Andoversford Junction

[Toddington Ted]

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.

[Toddington Ted]

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.

[John H-T]

Thanks for the update. Looking good.

Best wishes,

John H-T.

[Silver Fox Phil]

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

[Toddington Ted]

Originally Posted by Silver Fox Phil

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.

[alanw]

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

[Toddington Ted]

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.

[Toddington Ted]

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.

[Toddington Ted]

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.

[Toddington Ted]

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.