and then the real thing with 5514. 5555 is a standard Bachmann loco and the actual locomotive did run over this line so another "easy purchase". Once I have got round to doing the backdrop I'm sure it will look much better and I really will need a lot more Scots pine trees!

Thank you for posting the track plans Ted. It looks like it was a busy junction in it's day. I see from the photos, what you mean about the track ballast. When I did my 'N' gauge layout, I used different colour ballast mixed together to get that dirty look. I also mixed ballast and loco ash for the area around the shed and at the starter signal in the stations. Like John, I painted the sides of the track but was lucky enough to find some old "Track Colour" in an old box of paint. It was a bit hard, but a drop of thiners aloud me to do almost all the track. I have now sold the 'N' gauge layout but not the rolling stock.

Andoversford Update.

I have now purchased some suitably dark coloured ballast and it only remains for me to carefully remove all the loose clean stuff before spreading (carefully around the turnouts this time!) and securing the new (old looking) ballast. I think that this will make the layout look much more realistic. I just don't have the inclination to start it yet! As I have a track gang doing a bit of fettling at one location I shall probably leave that area with the "clean" ballast in place. I'm quite happy to model Andoversford Jct in BR days (there is rather more photographic evidence from this period as you might imagine) and, as I have one or two BR liveried items, I could not resist the temptation of adding a little Bachmann 45xx in BR lined black when I saw it offered for sale on Hattons website the other day as a "bargain". 45xxs were a common sight on the line (especially in the 1920s, 1930s and then again for some reason in the 1950s) so I really had to have one! Like all Bachmann locos that I have bought over the last couple of years, it runs beautifully and is a delight to the eye. I managed to find a couple of the "Blood and Custard" "Mainline" ex LMS coaches to run with it. There is photographic evidence to show that these coaches ran over the line so they fit in well. However, I must buy some ex GWR stock in BR livery too. I was pleased to find that the locomotive I chose was 4557 which actually ran over the MSWJR through Andoversford in BR days so that was another bonus! Now I shall have to stop fiddling and get the backdrops made and the ballasting redone!

I attach a couple of photos from a brief BR interlude (ideally all the buildings should be "daffodil yellow" rather than GWR "Light and Dark Stone" but I can't really duplicate them). I had to include 2807 as the real thing is now close to having its hydraulic boiler test! I apologise for the fuzzy shot with the Pannier.

Christmas is Here!
 

I was most impressed when I visited the Dapol website yesterday to see the latest 00 gauge wagon ordered by Cotswold Steam Preservation, owners of 2807. This was just what I needed for the layout (I can't "do" my own wagons!) so needless to say I've already ordered one!

Despite the dreadful weather, the wagon has now arrived and, with a real coal layer to hide the Dapol plastic "chunk", is now in the cattle dock siding at Andoversford. (I must get round to building the cattle dock fencing but its a bit cold in the loft at the moment!). From an historical point of view, H Finch's son William, had taken over the business by around 1906 when wagons started to appear in his name. The coal business at Andoversford survived after the line closed as can be seen in the attached (depressing)photo taken in 1967.

The Southern Interloper in the fiddle yard is 31813 which was a recent second-hand purchase. Again, I have been lucky with the number as the actual loco has been recorded as working the Andover to Cheltenham line (MSWJR) via Andoversford on more than one occasion. I'm not sure when Us and Ns started working this route from Andover but is was probably around 1952 until the MSWJR closed in 1961.

I have an old Humbrol colour chart on how to mix track colour - anyone interested?. It is the best representation I think but a mix of matt red and matt black is pretty good.

Jack

Hi Jack, is it possable to send me a copy of the chart?

It is in a difficult form to copy but I could post it on this site later today OK?

The Humbrol Chart is measured in droplets from an eye dropper or similar

Track Colour is listed as:

Humrol No.73 X 9 . No.150 X 6 No. 33 X 4. No. 34 X 1. These are the numbers from the old Humbrol range I assume that they are still ok but I can supply the colour names if required.

Jack

Thanks Jack. I have a whole box of old Humbrol. I will have to check if I have them all. Any other intresting, well used mixes like paved and dirt roads?

Sorry I don't seem to have those!

Hi Ted,

A very impressive layout, well done. It's always nice to see what other people's layouts look like.

My own layout was a way to interact with my autistic son but he has progressed to his own HO Thomas layout in the ex-aviary and I seem to have claimed the N gauge layout as 'mine'. :D

Alex

hi ted
Nice layout ive just joined this site im from cheltenham and ive noticed your name is toddington ted does that mean your local to me im also building a layout on the mswr mid 1930s probibly foss cross or whittington.
noggin

Not local any more, but I lived in the area for many years and I remember Andoversford Station (just) when it was open. Sadly I was too young to really appreciate it and not of the generation who did, thank goodness, go out with their cameras and record it. I presume you mean Withington rather than Whittington with regards to stations.

mswjr
 

Sorry Ted
Yes i did mean Withington ,i recently walked most of the line there is more left of it than you might think the platforms are still at withington but you would never know there was a station at andoversfod apart from the station road sign ,Love this line but not many photos of it in its prime , anyway good to see you are making a model of part of it hope your gonna show sometime.
Noggin.:)

After quite a period of inaction, I decided to try and improve my Andoversford 00 gauge layout, especially as I was concious that I had never wired it up properly (just enough to test the track layout and to run something!) and, after visiting more model railway shows and thinking, "I could do better than I've done with this" I decided that 2012 would be a year of improvement. I'm pleased to say that, partly due to the poor weather this year, I've largely succeeded in making a start at least. Like most hobbies, one tends to learn by experience as well as by seeing others doing it so, with advice from some helpful colleagues, I made a start on trying to improve things.
My first job was to tidy the loft up as I wanted to change a significant aspect of the layout-from being a "C" shaped end to end to a large "0" shape. The main advantage with this was that it gave me a chance to "just run trains" and at the same time, run them in and check for better smooth running. It also meant that I had to change my (inadequate) fiddle yard and turn it into a freelance set of sidings (I call it Mills Sidings after the gentleman who sold me the cottages and ground frame etc!) with a bit of scenery. I needed only 3 more 4 foot baseboard panels so I made these myself using an existing spare one as a template.
My wiring was a mess to be honest and so I decided to keep it simple and just have a basic 2-way layout where 2 trains could be run simultaneously. (I'm not into DCC but if I was starting now I probably would be) I also used the down controller to control all the sidings but in future I might add a 3rd one for this. If and when we move house I was anxious to keep the layout as moveable as possible for a fixed layout and I needed to be able to disconnect the wiring by keeping it in sections to match the 4 foot baseboards. Skilled modellers would doubtless consider my wiring improvements to still be a rat's nest but at least I know that its almost under control now!
I had thought about adding a station or halt on the new section opposite Andoversford but then thought that I would leave it as simple countryside. Even simple countryside can take a lot of detail so I think I've enough to keep me going! If I was sticking to real life, the next station would have been the M&SWJR's Andoversford & Dowdeswell Station (which closed in 1923 when the GWR absorbed the M&SWJR) but the goods yard was retained. However, I decided against this and left the station out so the trains just travel along the countryside before magically entering Mills Sidings and then the prototypical Sandywell Park Tunnel before emerging west of Andoversford Station once more.
One thing that always looked wrong to me were the trees around Andoversford Station. When built the land around the station platforms was treated to the usual GWR practice of planting Corsican or Scots pine trees. I bought a couple of professionally made ones then decided to make the rest myself. I still need to make a few more. My trees are more representative of Andoversford in BR days but since I do run BR stock as well then it isn't too bad.
So, still lots to do, and, like most people, I'm sure that I'll have many "I can do better than this" moments but that's the delight of our hobby.
I attach some photos of the recent developments; again the flash tends to make things look much harsher than they appear under normal fluorescent light.
There is no photographic evidence that GWR ROD 2-8-0s were used on my line but I would have thought it most likely, especially during WWII. I think this Bachmann model is superb and a good example of how the GWR managed to uglify a quite attractive GCR design! My next locomotive should be a Hornby 42xx in GWR livery but it seems that many of the 2012 releases will now be in 2013 as usual. I'm also looking at the new Hornby model of 2807 which would go well with 2818 - the 28xx and 2884s are a super Hornby offering in my view.

Just a few more shots showing the Andoversford extension completed in 2012,firstly with the plasterwork landscaping done and then with gaugemaster grass matting before detailing started. I have also included a shot of the Mills Sidings area and a professionally built Grange, No 6848 Toddington Grange (of course!) based on an old Mainline Manor chassis which I had built by a professional (ie not me!) many years ago.

Don't know how I have managed to miss this thread over the years. I can't find any posts by me.

What a supper layout! The wiring looks neat.

I always admire those who have the discipline to model a real locations. Keep posting the photos and I will try not to miss them in future.

Best wishes for 2013.

John H-T.

A King at Andoversford!

Many years ago I bought a Lima King George V and, because the project to rescue 6023, King Edward II, was in the news at the time (the loco had recently been rescued from Barry Yard) I changed the identity of KGV to KEII and tried to tidy the loco up a bit to make it look a little more like the real thing. I'm not a fan of tender drive locos (for one thing the driving wheels often slip due to insufficient weight) but, with the addition of suitable weight in the boiler and a clean up and lubrication, the model now runs perfectly well on my layout. It doesn't like gradients much and is much less powerful than the 2-8-0s I have run on my layout and I had thought of selling it on as it doesn't fit into the layout pedigree at all (Kings of course had a very restricted route availability and my layout represents the GWR Red route as a maximum and even that was pushing it!)
I know that many modellers think that its about time a decent ready to run "King" was available, both the Hornby and Lima examples being a little "basic" when compared to some of the newer ready to run releases. However, I can't bear to part with it so its staying for now. It needs brake rigging detail and stuff but isn't too bad. I think the badge on the tender is not the correct GWR badge for the period but I'll need to check that. The safety valve bonnet is not good and I need to replace this with a metal one which won't be too difficult. Any one else had a go at improving their King? Any comments? (Apart from the obvious that I should have finished it in early BR Blue!)

Looks a very nice layout and I love the way you are building it between the attic roof joists! I am sure you have hours of fun! I too would love to build a layout but I am limited to space at the moment and unfortunately I can not stand full height in my loft!!
Once fully retired I may decide to convert one of the bedrooms! If my dear wife will agree!!!
Have fun and all the best
Phil

Andoversford Junction - into the BR era.
The real Andoversford Junction closed to passengers in October 1962 and the track was removed in 1964. It is now a housing estate but the pine trees still remain! I thought it somewhat inappropriate to "bulldoze" my model embankment and replace the station with a housing estate but not too difficult to bring the layout into the 1950s and back to the 1930s or 1920s. When I started collecting locos and stock many years ago, I bought BR liveried examples as well as GWR items so I didn't need much of an excuse to vary the era from 1930s GWR to 1950s BR. It also gave me the excuse to run some more interesting stock, including the ex-SR U and N Class 2-6-0s which were common on the MSWJR from around 1953 until 1961. I needed to duplicate the water tower and signal box as these were repainted into "cream" or "daffodil yellow" after Nationalisation, as were the station and waiting room (I haven't duplicated them yet!). The gas lamps were removed at an unknown date (possibly even before WWII) but I've left them in situ. This is still work ongoing and, of course, when the GWR bug bites again, I have to be able to revert back to the glorious years fairly swiftly. As Andoversford was not "modernised" it's not too difficult to do. The line did see the odd brand new DMU on test from Swindon but no diesels were used in normal GWR or BR service. I have never seen any evidence even of any GWR diesel railcars on the line but I do have one in my collection just in case! The 28xx, 2805, is an old Keyser kit not very well built by me but the running chassis (built by someone else!) is pretty good. Its my first attempt at weathering a loco and stock.

I have now added a farmhouse scene to my M&SWJR countryside part of the Andoversford layout. I was tempted to put a small station or halt here but I feel that its too easy to clutter a layout and a farm with open countryside was perhaps more representative anyway. I need to get some more stone walling and finish the backdrop. The old Hornby King Arthur Class 4-6-0 "Sir Dinadan" of 1976 vintage was being test run after a protracted modification. In short, I had this loco repainted and detailed back in 1980 and never ran it. A typical Hornby (Triang) product, it derailed at every Peco finescale turnout until I replaced all the wheels, and motor and wired up the tender (well, an experienced colleague did!) and the end result is also shown, not bad and it now runs well but nothing like as good in appearance as Hornby's 2007 version of the N15 King Arthurs. The Bachmann 45xx is also a fairly new addition and renumbered as 4573, a regular sight in both GWR and BR days on the local Andoversford passenger stopping trains. Shown here at (a much simplified) Andoversford Jct.

Thanks for the update. Looking good.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

Nice layout Toddington Ted. I like the uncluttered look. I would love to start one of my own but just don't have the space at the moment., maybe when we do our last move I can get a shed dedicated to a layout. Would be nice.
All the best
Phil

Thanks folks; I have to admit that my current layout location (in a loft subject to rapid temperature and humidity changes) is far from ideal but I also intend to move location sooner rather than later and a "dedicated shed" or maybe even an indoor room, is on my list too! A colleague at work is a keen photographer and he has offered to photograph my layout a little more professionally to avoid the harsh flash seen on most of my photos posted here.

Hi Ted
Layout looking really good! I sympathize with the problems of the loft - that's where my layout is - it's a bit of a pain sometimes but at least the extra space is there.
Alan W

Andoversford - The Edwardian Years
 

Its been a while but I have been doing some model railway stuff this year.

Having amassed sufficient locos and rolling stock as well as changing some buildings and vehicles to suit, I have managed to produce a reasonable reproduction of Andoversford in the period after Nationalisation in 1948. All well and good but:
As a form of self-imposed punishment, I thought it would be fun to try and replicate my layout as it was in the period before 1923, when GWR and MSWJR trains were quite separate (the latter yet to have been absorbed by the former). I started with some of those good old Ratio coach kits, some were old ones I'd bought years ago and had to strip down whilst others were purchased via a well know auction site in various states. (You can buy very good MSWJR suitable stock in kit form but its expensive and I would class myself as a beginner with this stuff!)

As you probably know, the MSWJR never owned any of the Ratio 8 compartment arc-roofed 3rd suburban stock but a quick search on the Internet gave me some guidance on how to hack about with an 8 compartment 3rd to turn it into a 7 compartment 3rd. The bogies on the 8 compartment need to be replaced by the LNWR bogies from Ratio as the former MR bogies are too long.
In future, I'm going to need to invest in suitable motive power to haul these things but I will probably pay someone to build a MSWJR loco for me.

I have uploaded some images of the Edwardian GWR and MSWJR stock so far, and they don't do too bad "from the 2 feet away" test but my later efforts are better than my earlier ones! I have since done more work on the MSWJR coaches to smarten them up a bit for example.

I found the old Triang-Hornby GWR clerestories to be relatively easy to upgrade (partly because the raised mouldings are easier to paint and line out) although I needed to change the bogies as the originals were of the BR Mk1 type. The Triang Hornby non-corridor clerestories are not representative of any true GWR prototype but the Brake 3rds are reasonably close to a typical GWR diagram and good enough for me at least for now! the T36 Brake 3rd utilised an old Ratio T47 as a donor (should have bought a new kit!) and Shirescenes etched T36 sides. I found it a struggle but it was my 1st attempt in this area.

Numbering and lettering was done with Pressfix transfers (MR and GWR sets) and lining out was done by hand and much cursing.

I'll put a few more images up sometime.

I could not resist this little old Ks GWR 6-wheeler at auction the other week. It is a very heavy white metal kit with very few parts - basically 2 sides with chassis moulded in one piece, 2 ends and 2 parts to the roof, 4 brass buffers and 3 axles! There were no instructions and no floor or compartments. I did some research and narrowed it down to being probably a coach to Diagram U28. I put it together and, despite being a 6 wheeler, its happy enough on the outside line which hasa slightly wider radius. It is however, very heavy! I added quite a lot of detail and could add more I guess but it looks OK.
These coaches had 2 1st class and 2 second or later, third, class compartments with the centre compartment for luggage.

A Tale of a "B Set."

I expect most modellers of the GWR in 00 gauge will have an example of a 2 coach B-Set running on their layout and mine is no exception. The most popular is probably the r-t-r Airfix, now Hornby, 60' B-Set to Diagram E148. The pair modelled by Airfix are ideal for my layout as they represent Nos 6894 and 6895, which ran on the Andoversford line for many years, into BR days.

However, when buying a job lot of coach bits and bobs on an auction site a few months ago, I came across a pair of B set coaches in bits and in a very poor state. After some research, I found these to be the remains of a Ks B-Set plastic and metal kit to Diagram E116 with 9' bogies. The parts themselves were primitive by modern standards (there is no floor or compartment partitions) and the 2 roofs were really brittle. An attempt had been made to build the kit but the previous owner had thought better of it. One of the coaches had no bogies either.
I nearly threw the whole thing in the bin but these earlier, and rather larger, B Set coaches intrigued me. After more research, I found out that they had been introduced by the GWR as early as 1922 and were all allocated to the Bristol Division. They survived until 1962 so BR livery would be OK. I chose the 1930s "shirt button" livery. I fitted floors, compartments and some seated figures. At the moment, they both run on 9' scale "Centenary" bogies from Hornby which aren't strictly accurate (9' fishbelly bogies were used on the prototypes) and I'd really like to replace the roofs sometime as they are a poor fit. However, they don't look too bad. I've included a photo of an E116 next to an Airfix E148 for comparison. It's strange that the single 1st class compartment to each coach is at the potentially "bumpiest" end, near the close coupling between the 2 coaches! This isn't the case with the later series of B Sets!

I assume that the Ks kit of these coaches has long been discontinued but they do still turn up at auction I'm sure.

Andoversford Junction - Notice of Closure

Oh dear, it would seem that history is repeating itself, albeit in model form, as I am now in the process of closing Andoversford Junction and removing all traces of a railway.

It seems a little harsh but the truth is that we will be moving house in the new year and the layout must be completely dismantled. I will not be reproducing the layout again - I have learned some valuable model railway lessons in building and operating it - but I will be salavaging as much as I can, including the layout board frames. I'll post some images of progress if I get time. Moving house was something we had planned for so this wasn't entirely unexpected! So far, all locos, rolling stock, trees, buildings and other scenery has been removed and safely packed away. Next comes removal of the track.