St. Mary Hoo - P4 Southern Region third rail

[Steve Cook]

Thanks for the extra shots Simon, its a lovely layout
The acoustic dish is top notch and I admire the fact the third rail works
Steve

 

[adrian]

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm struggling to comprehend the level of minutia with the track and associated hardware, pure rivet counting of the highest order and really well accomplished.

Agreed - all the cabling impressed me, the line and the positioning is spot on - thanks for posting.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Many thanks everyone (too numerous to list, but all really appreciated!) for your very kind comments.

All the best
Simon

 

[Simon Glidewell]

The class 73/0 sits out of use on the CEGB back siding. This is a heavily modified Hornby/Lima model with Ultrascale wheels; I rebuilt all the bogies, adding such things as new sand boxes, brakes in line with the wheels, brake cylinders, complex cable runs and brackets, etc, plus all the under frame was reconstructed. If you look underneath the loco you'd see just how complex it is, and it was a nightmare to put together. The model is still not finished; things such as the etched side grill (with engine room detail behind) needs painting BR blue; separate handrails need adding, etc, etc. It also needs renumbering for a class 73/0. The loco runs very smoothly and reliably, especially on the third rail. I've seen the forthcoming Dapol model of a 73/0 and I think I'll stick to my own model.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

The incomplete chassis detail of the class 73. At this stage I had got the bogie brake cylinders all wrong and they have since been removed and repositioned. There are now four per bogie. I detailed the under frame from loads of photos underneath a real 73/0

 

[Simon Glidewell]

A view showing the third rail side protection boards under construction. Obviously they are not all loose and crooked like this now! However, many real side protection boards are very battered, or missing completely. The grass on the embankment has since been painted up with Humbrol enamels (my usual technique) in varying shades of green.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

The drab but unusual prefab concrete signal cabin outside St. Mary Hoo. This scratch built model was more or less copied from this example at Newcourt on the Exmouth branch:-

http://www.signalbox.org/gallery/s/newcourt.php

The building is detachable and the roof comes off. It will feature a fully detailed interior and a low key light. I always feel that modern layout lighting is far too bright and OTT; things like semaphore signals were/are very dimly lit and nowhere near as garish as some you see in model form. Subtle lighting (and not too much) is my aim. The current one colour light signal on SMH works, even though it is not lit in any of my photos. By the way, can you see the baseboard join?

 

[Simon Glidewell]

One of the few daily departures from SMH to Gravesend (and London Bridge) is seen heading west away from the station. The photo was taken a few years ago before many of the details were finished and weathered/toned down.

 

[Simon Glidewell]

More work today on the junction. Progress is incredibly slow, as the crossing has so many small pieces of rail and electrical gaps. Where the rails butt onto each other there will be flat chairs without clasp fittings, and fishplates. The baulk timbers will eventually have cosmetic stretcher bars which would have been used to maintain gauge and prevent the movement of the longitudinal sleepers in the ballast.

 

[Geoff]

Great to see your fantastic modelling and layout again Simon, is it possible to post one of your earlier photos showing the Thames Estuary backscene ?

Geoff

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Hello Geoff! Good to see you too! Unfortunately somebody on RMweb modified the photos you refer to and I no longer have them, but I know the ones you mean. As you have done with your layout I would like to add a photo backscene, and show the Thames estuary and distant towns like Southend and Tilbury.

All the best
Simon

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Here's the famous baulk timbered flat crossing that existed at Highbridge station; it's where the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway crossed the GWR west of England mainline:-

http://www.photobydjnorton.com/RailwayPictures/HighbridgeCrossing2.jpg

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Smashing, Simon. You have a marvellous eye for artistry. Good to see it developing; that buffer post looks positively lost in all that undergrowth now. I particularily like your bespoke crossing. I'll be keeping an eye out for updates.

Cheers

Jan

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Many thanks Jan!

 

[Simon]

Simon

Just to add my appreciation of a truly inspiring layout and modelling, absolutely top class stuff and thank you very much for coming back to share it with us again.

Being born in Chatham and at first living in and then visiting London south of the Thames I have a lot of memory and liking for the Southern electrics and your modelling is hugely evocative.

As is Celticwardog's too, although that seems to be set in a slightly later timeframe to my eyes.

Thanks to both of you

Simon

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Simon

Just to add my appreciation of a truly inspiring layout and modelling, absolutely top class stuff and thank you very much for coming back to share it with us again.

Being born in Chatham and at first living in and then visiting London south of the Thames I have a lot of memory and liking for the Southern electrics and your modelling is hugely evocative.

As is Celticwardog's too, although that seems to be set in a slightly later timeframe to my eyes.

Thanks to both of you

Simon

Thanks Simon! Comments like yours and other members recently, make the whole process really worth while. What has happened to Celticwardog's thread? Is he not updating it anymore? There is some great stuff there.

Cheers
Simon

 

[jonte]

Hi Simon,

So glad to see your masterpiece on the web again and pleased to learn that there will be even more in the future

With the wealth of detail displayed in these excellent shots, I'm beginning to wonder whether you have time to leave home!

Hope I find you in good health and pleased that you are able to share your work with us again.

Regards for now,

Jonte (Jon).

 

[Andrew Thompson]

Geoff

I copied this sometime ago is this what you were after .



Andrew

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Hi Simon,

So glad to see your masterpiece on the web again and pleased to learn that there will be even more in the future

With the wealth of detail displayed in these excellent shots, I'm beginning to wonder whether you have time to leave home!

Hope I find you in good health and pleased that you are able to share your work with us again.

Regards for now,

Jonte (Jon).

Many thanks Jonte! It's really great to make your acquaintance again after all this time! I hope all is well with you too.

All the best
Simon

 

[Simon Glidewell]

Hello Andrew,

I think it was the young chap who was building a very ambitious SR layout around the Blandford area on RMweb who photoshopped that picture; I can't remember his name but he did a few pics like this for me. Sadly, the one above makes the halt look very dark and harsh! There was another with a view onto the estuary itself.

Cheers
Simon