4mm The Strawberry Line in P4

ullypug

Western Thunderer
Which is what I call my layout of Cheddar, to distinguish it from Simon Challis' superb SDJR P4 layout. Simon's is a P4 might have been branch line, whereas mine is a straight representation of the former GWR station on the Yatton to Witham branch via Wells.
This layout was started a few years ago now and was planned to be my magnum opus. At 32ft long it's certainly big enough.
Progress to date has been recorded on RMWeb, so I'm not going to repeat myself here other than a few basics. It's P4, 22ft scenic and two 5ft turntable fiddle yards set anywhere between 1948 and 1963.
The length is a bit of an issue as I can't put more than half pf it up at any one time.
Baseboards are a mixture of 6mm ply framing, 12mm ply track base and 15mm extruded polystyrene foam everywhere else. Track is ply sleepers and plastic chairs. Barring the two extreme ends it's all down, wired and working. Control is DC with a separate lever frame for points and signals, though the layout is wired for eventual conversion to DCC. Presently I'm working my way along the line doing the first fix of ballast, scenery etc. None of the buildings exist other than in simple mock ups, though I'm presently working my way through the goods shed and train shed with a view of getting them laser cut. For those who don't know, Cheddar had a rather grand overall shed which scales out at just over 2 feet in 4mm.
Once the first fix is done it'll be treated to general washes and wafts of airbrushes to bed everything, tone it down and apply a consistency across the palette.
Most recently I've been putting in the platform edge faces to get an idea of where everything needs to fit. Anyway, enough prattling. Here are some photos.
IMG_1937.jpg IMG_1936.jpg IMG_1930.jpg IMG_1931.jpg IMG_1927.jpg IMG_1929.jpg IMG_1923.jpg IMG_1920.jpg IMG_1918.jpg IMG_1921.jpg IMG_1798.jpg IMG_1799.jpg IMG_1807.jpg IMG_1779.jpg IMG_2489 (1).jpg
 

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Your photos above make me wish to see the earlier posts on the other side, please think about including a link, to previous posts on RMWeb, here on WT.

thank you, Graham
 

AdeMoore

Western Thunderer
Ah good to see you over here Andrew, brilliant P4 modelling on this layout, one of my fav’s from over on Rmweb.
Cheers
 

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Your photos above make me wish to see the earlier posts on the other side, please think about including a link...
It starts here - I think.

Andrew (@ullypug), I have followed the link that Dave has posted... I get the impression that many of the posts ought to include photos and not all of those posts do have photos thereby losing some of the impact of the text. Might this be the case or has your blog suffered at the hands of the recent changes to the RMWeb forum software?
 

ullypug

Western Thunderer
Andrew (@ullypug), I have followed the link that Dave has posted... I get the impression that many of the posts ought to include photos and not all of those posts do have photos thereby losing some of the impact of the text. Might this be the case or has your blog suffered at the hands of the recent changes to the RMWeb forum software?
Yes, the shift to the new RMWeb software has caused all the links with the respective photos to drop out. Not a huge problem, but with 3 blogs and quite a few entries over the years I just got to the point where any time spent rebuilding everything cut down on real time modelling!
Most of the blog updates were periodic updates. Trouble is I've changed Macs since I first started blogging so a lot of the original material has been lost! I'll put some updates on here when I can.
If there's anything in particular you'd like to know more about please just ask!
 

Ben Alder

Western Thunderer
Must say its refreshing to be on a modelling orientated forum without the avalanche of chit chat and opinions on whatever that overwhelm poor old RMweb. Really haven't taken to the new format and am getting a lot more work done without it beyond a cursory flick through which I suspect will diminish with time. I'll keep my threads up to date there but intend to do more here rather than look in every so many months or so.
 

ullypug

Western Thunderer
Last weekend at York I picked up the parts for the goods shed from York Modelmaking. I'm really pleased with what they've achieved and relieved that my drawings worked out ok. I've made a start putting the bits together. The ashlar window and door surrounds were drawn as separate pieces that would be glued to the main structure walls, allowing a sheet of Green Stuff World embossed ABS to be cut to fit around them. I'm happy that the logic of my design seems to be working and that only a modicum of filler is going to be needed to fill the gaps between them. This won't be a fast build but the accuracies of the drawing and laser cutting will be worth it I'm sure. The main carcass and ashlar are cut from 1.5mm MDF and have been primed and sprayed with a base coat from a rattle can. The ABS will be similarly treated once I've done all the window cut outs. The frames (not pictured) are a couple of layers of 0.5mm Rowmark.
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AdeMoore

Western Thunderer
Cracking that, recognise it.
Steve Wooly who was a neighbour in Station Road, traded his horticulture wares from there for many years after the line closed. Supplying all the strawberry growers, of whom my dad was one.
Cheers for sharing.
 

ullypug

Western Thunderer
Cracking that, recognise it.
Steve Wooly who was a neighbour in Station Road, traded his horticulture wares from there for many years after the line closed. Supplying all the strawberry growers, of whom my dad was one.
Cheers for sharing.
Thanks Ade
got any ideas where I can get a strawberry basket from? I want to get one scanned so I can get a load 3D printed. The platforms were covered with the things during the season!
 

AdeMoore

Western Thunderer
Thanks Ade
got any ideas where I can get a strawberry basket from? I want to get one scanned so I can get a load 3D printed. The platforms were covered with the things during the season!
If you mean the older strip wood ones as below, Dad may have one kicking about, this was Lower North Street behind Lloyd’s Bank dads first job was there when he left School. If you mean the later cardboard one with metal handle I’ve got one of those. Your welcome to borrow.

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Focalplane

Western Thunderer
A very nice looking layout with lots of potential to be the "big one". The subject is an interesting one to many folk which is always a good thing.

I too started out on RMWeb but left before the rush following the change of software as I disagreed with some management decisions - now I cannot easily find my own stuff any more! WT is a great forum with a lot of positive thinking. I am sure the P4 crowd can be a bit like the Gauge O Guild at times, offer you feint praise and then stick the knife in afterwords to make you wish you had never posted in the first place. I had one of those last week. WT doesn't seem to tolerate such behaviour. I will remain a GOG member though, out of loyalty to some very good folk who do great things.

I like your baseboard construction, by the way. I used a similar mix of ply and MDF with polystyrene for an OO gauge layout of Shipston-on-Stour when I lived in an apartment. Light enough to move around easily.

Welcome aboard, enjoy the journey! Paul
 
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